Trivia: As the son of comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara Ben Stiller's decision to establish himself as a comic writer and actor surprised almost no one.Born in New York City on November 30, 1965, Stiller began to shoot his own comic films from the age of ten. After high-school graduation, Stiller attended UCLA and landed bit parts in several features, notably the Steven Spielberg-directed, Tom Stoppard and Menno Meyjes-scripted, late 1987 opus Empire of the Sun.Meanwhile, Stiller continued to turn out comedy shorts, including the 30-minute Elvis Stories (1989), a spoof of obsessive Elvis fans featuring an already-established John Cusack. One of Stiller's shorts, a Tom Cruise parody called The Hustler of Money, won him a spot as a writer and player on Saturday Night Live in 1989. His stint on the show was short-lived, but led to his own eponymous series, The Ben Stiller Show, first on MTV (1990) and later on Fox (1992-1993). The program failed to draw a substantial audience, and folded within a couple of months on each network, but Stiller netted an Emmy for comedy writing in 1993.The following year, Stiller debuted as a feature film director with the twentysomething angst romcom Reality Bites (1994), in which he also starred alongside Winona Ryder and a memorably grungy Ethan Hawke. The film was a relative critical and commercial success and scored with Gen-Xers; unfortunately, Stiller's next directorial effort, 1996's The Cable Guy failed to register with critics and audiences. After a small part as nursing-home orderly Hal in the Adam Sandler comedy Happy Gilmore (1996), Stiller rebounded with a starring role in David O. Russell's Flirting With Disaster (1996). The relatively positive reception afforded to that comedy helped to balance out the relative failure of Stiller's other film that year, If Lucy Fell. It was not until two years later, however, that Stiller truly stepped into the limelight. Thanks to starring roles in three wildly, wickedly different films, he emerged as an actor of versatility, equally adept at playing sensitive nice guys and malevolent hellraisers. In the smash gross-out comedy There's Something About Mary (1998), Stiller appeared as the former type, making comic history for outrageous sight gags that involved misplaced bodily fluids and mangled genitalia. That same summer, Stiller did time as a gleefully adulterous theatrical instructor in Neil LaBute's jet-black evisceration of contemporary sexual mores, Your Friends and Neighbors. Finally, Stiller starred in the intensely graphic and disturbing addiction drama Permanent Midnight, earning critical acclaim for his portrayal of writer-cum-heroin addict Jerry Stahl -- a personal friend of the Stiller family from Stahl's days scripting the TV series ALF. Now fully capable of holding his own in Hollywood, with the license to prove it, Stiller starred alongside William H. Macy, Paul Reubens, Hank Azaria, and pal Janeane Garofalo in the fantasy comedy Mystery Men (1999) as the leader of a group of unconventional superheroes. Stiller also landed a supporting role in The Suburbans, a comedy about the former members of a defunct new wave band. The following year, Stiller starred as a rabbi smitten with the same woman as his best friend, a Catholic priest (Edward Norton), in the well-received romantic comedy Keeping the Faith (2000), which Norton also co-produced and directed. Stiller found his widest audience up to that point, however, with the Jay Roach-directed madcap comedy Meet the Parents. As the tale of a nutty father-in-law to be (Robert De Niro) who wreaks unchecked havoc on his daughter's intended (Stiller) via covert CIA operations and incessant interrogation, this disastrously humorous tale of electrical interference gone wild scored with ticket-buyers and qualified as the top box-office draw during the holiday season of 2000.In the autumn of 2001, Stiller brought one of his most popular MTV Video Music Awards incarnations to the big screen in the outrageously silly male-model comedy Zoolander, in which he successfully teamed with (real-life friend) Owen Wilson to carry stupidity to new heights.In 2001 Stiller once again teamed with Wes Anderson collaborator Wilson for the widely praised comedy drama The Royal Tenenbaums. Cast as the estranged son of eccentric parents who returns home, Stiller infused his unmistakable comic touch with an affecting sense of drama that found him holding his ground opposite such dramatic heavies as Gene Hackman and Anjelica Huston. Though his work in 2002 offered little more than a few cameo performances and some vocal contributions to various animated children's shows, the busy comedic actor returned to the big screen for the 2003 comedy Duplex, directed by Danny DeVito. Though the film pairs Stiller and Hollywood bombshell Drew Barrymore as a couple willing to go to horrific extremes to land the much-desired eponymous living space, reviews were unkind and the comedy died a quick death at the box office. Stiller's next film -- the romantic comedy Along Came Polly -- fared considerably better on a fiscal level, but suffered from an implausible premise.Spring 2004 promised a rebound when the electrifying duo of Stiller and Owen Wilson returned to the big screen with director Todd Phillips' celluloid recycling job Starsky & Hutch. Though Stiller and Wilson seemed the ideal pair for such a conceptually rich re-imagining of 1970s television, and the film boasted wonderful villainous turns by rapper Snoop Dogg and Vince Vaughn, reviews were once again lackluster and the film struggled to find an audience. Yet Starsky & Hutch did actually reap a profit, which (in a business sense) placed it miles ahead of Stiller's next film. Released a mere two months after Starsky & Hutch, the Barry Levinson comedy Envy sports a wacky premise; it explores the comic rivalry that erupts between two longtime friends and neighbors when one invents a product that makes dog excrement disappear. It also boasts a marvelous cast, replete with Stiller, the maniacal Jack Black, and the brilliant Christopher Walken. But for whatever reason (speculated by some as the film's inability to exploit the invention at the story's center) the film's sense of humor failed to catch fire and Envy died a quick box-office death. Stiller fared better with the ribald, anarchic summer 2004 comedy Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, starring himself, Vince Vaughn, and Rip Torn. For the following two years, Stiller once again contented himself largely with bit parts (2004's Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy, 2006's Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny) until the Christmas 2006 release A Night at the Museum. In this effects-heavy fantasy, adapted from the popular children's book by Milan Trenc, Stiller plays Larry Daley, the new night watchman at New York City's Museum of Natural History, who discovers that the exhibits all spring to life after hours, from a giant skeletal Tyrannosaurus Rex to a waxen Teddy Roosevelt -- and seem content to hold Larry hostage. The effort split critical opinion, but shot up to become one of the top three box-office draws during the holiday season of 2006.Meanwhile, Stiller signed on to team with the Farrelly brothers for The Heartbreak Kid (2007), a remake of the 1972 Elaine May comedy of the same title; he also produced Blades of Glory, a comedy with Will Ferrell and Jon Heder as rival figure-skating champions vying with one another for Olympic gold. He wrote, directed and starred in the hit comedy Tropic Thunder (2008) as a moronic Hollywood actor toplining a war film, voiced Alex in the same year's animated picture Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, and in 2009, reprised his Larry Daley role for Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. Stiller's emphasis on sequels then continued with 2010's Little Fockers and 2012's Madagascar 3. In 2013, Stiller picked up the role originally made famous by Danny Kaye, as the lead in the remake The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which Stiller also directed and produced. The following year, he appeared in the next film in the Night at the Museum series, Secret of the Tomb.

