Trivia: Actor Eric McCormack was born in Toronto, Canada, on April 18, 1963. As a teenager, McCormack had developed an interest in acting (inspired in part by his father, who had once pursued a career as a thespian), and after graduating from high school, he enrolled in Toronto's Ryerson Theater School. McCormack left Ryerson in 1985, several months before graduation, in order to accept a position with the well-respected Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario. Over the course of five seasons with the Stratford company, McCormack rose from bit parts to major roles in productions such as A Midsummer Night's Dream and Henry V, and he developed a reputation as one of Canada's most promising stage actors. In 1991, McCormack scored his first screen role in a remake of the classic dinosaur saga The Lost World, and in 1992, he was cast on a syndicated TV series, Street Justice, as Detective Carl Weathers. Moving to Vancouver that same year, McCormack stayed busy over the next several years with a variety of television projects shot in Canada (including recurring roles in two series, Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years and Townies) and occasional feature films (most notably Holy Man and Free Enterprise). In 1998, McCormack got his big break when he was cast as Will Truman, a gay lawyer, on the situation comedy series Will and Grace. Well received by critics, Will and Grace slowly grew into a ratings winner, eventually garnering a multitude of industry awards. McCormack's work on the show earned him Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor in a Comedy Series every year from 2000-2003; he also received several Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series and brought the award home in 2001.Over the coming decade, McCormack would appear in a number of acclaimed TV series, including The New Adventures of Old Christine and Perception.

Trivia: A stunning, New York-born actress who shot to stardom with her role as the latter half of television's Will and Grace, Debra Messing's playful creativity beginning in her youth left her family with little doubt that the talented youngster would seek a career in some aspect of the entertainment industry.Raised in a small community outside Providence, RI, Messing's song and dance routines were the source of endless entertainment for her family throughout her youth, and the precocious youngster frequently attended performing arts camps in order to focus her skills as an actress. Later touring Canada, the U.S., and Mexico before planning her initial bid for stardom, Messing followed her mother's advice and enrolled in Massachusetts' Brandeis University, where she majored in theater arts. Traveling to London late in her schooling to study at the prestigious B.E.S.G.L. program, she was later accepted into New York University's Graduate Acting Program. Early roles such as a stint as sexpot Dana Abandando on television's NYPD Blue garnered much attention for the stunning starlet, and it wasn't long before Messing made her feature debut with A Walk in the Clouds (1995). Jumping back to the small screen for the short-lived Ned and Stacey the following year, she next turned up in the feature Prey (1997) and a subsequent television series based on the film. Launching her career into overdrive in 1998 with her role as Grace Elizabeth Adler in television's Will and Grace brought Messing critical and public praise, and her role as the interior designer living with a homosexual lawyer charmed audiences with its snappy writing and talented cast. With personal interests lending to involvement with such organizations as the Best Friend's Pet Sanctuary, Gay Men's Health Crisis, and AmFAR, the actress uses much of her personal time to encourage social awareness of HIV and AIDS-related issues and encourage people to adopt pets.The massive success of Will & Grace helped Messing gain a foothold in a film career. She tested the waters gingerly at first, taking small but key roles in films as diverse as the thriller The Mothman Prophecies and the Woody Allen comedy Hollywood Ending. She played Ben Stiller's newlywed wife in the hit comedy Along Came Polly in 2004. Although audiences ignored her romantic comedy The Wedding Date, Messing scored her most prestigious post-Will & Grace work yet landing a major role in Curtis Hanson's Lucky You in 2006, the same year as she lent her vocal talents to the animated film Open Season.Over the next several years, Messing would enjoy a number of projects, starring in movies like The Women, and series like The Starter Wife, Smash and The Mysteries of Laura.

