Trivia: Despite a thick Australian accent in some of his earlier films, actor Mel Gibson was born in Peeksill, NY, to Irish Catholic parents on January 3rd, 1956. One of eleven children, Gibson didn't set foot in Australia until 1968, and only developed an Aussie accent after his classmates teased him for his American tongue. Mel Gibson's looks have certainly helped him develop a largely female following similar to the equally rugged Harrison Ford, but since his 1976 screen debut in Summer City, Gibson has been recognized as a critical as well as physiological success.Though he had, at one point, set his sights on journalism, Gibson caught the acting bug by the time he had reached college age, and studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, Australia, despite what he describes as a crippling ordeal with stage fright. Luckily, this was something he overcame relatively quickly -- Gibson was still a student when he filmed Summer City and it didn't take long before he had found work playing supporting roles for the South Australia Theatre Company after his graduation. By 1979, Gibson had already demonstrated a unique versatility. In the drama Tim, a then 22-year-old Gibson played the role of a mildly retarded handy man well enough to win him a Sammy award -- one of the Australian entertainment industry's highest accolades -- while his leather clad portrayal of a post-apocalyptic cop in Mad Max helped the young actor gain popularity with a very different type of audience. Gibson wouldn't become internationally famous, however, until after his performance in Mad Max 2 (1981), one of the few sequels to have proved superior to its predecessor. In 1983, Gibson collaborated with director Peter Weir for the second time (though it was largely overlooked during the success of Mad Max 2, Gibson starred in Weir's powerful WWI drama Gallipoli in 1981) for The Year of Living Dangerously, in which he played a callous reporter responsible for covering a bloody Indonesian coup. Shortly afterwards, Gibson made his Hollywood debut in The Bounty with Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins, and starred opposite Sissy Spacek in The River during the same year. He would also star in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) alongside singer Tina Turner.After the third installment to the Mad Max franchise, Gibson took a two-year break, only to reappear opposite Danny Glover in director Richard Donner's smash hit Lethal Weapon. The role featured Gibson as Martin Riggs, a volatile police officer reeling from the death of his wife, and cemented a spot as one of Hollywood's premier action stars. Rather than letting himself become typecast, however, Gibson would surprise critics and audiences alike when he accepted the title role in Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet (1990). Though his performance earned mixed reviews, he was applauded for taking on such a famously tragic script.In the early '90s, Gibson founded ICON Productions, and through it made his directorial debut with 1993's The Man Without a Face. The film, which also starred Gibson as a horrifically burned teacher harboring a secret, achieved only middling box-office success, though it was considered a well-wrought effort for a first-time director. Gibson would fare much better in 1994 when he rejoined Richard Donner in the movie adaptation of Maverick; however, it would be another year before Gibson's penchant for acting, directing, and producing was given its due. In 1995, Gibson swept the Oscars with Braveheart, his epic account of 13th century Scottish leader William Wallace's lifelong struggle to forge an independent nation. Later that year, he lent his vocal talents -- surprising many with his ability to carry a tune -- for the part of John Smith in Disney's animated feature Pocahontas. Through the '90s, Gibson's popularity and reputation continued to grow, thanks to such films as Ransom (1996) and Conspiracy Theory (1997). In 1998, Gibson further increased this popularity with the success of two films, Lethal Weapon 4 and Payback. More success followed in 2000 due to the actor's lead role as an animated rooster in Nick Park and Peter Lord's hugely acclaimed Chicken Run, and to his work as the titular hero of Roland Emmerich's blockbuster period epic The Patriot (2000). After taking up arms in the battlefield of a more modern era in the Vietman drama We Were Soldiers in 2002, Gibson would step in front of the cameras once more for Sixth Sense director M. Night Shyamalan's dramatic sci-fi thriller Signs (also 2002). The film starred Gibson as a grieving patriarch whose rural existence was even further disturbed by the discovery of several crop circles on his property.Gibson would return to more familiar territory in Randall Wallace's We Were Soldiers -- a 2002 war drama which found Gibson in the role of Lt. Col. Hal Moore, commander of the First Battalion, Seventh Cavalry -- the same regiment so fatefully led by George Armstrong Custer. In 2003, Gibson starred alongside Robert Downey Jr. and Robin Wright-Penn in a remake of The Singing Detective. The year 2004 saw Gibson return to the director's chair for The Passion of The Christ. Funded by 25 million of Gibson's own dollars, the religious drama generated controversy amid cries of anti-Semitism. Despite the debates surrounding the film -- and the fact that all of the dialogue was spoken in Latin and Aramaic -- it nearly recouped its budget in the first day of release.The actor stepped behind the camera again in 2006 with the Mayan tale Apocalypto and was preparing to product a TV movie about the Holocaust, but by this time, public attention was not pointed at Gibson's career choices. That summer, he was pulled over for drunk driving at which time he made extremely derogatory comments about Jewish people to the arresting officer. When word of Gibson's drunken, bigoted tirade made it to the press, the speculation of the actor's anti-Semitic leanings that had circulated because of the choices he'd made in his depiction of the crucifixion in Passion of the Christ seemed confirmed. Gibson's father being an admitted holocaust denier hadn't helped matters and now it seemed that no PR campaign could help. Gibson publicly apologized, expressed extreme regret for his comments, and checked himself into rehab. Still, the plug was pulled on Gibson's Holocaust project and the filmmaker's reputation was irreparably tarnished.

