Trivia: From lamebrained teenage time traveler to metaphysical sci-fi Superman, Keanu Reeves has portrayed just about every character type imaginable in his sometimes wildly fluctuating career. Frequently lambasted by critics and often polarizing audiences suspicious of his talent's true extent, Reeves has nevertheless managed to maintain his lucrative career by balancing his lesser efforts with intermittent direct hits at the box office.Born Keanu Charles Reeves in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 2, 1964, and named for the Hawaiian word that means "cool breeze over the mountains," the future actor was a world traveler by the age of two, thanks to his father's career as a geologist. His mother, Patricia Taylor, worked as a showgirl and later a costume designer of film and stage, and after his parents divorced, Reeves followed his mother and sister to live in New York; the trio would later relocate to Toronto -- where Reeves' interest in ice hockey and acting took a substantial precedence over academics. His formidable presence in front of the goal eventually earned Reeves the nickname "The Wall," and it wasn't long before all interest in school waned and the talented goalie decided to pursue acting.Later working as a manager in a Toronto pasta shop, Reeves soon began turning up in small roles on various Canadian television programs, making his feature debut in the 1985 Canadian film One Step Away before American audiences got their first good look at him in the 1986 Rob Lowe drama Youngblood. Subsequently going back to television and garnering favorable notice for his role in 1986's Young Again, it was the release of Tim Hunter's The River's Edge later that year that would provide Reeves with his breakthrough role. A harrowing tale of teen apathy in small town America, The River's Edge provided Reeves with a perfect opportunity to display his dramatic range, and the film would eventually become a minor classic in teen angst cinema.Appearing in a series of sometimes quirky but ultimately forgettable efforts in the following few years, 1988 found Reeves drawing favorable nods for his role in director Stephen Frears' Dangerous Liaisons. It was the following year's Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, however, that would transform the actor into something of an '80s icon. Reeves' performance of a moronic, air guitar wielding wannabe rocker traveling through time in order to complete his history report and graduate from high school proved so endearingly silly that it spawned both a sequel (1991's Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey) and a Saturday morning cartoon. In an odd twist of fate, Reeves and co-star Alex Winter had initially auditioned for the opposite roles from those in which they were ultimately cast. Though he would later offer variations of the character type in such efforts as Parenthood (1989) and I Love You to Death (1990), it wasn't long before Reeves was looking to break away from the trend and take his career to the next level.After drawing favorable reviews for his turn as a rich kid turned street hustler opposite River Phoenix in Gus Van Sant's 1991 drama My Own Private Idaho, Reeves battled the undead in Francis Ford Coppola's lavish production of Dracula (1992). Showing his loyalty toward fellow Bill and Ted cohort Winter with a hilarious extended cameo in Freaked the following year, Reeves once again teamed with Van Sant for the critically eviscerated Even Cowgirls Get the Blues before surprising audiences with an unexpectedly complex performance as Siddhartha in Bernardo Bertolucci's Little Buddha (1993).Just as audiences were beginning to ask themselves if they may have underestimated Reeves talent as an actor, the mid-'90s found his career taking an unexpected turn toward action films with the release of Jan de Bont's 1994 mega-hit Speed (Reeves would ultimately decline to appear in the film's disastrous sequel). Balancing out such big-budgeted adrenaline rushes as Johnny Mnemonic (1995) and Chain Reaction (1996) with romantic efforts as A Walk in the Clouds (1995) and Feeling Minnesota (1996), Reeves spooked audiences as a moral attorney suffering from a major case of soul corrosion in the 1997 horror thriller The Devil's Advocate. The late '90s also found Reeves suffering a devastating personal loss when his expected baby girl with longtime girlfriend Jennifer Syme was stillborn, marking the beginning of the end for the couple's relationship. Tragedy stacked upon tragedy when Syme died two short years later in a tragic freeway accident. His career in fluctuation due to the lukewarm response to the majority of his mid-'90s efforts, it was the following year that would find Reeves entering into one of the most successful stages of his career thus far.As Neo, the computer hacker who discovers that he may be humankind's last hope in the forthcoming war against an oppressive mainframe of computers, Reeves' popularity once again reached feverish heights thanks to The Wachowski Brothers' wildly imaginative and strikingly visual sci-fi breakthrough, The Matrix. Followed by such moderately successful films as The Replacements (for which he deferred his salary so that Gene Hackman could also appear) and The Watcher (both 2000), Reeves took an unexpectedly convincing turn as an abusive husband in Sam Raimi's The Gift before returning to familiar territory with Sweet November and Hardball (both 2001). With the cultural phenomenon of The Matrix only growing as a comprehensive DVD release offered obsessive fans a closer look into the mythology of the film, it wasn't long before The Wachowski Brothers announced that the film had originally been conceived as the beginning of a trilogy and that two sequels were in the works. Filmed back to back, and with both scheduled to hit screens in 2003, excitement over The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions began to reach feverish heights in the months before release, virtually ensuring that the films would become two of the year's biggest box-office draws; they delivered on this promise despite mixed critical receptions.Reeves ensured his liberation from typecasting with a drastic turn away from The Matrix as the curtain fell on 2003, by appearing as heartthrob Dr. Julian Mercer in Nancy Meyers' romantic comedy Something's Gotta Give. Although he played second fiddle to vets Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton, Reeves scored a bullseye, especially with female viewers. In 2005, he joined the cast of the collegiate arthouse hit Thumbsucker as Perry Lyman and fought the denizens of hell in the occultic thriller Constantine. Reeves's 2006 roles included the animated Robert Arctor in Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly and Alex Burnham in Alejandro Aresti's romantic fantasy The Lake House (co-starring Sandra Bullock). In 2009, the actor was praised for his role as a bitter divorcee in the critically acclaimed comedy drama The Private Lives of Pippa Lee.Reeves soon pulled back from acting to focus more on behind-the-camera work, as a producer and director. He produced and starred in the limited release Henry's Crime (2010) and released his directorial debut, Man of Tai Chi, in 2013 (he also starred in the film). In 2014, Reeves executive produced and starred in John Wick, playing a retired hitman. He also produced a series of documentaries, Side by Side, about filmmaking in the digital and film world.Famously playing bass for the band Dogstar in his cinematic down time, Reeves' other personal interests include motorcycles, horseback riding, and surfing. When he's not filming, Reeves maintains an everpresent residence in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Trivia: Dramatic actor Laurence Fishburne gained widespread acclaim and an Oscar nomination for his gripping performance as the Svengali-like Ike Turner in the Tina Turner biopic What's Love Got to Do With It (1993) and went on to rack up an impressive string of credits playing leads and supporting roles on stage, screen, and television.Born in Augusta, GA, the sole child of a corrections officer and an educator, Fishburne was raised in Brooklyn following his parents' divorce. An unusually sensitive child with a natural gift for acting, he was taken to various New York stage auditions before landing his first professional role at the age of ten. Two years later, he made his feature film debut with a major role in Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975). A turning point in the young actor's career came when he lied about his age and won the role of a young Navy gunner in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. On location in the Philippines, the teenage actor effectively bade farewell to childhood as he endured the many legendary problems that befell Coppola's production over the next two years. In between shooting days, Fishburne hung out with the adult actors, often exposing himself to their offscreen drinking and drugging antics.Back in Hollywood by the late '70s, he continued playing small supporting roles in features and on television. Like many black actors, he was frequently relegated to playing thugs and young hoodlums. He would continue to appear in Coppola productions like Rumble Fish (1983) and The Cotton Club (1984) throughout the 1980s. Wanting a change from playing heavies, he accepted a recurring role as friendly Cowboy Curtis opposite Paul Reubens on the loopy CBS children's series Pee-Wee's Playhouse. By the early '90s, Fishburne had begun to escape the stereotypical roles of his early career. In 1990, he played a psychotic hit man opposite Christopher Walken in Abel Ferrara's King of New York and a chess-playing hustler in Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993). Following his great success in the Tina Turner biopic, he became one of Hollywood's most prolific actors, appearing in films such as John Singleton's Higher Learning (1995). Fishburne, who had known Singleton when the latter was a security guard on the Pee-Wee's Playhouse set, had previously appeared in the director's debut film Boyz 'N the Hood (1991). After Higher Learning came Othello (1995) and Always Outnumbered, which he also produced. Fishburne had previously produced Hoodlum (1997), in which he also starred. In 1999, he stepped into blockbuster territory with his starring role in the stylish sci-fi action film The Matrix. Increasingly geared towards action films, Fishburne could be seen in the fast and furious motorcycle flick Biker Boyz as fans prepared for the release of the upcoming Matrix sequels. Indeed, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (2003) earned Fishburne further praise from both fans and critics. The same year, Fishburne co-starred with Tim Robbins and Sean Penn in the role of a homicide detective for the Academy Award-winning thriller Mystic River. The actor went on to star as a cop-killing mobster for the crime drama Assault on Precinct 13 (2005), and as a somber professor of English in the critically acclaimed urban drama Akeelah and the Bee (2006). He would co-star in the ensemble political docudrama chronicling the life and death of Robert F. Kennedy (also in 2006), and join the cast of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer in 2007. Fishburne found success again in director Steven Soderbergh's Contagion (2011), and co-stars in the Superman reboot Man of Steel (2013) as the editor-and-chief of "The Daily Planet". In addition to his work in cinema, Fishburne has established a distinguished stage career, winning a Tony Award in 1992, for his role in August Wilson's Two Trains Running.