Trivia: Actress Megan Mullally was born in Los Angeles in 1958, to a family with show business roots -- her father, Carter Mullally Jr., was an actor who became a contract player with Paramount Pictures during the 1950s. In 1965, with Carter's career on the wane, Mullally's parents pulled up roots and moved to Oklahoma City, OK, where her family had become quite wealthy raising livestock. Megan picked up the performing bug from her father, and developed a passionate interest in music and especially dance. By the time Megan was a high school student, she'd performed as a featured soloist with the Ballet Oklahoma troupe in Oklahoma City, and during summer vacations she studied with George Balanchine's School of American Ballet in New York City. Her interest in classical dance eventually grew into a desire to act, and while attending Northwestern University, she began appearing in student theater productions. After graduating, Mullally moved to Chicago, where she immersed herself in the city's rich and varied local theater scene. In 1983, she won her first film role, playing a hooker in Risky Business, and in 1986 she relocated to Los Angeles after being cast on a television series, The Ellen Burstyn Show. However, the series proved short-lived, and Mullally was soon busying herself with guest spots on a number of different shows. Mullally continued to work in the theater, and in 1994 fulfilled a longtime dream when she scored a role in the Broadway revival of Grease. The next year, she earned a high-profile role in another noted Broadway musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (playing opposite Matthew Broderick), while continuing to work in television projects. Mullally's dedication and focus finally paid off in 1998, when she was cast as Karen Walker, a self-centered former socialite-turned-office assistant on the popular situation comedy series Will and Grace. A major ratings success, Will and Grace catapulted Mullally into the spotlight, and she won an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe, and an American Comedy Award for her work on the show. When not busy with Will and Grace, Mullally continues to pursue other projects, playing featured roles in the films Everything Put Together and Monkeybone and starring in a one-woman musical, Sweetheart, in which she shows off her talents as a singer. (Mullally has also released an album of songs from the show, which she produced herself.)Mullally would continue her successful career on Broadway while enjoying the long running success of Will and Grace, and would go on to appear in other successful TV series as well, like In the Motherhood, Party Down, Childrens' Hospital, and Parks and Recreation.

Trivia: Born June 26, 1970, as the youngest of five children, Hayes has since compared his suburban Chicago upbringing to "being raised by a family of wild dingoes." After high school in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, he attended Illinois State University, where he supported himself as a classical pianist and performed in a pop band. Following his graduation, where he was awarded a degree in performance and conducting, he went to work in the Chicago theater. For several years, he served as the musical director of the Pheasant Run Theater, often acting in productions in addition to writing music for them. He was also a member of the famed Second City improvisational group and performed standup comedy in clubs in Chicago and Los Angeles. While still living in Chicago, Hayes began finding TV work, notably in the series Silk Stalkings. In 1998, he made his film debut in Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss, in which he played the title character, a gay photographer in search of love. The film received both a favorable reception at Sundance and a wide art house release. It was while he was at Sundance promoting the movie that Hayes was asked to audition for the part of the straightlaced lawyer Will in the upcoming Will & Grace. Preferring the role of Will's friend Jack, Hayes auditioned for that part instead, and subsuquently became a full fledged star for his portrayal of the beloved character. Following the show's eight year run, Hayes would enjoy a variety of projects, appearing in films like The Bucket List, Soul Men, and The Three Stooges.After logging several high-profile guest runs on TV shows like Up All Night and Smash, Hayes tried to mount his television comeback with his own show, Sean Saves the World, in 2013. The show only lasted on season, but Hayes quickly rebounded by joining the cast of The Millers in season 2. He also launched a successful production company, executive producing shows like Grimm, Hot in Cleveland and The Soul Man, and created the game show Hollywood Game Night.