Trivia: A distinguished actor of the stage and screen, Danny Glover is known for his work in both Hollywood blockbusters and serious dramatic films. Towering and quietly forceful, Glover lends gravity and complexity to the diverse characters he has portrayed throughout his lengthy career.A native of San Francisco, where he was born July 22, 1947, Glover attended San Francisco State and received his dramatic training at the American Conservatory Theatre's Black Actors' Workshop. He made his film debut in Escape from Alcatraz (1979). In the early '80s, Glover made his name portraying characters ranging from the sympathetic in Places in the Heart (1984) to the menacing in Witness (1985) and The Color Purple (1984). He reached box-office-gold status with the three Lethal Weapon flicks produced between 1987 and 1992, playing the conservative, family-man partner of "loose cannon" L.A. cop Mel Gibson. Glover carried over his fiddle-and-bow relationship with Gibson into his off-screen life, and also contributed an amusing cameo (complete with his Lethal Weapon catch-phrase "I'm gettin' too old for this!") in Maverick (1994). In 1998, Glover again reprised his role for the blockbuster-proportioned Lethal Weapon 4, and that same year gave a stirring performance in the little-seen Beloved.In the following years Glover would walk the line between Hollywood heavyweight and serious-minded independent actor with a skill most actors could only dream of, with an affectinate role in Wes Anderson's 2001 comedy drama The Royal Tenenbaums and a surprising turn toward horror in Saw serving well to balance out lesser-seen but equally powerful turns in Boseman and Lena, 3 A.M., and Lars von Trier's Manderlay. The same year that Glover retreated into the woods as a haunted Vietnam veteran in the low-key drama Missing in America, he would turn in a series of guest appearances on the long-running television medical drama E.R. Despite a filmography that seemed populated with an abundance of decidedly serious dramas in the years following the millennial turnover, Glover did cut loose in 2006 when he took a role as Tim Allen's boss in The Shaggy Dog and stepped into the studio to offer vocal performances in the animated kid flicks The Adventures of Brer Rabbit and Barnyard. On television, Glover played the title role in Mandela (1987), cowpoke Joshua Deets in the 1989 miniseries Lonesome Dove, legendary railroad man John Henry in a 1988 installment of Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales, and the mercurial leading character in the 1989 "American Playhouse" revival of A Raisin in the Sun. For his role in Freedom Song as a caring father struggling to raise his young son in 1960s-era Mississippi, Glover was nominated for an Emmy award and took home an Image award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series, or Dramatic Special. Glover played a proprietor of a struggling blues club in John Sayles' musical drama Honeydripper in 2007, and went on to participate in The Garden (2008), a documentary about a produce garden developed in the aftermath of the L.A. riots. He continued to tackle complex social issues as an executive producer for Trouble the Water, a 2008 documentary following the struggles of New Orleans residents in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and as an associate producer for The Time That Remains (2009), a poignant series of short stories about Palestinians in Israel. Glover also worked as an associate producer for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, an avante-gard fantasy drama that received the Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

