Trivia: Actor/comedian Martin Lawrence started the 21st century off with a bang, starring and executive producing Big Momma's House, the story of an FBI agent posing as a corpulent Southern matriarch, which went on to gross more than 100 million dollars, despite universally negative reviews. The success of this film pushed Lawrence ever closer to joining the much-coveted 20-million-dollar club, cementing his reputation as one of the biggest comic stars for years to come.Lawrence was born in Frankfurt, Germany, on April 16, 1965, and eventually settled with his family in suburban Maryland around his sixth birthday. Soon after, his father left the family; Lawrence claims he got his start as a comedian by cheering up his mother, who was forced to support her six children by cashiering in various department stores. He attended Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Landover, MD, dabbling in sports and sticking with comedy, even agreeing to stop acting up in an art class in return for performing his stand-up routine in front of the other students.Soon after graduating, the bug-eyed performer earned a chance to perform on Star Search, which led to a role in 1985's What's Happening Now! Lawrence kept honing his frenetic schtick and by 1989, won two big breaks -- a supporting role in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing and MCing HBO's Def Comedy Jam. Lawrence continued to rack up scene-stealing roles throughout the early '90s, including parts in House Party, House Party 2, and Boomerang, eventually landing his own series on Fox in 1992, appropriately named Martin. The show became a huge success, its risqué humor making it a ratings stalwart for more than five years and winning two NAACP Image Awards in the process, although some detractors criticized Lawrence for promoting the image of an oversexed, insensitive black man.Two years after Martin's successful launch, Lawrence released You So Crazy!, a raunchy, vulgarity-laced comedy that originally received the NC-17 rating and was later released unrated. Its crudeness, however, didn't matter much to audiences, as You So Crazy! went on to become one of the highest-grossing concert films of its time.Lawrence appeared to have it all, professionally and privately; in 1995 he married former beauty queen Patricia Southall in a lavish ceremony and the pair had a daughter, Jasmine. Around this time, however, Lawrence's success story began to slip away, his off-camera behavior setting up what should someday be a fascinating E! True Hollywood Story.On the set of his directorial debut, A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, Lawrence erupted in a violent outburst and began taking psychotropic drugs. A few months later, he was arrested for another disturbance, where he reportedly brandished a pistol and screamed at tourists and others on Ventura Boulevard. Over the next two years, his behavior became even more erratic as he racked up a series of gun-related arrests. He landed in drug rehab and filed for divorce from Southall after she got a temporary restraining order against him for yet another vicious eruption.But the most bizarre and unsettling charges were yet to come. Tisha Campbell, Lawrence's co-star on Martin and the House Party films, filed suit against the star and the show's producers, HBO Studios, claiming Lawrence sexually harassed her to the point that she feared for her safety. The studio brokered a settlement that allowed Campbell to finish the show's final season, although she and Lawrence would never be on the soundstage together again.Despite all the trauma, Lawrence seemed as popular as ever. He starred in four hugely commercial successes between 1995 and 1999, including Bad Boys with Will Smith, Nothing to Lose with Tim Robbins, Life with Eddie Murphy, and on his own in Blue Streak. These films made Lawrence extremely bankable -- his salary broke the ten-million-dollar mark for Big Momma's House and it seemed as if his previous troubles were behind him.Then in 1999, while jogging to lose an extra few pounds before filming began on Big Momma's House, Lawrence collapsed into a severe coma due to heat exhaustion, delaying the production's start and firing up the old rumors of drug use and unpredictable behavior. But after recuperating, Lawrence said the coma scare put him back on the straight and narrow.His career trajectory certainly supported this -- after the success of Big Momma's House, he reportedly earned 13 million dollars for What's the Worst That Could Happen? with Danny DeVito. He earned upwards of 16.5 million dollars for Black Knight, which featured Lawrence as a down-on-his-luck employee of a theme restaurant who finds himself transported back to medieval times. Lawrence's next film appearance, Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat, once again found the popular but controversial funnyman taking to the stage, though this time in a far more personal bid to humorize the sometimes startling headlines that had left many fans fearing for both his health and sanity. Seemingly purged of his current demns and eager to settle back into a lucrative film career, Lawrence took to the screen opposite Steve Zahn for the high-speed action comedy National Secuity (2003) before gearing up for the sequel to Bad Boys. After a relatively quiet 2004, Lawrence attempted to broaden his appeal by playing a basketball coach in the family-oriented comedy Rebound. In 2006 Lawrence performed in his first animated film, Open Season, opposite Ashton Kutcher, and released the sequel to one of his biggest comedy hits Big Momma's House 2. That same year he filmed the biker road comedy Wild Hogs alongside Tim Allen and John Travolta.