Trivia: Displaying talent both for acting and for appearing at awards ceremonies wearing dresses that attract more attention than the awards themselves, Minnie Driver rose from almost complete obscurity to her position as one of the most visible British actresses of the 1990s over the course of just a few years. Born Amelia Driver in London on January 31, 1971, she was christened "Minnie" by her sister, who was too young to pronounce her little sister's name correctly. Raised in Barbados and schooled in locales as diverse as Paris, Grenoble, and Hampshire, Driver attended the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London, where she studied drama.Driver got her start on the stage and on television and made her big-screen debut in Circle of Friends in 1995. Playing the film's protagonist -- a "big, soft girl," as one of the film's characters calls her -- she was required to gain over 20 pounds for the role. She won critical acclaim for her performance, but had trouble finding more work until she lost the weight. Once she was revealed to be a statuesque beauty in the James Bond film GoldenEye (1995), she soon was being written up in a number of magazine articles that hailed her as one to watch. Critical appreciation for her work in Sleepers and Stanley Tucci's Big Night followed in 1996, and the next year, Driver proved herself capable of handling both comedy and a convincing Midwestern accent in Grosse Pointe Blank. That same year, she had what was possibly her most high-profile role to date in Gus Van Sant's Good Will Hunting. Starring as Matt Damon's brilliant girlfriend (a role she reportedly played offscreen as well), she earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her performance.In 1998, Driver could be seen in The Governess and At Satchem Farm, a romantic comedy she executive produced with her sister, Kate, and actor Nigel Hawthorne. She also ventured into the action realm with Hard Rain. Driver then put her voice to lucrative use, voicing characters in Disney's Tarzan, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut in 1999, and Lady Eboshi in the 1999 English dubbed release of the Japanese film Princess Mononoke. That same year, she took a swing at Oscar Wilde, starring in Oliver Parker's adaptation of Wilde's An Ideal Husband with Rupert Everett, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore, and Jeremy Northam. Driver then shed her corset and donned an American accent for her starring role in Bonnie Hunt's Return to Me (2000), a romantic comedy that cast the actress as a woman who falls in love with a widowed architect (David Duchovny) and discovers a surprising secret about the identity of his dead wife.Driver returned to television in 2007, when she co-starred with Eddie Izzard for the FX Network's The Riches, a series following a family squatting in an upscale suburban community. The role earned her nominations for an Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series in both 2007 and 2008. In 2010, Driver joined actress Hilary Swank in Conviction, a film chronicling the real-life story of a single mother who obtains a law degree to represent her brother, who was wrongfully convicted of murder. The same year, Driver joined Paul Giamatti for which she would earn a Genie Award for Best Supporting Actress. The actress co-starred with a cast including Vera Farmiga and Will Arnett in the 2011 comedy Goats.

Trivia: Harry Connick Jr. is, first and foremost, known for his abilities behind a piano and for his smooth, baritone vocals. Connick is a prodigious performer, having released some 15 albums by the age of 30. He was approached by Rob Reiner to put together some music for the 1989 film When Harry Met Sally. He brought together an orchestra and covered many popular big-band era songs. An album was put together and prompted a whirlwind tour that helped the album sell amazingly well. Because of this success and Connick's Aw Shucks personality, film appearances were inevitable. His first was in 1990's Memphis Belle and he has consistantly worked in film since then, most notably as Will Smith's wisecracking friend in Independence Day, and in an unexpected turn as the mimicking, murdurous psychopath in Copycat (1995). The late '90s found Connick in larger roles that were a testament to his versatility, including Hope Floats (1998) and Wayward Son (1999). In 2000, Connick brought in the new millennium with a role in My Dog Skip. In 1994, Connick married model Jill Goodacre and together they have two daughters.

Trivia: Frontwoman of new wave singing ensemble Blondie, the photogenic Deborah Harry ultimately became a familiar face -- and voice -- on big and small screens alike. Though Harry was able to land small roles in television's Tales From the Dark Side and the independent film The Foreigner (1978), she wouldn't truly prove her acting ability until her role as the wife of a neurotic businessman in 1979's Union City. In 1983, after having penned the soundtrack for 1981's Polyester, Harry starred in the controversial Videodrome, which revolved around a television station's efforts to provoke its viewers to commit murder. Despite a promising beginning, Harry dropped all of her singing and acting commitments to help care for Blondie guitarist Chris Stein after he fell ill in 1984.The mid-'80s found Harry making a series of vocal contributions to film, though. After performing with Jim Henson's Muppets and contributing to the soundtrack of 1986's The Money Pit, Harry would play the title role in Forever, Lulu (1987), which featured Alec Baldwin in his first film appearance. In 1988, Harry could be seen in John Waters' camp hit Hairspray in the role of Velma Von Tussle, proud wife of a rock icon and relentless stage mother. After a brief performance in New York Stories (1989), Harry was, for the most part, heard and not seen in several animated series and various rock documentaries throughout the early '90s. This would change, however, in 1995, when she won critical praise for her portrayal of a world-weary small-town waitress in James Mangold's Heavy. Afterward, the singer/songwriter showed an admirable versatility, and was as enthusiastic about her role in Cop Land (1997) as she was for her part in The Fluffer (2001), a harsh gay & lesbian-themed erotic drama.The early 2000s proved one of the busiest periods of Harry's film career. After co-starring as a seductive saleswoman in All I Want (2002), Harry went on to perform in Deuces Wild (2002), Spun (2002), Ghostlight (2003), and A Good Night to Die. She also contributed to The Tulse Luper Suitcases, iconoclastic director Peter Greenaway's highly surrealistic franchise. Also in 2003, Harry starred quite successfully opposite rising stars Sarah Polley and Mark Ruffalo in the Spanish/Canadian collaboration My Life Without Me. She would go on to appear in films like Full Grown Men, Anamorph, and Elegy.