Trivia: A consummate character actor, Joe Pesci rose to success on the strength of a series of Martin Scorsese films which took full advantage of his gift for outlandishly menacing supporting performances. Born February 9, 1943, in Newark, NJ, Pesci was a child actor who began his radio career at the age of four. Broadway beckoned just a year later, and by 1953 he was a regular on the television variety program Star Time Kids. His acting career stalled during his teen years, however, and by the mid-'60s, he mounted a musical career under the name Joe Ritchie, recording an LP titled Little Joe Sure Can Sing and later playing guitar in the pop band Joey Dee & the Starliters. He also formed a vaudeville-style nightclub comedy act with Frank Vincent. Outside of 1961's Hey, Let's Twist!, Pesci did not appear in films prior to the little-seen 1975 feature The Death Collector; the film earned virtually no notice upon its release and he dropped out of acting, dejectedly returning to New York to run an Italian restaurant.While few people saw The Death Collector, one of those who did was actor Robert De Niro, who was so impressed by Pesci's performance that he brought the film to the attention of Scorsese, who cast Pesci in his 1980 masterpiece Raging Bull. The performance earned Pesci an Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category, and he became one of the busiest character actors in the business, steadily appearing in films ranging from the 1983 Rodney Dangerfield comedy Easy Money to the 1984 Sergio Leone epic Once Upon a Time in America. After starring in a failed 1985 sitcom, Half Nelson, Pesci's onscreen visibility diminished, and over the next four years he appeared in only one film, 1987's Man on Fire. In 1989, however, he co-starred opposite Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in the hit Lethal Weapon 2, a performance which put his talent for comic relief to such fine use that he later reappeared in the third chapter of the franchise, issued in 1992.By that point, Pesci had already become a star; 1990 was his breakthrough year, as he appeared in the family comedy blockbuster Home Alone and Scorsese's brilliant GoodFellas, winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his vivid portrayal of a psychotic mobster. While his first major starring role in 1991's The Super proved disastrous, he won good notices for his supporting turn in Oliver Stone's JFK and in 1992 starred in the hit courtroom comedy My Cousin Vinny. Later, following the disappointment of 1994's Jimmy Hollywood and With Honors, he reunited with Scorsese and De Niro for the 1995 epic Casino, essaying a variation on his GoodFellas character. However, a pair of poorly received 1997 comedies -- Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag and Gone Fishin' -- again called Pesci's capabilities as a lead actor into question. He found more success reprising his supporting role in Lethal Weapon 4, released in 1998. On the heels of his second outing with Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, however, the popular character actor disappeared from the big screen for nearly a decade. It took his old friend DeNiro to get him back in front of the camera for the CIA thriller The Good Shepherd (2006), with the four year gap between that film and Pesci's next film Love Ranch hinting that the aging screen veterean was in no hurry to jump back into the fray. But the window between films seemed to start shrinking when it was announced that Pesci would be returning to the world of crime cinema in director Geo Santini's 2012 gangster drama The Irishman.

