Trivia: Rarely do beauty and talent combine in a form so complimentary to each other than in the case of actress Zoe Saldana. Whether gracefully gliding across the stage in dance, pounding the boards in a play, or lighting up the screen in such popular films as Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, the multi-faceted Saldana seems capable of achieving anything she puts her mind to. The New Jersey native was raised in Queens until the age of ten, when her family relocated to the Dominican Republic. The move proved a fateful blessing when young Saldana discovered her love of dance and enrolled in the ECOS Espacio de Danza Academy shortly thereafter, where she would study ballet, jazz, and modern Latin dance. Following her sophomore year in high school, Saldana and her family returned to the U.S. It was while completing her primary studies stateside that Saldana became involved with the Faces theater troupe, whose aim was to make a positive impact on teenage audiences by performing improvisational skits on such issues as substance abuse and sexuality. Involvement with another troupe, the New York Youth Theater, provided more traditional stage experience through such productions as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, and it was while performing with that troupe that a talent agent recognized great potential in the burgeoning actress. In 1999, Saldana received what seemed to be the ideal first film role when she was cast as a talented but snippy dancer vying for a spot at the fictional American Ballet Company in the dance drama Center Stage. Other film roles followed, including Get Over It, Snipes, and a featured part in the Britney Spears teen drama Crossroads, which offered Saldana's first major theatrical release. Widely panned by critics but performing moderately at the box office thanks to legions of Spears fans, Crossroads proved just the fuel needed to get Saldana's struggling feature career running. The following year, she was back on the big screen in Drumline, which found her once again utilizing her dance skills as a college dance major and love interest of the talented but conflicted protagonist. Though her subsequent role as the sole female pirate in Pirates of the Caribbean offered little screen time, her performance as the only woman able to cast a spell over Johnny Depp's charismatic Jack Sparrow offered one of the film's most memorable comic scenes. Back on the indie circuit, Saldana headlined the 2003 rock musical Temptation as a talented singer facing hard times. A brief turn as a by-the-books customs officer in Steven Spielberg's The Terminal found the charming Saldana slowly warming to an immigrant stuck in bureaucratic limbo (played by Tom Hanks).She was the female lead in Guess Who in 2005 and continued to work steadily. However, in 2009 she broke through in a big way when she was cast as Uhura in J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot, and later that year she was the female lead in James Cameron's mega-smash Avatar. She followed that up with the action film The Losers in 2010, and was front and center in another action spectacle, Columbiana, the year after that. She reprised her role in the sequel Star Trek Into Darkness in 2013, and played Gamora in the 2014 smash Guardians of the Galaxy, ensuring her place in yet another action franchise.

Trivia: Early in his acting career, Jordi Molla was in danger of being forever cast in pretty boy roles. Slender, short, and possessing a rugged and shaggy handsomeness, Molla changed that when he played a luckless small thief in La Buena Estrella (1997). Molla's other notable roles are in Bigas Luna's Jamon, Jamon (1994) and Montxo Armendariz's Kronen Stories (1994).

Trivia: After the death of his mother when he was 10, he and his brother chose to live in a children's home in London instead of being sent to America to reside with a relative. He stayed in foster care for eight years. Aspired to be a professional rugby player as a teen. Was introduced to acting after following a girl he was interested in to an audition for a play. Was once employed by the British government's social security office. Penned the autobiographical TV film, Storm Damage, in 2000. Wrote the well-received play The Sons of Charlie Paora, which opened in London's Royal Court in 2004. Landed the role of Robert Hawkins on Jericho after his first audition.

Trivia: French-American actor Michael Vartan made his handsome presence felt in several European and independent films before getting his Hollywood studio break in the romantic comedy Never Been Kissed (1999). Born in Boulogne-Billancourt , France and raised in the small Normandy town of Fleury, Vartan moved to Los Angeles at age 18 to be with his American mother. Though he began taking acting classes in Los Angeles, Vartan nabbed his first film roles in the French productions Un Homme et Deux Femmes (1991) and Promenades d'Ete (1992). Still working in Europe, Vartan gained international attention as the doomed lover of the fabled title character in Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani's Fiorile (1993). Returning to the Hollywood fold, Vartan appeared in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995) and The Pallbearer (1996). He played more substantial roles, however, in the indie AIDS drama Touch Me (1997) and college crime thriller The Curve (1998), as well as playing Julianne Moore's brother in Sundance entrant The Myth of Fingerprints (1997). Vartan finally earned his first starring role in a Hollywood studio production when star/executive producer Drew Barrymore insisted that he be cast opposite her in Never Been Kissed. As undercover reporter Barrymore's "high school" teacher, Vartan was an adult-teen dream come true; the movie went on to become Vartan's first Hollywood hit. Vartan was not so lucky, however, with his next Hollywood film, the critically lambasted Madonna vehicle The Next Best Thing (2000).After he was impeccably cast as Lancelot in the lavish TV miniseries adaptation of The Mists of Avalon (2001), Vartan stayed with TV to play CIA agent Michael Vaughn, ally of Jennifer Garner's double agent Sydney Bristow, on the stylish, critically praised ABC action series Alias (2001). While on Alias, he appeared on the big-screen as Jennifer Lopez's intended in Monster-in-Law (2005).When Alias ended in 2006, Vartan stayed mostly in television, on ABC's short-lived sitcom Big Shots (2007), followed by a three-season run on the TNT medical drama Hawthorne, playing the Chief of Surgery. In 2014, he had a recurring role on A&E's Bates Motel.