Trivia: Given his formidable success in numerous arenas of the entertainment industry, the multi-talented Will Smith qualifies as an original "Renaissance man." Although Smith initially gained fame as the rap star Fresh Prince prior to the age of 20, (with constant MTV airplay and blockbuster record sales), he cut his chops as an A-list Hollywood actor on the small and big screens in successive years, unequivocally demonstrating his own commercial viability and sturdy appeal to a broad cross section of viewers. A Philadelphia native, Smith entered the world on September 25, 1968. The son of middle-class parents (his father owned a refrigeration company and his mother worked for the school board) and the second of four children, Smith started rapping from the age of 12, and earned the nickname "Prince" thanks to his ability to slickly talk his way out of trouble. Smith engendered this moniker as a household phrase when he officially formed the duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, with fellow performer Jeff Townes in 1986. That team netted two Grammys (one for the seminal 1988 youth anthem "Parents Just Don't Understand" and one for the 1991 single "Summertime") and scored commercially with a series of albums up through their disbandment in 1993 that did much to dramatically broaden the age range of rap listeners (unlike artists in the gangsta rap subgenre, Smith and Townes never ventured into R- or X-rated subject matter or language). However, by the time he was 21, Smith had frittered away much of his fortune and had fallen into debt with the IRS. Help arrived in the form of Warner Bros. executive Benny Medina, who wanted to create a family-friendly sitcom based on his own experiences as a poor kid living with a rich Beverly Hills family, starring the genial Smith. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air debuted on NBC on September 10, 1990, and became a runaway hit, lasting six seasons. The program imparted to Smith -- who had turned down an MIT scholarship to pursue his career -- even wider audience exposure as the show's protagonist, introducing him to legions of viewers who fell outside of the rap market. During Prince's lengthy run, Smith began to branch out into film work. Following roles in Where the Day Takes You (1992) and Made in America (1993), he drew substantial critical praise on the arthouse circuit, as a young gay con man feigning an identity as Sidney Poitier's son, in Six Degrees of Separation (1993), directed by Fred Schepisi and adapted by John Guare from his own play. Smith also elicited minor controversy around this time for remarks he made in an interview that some perceived as homophobic. In 1994, Smith and Martin Lawrence signed on with powerhouse producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer to co-star in the action-comedy Bad Boys, in which the two play a hotshot pair of Miami cops; it eventually raked in over 141 million dollars worldwide. The following year, Smith topped his Bad Boys success (and then some) with a turn in the sci-fi smash Independence Day, the effects-laden tale of an alien invasion. Co-written, executive-produced, and directed by Roland Emmerich for 20th Century Fox, this picture eventually pulled in over 816 million dollars globally, making it not only the top grosser of 1996, but one of the most lucrative motion pictures in history. Smith then tackled the same thematic ground (albeit in a completely different genre), as a government-appointed alien hunter partnered up with Tommy Lee Jones in Barry Sonnenfeld's zany comedy Men in Black (1997), another smash success. Not long after this, Smith achieved success on a personal front as well, as he married actress Jada Pinkett on New Year's Eve 1998. The following autumn, Smith returned to cinemas with Enemy of the State, a conspiracy thriller with Gene Hackman that had him on the run from government agents. That film scored a commercial bull's-eye, but its triumph preceded a minor disappointment. The following summer, Smith starred opposite Kevin Kline in Wild Wild West, Sonnenfeld's lackluster follow-up to Men in Black, an overwrought and ham-handed cinematic rendering of the late-'60s TV hit.The late fall of 2000 found Smith back in cinemas, playing a mysterious golf caddy who tutors down-on-his-luck putter Matt Damon in the syrupy The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000). Smith then trained rigorously for his most demanding role up to that point: that of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali in director Michael Mann's biopic Ali (2001). The film struggled to find an audience, and critics were mixed, even if Smith's well-studied performance earned praise as well as his first Oscar nomination. While Smith executive