Trivia: Exhibiting both grit and steely, almost otherworldly beauty, Canadian actress Carrie-Anne Moss rapidly ascended from obscurity to international stardom as the latex-clad cyber warrior Trinity in the Wachowski brothers' The Matrix. Moss' striking performance led many viewers to question where she had been all these years; like many other fledgling Hollywood actresses, she had done time as a model and an actress in second-rate films while waiting for her big break.Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, on August 21, 1967, Moss decided that she wanted to be an actress at an early age. The youngest of two children raised by a single mother, she grew up taking acting classes, and at the age of 20, she left Canada to pursue a career as a model. During a modeling stint in Spain, Moss managed to land a role on the TV serial Dark Justice. Upon her return to North America, she moved to L.A. and was cast on the Aaron Spelling series Models, Inc.After making her film debut in 1996's Sabotage, Moss continued to do TV work (most notably on the Toronto-based F/X: The Series) and appeared in fairly obscure films. Thanks to her starring role in The Matrix in 1999, Moss was soon in great demand. In 2000 alone, she could be seen in no less than four films, including the action comedy The Crew, Red Planet, and as a bartender with questionable motives in director Christopher Nolan's unconventional breakthrough, Memento. Subsequently taking another stab at sci-fi opposite Val Kilmer in Red Planet, Moss would next appear in Lasse Hallstrom's romantic drama Chocolat before stepping back into her vinyl bodysuit for The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (both 2003).With the Matrix sequels behind her, Moss next starred opposite Aaron Eackhart in the serial-killer thriller Suspect Zero, a film that failed to excite either audiences or critics. Over the next three years, Moss could primarily be seen in supporting roles in small indie films like Mini's First Time and Fido. And while those films largely failed to garner audience attention, Moss received high marks for the Canadian drama Snow Cake. Also starring Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver, the film netted several 2007 Genie Award nominations, but only won one: Best Supporting Actress, which went to Moss.2007 also gave Moss her first taste of financial success since the Matrix films with the surprise-hit thriller Disturbia, a thinly-veiled teenage retread of Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece Rear Window. The actress followed this up with the gently tragic, slice-of-life drama Fireflies in the Garden (2008), joining Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds and Emily Watson in the story of family members who grapple with their feelings of love and commitment to one another when a devastating crisis occurs. In the years to come, Moss would remain a force on screen, appearing in movies like Love Hurts, and on TV series like Chuck and Vegas.