Trivia: Whether he's acting or co-writing brilliantly quirky character studies with director/writing partner Wes Anderson, Owen C. Wilson's work exudes an insouciant yet earnest charm and eccentric comic sensibility, making him one of the most promising new talents to emerge in the 1990s.Born in Dallas on November 18th, 1968, Wilson raised enough hell in high school to get expelled from one institution in tenth grade, but he managed to attend college at the University of Texas in Austin and graduate in 1991. Along with his degree, Wilson's Austin years resulted in a budding partnership with a like-minded creative classmate, aspiring filmmaker Wes Anderson. Their first film together, a short about a bookstore heist called Bottle Rocket, played at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival, attracting the attention of producer Polly Platt and writer/director James L. Brooks. With Brooks' support, Wilson and Anderson expanded the short into a feature, indie cult favorite Bottle Rocket (1996). Though it made little impression at the box office, Anderson and Wilson's distinctly offbeat, wry, and optimistic tale about aspiring criminal Dignan and his best friend Anthony (played by Wilson's brother Luke Wilson) earned ardent fans among cinéastes. Wilson's inspired performance as Dignan, not to mention his blond hair, large grin, and affable drawl, became his Hollywood calling card. That same year, Wilson also began a fertile association with actor/director Ben Stiller, appearing in one memorable scene as a smooth, ill-fated date in Stiller's black comedy The Cable Guy (1996).Alternating between supporting roles in Hollywood spectacles, collaborations with Anderson and Stiller, and smaller independent projects, Wilson worked steadily for the rest of the 1990s. Though he always seemed to fill the generic slot of Guy Marked for Death, Wilson still managed to bring a reliably laid-back, humorous spark to the bombastic proceedings in Anaconda (1997), Armageddon (1998), and The Haunting (1999). On a more artistically successful front, Wilson's next script with Anderson resulted in the lauded coming-of-age film Rushmore (1998). With its singular cast of characters, distinctive combination of deadpan humor and true emotion, and superb performances by Jason Schwartzman as teen prodigy Max Fischer and Bill Murray as depressed millionaire Blume, Rushmore earned prizes from the critics (if not the Academy) and proved that Bottle Rocket was no fluke. As far as acting, Wilson's ability to suggest complexity beneath a breezy surface earned positive notice for his unsettling performance as a laconic, self-styled Good Samaritan serial killer in indie thriller The Minus Man (1999).By 2000, Wilson began to take center stage in larger Hollywood projects as well. Though it was another Jackie Chan vehicle, Wilson's hilarious co-starring turn as a surfer dude-tinged outlaw in the chop socky Western Shanghai Noon (2000) nearly stole the movie. Wilson's brief appearance as a Jesus-loving, super rich romantic rival to Ben Stiller's put-upon Greg Focker was a comic highlight of the hit Meet the Parents (2000). Stiller's supermodel farce Zoolander (2001) further sealed Wilson's status as a superlative comic actor. As Zoolander's rival Hansel, Wilson's offbeat timing made him the ultimate bubble-headed mannequin; his catwalk competition with Stiller provided the biggest laughs in a hit-or-miss movie. Even as he flourished in broad Hollywood comedy, Wilson continued his partnership with Wes Anderson, co-writing with Anderson and co-starring (with his brother Luke and Stiller among others) in the unusual family story The Royal Tenenbaums (2001). Branching out into serious roles, Wilson then co-starred with The Royal Tenenbaums patriarch Gene Hackman in the military drama Behind Enemy Lines (2001). An increasingly prevalent figure in action films following the millennial turnover, Wilson followed Behind Enemy Lines with I Spy (2002) and the Shanghai Noon sequel Shanghai Knights (2003) before appearing opposite Morgan Freeman in the critical and commercial disappointment The Big Bounce and co-starring in the underwhelming big screen adaptation of Starsky & Hutch. He made his third appearance in a Jackie Chan vehicle in the 2004 Disney production Around the World in 80 Days; though poised to be a blockbuster, the mega-budgeted film was one of the biggest flops of the season.A rebound was in order, and if his supporting turn in the 2004 holiday-season blockbuster sequel Meet the Fockers wasn't enough, Wilson found his greatest leading-man success to date as foil to the bawdy Vince Vaughn in 2005's raunchy, runaway hit The Wedding Crashers. The Wilson-Vaughn pairing challenged the Wilson-Stiller hilarity quotient as a pair of divorce consultants who bide their free time crashing weddings to get laid. The $200-million smash was indeed a tough act to follow, and while 2006's You, Me and Dupree - a thematic reprise of his Wedding Crashers role in which he plays an irritating houseguest who refuses to vacate - was something of a letdown, Wilson more than made up for it that same year with a leading voice role in Pixar's Cars and a supporting turn in Stiller's special-effects comedy A Night at the Museum.For the next couple of years, Wilson continued to stick with what worked - collaborations with Anderson (The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)) and sequels in his hit franchises (Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian (2009), Little Fockers (2010) and Cars 2 (2011)). He also starred in Woody Allen's Mightnight in Paris (2011), earning a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.Romantically linked, by turns, with a pre-Ashton Demi Moore, rocker Sheryl Crow, and actress Kate Hudson, Wilson, with his shaggy blond mane, blue eyes, and (as one magazine cited humorously in its front cover headline) "unusual nose," also found himself the unlikely forebear of a new wave of Hollywood sex symbols.