Trivia: A ubiquitous actor specializing in ethnically oriented character roles of various racial backgrounds, New Zealand-born Cliff Curtis, who is of Maori decent, debuted onscreen in the very early '90s. He then proceeded to chalk up a myriad of effective supporting parts in A-list features including The Piano (1993), Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Bringing Out the Dead (1999), Whale Rider (2002), Runaway Jury (2003), Sunshine (2007), and Live Free or Die Hard (2007). Curtis ascended to supporting billing opposite Harrison Ford and Sean Penn in the immigration-themed drama Crossing Over (2008) and tackled another major supporting role in Roland Emmerich's prehistoric adventure 10,000 B.C. (2008). Over the coming years, Curtis would continue to appear on screen, most notably on shows like Trauma and Missing.

Trivia: Is the London-born daughter of a Ghanaian mother and an American father; moved to the United States at age 4 and was raised in the suburbs of Washington, DC. As a teenager, was inspired to pursue a college degree in theater after attending a summer theater camp at Carnegie Mellon University. Replaced Lesley-Ann Brandt in the role of Naevia in Season 2 of the Starz series Spartacus.

Trivia: Cast in 2000's Young Blades, his first movie, only three weeks after graduating from the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Starred in 2004's The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement with Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway. Played the recurring role of Major Zod, a younger incarnation of General Zod, during the ninth season of Smallville.

Trivia: His family left Glasgow when he was a child and lived in Canada, the USA and England before settling in New Zealand. At school, he and a friend would write and perform comedy sketches, which resulted in his playing a role in Sheridan's The Rivals after the principal actor fell ill. Early in his career, worked at the Dundee Repertory with colleagues Jimmy Logan and Robert Robertson and at the repertory theatres in London's West End. Played Clarence in Richard III, directed by Brian Cox, at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London in 1995. Has voiced characters in several video games, including the Call of Duty and Uncharted franchises for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Took part in the 2013 Kiltwalk campaign to raise money to support Scottish children's charities. Took the role of the 17th Grand Marshall of New York City's Tartan Day Parade in April 2015.

Trivia: Name was inspired by Miles Davis' 1989 album, Amandla, which is also the Zulu word for power. Played the violin with the L.A. Unified School District Orchestra in 2009. Dressed as her character Rue by wearing dirty clothes and putting twigs in her hair for her final Hunger Games audition with the director of the movie, Gary Ross. Youth ambassador for No Kid Hungry, a non-profit organization that is working to end child hunger in the U.S. Supports the Ubunto Eduction Fund, a organization that helps underprivileged children in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Created online video Don't Cash Crop on My Cornrows about her personal views on Black culture appropriation in 2014 that went viral. Advocate for encouraging young women to pursue interests in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math fields). Formed a band with her friend called Honeywater and released an an EP in 2015.

Trivia: A Broadway actor who also found marked success in celluloid with roles in such film noir classics as The Set-Up and The Narrow Margin, David Clarke embarked on an enduring screen career following his debut in the 1941 boxing drama Knockout. The Chicago native found a powerful ally in the business when he made fast friends with star Will Geer while pounding the boards in his hometown early on, and after being abandoned in Seattle following a failed touring play, the talented duo set their sights on Broadway. Both actors were hired to appear in the 1936 Broadway play 200 Were Chosen, and in the years that followed, both Geer and Clarke went on to achieve notable success on both stage and screen. Clarke also found frequent work on television on such popular series as Kojak and Wonder Woman as well as a recurring role in the small-screen drama Ryan's Hope. Clarke and Geer remained lifelong friends, appearing together in both the 1949 film Intruder in the Dust and the enduring television drama The Waltons -- in which Clarke made several guest appearances. David Clarke married actress Nora Dunfee in 1946; the couple would frequently appear together on-stage and remained wed until Dunfee's death in 1994. On April 18, 2004, David Clarke died of natural causes in Arlington, VA. He was 95.