produced the Robert De Niro/Eddie Murphy comedy Showtime (2002), he doubled it up with work in front of the camera, on the sci-fi comedy sequel Men in Black II, also helmed by Barry Sonnenfeld. As expected, the film made an unholy amount of money; he followed it up with yet another sequel, the Bruckheimer-produced Bad Boys II. It topped the box office, as expected. The next year saw Smith pull the one-two punch of I, Robot -- a futuristic, effects-laden fantasy -- and the CG-animated Shark Tale, in which he voiced Oscar, a little fish with a big attitude who scrubs whales for a living. While Smith had proven himself as an action star time and again and had received high marks for his dramatic work, it remained to be seen if he could carry a romantic comedy. All speculation ceased in early 2005 with the release of Hitch: Starring Smith as a fabled "date doctor," the film had the biggest opening weekend for a rom-com to date, leading many to wonder if there was anything Smith couldn't do.The following year, Smith starred in the period drama The Pursuit of Happyness. Set in early-'80s San Francisco, and directed by Gabriele Muccino (a director specifically summoned for the task by Smith), the film recounted the true story of Charles Gardner (Smith), a single dad struggling in an unpaid position as an intern at Dean Witter, all in an effort to be able provide for his son. The film tapped new reserves of compassion and desparation in Smith's persona, as he managed to fully embody another real-life character while maintaining all of the qualities that endeared him to audiences in the first place: His humor, his hustle and his ingenuity. Upon its release, Happyness provided Smith with perhaps his first cinematic hat trick: critical praise, a second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, and staggering box-office success (the film would become one of his largest hits). Meanwhile, he began work as the lead in I Am Legend (2007), the third screen incarnation of sci-fi giant Richard Matheson's seminal novel of the same title (following a 1964's The Last Man on Earth, and 1971's The Omega Man).The actor continued to keep busy in 2008 with films including Seven Pounds (despite an unintentionally comical suicide by sea life, the film was a critical failure) and superhero comedy Hancock, featuring Smith in the lead role as a hard-drinking ne'er-do-well who is reluctantly thrust into the world of crime-fighting. After producing a remake of The Karate Kid (starring his son, Jaden Smith) and spy comedy This Means War, Smith reprised his role as Agent J for Men in Black III in 2012. MIB III was a box office success, in no small part due to the chemistry between Smith and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones).

Trivia: First earning fame as a witty, agile comic actress on TV, smart, leggy beauty Téa Leoni was poised for Hollywood movie stardom by the late '90s. Born Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni and raised in New York City, Leoni graduated from boarding school in Vermont and headed to Sarah Lawrence College to study psychology. After dropping out to travel for several months, Leoni intended to finish college at Harvard. Though she had never planned on acting, Leoni auditioned on a dare for a planned TV remake of Charlie's Angels and was cast. Though the 1988 writer's strike killed the series, Leoni opted to stay in Hollywood. After several years of modeling and TV commercials, Leoni made her film debut as the "Dream Girl" in Blake Edwards' farce Switch (1991). A small part in A League of Their Own (1992) and starring roles in the short-lived Fox sitcom Flying Blind (1992) and the TV movie The Counterfeit Contessa (1994) brought Leoni more attention. While she co-starred as the obligatory female-witness-in-peril in the blockbuster actioner Bad Boys (1995), Leoni's gift for acid wit and goofy physical comedy turned her into a TV star that same year in the sitcom The Naked Truth. Despite a network change, The Naked Truth lasted three seasons; Leoni further bolstered her comic reputation with her performance as a high-strung psychology student in David O. Russell's excellent screwball comedy Flirting With Disaster (1996). While The Naked Truth mined TV laughs out of tabloids, After taking a turn for the serious as a reporter in the first 1998 asteroid blockbuster Deep Impact, Leoni then took a break from acting to focus on her family. She returned to movies in 2000 with a charming performance as Nicolas Cage's beloved in the syrupy dramedy The Family Man, and subsequently kept busy with a string of roles in such big-budget features as Jurassic Park III (2001), Fun with Dick and Jane (2005), and Tower Heist (2011). She returned to television in 2014 with Madam Secretary.