Trivia: Laid-back rapper Snoop Dogg followed in the footsteps of such West Coast colleagues as Ice Cube and Ice-T, and added acting to his repertoire in the late '90s.Raised in Long Beach and nicknamed Snoop due to his resemblance to Peanuts' top canine, Snoop Dogg's troubled teen years culminated in a drug conviction after high school. After he got out of prison, Snoop Dogg turned to rap and soon captured the attention of star producer/rapper Dr. Dre. Introduced on Dr. Dre's seminal album The Chronic (1992), Snoop Dogg's smooth low-key style and lyrical authenticity turned him into one of gangster rap's stars, culminating with the release of his own top-selling, Grammy-nominated debut album Doggystyle (1993). Snoop Dogg's street cred, however, proved too negatively authentic when his involvement in a drive-by shooting led to a murder charge that same year. Battling the charge through the mid-'90s, Snoop Dogg was cleared in 1996, but his record sales waned along with gangster rap's popularity.Still a notable music celebrity, however, Snoop Dogg branched out into acting with a cameo appearance in the stoner comedy Half Baked (1998). Staying true to his urban persona, Snoop Dogg appeared in L.A. crime drama Caught Up (1998) (as Kool Kitty Kat) and Master P's coming-of-age story Hot Boyz (1999), and co-starred with Ice-T in action movies The Wrecking Crew (1999) and Urban Menace (1999). Increasingly comfortable as an actor, Snoop Dogg subsequently took on roles in several prominent 2001 releases. Trying comedy, Snoop Dogg co-starred with Dr. Dre as friends and car wash employees in The Wash (2001). Though John Singleton's Baby Boy (2001) failed to live up to antecedent Boyz 'N the Hood (1991), Snoop Dogg was convincing as the neighborhood troublemaker. After a cameo as a drug dealer paralyzed by Denzel Washington's corrupt cop in Training Day (2001), Snoop Dogg moved to his first solo starring role in the horror movie Bones (2001). As a murdered 1970s superfly community pillar-turned-ghostly avenger, Snoop Dogg earned kudos for his assured, menacing performance. Despite claims that his legal problems were over, Snoop Dogg was busted for marijuana possession during his Puff, Puff, Pass tour in October 2001.2003 marked the release of Doggy Fizzle Televizzle, which featured Snoop Dogg changing his role from gangster to prankster in a series of sketch comedy bits and various on-the-street disguises. Despite its popularity, Snoop's busy schedule prevented the show for lasting more than two seasons, though it helped reestablish the market for smart, African-American satire, which had been left largely unfulfilled since the cancellation of The Chris Rock Show. Luckily, Dave Chappelle proved a more than worthy successor to Snoop Dogg in that area, leaving the rapper more than enough time to make a cameo as himself in Old School (2003), as well as continue his contributions to the infamous Girls Gone Wild series, and thoroughly overuse the never-quite-hip slang suffix "izzle." In 2004, Snoop played informant to Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson's Starsky & Hutch, as well as co-starred in director Jessy Terrero's Soul Plane.In 2006 he appeared in and produced Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror, and lent his voice to the animated family film Arthur and the Invisibles. He became a regular at celebrity roasts starting in 2007 when he helped skewer fellow iconic rapper Flavor Flav. He continued to appear steadily in a variety of projects, usually as himself, including Bruno, The Big Bang, and the documentaries Straight Outta L.A. and Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.

Trivia: An actor whose strong features and sinewy 6'4" physique appear to have been chiseled from a slab of testosterone, Vince Vaughn is Hollywood's closest human approximation of a Chevy pick-up. Born March 28th, 1979, Vaughn's roles invariably reflect these qualities, and have given him a genial affability among middle Americans. Thanks to Vaughn's skills as a performer, however, he continues to resist typecasting, lending effortless portrayals to characters ranging from slick bachelors to raging psychopaths to morally conflicted limo drivers. A tried-and-true Midwestern boy, Vaughn was born in Minneapolis on March 28, 1970, and raised in the wealthy Chicago suburb of Lake Forest. The son of a self-made businessman and a stock and real-estate broker, Vaughn diverged from the upwardly mobile path forged by his parents. A hyperactive teen (and lackluster student), Vaughn spent time in special ed. and ran with a fast crowd (though he later claimed that he never felt the need for all-out rebellion). Despite his poor scholastic performance, Vaughn derived ambition from his interest in acting -- an interest that first blossomed at the age of seven -- and even served as senior class president. Upon graduation, with only his diploma and a role in a Chevy commercial as his credentials, Vaughn headed for Hollywood. Upon arrival, he proceeded to work in almost complete obscurity for the next seven years.During this period, Vaughn made the acquaintance of Jon Favreau, another struggling actor who hailed from the East. Their ensuing friendship and real-life adventures provided the inspiration for their ticket to the bigtime, 1996's Swingers. Directed by Doug Liman, the comedy stars Vaughn and Favreau (who also co-wrote the script) as two amiable, Rat Pack-obsessed, "so money" bachelors prowling the streets and bars of L.A. for "beautiful babies" and the occasional job opportunity. This irreverent-but-insightful Miramax release became a bona-fide sleeper hit. Vaughn, whose character, Trent, was the film's resident fast-talking ladies' man, emerged as a sex symbol in the making. A supporting role in Steven Spielberg's The Lost World: Jurassic Park heightened the actor's profile and revealed his ability to transition with great fluidity between indie films and box-office blockbusters. Nevertheless, Vaughn subsequently took the small, quiet film route, starring in The Locusts (1997), an overheated but half-baked melodrama in debt to both Tennessee Williams and East of Eden, and A Cool, Dry Place, a family drama that garnered a cool, dry reception from both audiences and critics. In 1998, the actor fared substantially better with his turn as a limo driver who is called upon to make a great sacrifice for a friend in Joe Ruben's Return to Paradise, and he brought a fine admixture of dark humor and sublimated menace to his part as a charismatic sociopath in Clay Pigeons. Vaughn evoked colossal mental dysfunction as Norman Bates in Gus Van Sant's truly ugly and ill-advised remake of Psycho that same year. Critics and viewers regarded his performance -- like the film itself -- with a tepid blend of indifference and bewilderment. After that egregious misfire, Vaughn wisely took a couple of years off before re-emerging with a number of projects in 2000. These included The Cell, a surrealistic horror picture co-starring Jennifer Lopez and Vincent D'Onofrio, Prime Gig, with Vaughn as California's best telemarketer, and South of Heaven, West of Hell, an ensemble western that marked the directorial debut of country singer Dwight Yoakam. Following-up with a part in writer Favreau's Made, Vaughn's next big role arrived in the form of a deceptive stepfather harboring a dark secret in the thriller Domestic Disturbance. Unfortunately, the film bombed on a critical front. Vaughn again ducked out of sight for several years, but Todd Phillips's 2003 comedy Old School brought him back to the top of the heap. Teaming Vaughn with Will Ferrell and Luke Wilson as a trio of over-the-hill party animals who relive their Animal House days by returning to frat house life, Old School became a sleeper hit, and inspired the press to term Vaughn, Wilson, Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Jack Black and others as The Frat Pack. The next of the "Frat Pack" vehicles arrived in 2004, with Todd Phillips's spoofy retread of the 1970s hit Starsky & Hutch, featuring Vaughn as the slimy villain, Reese Feldman. The picture (predictably) became a mega-hit, and the actor's newfound momentum continued to build when, only a few months later, he starred in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. Apparently channeling Bill Murray circa-1985, Vaughn received positive reviews for playing the good-guy opposite muscle-bound baddie Ben Stiller.Vaughn next graced the Will Ferrell vehicle Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) with a small but memorable role, before he made an about-face for the comedy-drama Thumbsucker. Vaughn impressed critics with his characterization and received praise for his funny and heartfelt performance. He returned to the popcorn humor that initially made him a star, however (and joined the $200-million-gross club in the process) with a leading part in the comedy The Wedding Crashers, a raunchy, R-rated film that proved once and for all the actor could open a movie.Throughout 2006, rumors swarmed about Vaughn's offscreen life, and alleged romantic relationship with newly divorced Jennifer Aniston -- a relationship that blossomed on the set of The Break-Up (ironically, a comedy about an couple ending their two-year relationship and trying to divide their possessions, friends and condo without killing each other). Gossip amped up anticipation and heightened curiosity. Meanwhile, Aniston aggressively denied rumors of an engagement. Upon release, The Break-Up bolstered Vaughn's reputation as a strong comic lead, and became another surprise hit.In the holiday comedy Joe Claus -- which marks Vaughn's third outing with director David Dobkin -- he plays the title character, the no-account, loser brother of Santa Claus who teams up with his more famous sibling at the North Pole to defeat villain Kevin Spacey. Vaughn undertook a personal venture for the documentary Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show, tooling around the country on a tour bus with four aspiring stand-up comics as they travel from gig to gig. And he stayed true to form with another "Frat Pack" comedy, Outsourced. In the years to come, Vaughn would remain an ever present force in the comedy world, appearing in movies like Four Christmases, Couples Retreat, and The Watch, as well as producing projects like The Internship and the sitcom Sullivan & Son.

