Trivia: Actress Hilarie Burton launched herself out of obscurity and into celebrity by winning a national competition. In 2000 -- as a student at Fordham University, a Jesuit college in New York -- Burton signed up for a Total Request Live contest to interview celebs at the annual MTV Music Video Awards. Because that position reportedly brought with it some disparaging treatment at the hands of obnoxious celebrities, it toughened Burton up; that spunk, when coupled with Burton's genial on-camera presence and photogenic qualities, paved the way for an acting career, doubtless made possible by the exposure of the MTV gig. The WB's popular drama series One Tree Hill marked Burton's most first major endeavor; she played Peyton Sawyer, a gorgeous teenager who is attracted to the lower-middle-class but warm-hearted local boy Lucas (Chad Michael Murray). Meanwhile, the actress also managed to branch off into films as well, starting with a plum role in Cameron Watson's beautifully crafted, small-town Miramax drama Our Very Own (2005). Burton later worked for Beth Schacter in that director's teen-oriented comedy Normal Adolescent Behavior (2007) and for Blair Witch helmer Daniel Myrick in his supernatural thriller Solstice. In 2008, Burton scored her first major Hollywood film role, playing Deborah Owens, opposite Dakota Fanning and others, in the high-profile movie adaptation The Secret Life of Bees, based on the best-selling Sue Monk Kidd novel.

Trivia: While some emerging talents are forced to labor for years onscreen before getting noticed, others like Kyle XY star Matt Dallas are fortunate enough to land the kind of star-making roles needed to ignite their careers fresh out of community theater.It was at the tender age of 12 that Phoenix native Dallas first recognized his affinity for the spotlight, with his role as the Gander in a local production of The Ugly Duckling providing a thrilling introduction to the excitement of live theater. In the years that followed, Dallas became increasingly active in community theater, and as with many emerging stars, Dallas was soon setting his sights on the West Coast. While, up to this point, Dallas had established himself as a serious actor, it was as a model that the emerging star made his first mark. Appearances in such high-profile publications as Glamour and Vanity Fair served well to get the longtime theater actor acquainted with life in front of the cameras, and in 2005 Dallas caught the eye of television viewers with a supporting role as a male model in the hit HBO series Entourage. Of course, as with any emerging talent, Dallas was eager to get a feature career started as evidenced by roles in Camp Daze, Way of the Vampire, Wannabe, and Living the Dream, but some actors are just naturally suited to the small screen. With the premiere of Kyle XY, that is precisely what the case seemed to be with Dallas, and his breakthrough role as the titular teen of mysterious origins helped to make ABC's innovate sci-fi drama an unexpected hit. Cast as a boy with no background and no bellybutton who is taken in by a kindly foster family, Dallas was nominated for a Saturn Award as a result of his performance in Kyle XY. He could next be seen on the big screen as a troubled teen reconnecting with his shady, long-lost father in The Indian. In 2010, Dallas co-starred in As Good as Dead, a psychological thriller wherein he plays a mentally unbalanced young man raised within an extremist cult. The actor joined Val Kilmer for a supporting role in Wyatt Earp's Revenge in 2012. He returned to TV with a recurring role on ABC Family's Baby Daddy.