Trivia: A graduate of Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art, blond, idiosyncratic leading man Hugo Weaving made his feature film debut in the socially conscious low-budget drama The City's Edge (1983), purportedly one of the first Australian films to sympathetically portray the adverse conditions suffered by aborigines. In 1991, Weaving received Best Actor kudos from the Australian Film Institute for his portrayal of a blind photographer in Jocelyn Moorhouse's Proof. In 1994, the actor earned international acclaim playing Tick, a drag queen with a secret, in the cult favorite The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994). The following year, Weaving was involved in another audience pleaser when he lent his voice to play the sheep dog Rex in Babe. Weaving occasionally appears in U.S. television productions, notably the CBS miniseries Dadah Is Death, in which he played opposite Julie Christie and Sarah Jessica Parker. He also continues to work steadily in Australia, in addition to appearing in big-budget Hollywood affairs such as The Matrix, in which he starred as an evil agent opposite Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne. Following his turn in The Matrix with a few low-key romantic comedies (Strange Planet [also 1999] and Russian Doll [2001]), Weaving made a return to big-budgeted special effects extravaganzas with his involvement in director Peter Jackson's enormous adaptation of author J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. For the sequels to The Matrix, Weaving would return with a vengeance; with hundreds of Agent Smith clones sent to stop Neo (Keanu Reeves) from leading the revolution against the machines. An affiliation with another hit sci-fi series emerged when Weaving provided the voice of Megatron in Michael Bay's Transformers (as well as its two sequels), though it was the actor's affecting performance in 2009's Last Ride that earned him a nomination for Best Lead Actor at that year's Australian Film Institute awards. Cast as a dangerous Australian fugitive who flees from the law with his young son in tow, Weaving gave viewers a glimpse of the talent that was often overshadowed in his many larger-than-life roles, though it was his scenery-chewing performance as Johann Schmidt/Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger that got him back on the big screen in the U.S. following the disappointment of The Wolfman. Meanwhile, the busy screen veteran prepared for roles in Cloud Atlas (a sprawling sci-fi epic from Tom Tykwer and Andy and Lana Wachowski), and Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy.