Trivia: After excelling in football and track Northwestern University, African-American film star Fred Williamson was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers. He later played for Pittsburgh, Oakland and Kansas City, bringing attention to himself in the latter city by wearing a custom-tailored uniform and white shoes, and developing a karate-based offensive move which he called "The Hammer." In 1969, Williamson moved into acting, playing important roles in the original M*A*S*H (1970) and Otto Preminger's Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970); he also appeared in the recurring part of Diahann Carroll's macho boyfriend on the TV series Julia (1969-71). One of Hollywood's major black stars of the 1970s, Fred Williamson starred in such actioners as The Legend of Nigger Charley (1972), Hell Up in Harlem (1973), Take a Hard Ride (1975) and The Bronx Warriors (1983); in addition, Williamson produced, directed and wrote many of his vehicles.

Trivia: An actress with a face that, like it or not, burns itself into your memory, not to be forgotten once initially exposed, feisty young actress Juliette Lewis once commented that her ability to look alternately attractive and repellant was a key element to her success, claiming that many attractive actresses simply can't be ugly if needed. Ugly she was as a viscously sadistic serial killer in Oliver Stone's notorious Natural Born Killers, in sharp contrast with her role as the virtually seductive cyberpunk-siren in the futuristic Strange Days. Born June 21, 1973, in Los Angeles, CA, Lewis had a distinct wild streak from her earliest days. Daughter of graphic artist/actor Geoffrey Lewis, Lewis realized her dreams of becoming an actress at the age of seven, turning those dreams into reality by becoming a professional actress at the age of 12. Distressed at the obstacles refraining her from fully immersing herself in her dreams (namely school and her parents), Lewis became legally emancipated at 14, gaining exemption from child-labor laws and the ability to work more than five hours a day. The final obstacle, high school, Lewis hurdled by dropping out at the age of 15, earning her equivalency exam with the aid of a tutor. That same year, she was arrested for being underage in an underground disco.Moving to Hollywood and living for a short period with actress Karen Black while seeking work, Lewis moved into an apartment with friends, finally finding the independence she had so diligently pursued. The payoff for her persistence was not far behind, as Lewis soon landed a role in the Showtime-produced Home Fires (1987). Following up with light comedic roles in the suburban extraterrestrial comedy My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988), and taking the role of Audrey in the third installment in the vacation series National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Lewis was well on her way to fully achieving her dreams of stardom. Her dramatic turn as Amanda Sue Bradley in Too Young to Die, the true story of the first minor to receive the death penalty, earned Lewis well-deserved praise and the recognition that would carry her forward into more challenging territory.Lewis' breakthrough role came in the form of the awkward and rebellious daughter flirting with a psychotic Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's Cape Fear, a role that earned her an Oscar nomination. More mature roles began to follow such as Johnny Depp's love interest in What's Eating Gilbert Grape and in her first foray into the mind of a serial killer, Kalifornia (both 1993). Her most notorious role to date, as the homicidal Mallory to Woody Harrelson's psychopathic Micky in the controversial and numbingly hyperkinetic ode to excess Natural Born Killers, displayed her remarkably enthusiastic ability for boundless exorbitance. With a few exceptions, namely 1999's The Other Sister, Lewis' post-Natural Born Killers career was filled with supporting roles and ensemble parts. She was the pregnant kidnapping victim in the noirish The Way of the Gun and played Jennifer Lopez's best friend in the domestic-violence thriller Enough. In 2003, Lewis played Luke Wilson's excessively unfaithful wife in Old School. Director Todd Phillips enjoyed working with her so much he cast her in 2004's high-profile comedic retooling of TV's Starsky and Hutch.She kept working steadily in a variety of projects including The Darwin Awards, Catch and Release, Drew Barrymore's rollerderby comedy Whip It, and she teamed up again with Todd Philips for his 2010 comedy Due Date. She appeared in the ensemble drama August: Osage County, an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, in 2013. Lewis then joined two television series at the same time, playing a detective in Secrets and Lies and a bartender in Wayward Pines, from executive producer M. Night Shyamalan. Both shows premiered in the spring of 2015.