Trivia: Memorable to fans of international cinema as the spy recruiter who schooled Nikita in the fine art of assassination, international actor Tchéky Karyo has been racking up memorable screen credits for over 20 years. Whether a fan of mainstream American action movies or obscure foreign arthouse fare, many viewers have likely seen the versatile Karyo and likely remember the characters he portrayed. Born in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1953 and raised in Paris, Karyo studied drama at the Cyrano Theater before moving on to essay numerous classical stage roles at the Daniel Sorano Company. Upon joining the National Theater of Strasbourg, Karyo refined his versatility by alternating between contemporary fare and such classical Shakespearian works as Macbeth and Othello. Soon becoming one of France's most popular actors, Karyo, with over 50 film and television credits to his name, found that his popularity wasn't limited by international borders through roles in such films as The Return of Martin Guerre (1982), The Bear (1988), and director Luc Besson's influential La Femme Nikita (1990). Fans of historical film may recognize Karyo from his roles as Vincent Van Gogh (Vincent and Me) and famed prophet Nostradamus (Nostradamus) in addition to roles in such historical films as 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) and The Patriot (2000).Becoming a familiar face to American filmgoers in the 1990s, Karyo could play everything from low-key and comically philosophical (Addicted to Love [1997]) to an over-the-top bad guy (Bad Boys [1995]) to a Russian defense minister (GoldenEye [1995]) with equal conviction no matter how large, small, or varied the role might be. After an audacious turn as a loose-hinged policeman in the hyperkinetically tasteless Dobermann (1997), Karyo appeared frequently in such English-language films as Wing Commander (1999), The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999, re-teaming the actor with Nikita helmer Besson), Saving Grace (2000), and Kiss of the Dragon (2001). In addition to his nomination for a César for his role in La Balance (1982), Karyo was the recipient of the Jean Gabin Prize in recognition of his talent in 1986.

Trivia: One of today's best character actors, the inexhaustible Joe Pantoliano boasts over 100 film, television, and stage credits. A favorite of directors Richard Donner, Steven Spielberg, Andrew Davis, and Andy and Larry Wachowski, he is also a dependable scene stealer with more than his share of memorable roles -- including killer pimp Guido in Risky Business (1983), bumbling criminal Francis Fratelli in The Goonies (1985), double-crossing bail bondsman Eddie Moscone in Midnight Run (1988), cynical U.S. Marshall Cosmo Renfro in The Fugitive (1993), turncoat Cypher in The Matrix (1999), and shady sidekick Teddy in Memento (2000). Born on September 12, 1951 in Hoboken, NJ, the actor is the only son of Dominic, a hearse driver, and Mary Pantoliano, a part-time seamstress/bookie. When he was 12, Pantoliano's mother left his father for her distant cousin Florio, though the couple never officially divorced. Pantoliano and his younger sister Maryann grew up throughout northern New Jersey with their mother and Florio, whom they eventually came to regard as their stepfather. Pantoliano suffered from severe dyslexia, and at age 17, he was still reading at the third-grade level. After seeing the youngster perform in his senior play, Up the Down Staircase, Florio convinced him to pursue acting professionally. Pantoliano moved to Manhattan, where he worked as a waiter while juggling acting classes and auditions. In 1972, he landed the coveted role of stuttering Billy Bibbit in the touring production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Four years later, Pantoliano moved west to try his luck in Hollywood. After making his television debut in the sitcom pilot McNamara's Band, he landed a recurring role in Rob Reiner's summer replacement series, Free Country. Reiner