Trivia: Standing merely five feet tall, Jada Pinkett Smith is known for her high-energy charm, receiving attention for the spunky role she played in her friend Keenan Ivory Wayans' Low Down Dirty Shame in 1994. She was born on September 18, 1971, in Baltimore, MD, where she grew up and went on to study dance at Baltimore School for the Arts. She then attended North Carolina School of Arts, but dropped out when Wayans found her an agent to launch her acting career.Real notice came when she worked on Bill Cosby's series A Different World starting in 1991. Thereafter she appeared in several films including her more serious roles as the single mother in Menace II Society and the girlfriend in Jason's Lyric (1994). Eddie Murphy's 1996 rendition of The Nutty Professor brought her back to comedy, and the extensive hype around the film allowed her fame to swell. In 1997, she married fellow actor (and former rap star) Will Smith; the following year, she appeared in Woo and Return to Paradise, and gave birth to son Jadan. Pinkett Smith made a cameo in Spike Lee's Bamboozled in 2000, and then returned to a serious lead role in Doug McHenry's Kingdom Come (2001) with Whoopi Goldberg, which was shot while she was pregnant with daughter Willow.Her film career later ramping up with roles in the two Matrix sequels, the Tom Cruise thriller Collateral, and with vocal work in the Madagascar series, Pinkett Smith made the leap to television as a compassion head of nursing on TNT's Hawthorne, which debuted in 2009 and ran for three seasons. An ardent supporter of Barack Obama, Pinkett Smith also fronts the heavy metal band Wicked Wisdom, which released their first CD in 2006, and performed on the Ozzfest tour in 2009.

Trivia: Distinguished African-American actress Gloria Foster studied at the Goodman Theatre, making her earliest professional appearances with the University of Chicago County Theater. Foster's first Broadway role was Ruth in Lorraine Hansbury's Raisin in the Sun. In 1963, she appeared in the powerful dramatic review In White America, earning an Obie Award as well as a two-page spread in Life Magazine. The following year, she was honored with a Theatre World award for her portrayal of Medea, one of dozens of classic stage roles to her credit. She made her film bow in 1963's The Cool World, followed by a sizeable role opposite Ivan Dixon in the critically acclaimed Nothing But a Man. She later co-starred with Bill Cosby (To All My Friends on Shore, Leonard Part 6) and Sidney Poitier (Separate but Equal). Gloria Foster's many television credits include two guest appearances on The Mod Squad, co-starring with her then-husband, actor/director Clarence Williams III. Though her film roles remained relatively scarce throughout the 1990s, Foster's role as The Oracle in the 1999 metaphysical sci-fi smash The Matrix proved a welcome sight to fans who hadn't seen her since her 1993 television effort Percy and Thunder. Returning to the role for 2003's The Matrix Reloaded, Foster sadly died of diabetes before completing all of her scenes for the film (and having not even begun shooting her scenes for the same year's The Matrix Revolutions). She was 64.