Trivia: The younger brother of Family Ties star Justine Bateman, actor Jason Bateman has been a mainstay on television since the 1980s, starring in countless sitcoms of varying success. He first displayed his scene-stealing propensity in the role of young sharpster Derek Taylor, best friend of star Ricky Schroder, on Silver Spoons. The audience response to Bateman was so positive that the 15-year-old was given his own sitcom vehicle in 1984, as "teenaged con man" Matthew Burton on It's Your Move. When this series was cancelled after one season, Bateman moved to the long-running role of wise-guy teen David Hogan on the mid-1980s series Valerie, which of course later changed names (and leading actresses) to emerge as The Hogan Family. During this period, Bateman also found time to star or co-star in a handful of feature films, such as the 1985 made-for-TV summer-camp comedy Poison Ivy, Teen Wolf, Too, and 1991's Necessary Roughness. However, none of the projects were successful enough to give Bateman a springboard to bigscreen stardom.Following the conclusion of The Hogan Family in 1991, Bateman embarked on a decade plagued by failed TV outings. On top of several pilots that never even saw the light of day, he was the lead in no less than four ill-fated sitcoms, Simon, George and Leo, Chicago Sons, and Some of My Best Friends. Fortunately, as the new millenium was ushered in, things started to look bright for Bateman. After a supporting turn in the Cameron Diaz comedy The Sweetest Thing, his first major theatrical feature in a decade, he was tapped to lead the eclectic ansemble cast of the Ron Howard-produced Fox sitcom Arrested Development. Acclaimed for its smart humor and fresh concept, the show became a hit with critics and viewers.In the wake of Arrested Development's success, Bateman continued to increase his presence in the world of comedy, but henceforth on the silver screen. He made memorable appearances in 2004 comedies like Starsky and Hutch and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, as well as more serious fare, like the 2007 Iraq War movie The Kingdom, but Bateman's next major hit seemed to come later that year, with a memorable supporting role in the comedy Juno. He would continue to be a mainstay in comedy, however, with appearances in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Invention of Lying, Extract, Couples Retreat, and The Switch, but the actor would continue to surprise audiences with more dramatic films as well, like 2009's State of Play and Up in the Air. For comedy fans, Bateman couldn't be avoided in 2011, with roles in Horrible Bosses as well as The Change-Up. Soon, he was signing up to star alongside Olivia Wilde and Billy Cruddup in The Longest Week, and Alexander Skarsgard in Disconnect.

Trivia: A former model, Amy Smart began her acting career on television. In 1997, she began to be visible in such feature films as The Last Time I Committed Suicide and Starship Troopers. Two years later, the actress used her blond, wholesome good looks to great advantage in both Varsity Blues and Outside Providence. The former film, one of the more successful entries in the teensploitation genre, featured her as James Van Der Beek's intelligent, clean-cut girlfriend, while the latter film cast her as a rich girl who falls for a poor boy (Shawn Hatosy) at a 1970s boarding school. That same year, she was also visible on television, guest starring on the WB Network's Felicity.Smart's career really started to take off in 2001. Proving herself to be a major sex-symbol, her topless scene in the comedy Road Trip was partially responsible for the film's runaway success. That same year, Smart appeared in the ensemble film Rat Race and in the indie Macbeth adaptation Scotland, PA. In 2003, she could be seen both on HBO's reality show Project Greenlight and in The Battle of Shaker Heights, the film that was documented on the series. Smart started off the following year with a bang, appearing in two hit films by the end of the first quarter, The Butterfly Effect and Starsky and Hutch. Voice work in Seth Green's popular animated series Robot Chicken offered Smart a chance to work behind the scenes without the stress of having to look good for the cameras, with strong subsequent performances in The Best Man and Just Friends serving well to help the actress find her footing in the enduringly-popular romantic comedy genre. On the heels of a supporting performance in director Victor Salva's introspective drama The Peaceful Warrior, Smart would jump back into action for the first time since Starship Troopers as the endangered girlfriend of Jason Stratham's former assassin in the adrenaline-pounding thrill-ride Crank.

Trivia: Perhaps more famous for her physical attributes than for her talent, Carmen Electra managed to parlay a stint as an MTV game show hostess into a career as a TV and movie actress. Born Tara Leigh Patrick and raised in Ohio, Electra left her performing arts high school with plans to become a singer. After a failed album for Prince's Paisley Park label in the early '90s, however, Electra shifted direction. Along with her first Playboy spread, the aspiring entertainer scored her career breakthrough when she replaced Jenny McCarthy as the co-host of MTV's highly-rated dating game Singled Out in 1996. After the show went off the air, Electra successfully stepped in for another buxom TV blonde when she took over lifeguarding duties from Pamela Anderson on the syndicated hit Baywatch from 1997 to 1998. Elektra moved to features with a bit part in the comedy Good Burger (1997) and larger roles in indie movies Starf*cker (1998), The Chosen One: The Legend of the Raven (1998), and Starstruck (1999). It was Electra's infamous several-day marriage to flamboyant basketball star Dennis Rodman in 1998, though, that further augmented her celebrity. Keeping her assets and tabloid fame in humorous perspective, Electra followed her role as what else, The Female, in the mockumentary The Mating Habits of Earthbound Humans (1999) with a self-parodic turn as the bodacious first victim in the hit horror send-up Scary Movie (2000).While Elektra failed to land any big successes in the ensuing handful of years, 2004 saw her emerge again, gaining notice on both the large and small screens. In the wake of such hit shows as The Osbournes, The Anna Nicole Show, and, most notably, Newlyweds, Elektra and husband-to-be Dave Navarro agreed to let an MTV camera crew record their lives for the reality show Til Death Do Us Part. Meanwhile, she also showed up to steal a few scenes in the tongue-in-cheek feature-film version of Starsky and Hutch. She appeared on Scary Movie 4 in 2006, and took on roles for a variety of unremarkable comedies throughout the late 2000s and early 2010s. Elektra has also worked as a fitness instructor in a series of aerobic striptease workout programs.

Trivia: Of Chinese-American nationality. Trained in the martial art of Kung Fu. Has portrayed Chinese ambassadors in The West Wing and Lost. Has voiced characters for tv shows and video games. Best known for Rush Hour (1998), Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Starsky & Hutch (2004).

Trivia: Although Chris Penn has achieved little of the critical acclaim and none of the notoriety of his older brother, Sean, the rotund actor has become a familiar supporting player and character actor who hasn't had to rely on Sean, either. The brothers have appeared together only once, in the 1986 film At Close Range; in the meantime, Chris has made a name for himself in projects ranging in tone and purpose from Footloose (1984) to Reservoir Dogs (1992).The son of director Leo Penn and actress Eileen Ryan, and the brother of singer Michael Penn in addition to actors Sean and Matthew, Chris Penn was born on June 10, 1962, in Los Angeles. The actor, sometimes credited as Christopher Penn, started out in the profession at age 12, under the tutelage of Peggy Feury at the Loft Studio in Los Angeles. His film breakthrough came in Francis Ford Coppola's teen gang movie Rumble Fish (1983), which cast him opposite Matt Dillon and Mickey Rourke. But it wasn't until Footloose the following year that Penn captured his first truly memorable role. As the burly best buddy of Kevin Bacon's rebellious dance proponent, Penn's simple decency shone through, especially in the lively production number in which his character awkwardly learns to dance, to the strains of Denise Williams' "Let's Hear It for the Boy."Penn's supporting work continued through the 1980s in films like Pale Rider (1985) before he became affiliated with organized crime movies, on both sides of the law, in the 1990s. Two collaborations with Quentin Tarantino in particular solidified this association. In the first, 1992's Reservoir Dogs, Penn played Nice Guy Eddie, the obedient son of Lawrence Tierney's mob boss. Screenwriting for director Tony Scott, Tarantino then helped Penn get cast in True Romance (1993) as a narcotics officer. From this point on, Penn began appearing in a handful of films each year, first and perhaps most notably as the frustrated husband of a phone sex operator (Jennifer Jason Leigh) in Robert Altman's Short Cuts (1993).Penn continued his criminal film streak with such projects as Mulholland Falls (1996), The Funeral (1996), and One Tough Cop (1998). In 2001, he spoofed his tough guy image by appearing as the brother of comedian Chris Kattan, the novice mob operative of the title, in Corky Romano.