then tapped Pantoliano to co-star with him in James Burrows' television movie More Than Friends (1978). This led to the part of Angelo Maggio -- a role originated by fellow Hoboken-ite Frank Sinatra -- in NBC's miniseries adaptation of James Jones' From Here to Eternity (1979). After making his major feature-film debut in The Idolmaker (1980), Pantoliano guest starred on Hart to Hart, M*A*S*H, and Hardcastle and McCormick, as well as appeared on the Los Angeles stage in Orphans. He also landed a sizable part opposite a young Tom Cruise in the surprise hit Risky Business (1983). The comic ruthlessness with which Pantoliano's pimp tortures Cruise quickly earned the character actor a loyal cult following. He gave standout performances in Eddie and the Cruisers (1983) and the off-Broadway play Visions of Kerouac, before thrilling audiences again in the Spielberg-produced adventure The Goonies (1985). Scores of plum roles followed: Pantoliano joined Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines in Running Scared (1986), portrayed Lou Diamond Phillips' music producer in La Bamba (1987), re-teamed with Spielberg in Empire of the Sun (1987), and acted opposite Robert De Niro in Midnight Run (1988). He then topped these performances off with an unforgettable turn opposite Tommy Lee Jones and Harrison Ford in The Fugitive (1993), delivering a funny, fiery tour de force that was pure Pantoliano right down to the name he chose for his character, Cosmo -- his grandfather's name. By the mid-'90s, Pantoliano had a recognizable name and a devoted fan base. While making numerous television guest appearances, he starred with Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon in directors Andy and Larry Wachowski's debut thriller, Bound (1996). Pantoliano's edgy performance as a doomed money launderer impressed the Wachowskis so much that they created the character of Cypher in The Matrix (1999) exclusively for him. Shortly afterward, his co-star in the sci-fi spectacular, Carrie-Anne Moss, insisted that director Christopher Nolan hire Pantoliano for the third lead in his sleeper-hit Memento (2000). In 2001, at the behest of producer David Chase, Pantoliano joined the cast of the landmark HBO series The Sopranos. While earning a well-deserved Emmy as psychopathic mobster Ralphie Cifaretto on the hit show, the actor published Who's Sorry Now: The True Story of a Stand-Up Guy, a bittersweet memoir about his New Jersey childhood. He also put the finishing touches on his directorial debut, Just Like Mona (2002), and began filming his role as reporter Ben Urich in the comic book adaptation Daredevil (2003). Over the course of the next decade, the versatile actor continued his trend of turning in memorable supporting performances on film and television, with turns in films like Bad Boys II and Pecy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief offering the most exposure. Meanwhile, in 2009, Pantoliano got personal with his fans as the director of No Kidding, Me Too!, a playful yet poignant documentary exploring the devastating effects of mental illness, and the steps being taken to eradicate it.

Trivia: Though American actress Theresa Randle has only been in films since 1990, she has already worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood. She made her debut with a small role in Maid to Order (1987) and appeared sporadically in films such as Easy Wheels (1989), but first gained national notice when director Spike Lee cast her as an aspiring actress who works for a phone sex service in Girl 6 (1996). Prior to that, Randle had played small roles in two other Lee films, Jungle Fever (1991) and Malcolm X (1992). Other notable directors with whom she has worked include Robert Townsend and John Landis. In 1996, she starred opposite basketball superstar Michael Jordan and the stars of the old Warner Bros.' cartoons in the b-ball fantasy Space Jam. In 1997, Randle played a major role in the film adaptation of Todd McFarlane's popular comic Spawn (1997).