Trivia: Born February 17th, 1954, former model Rene Russo's first dramatic role of note was on the 1987 TV series Sable, in which she played Eden Kendall, the literary agent to a children's author-turned-crimefighter. Her breakthrough theatrical feature was Major League (1989), wherein the statuesque blonde actress was saddled with portraying the "misguided" heroine who foolishly prefers marriage with a stable, secure lawyer over a relationship with boozing, philandering ballplayer Tom Berenger.Since then, happily, the message conveyed by Russo's characters has been "Don't mess with me: I can cope." In One Good Cop (1991), she played the strongly supportive wife of police officer Michael Keaton, for whom she successfully tackles the sudden responsibility of caring for the surly children of Keaton's late partner. In Lethal Weapon 3 (1993), Russo could be seen as the karate-chopping cop who wins the confidence (and the love) of "loose cannon" Mel Gibson by proudly showing off her line-of-duty wounds and evincing a fascination with the Three Stooges. In In the Line of Fire (1992), Russo was once more partnered on an equal basis with the leading man, in this case Secret Service agent Clint Eastwood; one of her best scenes featured her wired for sound -- despite a most revealing evening gown -- at a Washington social affair. Apparently there are still reviewers out there who can't quite grasp the concept of a leading lady who can match her leading man blow for blow in a tight situation. In 1995, some observers seemed surprised that Russo, playing a biohazard-suited military research operative in Outbreak, was "as good as" her male counterparts Dustin Hoffman and Morgan Freeman. Despite such ill-founded critical misgivings, Russo has continued to do strong work playing strong women: The acclaimed Get Shorty (1995) featured her as a B-movie actress, while she re-teamed with Gibson for Ron Howard's crime thriller Ransom (1996) and Lethal Weapon 4 (1998). She also played a psychologist who puts the swing back into washed-up golfer Kevin Costner's game in the well-received Tin Cup (1996), and generated considerable heat as a crime investigator who hunts and then beds down with art thief Pierce Brosnan in the 1999 remake of The Thomas Crown Affair.Russo continued worked sporadically through early to mid-2000s, her most recognizable role being that of Natasha Fatale in the live-action adaptation of Rocky and Bullwinkle. In 2005, following her supporting performances in Two for the Money and Yours, Mine, and Ours, Russell took a long break from acting. It wasn't until 2012 that she appeared on the big screen again for the mythological fantasy adventure Thor in the role of Frigga, Thor's mother.

Trivia: Lead actor, onscreen from the '70s.

Trivia: The daughter of an Olympic sprinter, she showed her speed at age 5 in a kids race for an ARCO commercial airing during the 1984 Olympics. Landed a role later in 1984 as George and Louise's granddaughter Jessica in the last two seasons of The Jeffersons. Played Detective Danny Murtagh's (Danny Glover) daughter Carrie at ages 9, 12, 13 and 20 in the Lethal Weapon film series. Took part in Xena fan conventions after her guest role as M'Lila in Season 2 of Xena: Warrior Princess.

Trivia: Nick Chinlund's handsome, rugged exterior makes him an ideal candidate for roles in such high-profile, high-octane releases as Con Air and Tears of the Sun, so casting directors may be tempted to steer him toward films that make use of his somewhat imposing physical presence; nonetheless, the talented stage and screen actor also possesses the chops needed to highlight such little-seen indies as Amy's Orgasm and Chutney Popcorn. That rare combination offers great potential for crossover appeal, so audiences on both sides of the blockbuster spectrum can find reasons for appreciating an actor of Chinlund's caliber. The New York native started out as a jock, but his aspirations on the court were sidelined by a college basketball injury; however, it didn't take long for him to see the silver lining in his career-halting accident, and he soon veered toward acting. Though Chinlund would remain at Brown University in the following years, a shift toward drama classes soon convinced him that his future didn't lie on the well-polished planks of the basketball court, but the well-worn boards of the theater stage. Roles in such Williamstown Theater Festival productions as Mother Courage and Little Oedipus helped the fresh-faced hopeful make a name for himself in the theater community, and shortly after graduation, Chinlund opted to kick-start his feature career by making the move to Los Angeles. In addition to an impressively creepy early role in a pair of X-Files episodes entitled "Irresistable" and "Orison," Chinlund also made a mark in such features as Lethal Weapon 3, Bad Girls, and Eraser. While small-screen roles in episodes of Third Watch and Buffy the Vampire Slayer found Chinlund continuing to make a name for himself among television viewers, his performances in such character-driven dramas as A Brother's Kiss and Once in the Life saw the emerging actor eschewing more action-oriented fare in favor of roles in more down-to-earth features. Though supporting roles in Training Day, Below, and Tears of the Sun did find Chinlund's visibility rising among the multiplex set, it was his participation in such efforts as Goodnight, Joseph Parker (in which he played the eponymous character) that seemed to draw him the most praise from critics. In 2004, Chinlund rejoined Below director David Twohy for a role opposite action icon Vin Diesel in the eagerly anticipated Pitch Black sequel, The Chronicles of Riddick.