Trivia: Blond bombshell Brande Roderick has a resume with all the important bullet points of any successful sex symbol. She got her start in show business by appearing in an erotic thriller, she did a two-year stint on the TV series Baywatch: Hawaii, and in 2001 she was voted Playboy Magazine's Playmate of the Year. Roderick has also appeared in feature films like The Nanny Diaries and Starsky & Hutch.

Trivia: The svelte, blonde, and exceptionally striking American actress Molly Sims segued into a dramatic career after maintaining a high profile and achieving instant recognition as a supermodel. Born May 25, 1973, in Memphis, TN, Sims attended Vanderbilt University, where she studied law, until a college roommate prompted her to submit modeling test shots to a number of agencies in Manhattan. Not long after, the esteemed Next Agency offered Sims a contract. Omnipresent ads for such brands as Michael Kors, Chanel, and Old Navy followed, in addition to sexy layouts for the Swimsuit editions of Sports Illustrated magazine. Sims also landed an enviable, exclusive contract with Cover Girl for several years, and appeared on the covers of such women's periodicals as Lucky, Mademoiselle, Self, and Cosmopolitan. Sims transitioned to acting roles at age 30, with an ongoing turn as the sultry Delinda DeLaine, the daughter of James Caan's Big Ed DeLaine, in the blockbuster NBC drama Las Vegas. Sims debuted on the big screen in 2004, as Mrs. Feldman, the wife of Vince Vaughn's gangster Reese Feldman, in the big-screen spoof Starsky & Hutch. She then portrayed Liz in the Rob Schneider laugh-fest The Benchwarmers (2006). Once Las Vegas ended in 2008, Sims continued to pursue acting, appearing in the films Yes Man (2008) and The Pink Panther 2 (2009), and making guest appearances on shows like Royal Pains, The Carrie Diaries and Men at Work.

Trivia: A handsome, chiseled actor of South Korean origins who labored for over a decade onscreen before officially landing his breakout role in the hit ABC series Lost, Daniel Dae Kim got his start with bit roles in such popular shows as Beverly Hills 90210, Angel, and 24 before turning heads as the only non-English-speaking passenger to be stranded on a mysterious island paradise inhabited by psychic smoke monsters and malevolent "Others."Born in Pusan, South Korea, and raised in New York and Pennsylvania, Kim earned his B.A. from Haverford college before briefly considering a career in law. It was a fateful early-career appearance on an episode of Law & Order that spurred the burgeoning actor to ditch the courtroom and take to the stage, with subsequent roles in Romeo and Juliet and A Doll's House providing all the encouragement Kim needed to continue developing his craft. Later, after earning his M.F.A. through the Graduate Acting Program at New York University, roles in such high-profile television hits as Seinfeld, Ally McBeal, The Practice, and Party of Five came fast and furious. Though additional appearances in such features as The Jackal and For Love of the Game showed big-screen promise as well, it was on the small screen that Kim seemed most comfortable. Increasingly prominent roles in Angel, Enterprise, ER, and 24 hinted at something big in Kim's future, and with the turbulent descent of Oceanic flight 815 that something big came crashing down in a very big way.A virtual phenomenon from the very first episode, Lost proved the kind of television series capable of literally starting its own mythology -- and Kim was directly at the center of the firestorm from the very beginning. Cast as the son of a poor fisherman who eventually married into one of Korea's most powerful crime families, Kim proved a captivating presence on the show and was voted one of People Magazine's "Sexiest Men Alive" in 2005. Though Lost would indeed prove to be Kim's bread and butter, the actor continued to appear in features (Spider-Man 2, Crash) as well as branching out into the increasingly lucrative world of video-game voice-overs (24: The Game, Saints Row). Somehow, in the midst of his wildfire success, Kim has even found the time to keep his passion for the theater alive by appearing in a New York stage production of Chekhov's Ivanov.The actor appeared in 2008's critically acclaimed film The Andromeda Strain, and in the sixth and final season of LOST, which aired in 2010. Kim joined the cast of the Hawaii Five-O shortly afterwards. In 2011, Kim joined Kellan Lutz and Samuel L. Jackson in the action thrller Arena.