Trivia: As Knots Landing's scheming, manipulative vixen Paige Matheson, actress Nicollette Sheridan proved a devilish highlight of 1980s television. Though she had essayed a few small supporting roles in film and television before landing that fateful role, it was Sheridan's icy perfection on Knots Landing that defined her early career. Just as her career seemed to be on the wane with appearances in such B-grade fare as 1999's Raw Nerve and director Jim Wynorski's Lost Treasure, Sheridan surprised television viewers by rising from the ashes to reclaim her former glory by landing the role of fast and loose divorcée Edie Britt on the hit ABC series Desperate Housewives in 2004. Her reborn celebrity status was cemented when the aging actress courted controversy by baring it all (or at least her back) in a steamy Monday Night Football promo. The granddaughter of revered English actress Dinah Sheridan, Nicollette was born November 21, 1963, in England and raised in London before later relocating to Los Angeles. In 1984, she made her small-screen debut in the short-lived television series Paper Dolls. The next year, Sheridan gained feature credibility as the object of John Cusack's character's affection in the lightweight romantic comedy The Sure Thing before returning to the tube for a pair of made-for-television features. In 1986, she began an enduring seven-year run on the evening drama Knots Landing, her performance providing the series with some of its most memorable moments. Sheridan's post-Knots Landing career was highlighted by roles in Spy Hard, Beverly Hills Ninja, and a series of made-for-television movies including A Time to Heal and The People Next Door. If it appeared at the dawn of the new millennium that Sheridan would be forever relegated to obscure independent films and little-seen small-screen features, the tireless actress received a healthy career boost when chosen to portray saucy Edie Britt in the surprise ABC hit Desperate Housewives. If this wasn't enough to put Sheridan back in the spotlight, her controversial appearance on a teaser spot for Monday Night Football raised eyebrows when the actress appeared to seduce Philadelphia receiver Terrell Owens by entering the locker room and dropping her bath towel. Just as Janet Jackson had shocked viewers with the Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" commonly known as "Nipplegate," Sheridan's revealing moment was instantly dubbed "Towelgate" by a salivating press eager to capitalize on the latest controversy. Once her run on Housewives ended, Sheridan mostly laid low, occasionally appearing in a TV movie, like Honeymoon for One (2011) and The Christmas Spirit (2013).

Trivia: An imposing figure of both TV and the stage, 4'11" actor Leslie Jordan's physical stature belies his talent. Garnering massive acclaim for his portrayal of Brother Boy in the Broadway production of Sordid Lives, Jordan would go on to reprise the role for a film adaptation of the play. This led to a successful onscreen career as a character actor, making numerous guest appearances over the years on shows like Boston Legal, Ugly Betty, and Will & Grace. In 2008, he took on the role of Brother Boy once again, as Sordid Lives was adapted into a TV series for the Logo network.