Trivia: Born in upstate New York in 1969, actor Max Martini performed on the stage throughout college before landing small but memorable roles in the high-profile feature films Saving Private Ryan and Contact. A number of TV guest spots followed, including multiple-episode arcs on Fox's 24 and the acclaimed Canadian cop show Da Vinci's Inquest. In 2006, Martini landed a lead role opposite Dennis Haysbert on CBS's The Unit, a military drama from Pulitzer Prize-winning writer David Mamet.

Trivia: Considered the French equivalent of Steven Spielberg, filmmaker Luc Besson has a reputation for creating fast-paced, ultra-stylish, and hugely budgeted films with mass appeal. The son of two scuba instructors, he was born in Paris on March 18, 1959, and spent most of his youth following his parents on the club Med circuit between Greece and Yugoslavia. Like his parents, Besson was an avid diver. At the age of ten, he swam with a wild dolphin while his parents were on a dive. The experience so moved him that he decided to devote his life to observing and understanding the sea mammals by becoming a marine biologist. Living in such close harmony with the ocean had a profound effect on Besson; the idea for his film The Big Blue was born after an Italian filmmaker showed him footage of world champion free diver Jacques Mayol descending 92 meters on one breath of air. Before it became a screenplay, the film was a story Besson titled Le Petit Siren.Besson's dreams of becoming a marine biologist were dashed at the age of 17 after an accident that rendered him unable to dive. Following his recovery, he moved to Paris to finish school. While readjusting to city life, Besson discovered television and the cinema. They soon replaced his passion for the sea, and he decided to pursue a filmmaking career; after dropping out of school, he began seeing nearly a dozen films per week. He also began toying with the possibilities of Super-8 film. At 19, Besson went to Hollywood and spent three years working on and learning about American films. The influence of the experience led one critic to claim that Besson's films are really just American films made in France. Later, Besson served in the military and subsequently spent three years as an assistant director. He also continued experimenting with different types of film and making an occasional music video. One of his short films, L'Avant-Dernier, was a precursor to his 1983 feature directorial debut, the grim, future-set, sci-fi drama Le Dernier Combat/The Last Battle (1983). Essentially a silent film boasting exceptional camerawork, it won two of the highest prizes awarded at the prestigious Avoriaz Science Fiction Film Festival and 18 more at various other international festivals. All in all, it marked an amazingly auspicious debut for its 24-year-old director. Around the time he was making the film, Besson also founded his own production company, Films of the Wolf.Besson's second film, Subway (1985), was a freewheeling and funny crime drama set entirely within the Paris Metro that examined the lives of the punks and fringe dwellers who lived there. In tone and style, the film has been compared to a rock video and has become a cult favorite in France. Besson then went all out for his third film, The Big Blue (1988), which was shot in English. Considered his most personal work, it reflected 12 years of development and was heavily influenced by his experience of seeing the Mayol film and a later meeting with the great diver. The ocean plays a primary role in the story about a free-diver who must choose between his love for a woman and his passion for the sea. An unprecedented success in Europe, the film bombed in the U.K. and the U.S. largely due to inept editing, a different ending, and a new soundtrack; even in its mutilated form, however, the movie could still be appreciated for Besson's use of his trademark breathtaking wide-angle shots. The director later received some degree of justice when a three-hour director's cut was released. Besson's biggest hit came in 1990 with Nikita (or La Femme Nikita, as it was known in the U.S.), the lightning-paced tale of a troubled young woman who is turned into a sophisticated and deadly government assassin. Starring Besson's then-wife Anne Parillaud, the film was a sexy, intelligent thriller. It was no surprise, therefore, that it inspired a U.S. remake, Point of No Return (1993), and a television series on the USA cable network. Besson's next feature film, the 1994 Léon (or The Professional) boasted a strong performance by Besson regular Jean Réno as the title character, and a star-making turn by Natalie Portman as his young protégée. In 1997, Besson returned to the sci-fi genre with the flamboyant The Fifth Element starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, and Milla Jovovich. Inspired by a daydream he had while studying in secondary school, the film was a breathtaking, visually mind-boggling experience; it was enormously popular in France, winning both a César and a Lumière de Paris d'Unifrance award for its director. Two years later, Besson exchanged future fantasy for medieval history with The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. An epic outing that starred then-wife Jovovich as the doomed saint, it sank at the box office and was savaged by the critics, despite lavish production values and a strong cast. Besson has also served as a producer on a number of films, including Oldman's Nil by Mouth (1997), and, in 1994, he made the seldom-seen but extraordinary documentary Antarctica, an examination of life beneath the polar ice caps.As the new century began he tended to focus more on writing and producing than directing. He helped bring a variety of projects to the big screen including Taxi 2, Kiss of the dragon, The Transporter films, District B 13, and Unleashed.He returned to the director's chair for the animated film Arthur and the Invisibles in 2006, and two years later he would help write one of the year's surprise hits, the Liam Neeson action film Taken. In 2011 he directed The Lady, and produced the action film Columbiana, and the year after that he helped pen Taken 2.