Trivia: An accomplished young actor who has graced the stage, screen, and television, Harold Perrineau Jr. has earned a well-deserved reputation as a performer willing to take on just about anything, with roles ranging from drag queens to hardened criminals. A native of Brooklyn, Perrineau studied music and theatre at the Shenandoah Conservatory, but began his career as a dancer with the Alvin Ailey Company, performing with the troupe for a year and a half. A gradual shift to acting led Perrineau to the theatre, where he acted in a number of shows including Dreamgirls, the critically acclaimed Avenue X, and the off-Broadway revival of Godspell.While he was working on the stage, Perrineau also began appearing on TV in such shows as The Cosby Show, The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, I'll Fly Away, and Law & Order. He segued onto the big screen in the late '80s, but had his first memorable role as Rashid Cole, a young man searching for his long-absent father (Forest Whitaker) in Smoke, an acclaimed 1995 drama directed by Wayne Wang and based upon the writings of Paul Auster. The following year he gained further exposure for his flamboyant, explosive portrayal of Mercutio in Baz Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. At one point outfitted in a glitter miniskirt and platform heels, Perrineau proved a worthy, if idiosyncratic, foil for Leonardo Di Caprio's Romeo and gave a performance that marked him as one of the more distinctive Mercutios in the play's history.Perrineau subsequently appeared in a number of supporting roles in films ranging from Auster's Lulu on the Bridge (1998) to The Best Man (1999), a celebrated romantic comedy directed by Malcolm D. Lee (cousin of Spike Lee) that saw Perrineau share the screen with other members of a group widely billed as a new generation of African-American actors, including Taye Diggs, Morris Chestnut, and Nia Long. In addition to appearances in various independent films, Perrineau starred in Woman on Top (2000), a comedy that cast him as the drag queen best friend of a young woman (Penelope Cruz) experiencing romantic woes.In 1997, Perrineau made the move to the small screen, assuming the role of paraplegic convict and narrator Augustus Hill on the acclaimed HBO series Oz. The brutally violent, hard-hitting series generated Perrineau thousands of fans, and he stayed with the show until 2003 - the same year he took up the role of Link in The Matrix Reloaded, the second film in the explosive Matrix franchise. He would reprise the role the next year for the third and final installment in the series, The Matrix Revolutions, before returning to television just months later for the role of Michael on the cryptic ABC sci-fi/mystery/drama Lost. Playing a conflicted and sometimes morally ambiguous character, Perrineau soon proved to be a vital member of the cast, taking a hiatus from the series in 2007 only to return in 2008.Despite becoming a pivotal component of primetime TV, the actor remained as active in movies as ever. He took on the role of Flynn in the 2007 horror sequel 28 Weeks Later, and starred alongside Michael Madsen in the 2008 thriller The Killing Jar. After Lost ended in 2010, Perrineau continued to alternate between TV and film, playing the villain in season 5 of Sons of Anarchy and a decidedly lighter role as the bass player in a wedding band in the short-lived TBS comedy Wedding Band. He also played a supporting role in the controversial Oscar-nominated film Zero Dark Thirty (2012).