Trivia: Actor Michael Angarano achieved two of his most noteworthy roles back to back, as a violin player in the Wes Craven-directed inspirational drama Music of the Heart (1999) and as the young version of rock journalist-to-be William Miller in Cameron Crowe's semi-autographical seriocomedy Almost Famous (2000). Angarano's subsequent resumé includes supporting parts in such pictures as Seabiscuit (2003), Lords of Dogtown (2005), and One Last Thing... (2005). On the small screen, Angarano played the recurring role of Elliott, Jack's (Sean Hayes) son on Will & Grace (from from 2001-2006), as well as a guest role in the sixth season of 24 (2007). With Man in the Chair (2007) -- a gentle, humorous coming-of-age dramedy about an aspiring teenage film director who finds the fulfillment of his dreams from an unexpected source -- Angarano tackled an associate producer assignment and the lead role concurrently. That same year, Angarano also signed for one of the supporting parts in the David Mickey Evans-helmed baseball drama The Final Season.

Trivia: American brothers Rob and Chad Lowe became actors in childhood (Chad would ultimately win an Emmy for his TV work). Rob was acting from the age of eight in 1972; seven years later, he was a regular on the TV series A New Kind of Family, playing the teenaged son of star Eileen Brennan. That series was shot down quickly, but Lowe's film career picked up when newspaper and magazine articles began aligning the handsome, sensitive young actor with the burgeoning Hollywood "brat pack," which included such new talent as Molly Ringwald, Matt Dillon, Charlie Sheen, and Anthony Michael Hall. Along with several fellow "packers" (Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, and Emilio Estevez), Lowe starred in 1985's St. Elmo's Fire; this film and the earlier Hotel New Hampshire (1984) represent the most memorable projects in Lowe's otherwise negligible film output. In 1989, Lowe's already flagging film stardom received a severe setback when he was accused of videotaping his sexual activities with an underage girl (the evidence has since become a choice item on the sub-rosa video cassette circuit). Arrested for his misdeeds, Lowe performed several hours' worth of community service, then tried to reactivate his career. Since then, Lowe has matured into something of a brat-pack George Hamilton, successfully lampooning his previous screen image in such comedies as Wayne's World (1992) and Tommy Boy (1995).Though his comedic endeavors would continue throughout the 1990s in films such as Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) and its sequel, Lowe gained notice for such dramatic roles as that of the mute and strangely plague-immune Nick Andros in the long-anticipated TV miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand (1994). Lowe's roles throughout the '90s may have not been the prominently featured roles in A-list films that his early shooting-star may have suggested, though he did maintain steady work in an interesting variety of small-budget projects. Lowe's casting on the popular political drama The West Wing brought the actor back into the public eye in what many considered to be one of the most intelligently written dramatic series on television. His turn as quick-witted liberal speechwriter Sam Seaborn brought Lowe through the dark days of his scandalous past, back to an audience who may have forgotten his charm as an actor. He would stay with the series until 2005, all while continuing to pick new projects that involved creativity and an open mind. He tested his limits with roles in films like Salem's Lot and Thank You For Smoking, and in 2004, he began starring in his own TV series, playing Dr. Billy Grant on the crime drama Dr. Vegas. The show lasted until 2008, by which time he had already signed on for the prime time dramedy Brothers & Sisters, starring alongside Calista Flockhart. He had a major part in The Invention of Lying in 2009, and that same year he landed a regular gig on the well-reviewed NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. In 2011 he was the executive producer and one of the leads in the ensemble film I Melt With You.

Trivia: Born June 21, 1979, native Minnesotan actor Chris Pratt scored his first big break on television as the troubled physician's son Bright Abbott on the WB series drama Everwood, opposite Treat Williams and others, and segued into film with a prominent role in the biting satire Strangers with Candy (2005) alongside Amy Sedaris and Stephen Colbert. Successive features included Deep in the Valley (2008), Wanted (2008), and Bride Wars (2009) (as the ineffectual fiancé of Anne Hathaway). In 2009, Pratt joined the NBC sitcom Parks & Recreation as a guest star, but his turn as the dim-witted Andy Dwyer was so well-received that he was promoted to series regular for season 2. While on the show, Pratt also juggled some major movie roles, co-starring with Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill as baseball player Scott Hatteberg in the blockbuster Moneyball (2011) and appearing as a Navy SEAL in 2012's controversial Zero Dark Thirty.