Trivia: The gifted young comedian Patton Oswalt first carved a name for himself as a bit player in television programs, where he seemingly made the perfect everyman. Even those who fail to recognize the comic's agnomen doubtless encountered him as early as the mid- to late '90s, on such hit programs as NewsRadio, Dr. Katz, Mr. Show, and Seinfeld. (He was particularly memorable in the latter, as the video-store clerk who refuses to proffer a customer's address to a conniving George Costanza.) Oswalt also penned sketches for the long-running series MADtv and frequently lent his voice to Comedy Central's Crank Yankers, as one of the program's below-the-belt prank callers. Beginning in 1996 (and for at least four years thereafter), Oswalt began touring the country with his standup act and hitting comedy clubs; in 1997, he hosted his first standup special on HBO and received a positive response. Unabashedly iconoclastic and atheistic, with many routines devoted to excoriating Christianity and what he perceives as the hypocrisies of middle-American values, Oswalt buries his anti-establishment cynicism beneath a deceptively soft exterior (setting himself apart from, say, the more openly caustic and rave-happy George Carlin). Whatever the subject at hand, Oswalt displays a quick wit, a fearlessness to speak his mind, and an ability to unveil ironies behind practically everything. Regardless of one's personal convictions, Oswalt is also frequently hilarious, with his well-known impersonations of such personalities as Robert Evans and Nick Nolte absolutely unparalleled and definite high points in his routines, as are his riffs on pornography and bizarre sexual proclivities. In 1998, Oswalt landed his second recurring role on a television series, and his highest billing up through that time: that of Spence Olchin, one of the three buddies of Kevin James' Doug Heffernan, on the sitcom The King of Queens; he remained with the series for several seasons. Scattered movie roles followed -- typically bit parts at first, such as that of the scuba diver who experiences a bizarre death in the prologue of Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia (1999) and Hedges in Blade: Trinity (2004). Around 2004, Oswalt took a temporary siesta from acting, and re-launched himself into the arena of standup comedy. He and several friends (Brian Posehn, Zach Galifianakis, and Maria Bamford) formed the "Comedians of Comedy" troupe and mounted a coast-to-coast tour; that ensemble headlined an eponymous 2005 concert film. Oswalt issued his first standup album, Feelin' Kinda Patton, in 2004; it drew critical raves and impressive sales. He followed it up with a joint effort alongside Galifianakis, the 2005 recording Patton vs. Alcohol vs. Zach vs. Patton, and the 2006 concert film Patton Oswalt: No Reason to Complain. A sophomore solo recording, Lollipops and Werewolves, appeared in the summer of 2007.That same year, Oswalt voiced the character of Remy -- a French rat with a refined culinary instinct who single-handedly overturns Parisian haute cuisine -- in the Pixar animated film Ratatouille. It marked Oswalt's first reception of premier billing in an A-list feature and his debut work for Pixar.In 2009 he had the lead in the underrated indie drama Big Fan, as a man assaulted by the best player on his favorite football team, appeared in The Informant, and recorded the stand-up special My Weakness Is Strong. In 2011 he had a memorable turn in A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, released the stand-up concert Finest Hour, and earned the best reviews of his career playing opposite Charlize Theron in Young Adult.Oswalt's most consistent work, though, was in television. He amassed a slew of memorable TV roles, with one-offs, recurring gigs and voice-over roles. A seasons-long arc on United States of Tara coincided with other gigs on Bored to Death and Caprica. In 2013, he had a highly-regarded and publicized guest stint on Parks and Recreation, playing a character giving a filibuster on Star Wars. That same year, he started a recurring role on Justified and began doing narration work on The Goldbergs (playing an older version of the main character, Adam Goldberg). The following year, he played identical brothers on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., allowing Oswalt to return even if his character had been killed. In 2015, he played the VP's Chief of Staff on Veep. Oswalt also voices several characters on shows like BoJack Horseman and We Bare Bears.

Trivia: The son of a Chicago minister, actor David Soul actually launched his career as a folk singer. Born David Richard Solbert on August 28, 1943 in Chicago, Illinois, David moved to Mexico during his youth, when his father took a lengthy assignment as diplomatic advisor for the U.S. State Department. The experience (and the Mexican environment) engendered in young Solberg a permanent love of indigenous folk music. For the remainder of his youth, the whole world was Soul's backyard as his father was transferred from post to post during the 1950s and early 1960s. The blossoming performer could never quite shake either his inbred wanderlust (he attended Augustana College in South Dakota, the University of the Americas in New Mexico, and the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis) or his musical inclinations. After impulsively deciding to become a stage performer, and studying with the legendary Uta Hagen in New York, Soul definitively opted to embark upon a singing career. From 1966 to 1967, the performer turned up as the hooded "mystery singer" on the syndicated television talkfest The Merv Griffin Show. At about the same time, Soul also landed gigs opening for musical acts including Frank Zappa, The Lovin' Spoonful and The Byrds. The singer's decision, not long after, to finally remove his "mask" on television and reveal himself to the public backfired; it took away the novelty, and made it eminently more difficult for Soul to book concerts. Taking this as a cue, the actor returned to television, and was cast as Joshua Bolt on the 1968 TV adventure series Here Come the Brides, co-starring with another promising vocalist, Bobby Sherman. While Sherman became an instant teen idol, Soul would not truly hit it big until 1976, when he was cast as urban cop David Starsky and teamed with Paul Michael Glaser on the cop series Starsky and Hutch (1975-79). During the series and immediately following its cancellation, Soul attempted to trade off of his tube success by revitalizing his recording career, but did so with intermittent success; his syrupy ballad "Don't Give Up on Us" (parodied by Owen Wilson years later during a scene in the 2004 big-screen movie Starsky & Hutch) peaked at #1 in 1977 and became an FM and then AM radio staple for decades, but his albums charted much lower and did little to further his musical success.The actor went on to star in the TV weeklies Casablanca (1983, in the Bogart role!), The Yellow Rose (1983-84), Unsub (1989), and the telemovie adventure Pentathalon (1994). He also made a cameo alongside Glaser at the conclusion of the aforementioned Starsky & Hutch movie. Married several times, Soul's ex-wives include Karen Carlson, Lynn Marta, and Julia Nickson.

Trivia: Supporting actor Richard Edson first appeared onscreen in Stranger Than Paradise (1984).

Trivia: A native of Flint, MI, who played in the NFL for seven years before segueing into film, athlete-turned-actor Terry Crews made his television debut on the small-screen sports entertainment show Battle Dome and has since moved on to appear in films by such disparate directors as David Lynch, Mike Judge, and David Ayer.During high school, Crews studied at Interlochen Art Academy, and he continued on to Western Michigan University for college; it was during his freshman year that he first took to the gridiron, and after making an impression as a Mid-American Conference defensive end, he solidified his reputation as a star player by leading his team to the Mid-American Conference championship in 1988. Crews married longtime wife Rebecca the day before his 21st birthday, and later went on to have an impressive professional football career while playing for the L.A. Rams, the San Diego Chargers, and the Washington Redskins. Though he had originally intended to become a special-effects artist, Crews gradually became aware of the power of his onscreen charisma when he accepted a role in the short-lived television series Battle Dome in 1999. Despite the fact that only a few episodes of the seires ever made it to the airwaves, the experience left Crews convinced that he had found his calling.Few lifelong actors could even dream of landing roles in such major motion pictures as The 6th Day, Training Day, and Friday After Next so early in their careers, but that's precisely what Crews did, and he has never looked back since. The actor's hulking frame made him an ideal candidate for intimidating onscreen figures, and his disarming sense of humor has found him developing a distinct comic persona in such films as Starsky & Hutch, Soul Plane, White Chicks, and The Longest Yard while also winning over viewers on the small screen with his role as Chris Rock's father on Everybody Hates Chris. As a supporting player, Crews consistently impresses, with his little-seen role as former professional wrestler-turned-President of the United States in Beavis and Butt-Head creator Judge's Idiocracy (2006) offering a telling example of how far he is willing to go to get a laugh. That same year, Crews showed his impressive range by making a brief appearance in surrealist specialist Lynch's Inland Empire, with comic roles in Norbit, Who's Your Caddy?, and Balls of Fury following in short order.2008 proved a busy year for Crews. In addition to his continued work on Everybody Hates Chris, he co-starred in the police drama Street Kings, as well as director Peter Segal's revamp of the classic comedy series Get Smart. Crews played a member of a motley gang of mercenaries in 2010's action blockbuster The Expendables (he reprised this role for the film's sequel in 2012).