Trivia: Best known for her television work, Marg Helgenberger started acting in college theatrical productions while studying speech at Northwestern University. A native of Omaha, NE, where she was born on November 16, 1958, Helgenberger moved to New York after graduating from college and landed a role as a tough young policewoman on the soap opera Ryan's Hope. During her four-year tenure on the show, she also maintained her ties with the theater through her involvement with TADA, the Children's Theater Company.Following a move to Southern California, Helgenberger began guest starring on such television series as Matlock, thirtysomething, and HBO's Tales From the Crypt. She co-starred on the short-lived series Shell Game (1987) before getting her big break with the role of K.C., a tough prostitute, on the distinguished drama China Beach in 1988. Helgenberger's role won her two Emmy nominations and one win in 1990. Following the series' demise in 1991, Helgenberger returned to television guest-star status on ER, where she had a four-episode-long recurring role, and in the miniseries The Tommyknockers.A presence on the big screen since 1989, when she made her feature-film debut in Steven Spielberg's romantic fantasy Always, Helgenberger has played a wide variety of roles in films ranging from Species (1995) to the moody The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997) to Steven Soderbergh's widely acclaimed Erin Brockovich (2000). Helgenberger would continue to appear in films like In Good Company and Mr. Brooks, and found particular success with the starring role of Catherine Willows on the long running proceedural CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Trivia: A striking character actor with a knack for playing either cops or outlaws and a sinister undercurrent, Nestor Serrano was born in New York City on February 26, 1957. Serrano got his start as an actor on the New York stage, appearing in off-Broadway productions while supporting himself as a computer operator. Serrano landed his first big break in 1985 when he was an understudy in the Broadway drama The Boys of Winter, starring Matt Dillon, Wesley Snipes, Ving Rhames, and Andrew McCarthy. In 1986, Serrano landed a showier role in the off-Broadway production Cuba and his Teddy Bear, in which Robert De Niro made his first stage appearance in over 15 years. Serrano made his film debut in 1986 with a bit part as a pilot in Brenda Starr, although it would be several years later before the film received a theatrical release. His first role to be seen by audiences was a small part as a housepainter in the comedy The Money Pit. Serrano also began adding television work to his increasingly busy schedule of stage roles and film appearances; he played the recurring role of Officer Geno Toffenelli on the short-lived police drama True Blue, and he was also a regular on two other cop shows, The Hat Squad, which lasted a single season in 1992-1993, and Moloney, another short-lived series which bowed in 1996. However, in 2001, Serrano finally landed a high-profile television role on the sci-fi action fantasy series Witchblade, where he played Captain Bruno Dante, nemesis of detective-turned-superheroine Sara Pezzini (Yancy Butler). Serrano also played notable supporting roles in Bringing Out the Dead, The Negotiator, Bait, and The Insider.

Trivia: Before his starring role in The Sopranos made his name, character actor Michael Imperioli worked in numerous films during the 1990s with an impressive array of New York-based talent. Born in Mount Vernon, NY, Imperioli did not have to move far when he decided to study acting at New York City's Stella Adler Conservatory. Soon after his 1988 movie debut, Imperioli burnished his acting resumé with a small part as Spider, shot by Joe Pesci in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas (1990). The following year, Imperioli earned his first role in a Spike Lee film, Jungle Fever (1991). Becoming a Lee regular, Imperioli also played small parts in Malcolm X (1992), Clockers (1995), and Girl 6 (1996), and garnered his first feature screenplay credit as co-writer and executive producer of Lee's Summer of Sam (1999). Imperioli added Italian-American authenticity to Nancy Savoca's quirky ethnic tale Household Saints (1993) and appeared with future Sopranos co-stars Dominic Chianese in The Night We Never Met (1993) and Edie Falco in Abel Ferrara's vampire allegory The Addiction (1995). Briefly "going Hollywood" with parts in the first Michael Bay extravaganza Bad Boys (1995), and Walter Hill's Last Man Standing (1996), Imperioli returned to his New York state of mind in the latter half of the 1990s. Working with The Addiction star Lili Taylor again, Imperioli was an arrogant Ondine to Taylor's disturbed Factory hanger-on Valerie Solanas in Mary Harron's I Shot Andy Warhol (1996). Audiences could finally attach a name to Imperioli's oft-seen face when he was cast as drug-addicted wannabe screenwriter/mobster Christopher Moltisanti in David Chase's Mafia series The Sopranos. A critical hit from its 1999 debut onward, The Sopranos' potent combination of black comedy, family drama, and violence allowed Imperioli to display the full range of his talents onscreen, particularly when Christopher dabbles in Method acting, and offscreen as one of the second season writers. Imperioli is married and has two children.