Trivia: Film critics are quick to compare Monica Bellucci to previous Italian beauties, but she is her own brand of sultry icon. With roles as a topless vampire in Bram Stoker's Dracula, a taciturn war widow in Malèna (2000), a charmed courtesan in Le Pacte des Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf) (2002), and a sci-fi vixen in the Matrix sequels (2003), Bellucci has proved to be a bold blend of earthy and ethereal, actress and star.Born on September 30, 1968, Bellucci grew up in the small Italian village of Citta di Castello, where her father owned a trucking company. At 18, she enrolled at the University of Perugia with plans to study law. To pay her tuition, Bellucci started modeling. Two years later, she dropped out of school to relocate to Milan, where she signed with Elite Model Management. Besides strutting the cat walk in fashion shows, Bellucci appeared in international advertising campaigns for designers such as Dolce & Gabbana. With her modeling career in full swing, she began to take acting classes and made her screen debut in the television film Vita Coi Figli (Life With the Sons) in 1990.After acting in several Italian features, Bellucci graced American screens for the first time as one of Dracula's (Gary Oldman) brides in Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), which also starred Keanu Reaves and Winona Ryder. She subsequently returned to Italy to appear in the heist film I Mitici (The Heroes) (1994) and the children's movie Palla di Neve (Snowball) (1995). As time passed, Bellucci grew increasingly frustrated with the failure of Italy's film industry to promote its projects abroad. She starred opposite Ben Kingsley and Dominique Sanda in the American television movie Joseph (1995), before looking for work in French films.Bellucci made her French-language debut in 1996's award-winning romance L'Appartement (The Apartment). She earned a César nomination for her performance in the role, as well as began dating her co-star, French actor Vincent Cassel. The couple (who married a few years later) re-teamed onscreen immediately, portraying comically troubled lovers in the gender-bending romance Come Mi Vuoi (As You Want Me) (1996) and murderous bank robbers in Jan Kounen's infamous thriller Dobermann (1997).In 2000, Bellucci returned to Hollywood to play Gene Hackman's estranged trophy wife in Under Suspicion. The film's director, Stephen Hopkins, had seen L'Appartement on a transatlantic flight and requested that she star in the thriller. That same year, the actress earned unprecedented worldwide acclaim for her performance as the title character in Malèna. Helmed by award-winning director Giuseppe Tornatore, the film featured Bellucci as a quiet young bride who is left alone in a small Sicilian town when her husband goes off to fight in World War II. Stunningly attractive, she struggles to keep her dignity as she is spurned by the female villagers and preyed upon by the men. Bellucci followed up Malèna's success with another international hit, Christophe Gans' genre hybrid Le Pacte des Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf) (2002). The stylish cross between period piece and kung-fu flick (which also starred Cassel) was the fourth most successful film of its year in France. After conquering Europe, the film became an art house hit in the States and Bellucci received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress from the U.S. Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films.The subject of numerous fan sites and men's magazine articles, Bellucci went on to star as the seductive Queen of the Nile in the comic book adaptation Astérix & Obélisk: Mission Cléopâtre. In 2001, she joined Dracula co-star Keanu Reeves in the cast of the highly anticipated follow-ups to The Matrix (1999), The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003). Soon after, Bruce Willis personally chose Bellucci to play a humanitarian doctor whom he must save from war-torn Nigeria in Tears of the Sun, director Antoine Fuqua's follow-up to his hit Training Day (2001).In 2004, Bellucci's momentum continued to build when she starred as Mary Magdalene in The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson's self-produced blockbuster retelling of the final 12 hours of Jesus Christ. In the wake of that film's success, Bellucci teamed with two other renowned directors, Terry Gilliam and Spike Lee, with roles in The Brothers Grimm and She Hate Me, respectively.She continued to work steadily with high profile projects as The Brothers Grimm, the action film Shoot 'Em Up, and the family fantasy film The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Trivia: A memorable voice and a major talent, Chicago-born Harry J. Lennix first caught audiences' attention with the role of Dr. Greg Fischer on the medical drama ER. He would go on to make waves in films like Collateral Damage, The Matrix sequels, and Ray. as the 2000's and 2010's unfolded, Lennix would add more prominent TV roles to his resume, memorably starring on 24, Commander in Chief, and Dollhouse.

Trivia: Though many viewers will associate him exclusively with Asian character roles in Hollywood features, Hawaii native Randall Duk Kim actually gained his footing as a classically trained thespian in Shakespearean plays, many of which were mounted at the New York Shakespeare Festival during the 1970s, '80s, and '90s. Kim hardly limited his on-stage activity to the musings of the great Bard, however, with a resumé that included leads and supporting roles in dozens of non-Shakespearean plays -- everything from J.B. Priestley's When We Are Married to Bertolt Brecht's The Threepenny Opera. One of his most prestigious accomplishments involved founding the American Players Theater in Wisconsin with Charles Bright and Anne Occhiogrosso. Kim's endless panoply of on-stage accomplishments brought him an off-Broadway Obie Award for "Sustained Excellence of Performance" in theatrical work. Unsurprisingly, Kim's Hollywood assignments (which began in 1994, after a 20-year stint focusing exclusively on the theater) represented several steps down in terms of sophistication and, as indicated, often typecast him in stock ethnic roles in martial arts or fantasy films. Credits included the epic Anna and the King (1999), the effects-laden action opus The Matrix Reloaded (2003), and the CG-animated action comedy Kung Fu Panda (2008).