Trivia: In his public appearances, standup comedian Judah Friedlander usually wears big glasses and a trucker hat over his shaggy head of dark hair. He's one of those guys who has the decency to appear untainted by his own mediocre brand of stardom. In other words, he can play in Hollywood movies that show at major theaters, yet still maintain a safe comedic distance from slimy show business. This has mostly been accomplished by doing short scenes in smallish comedies, starting with Meet the Parents (starring Ben Stiller). Friedlander then did the walk-on role of no-good husband Ron in the hilarious spoof Wet Hot American Summer. (He was the guy with sideburns to trying to win back his wife [Molly Shannon].) Other bit parts came about in the mock documentary Endsville and the MTV movie Spring Break Lawyer. He worked with Stiller again in Zoolander and had a small part in the stoner comedy How High. In 2002, he had a brief speaking role in the terrible action comedy Showtime, starring Eddie Murphy and Robert De Niro. Friedlander is perhaps best known for his unforgettable portrayal of Genuine Nerd Toby Radloff in American Splendor, the innovative documentary/biography about comic book author Harvey Pekar. The film was a festival success and earned Friedlander a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the Independent Spirit Awards. Television audiences may remember him as the guy who gives out hugs in the popular Dave Matthews Band video for "Everyday." He's also made numerous appearances on late-night variety shows and various sitcoms. Projects for 2004 include Along Came Polly (starring Stiller again) and Palindromes (directed by Todd Solondz).In 2006 he began work on the award-winning sitcom 30 Rock playing Frank Rossitano, the ball-cap wearing, most vulgar member of the TGS writing staff. This was his most high-profile success to date, but he continued to land pars in big-screen projects like the Project Greenlight horror film Feast, The Wrestler, Meet Dave, and Beware the Gonzo.

Trivia: Comedic blonde actress Rachael Harris has found plenty of ways to make audiences laugh, whether it meant commenting on pop culture for VH1's I Love the '80s or appearing in quirky commercials for Quaker rice cakes. A veteran of the Los Angeles improve troupe the Groundlings, Harris transitioned to the screen as a correspondent for the popular news-parody The Daily Show. With her horn-rimmed glasses and tightly wound persona, Harris immediately found her niche in on-screen comedy, garnering fans with her own brand of straight-faced delivery. Harris would occasionally take on completely different characters for TV and film roles like her part in 2009's The Soloist, but the comedian more often played off of her own signature style, especially for comedies like Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, The Hangover, and Evan Almighty. In 2010, she played the lead character's mother in Diary of Wimpy Kid, reprising the role in two sequels. Harris would also find continued success on the small screen,on shows like Reno 911!, In the Motherhood, and Notes from the Underbelly and as a prolific guest star on a number of series. In 2016, Harris landed a series regular role on Lucifer, playing Lucifer's theraprist.

Trivia: Dancer and choreographer Tyce Diorio earned his celebrity status through years of intense work with major recording artists like Janet Jackson, Ricky Martin, and Jennifer Lopez. Eventually, TV audiences became familiar with Diorio for his work as a choreographer and guest judge on the reality series So You Think You Can Dance and a featured judge on Master of Dance.

Trivia: Actress Tara Wilson began signing for filmed roles in the early 2000s, and specialized in ethnically oriented character performances. Wilson landed one of her first assignments as the girlfriend of the late Puerto Rican actor Tito Goya in Piñero, director Leon Ichaso's ambitious biopic of the titular Latin American playwright, then followed this up with supporting portrayals in such outings as the low-budget crime thriller Snuffed Out (2002) and the urban drama Rap War One.

Trivia: Another member of the Saturday Night Live Screen Actors Guild, Will Ferrell made his major film debut as Steve Butabi, one of the spectacularly clueless brothers who serve as the protagonists of A Night at the Roxbury (1998). The character originated on SNL, where Ferrell had been a regular since 1995, entertaining audiences with his celebrity impressions and such characterizations as Craig the Spartan Cheerleader and junior high-school teacher Marty Culp.Born in Irvine, CA, on July 16, 1967, Ferrell attended the University of Southern California, graduating with a degree in sports information. Following graduation, he worked as a sportscaster on a weekly cable show, but he soon found his interests leaning toward acting and standup comedy. He enrolled in classes and workshops given at a local community college, and after only a year of training, he was invited to join the Groundlings, an infamous L.A. comedy improv group. Ferrell's involvement with the Groundlings led to his SNL discovery; from that point on, the previously unknown comic found himself enjoying growing recognition and a steady paycheck.Although A Night at the Roxbury turned out to be a complete and utter flop, it did little to prevent Ferrell from finding more screen work; the following year, he could be seen as journalist Bob Woodward in Dick and as the object of fellow SNL castmate Molly Shannon's unwanted affection in Superstar. A series of scene-stealing supporting roles followed for Ferrell in such films as Drowning Mona, Zoolander, and, most-notably, Old School. In the 2003 Todd Phillips film, Ferrell sunk his teeth into the role of Frank "The Tank", delivering several lines that would forever be quoted by frat guys the world over.But it was Ferrell's other 2003 film that truly announced his arrival as a Hollywood star. As the oversized titular character in director Jon Favreau's holiday comedy Elf, Ferrell delighted audiences and critics alike, making the modestly-budgeted film a surprise box-office smash.In the wake of Elf's success, Ferrell's 2004 plate was full, starring as fictional '70s TV newscaster Ron Burgundy in Anchorman (a film which had enough outtakes to merit an entire second feature upon being released to home video), taking a role in the Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda, and signing on for lead roles in two long-anticipated projects: the filmed adaptation of John Kennedy Toole's cult novel A Confederacy of Dunces and the big-screen version of the classic sitcom Bewitched. Though the curse that had plagued the big-screen adaptation of Confederacy seemed to persist when, by mid-2006, there still seemed to be no signs that the film would be going before the cameras anytime soon, Ferrell continued to crack-up audiences with a hilarious cameo in the popular Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson comedy Weddng Crashers, as well as a memorable turn in The Producers - a big screen adaptation of the smash Broadway hit that was inspired by Mel Brooks' 1968 comedy classic of the same name. As the 2000's unfolded, it became clear that Ferrell's comic fame could not be matched. He would score box office gold with many movies to comes, such as Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Stranger Than Fiction, Blades of Glory, Step-Brothers, Everything Must Go, and The Campaign, in addition to popular runs on TV series like The Office and Eastbound & Down.