Trivia: Lead actor, onscreen from the '80s.

Trivia: Went to college to study marine biology before turning his focus to acting. Trained at Playhouse West in North Hollywood and later became a teacher there. Film debut was in 1987's Fatal Beauty. Was nominated along with the rest of the cast of 2005's Capote for a Screen Actors Guild Award (Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture). Known for playing several supernatural characters: the mysterious near-immortal Jacob on Lost, Lucifer on Supernatural and a vampire boss on Being Human. Studies various types of martial arts.

Trivia: Known as a daredevil actor, Los Angeles native Vincent Howard did yeoman duty for Vitagraph in the title role of Sunlight's Last Raid (1917) and in such serials as A Fight for Millions (1917), Vengeance and the Woman (1917), and Smashing Barriers (1919), exclusively playing villains. It almost went terribly wrong during the filming of The Purple Riders (1921), a Western serial starring Joe Ryan, when Howard was badly mauled by what was supposedly a docile bear. The intrepid actor, however, recovered -- but not before Vitagraph had reaped heaps of publicity from the incident -- and was quickly back in harness in such serials as Breaking Through (1921), in which he opposed Carmel Myers' efforts to build an Alaskan railroad, and Mascot's The Isle of Sunken Gold (1927).

Trivia: Noted television and feature-film producer Lauren Shuler-Donner got her start as a camera operator following studies at Boston University. She was the first female member of the Hollywood Electronic Camera Union and rose to become a television associate producer. In 1979, she produced her first television movie, Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill. In 1983, she produced the hit feature film Mr. Mom. Two years later, she co-produced LadyHawke with filmmaker Richard Donner, whom she eventually married. By the mid-'90s, she became an executive producer.

Trivia: Dutch cameraman Jan de Bont built his career out of crafting the look of stylish action pieces and slick adventures; in the process, he became associated with some of the most profitable movies in Hollywood. He went to film school in Amsterdam during the '60s, making several shorts and documentaries. He shot Wat Zien Ik? in 1971 for director Paul Verhoeven (also from The Netherlands) and the two continued working together over the next two decades until Basic Instinct in 1992. In the early '80s, de Bont built his extensive cinematography resumé with horror movies (Cujo), dramas (I'm Dancing As Fast As I Can), and teen movies (All the Right Moves). He eventually developed a quick style that incorporated handheld cameras and constant movement. Perhaps the most prolific period of his career was in the mid-'80s, when he directed the photography for such large-scale adventures as Jewel of the Nile and The Clan of the Cave Bear. He then shot the flashy comedy Ruthless People before he made himself known for his work with the 1988 action classic Die Hard. It appeared as if de Bont's style was setting the standards for the look of action sagas, and he stayed with the genre with The Hunt for Red October and Lethal Weapon 3; but he also managed thrillers such as Flatliners and Shining Through. Making his directorial debut in 1994 with Speed, he maintained his flashy visual style but proved he could handle characters, as well. After directing the action-packed, but less-successful, Twister and Speed 2: Cruise Control, he moved on to producing with SLC Punk and The Haunting (which he also directed). The filmmaker continued producing with the sci-fi action flicks Minority Report and Equilibrium before returning to the director's chair for Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life in 2003.