Trivia: Getting her start in a comedy team called "My Mother's Fleabag" while studying at Boston College, the frantically energized Amy Poehler (born September 16th, 1971) has become an improv queen of sorts on the comedy circuit. After graduation, Poehler got involved with Second City and ImprovOlympic in Chicago, where she worked with improv guru Del Close and began touring. After joining up with the sketch comedy group The Upright Citizens Brigade, she moved to New York City with them in 1996. The group had a show on Comedy Central for three seasons and opened their own theater in New York. Her big mainstream breakthrough came in January 2002, when she was promoted from featured player to member of the repertory cast of Saturday Night Live. Two of her most well-known SNL characters have been the one-legged dating show contestant and the combative trailer-park wife. Her other television appearances included recurring characters on Late Night With Conan O'Brien and Undeclared. On the big screen, she seemed to make an impression despite her small roles. In Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, she played a Tourette's Syndrome sufferer, and in Wet Hot American Summer she was a snobby drama club leader. After appearing in the feature Martin & Orloff with the other members of the Upright Citizens Brigade, she would star with Jack Black and Ben Stiller in Envy in 2004, the same year that she memorably portrayed a wannabe hip mom in the Tina Fey-penned comedy Mean Girls. The following few years found Poehler skillfully balancing her small-screen career with her feature aspirations, and whether she was sitting at the "Weekend Update" desk, playing the wife of then-real-life husband Will Arnett on Arrested Development, or waiting tables in Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny, the increasingly busy actress/comedian could always be counted on for a few hearty laughs. Additional appearances in both the kiddie-friendly Spongebob Squarepants and the terrifyingly hilarious Wonder Showzen during this period in her career would offer hilarious proof of Poehler's crafty ability to alternate between subversive adult material and harmless kid cartoons with an ease that no doubt helped to make her a hit with audiences young and old alike. Despite substantial appearances in (Donnie Darko director) Richard Kelly's eagerly anticipated sophomore feature Southland Tales and Alec Baldwin's remake Shortcut to Happiness going largely unseen when both films languished without a release date for far longer than anyone would have anticipated, fans in need of a Poehler feature fix would find little cause to complain as the actress turned up in The Ex, Blades of Glory -- again opposite then-husband Arnett -- and Shrek the Third in 2007.Poehler continued to be a popular choice for voice roles, lending her vocal talents to Monsters vs. Aliens (2009), Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009), and The Secret World of Arrietty (2010). In 2008, she reunited with Tina Fey to play the freewheeling surrogate mother to a high-strung, career-oriented woman (Fey) who desperately wants a baby. Poehler's star continued to rise with the sitcom Parks and Recreation. Introduced in 2009, the popular comedy series follows Leslie Knope (Poehler), a mid-level bureaucrat working for the parks department in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana.

Trivia: Comedian and actress Aubrey Plaza honed her skills with the renowned Upright Citizen's Brigade comedy troupe beginning in 2004, as well as performing standup at places like the Laugh Factory. She graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2006, and soon began making the transition to the screen, appearing as Daisy in the 2009 Judd Apatow comedy Funny People, and as Robin on the series Mayne Street. In 2009, Plaza joined the cast of the comedy series Parks and Recreation, acting alongside Upright Citizen's founding member Amy Poehler. Her performance as bored teenage intern April was a hit with audiences, and Plaza followed it the next year with a role in the quirky 2010 graphic novel adaptation Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. She appeared in Whit Stillman's Damsels in Distress, as well as the comedy Safety Not Guaranteed opposite the Duplass brothers.

Trivia: Actor Nick Offerman honed an immediately identifiable image -- that of a rugged, imposing presence with an unmistakably menacing onscreen aura, occasionally tempered by nuttiness -- and parlayed it into a long string of offbeat characterizations. After guest spots on such prime-time series as ER and Gilmore Girls, and bit parts in features including Treasure Island (1999), Groove (2000), and November (2003), Offerman graduated to lead status with a decidedly wacky triple role in Martin Hynes' road movie The Go-Getter (2007). That same year, audiences could also catch Offerman via his small supporting role as a cop in Goran Dukic's jet-black comic romance Wristcutters: A Love Story. Meanwhile, Offerman also signed for one of the lead roles -- as an auto mechanic -- on the satirical Comedy Central series American Body Shop (2007). In 2009 he was cast as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation, and this turned out to be his breakthrough role. He parlayed that success into appearances in films like The Men Who Stare at Goats, All Good Things, Casa de me Padre, and the big-screen comedy version of 21 Jump Street.