Trivia: The daughter of actress Whitney Blake, Meredith Baxter received extensive training in the arts at the Interlochen Summer Camp in Michigan. Meredith worked as an usher, file clerk and cafeteria checker before getting her first film break in Ben (1971). The 5'7" blonde actress entered the "America's sweetheart" category when she was cast as Bridget Fitzgerald Steinberg, the prettier half of a Catholic-Jewish married couple, in the TV sitcom Bridget Loves Bernie (1972). While the series lasted only a year, her "reel" marriage became a "real" one when, in 1974, she wed her B Loves B co-star David Birney. In addition to yielding a new, hyphenated professional name for Meredith, her union with Birney produced three children before the couple divorced in the early 1990s (she also had two children from a previous marriage). In between stage appearances in such productions as Hamlet, Guys and Dolls and Butterflies are Free, Meredith played Nancy Lawrence Maitland on the TV dramedy Family, winning two Emmy nominations during her four-year (1976-80) stint with this series. In 1982, Meredith agreed to star as flower child-turned-suburban mom Elyse Keaton on the weekly TV comedy Family Ties, having been assured that she would be the star of the series in fact as well as in name. As it happened, Family Ties was dominated throughout its seven-year run by co-star Michael J. Fox. A prolific TV-movie actress, she owns the distinction of playing the same real-life character twice, with two entirely different interpretations. When she first played accused murderess Betty Broderick in 1992's A Woman Scorned, Meredith was sympathetic to Broderick's plight, and played the role accordingly (earning an Emmy nomination in the process); but by the time 1993's Her Final Fury rolled around, Meredith, like everyone else involved in the project, was convinced that Betty Broderick deserved what she got--and played the role in the manner of a Gothic Novel villainess. A made-for-TV movie fixture over the course of the next decade, Baxter remained a familiar face on the small screen thanks to appearances in such popular shows as The Closer and Cold Case, later showing her playful side with voice work in such animated series' as Family Guy and Dan Vs. A breast-cancer survivor, she received a public-awareness award from the National Breast Cancer Coalition for starring in and coproducing the 1994 drama My Breast.

Trivia: A product of a blue-collar Chicago neighborhood, actor Michael Gross spent the first two years of high school as (by his own admission) a "greaser" and gang member. He straightened himself out in his last two years, graduating as senior class president and National Honor Society member. Gross played guitar with a folksinging group before gravitating to the theatre. He attended the Yale School of drama (one of his classmates was Meryl Streep), then worked in regional theatre before landing in New York. In 1982, Gross was cast as Steven Keaton, ex-radical patriarch of a clan that included Michael J. Fox and Justine Bateman, in the long-running sitcom Family Ties. Perhaps chafing a bit at the press attention given to his co-star Fox, Gross took every available opportunity to play an image-busting role, notably the scuzzy, cold-blooded killer in the 1985 TV movie In the Line of Duty: The FBI Wars. Michael Gross is the brother of comedienne and former Saturday Night Live regular Mary Gross. In the years to come, Gross would prove to be a truly prolific actor, appearing in films like El Sonoma, Broken Windows, and Stay Cool, as well as TV shows like Tremors, How I Met Your Mother, The Young and the Restless, and ER.

Trivia: Lafayette, LA, native Danneel Harris first caught the attention of the public eye as a model for Juicy Jeans before displaying her talents as an actress with roles in One Life to Live, What I Like About You, Joey, and Jag. While the skilled gymnast, pianist, and vocalist was best known for her television roles early on, she soon segued into features in such films as Parental Guidance Suggested and Ten Inch Hero. In 2005, Harris joined the cast of the small-screen weekly sports drama One Tree Hill as town vixen Rachel Gatina -- a role perfectly suited to her vampish good looks. Subsequently slated to appear in Harold and Kumar 2, Harris was quickly coming into her own as a comic actress when she made Maxim Magazine's "Hot 100" list in 2007. In the coming years, Harris would continue to find success on the small screen, particularly on Friends with Benefits.

Trivia: Made her television acting debut in 1988 as Megan Gordon Harrison on the soap opera One Life to Live. Was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Best Actress in 1992 for her role on One Life to Live, but lost to costar Erika Slezak. Best known for her roles on Judging Amy (as Gillian Gray) and True Blood (as Nan Flanagan). Is a founding member of the Plymouth Theatre Company in Los Angeles. Cofounded environment-awareness Web site Inspire the Change in 2009.

Trivia: Is an Eagle Scout.One of the founding members of the long-form improv group Robert Downey Jr. Jr.Has been a main company member of improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school The Groundlings Theatre.