Trivia: Disdaining the "surfer" mentality of his California boyhood friends, Anthony Zerbe chose to head to New York to become an actor. He studied with Stella Adler and worked off-Broadway before achieving success in the mid-'60s. He made his film debut in 1967's Will Penny, after which he settled into a series of sharkish, saturnine villainous portrayals. An adherent of EST training, Zerbe preferred to work with people who allowed him "space" to develop a characterization; one such person was David Janssen, with whom Zerbe appeared on the mid-'70s TV series Harry O (in which he won an Emmy award for his portrayal of Lieutenant Trench). Active on-stage and in films and television into the 1990s, Anthony Zerbe has contributed some unforgettable acting moments to the big screen, notably as the shadow-enshrouded leper in 1971's Papillon and the "blowed up real good" secondary villain in the 1989 James Bond opus License to Kill.

Trivia: Swiss-born martial artist Daniel Bernhardt has followed in the violent footsteps of Belgian kickboxer Jean-Claude Van Damme as a handsome European-accented leading man in Hollywood action thrillers. After studying in the Swiss capital of Bern and modeling in Paris, Bernhardt literally took over for Van Damme in the second, third, and fourth incarnations of the Bloodsport film series. After starring in the low-budget debacle that is Future War, he kicked his way through the movies True Vengeance, Black Sea Raid, Perfect Target, and Global Effect. In 1998, he starred as Siro on the video game-inspired TV show Mortal Combat Conquest. In 2003, Bernhardt finally found a highly profitable outlet for his skills as Agent Johnson in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions.

Trivia: Australian actor Lachy Hulme graduated from Wesley College in Melbourne with honors in drama before starting his career by writing the screenplay for the film Men with Guns in 1997. He also wrote the script for 2001's Let's Get Skase, which he also starred in, before appearing in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions as Sparks. Hulme followed that up with a role in the improvised Australian comedy BoyTown, about an '80s boy band of the same name.

Trivia: While at drama school, lived with classmate Cate Blanchett. A week after graduating, cast as Juliet in Bell Shakespeare Company's 1993 production of Romeo and Juliet and as Jilly in the film The Custodian (1993). Met husband Justin Kurzel in 1996, when he was a set designer at the Sydney Theatre Company and she was in a Belvoir Street production of A View from the Bridge. Sprained her ankle, dislocated her knee and broke a rib doing stunts for Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.

Trivia: Endured one of the greatest injustices in Olympic boxing history when judges scored the 1988 light-middleweight gold-medal match a 3-2 win for Si-Hun Park over Jones, who landed 86 punches to Park's 32. The decision led to changes in the Olympic scoring system. Captured his first title belt with a unanimous decision over Bernard Hopkins in 1993. Named Fighter of the Decade for the 1990s by the Boxing Writers Association of America. Ventured into the music world as a rapper in 2001, recording a solo album in '02 and a group album with Body Head Bangerz in '04. Displayed his ring versatility by taking the WBA heavyweight title from John Ruiz in 2003, giving Jones titles in four different weight classes and the distinction of the first boxer ever to start as a junior middleweight and rise to heavyweight champ.

Trivia: Native New Zealander Rene Naufahu began working steadily on the small screen in his home country on programs such as Tales of the South Seas, Street Legal, Water Rats, and many others. He reached the biggest audience of his career to that point after being cast as the Zion Gate Operator in the two sequels to The Matrix. Naufahu portrayed Erasmus, a man with a drinking problem, in the drama Naming Number Two.

Trivia: At age 11, moved with her family from Melbourne to Hobart. Attended the National Institute Of Dramatic Art at age 16, in the very first intake in 1959. Became a Member of the Order of Australia for services to performing arts in 1981. In 1986, directed the film The More Things Change... Was the artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company from 1999-2007. In 1999, received an honorary doctorate from the University of Tasmania. Gave the Australia Day Address in 2004.