Trivia: The sons and daughters of the rich and famous may have a reputation for being embarrassing, vapid fodder for the paparazzi and reality TV, but Rashida Jones has nothing in common with her peers. The daughter of music mogul and world-famous songwriter Quincy Jones, Rashida began working hard to make herself educated and accomplished from the time she was five years old, when her father would catch her reading with a flashlight after he'd put her to bed. She attended Hebrew school and excelled academically at the Buckley School in Los Angeles, an independent school known for tiny class sizes and a sharp focus on students' development both as people and as scholars. Jones then attended Harvard, where she studied religion and philosophy while pursuing her musical gifts as a member and music director of the a cappella group The Harvard Opportunes. After graduating, she continued to include singing in her list of projects, singing backup on tracks for the band Maroon 5, in major ad campaigns for The Gap, on tracks for hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur (who was engaged to Jones' sister), and on various film soundtracks. Jones also tried her hand at modeling, strutting her stuff for clothing lines like Triple 5 Soul and The Gap, as well as appearing in editorials for Vogue and In Style. Jones had studied theater in college, but acting was only a hobby for her until she was cast in 1997's The Last Don and realized what inspiration she got from the craft. She was later cast as a regular on the hit TV drama Boston Public, and appeared as a guest star in one episode of the fanatical cult favorite Freaks and Geeks. She also lent her talents to appealing independent films like Death of a Dynasty before being cast as Karen in the third season of the much-adored comedy series The Office. Despite the fact that Jones was playing the third point in an awkward love triangle, audiences took to her immediately, not only for her expert comic timing and ability to handle the show's mockumentary format, but for maintaining a realness and likability throughout the story. Jones next signed on to appear in co-star John Krasinski's movie Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. She appeared in the comedy The Ten which featured many members of the comedy troupe The State. In 2009 she landed a part on the new show Parks & Recreations, which turned into a well-respected sitcom for NBC. That same year she had a hit on the big screen as Paul Rudd's fiancé in I Love You, Man. The next year she played a lawyer in The Social Network. She worked with Rudd again in 2011's Our Idiot Brother, and appeared as a TV executive in The Muppets.

Trivia: The professional reputation of some actors and performers is inextricable from that of a larger ensemble to which they belong. Comedian/actor/screenwriter Aziz Ansari epitomizes this idea. Ansari shot to fame in the mid- to late 2000s as a member of the three-person comedy troupe responsible for The Human Giant -- a weekly, SNL-style collection of outrageous and irreverent comedy sketches that the group wrote and performed on MTV.Ansari is -- like Jay Chandrasekhar and a few other comics to emerge during the early 2000s -- of Tamil Indian heritage. Ansari grew up and attended university in rural South Carolina, then studied business at New York University. As a student, Ansari took classes with the famed Upright Citizens Brigade and mounted solo standup comedy gigs at Manhattan-area clubs. After a brief stint working on an Internet advertising business, Ansari discovered that he was earning enough with his standup efforts to focus on this full-time. His association with the Brigade ultimately led to a regular gig as emcee of "Crash Test," a weekly standup comedy showcase at the UCB Theatre, and -- in time -- to the creation of the Human Giant series.In 2009 Ansari landed a regular part on NBC's well-respected Amy Poehler-led sitcom Parks & Recreation. He parlayed that shows success into small parts in comedies like Judd Apatow's Funny People, Jody Hill's Observe & Report, and Get Him to the Greek. This led to his biggest role to that point as the best friend of a slacker forced to rob a bank in 30 Minutes or Less.In 2012 he contributed his vocal talents to Ice Age: Continental Drift.