Trivia: One of the most prolific and reliably excellent actors on the independent film circuit, Kevin Corrigan has made a name for himself portraying a painfully memorable array of geeks, stoners, and generally pathetic losers. Consistently good at playing bad, he has elevated the expression of basic freakishness into something of an underrated art form.A native of the Bronx, where he was born on March 27, 1969, Corrigan first became interested in acting as a teenager. At the age of 17, his play The Boiler Room was produced by the Young Playwrights Festival of New York. The 1990s got off to a promising start for Corrigan with a supporting role as Ray Liotta's brother in Martin Scorsese's critically acclaimed Goodfellas (1990). More gangster action followed the next year with a part in Billy Bathgate, but Corrigan then took a turn toward smaller features with Zebrahead, a 1992 film that opened to generally positive reviews but little box-office action. After supporting roles in The Saint of Fort Washington and True Romance (both 1993), Corrigan had a substantial part in director Matthew Harrison's Rhythm Thief, a black-and-white drama that won Harrison a directing award at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. The film marked the beginning of Corrigan's immersion in the growing and increasingly lucrative world of independent film, with supporting roles in Tom DiCillo's acclaimed Living in Oblivion (1995), in which the actor provided laughs as a dimbulb cameraman, and Trees Lounge (1996), the directorial debut of Corrigan's Oblivion co-star Steve Buscemi. The same year, Corrigan had substantial roles in the well-received independent comedy Walking and Talking, in which he had a memorable turn as a nebbishy video clerk who sleeps with Catherine Keener, and Illtown, a crime drama in which he starred with Lili Taylor and Zebrahead co-star Michael Rapaport. Following a turn as a stoner guitarist in the obscure Bandwagon (1996) and a supporting role in Hal Hartley's 1997 film Henry Fool, Corrigan co-wrote and starred in the comedy Kicked in the Head, his second collaboration with Rhythm Thief director Harrison. The film had the distinction of being executive produced by Martin Scorsese, who had signed on after being favorably impressed by Rhythm Thief. The movie was also notable for the fact that the misadventures of Corrigan's character -- a guy who gets kicked out of his apartment and dumped by his girlfriend -- were based on events in the actor's own life. He would later remark that the film was a form of therapy and followed it up with what was essentially a form of therapy for another director, Tamara Jenkins' The Slums of Beverly Hills (1998). Playing a Manson Family-obsessed stoner, Corrigan made a repugnantly vivid impression in the widely acclaimed movie and the same year made a similar impression with his role as Vincent Gallo's best friend in Buffalo '66. After a small part in Paul Auster's Lulu on the Bridge (which premiered at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival), Corrigan worked on two more independents, the romantic drama Roberta, which premiered at the 1999 Sundance Festival and featured Corrigan in a lead role as a shy computer expert, and Coming Soon, which opened at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival in April of the same year.