Trivia: As a child, knew that she wanted to become a performer and sang and danced a lot at home. At the age of 10, emigrated from Dublin to Adelaide with her family. Moved from Adelaide to Sydney at the age of twenty to study at the NIDA. Was one of the subjects of a TV documentary on the NIDA and its students titled Drama School (2000). Cast as the understudy for Gale Edwards' New York production of The White Devil a week after graduating from NIDA in 2000. Made her TV debut in fantasy series BeastMaster in 2001. First film role was as Officer Wirtz in The Matrix Reloaded (2003). Moved to London to pursue acting opportunities in 2005. Profile raised with her lead role as Kate in TV series The Time of Your Life (2007). Played Princess Diana in the 2007 docudrama Diana: Last Days of a Princess.

Trivia: A statuesque beauty whose first love as an actor was the stage, Gina Torres immersed herself in her craft by connecting with a live audience; the symbiotic energy that it created fueled her passion for acting and encouraged her to pursue a career in film and television in addition to her multiple Broadway roles. Born the youngest of three siblings in a close-knit Cuban family in New York, Torres received early voice training at New York's High School of Music and Art. Trained in opera and jazz, the talented mezzo-soprano also sang in a gospel choir, refining her versatile voice into a finely developed instrument with remarkable range. Although regular viewers of TV fantasy no doubt recognize her from recurring roles on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and its sister show, Xena: Warrior Princess, the talented actress and singer also appeared in such popular small-screen action and drama series as Dark Angel, Cleopatra 2525, Firefly, Alias, Any Day Now, and Angel. Married to actor Laurence Fishburne since September 2002, Torres' film roles have included 1996's Bed of Roses and The Matrix Reloaded (2003). She had a recurring role on the TV series Angel. She appeared in a number of projects including Serenity, and the Chris Rock comedy I Think I Love My Wife. In 2010 she was cast in the made-for-cable series Huge, about teens at a fat camp, and voiced Superwoman for the animated Justice League series.

Trivia: Born in 1977 and raised in Melbourne, Aussie screenwriter, producer, and occasional actor Leigh Whannell alternated between work as a reporter and assignments as a TV-based movie critic on his native continent prior to his decision to attend film school in the early 2000s. As a production student, Whannell met aspiring director James Wan; the two forged a tight creative bond and quickly devised the premise for a new slasher franchise, Saw, co-authoring the screenplay of the premier installment. The by-now infamous story of Saw concerns the plight of two successful men who black out, regain consciousness, and find themselves chained to rusty pipes in a subterranean bathroom. They are then tortured in unspeakable manners by an evasive predator in clown makeup, known alternately as The Jigsaw Killer and simply Jigsaw. To sell this genre effort, Whannell and Wan followed a marketing strategy identical to the one that Joel and Ethan Coen used to sell their debut, Blood Simple, 20 years prior: the budding filmmakers shot a "trailer" that showcased the film's atmosphere of relentless tension and high-wire suspense to secure a production deal. The gamble paid off; Lionsgate green-lit the project and sent it into production between 2003 and 2004. Meanwhile, Whannell embarked on an acting career; he joined the ensemble cast of 2003's Wachowski Bros. sequel The Matrix Reloaded (as Axel) and assumed the lead role of Adam in Saw. With Wan in the director's chair and Stacey Testro, Peter Block, and Jason Constantine as executive producers, Saw became a massive runaway hit and -- as predicted -- yielded two successful sequels in 2005 and 2006 that further detail the exploits of Jigsaw. The boys scripted the second and third installments, though Wan declined the offer to direct either. Saw II, which debuted in late 2005, has eight people -- instead of the original two -- locked up by the diabolical Jigsaw in a dungeon and attempting to escape. In Saw III, Jigsaw -- now on his deathbed -- instructs his protégé, Amanda (Shawnee Smith), in the ways of evil, ordering her to kidnap and torture a physician and another victim, Jeff (Angus MacFadyen). Mirroring the innumerable A-budget horror franchises that preceded Saw, the first sequel did astonishing box office but was eviscerated by critics, and Saw III echoed this response on both critical and commercial fronts. Meanwhile, instead, of directing Saw II or Saw III, Wan and Whannell set to work on a Saw follow-up, 2007's Dead Silence (aka Shhhh...). The suspenser stars Donnie Wahlberg and supermodel Amber Valletta (Hitch), and concerns a recently widowed young man who returns to his hometown to unearth the shadowy details surrounding his beloved's demise. Universal Pictures slated the release for January 2007.