Trivia: Marc Macaulay is an actor who's just got one of those faces -- you know you've seen it somewhere before but you just can't seem to put your finger on it. Of course, one glance at the screen veteran's credit list and movie fanatics will instantly realize that they have indeed seen Macaulay numerous times on screens both large and small, it's just that he has a way of immersing himself in the role so effectively that it's difficult to distinguish which performance stood out the most. It was during his junior year of college that the aspiring commercial illustrator accepted a dare to audition for an upcoming play, yet while the friend who issued that challenge was well on his way to becoming a professional actor, Macaulay himself had never even considered a career in the performing arts. When the cast list was posted and Macaulay discovered that he had landed one of the lead roles, however, the course of his entire life would suddenly be altered by the decision of one single casting director. After receiving a scholarship for acting and graduating with a BFA in theater, Macaulay relocated to Jupiter, FL, in order to attend the Burt Reynolds Institute of Theatre Training. While a move to New York seemed only natural for Macaulay upon finishing his training in Florida, acting gigs in the Big Apple were few and far between. After racking up a few film credits and continuing his studies at H.B. Studios, Macaulay eventually returned to the Sunshine State to audition for a new series called Miami Vice (1984). Over the course of the following decade, Macaulay was swept up in a whirlwind of supporting roles. From short-lived series like B.L. Stryker and Wiseguy to major motion pictures such as Edward Scissorhands, Passenger 57, Contact, and The Truman Show, the workman-like actor could always be counted on to deliver a convincing, well-mannered performance. While frequent roles in such shows as Matlock, Walker, Texas Ranger, and Nash Bridges provided a bit of stability in a notoriously volatile industry, the increasingly busy actor largely earned his keep by continually leaping from the big screen to the small -- all the while displaying impressive footing on both. By the year 2000, casting directors were finally wising up to the true talent at their disposal, and Macaulay was landing consistent work in feature films. Never tied to just one genre, Macaulay turned in impressive performances in films as diverse as From Justin to Kelly, Monster, Transporter 2, and The Hawk Is Dying (opposite Academy Award-nominee Paul Giamatti). A minor role in the 2006 feature film Miami Vice served well to bring Macaulay's career full circle. In 2006, Macaulay could be seen in a recurring role on the popular Fox drama Prison Break, with subsequent parts in the feature films Premonition and Walking Tall 2 preceding yet another small-screen recurring role in the weekly USA Network thriller Burn Notice in 2007.

Trivia: Originally studying to be a jazz musician at the Berklee School of Music, Bronx native Frank John Hughes instead has made a career of playing hitmen and edgy guys. In 1991, he began collaborating with writer/director Robert Celestino for his film debut in True Convictions. He played a hitman in Bad Boys, a man on the run in Layin' Low, and a mobster in The Funeral. He got his first starring role in the black-and-white independent film Mr. Vincent, where he played the title character. He followed that with another low-budget indie, Urban Jungle (aka Blink of an Eye), playing an ex-con trying to start over. On the small screen, Hughes played Wild Bill in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and switched gears (getting rid of the mustache) for the clean-cut role of Charlie in the NBC series Players with Ice-T. Numerous television guest appearances would follow, from Law & Order to Homicide: Life on the Street. After appearing in the thriller Anacardium in 2001, Hughes got a part in Steven Spielberg 's Catch Me If You Can.

Trivia: During his career in the National Basketball Association, John "Spider" Salley played on four championship teams, including the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan that many consider the sport's all-time greatest. His post-playing career has featured frequent television appearances, as well as scattered credits in motion pictures like Bad Boys II, Black Dynamite, and Confessions of a Shopaholic.

Trivia: Canadian actor Kim Coates honed his craft on-stage in a number of theaters in his native country. Eventually he made his way to television on episodes of Miami Vice and Night Heat, among other shows. His feature credits include The Last Boy Scout, The Client, and Kevin Costner's infamous Waterworld. He appeared in the Oscar-wining Western Unforgiven as well as re-teaming with Costner on his underrated oater Open Range. Continuing to bounce steadily between work on the big and small screens, Coates scored a recurring part on the thriller series Prison Break. In 2008 he was cast in the hit FX cable drama Sons of Anarchy, and in 2011 he had a memorable supporting turn as a hockey coach in the sports comedy Goon.