Trivia: In terms of chosen material, actor Logan Lerman scored points at an early age for tackling some of the most difficult parts imaginable for a preteenager. His first major role was that of Jason, the put-upon young son of a harried single mother (Drew Barrymore) and a heroin addict (Steve Zahn) in Penny Marshall's coming-of-age period picture Riding in Cars with Boys (2001). Not long after, Lerman signed to portray the eight-year-old version of the central character in the controversial (and critically reviled) sci-fi melodrama The Butterfly Effect (2004) -- a part that found his character strangled, beaten, sexually abused, and fallen prey to a host of other atrocities. Then, after these arresting and emotionally challenging debuts, Lerman dropped down a few notches as far as the intensity of the material he sought out. From 2004-2005, Lerman co-starred in the short-lived drama series Jack & Bobby, playing Bobby, who was destined to one day become President of the United States. He also played an average young boy determined to band together with his buddies and save some rare owls in the family-friendly picture Hoot and portrayed the son of Christian Bale in James Mangold's Western remake 3:10 to Yuma. In the Joel Schumacher thriller The Number 23 (2007), Lerman played Robin Sparrow, the son of a seemingly normal man (Jim Carrey) driven around the bend by a numerical mystery. He went on to appear in Gamer before scoring his most-high profile part taking on the role of Percy Jackson, the hero of a popular series of fantasy novels, in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. He followed that up by tackling the role of D'Artagnan in the 2011 version of The Three Musketeers before returning to smaller fare in The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Trivia: Emma Watson made her big-screen debut in 2001's box-office smash Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, bringing to life Hermione Granger, friend to the famous protagonist Harry Potter of J.K. Rowling's children's novel. Born in Paris, where she lived for the first five years of her life, Watson acted only in school plays before breaking into Hollywood with this film, but her performance skills had been honed through dancing, singing, and poetry recitals, the latter of which she had already received recognition for by the age of seven. In the years following that blockbuster, she reprised her role alongside co-stars Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint for the subsequent beloved Harry Potter films. Her first foray into acting outside of the Harry Potter universe came with the made-for-TV movie Ballet Shoes in 2008, and after the phenomenally popular series came to an end in 2011 she could be seen in My Week With Marilyn. She took one of the leading roles in 2012's The Perks of Being a Wallflower. In 2013, Watson played a spoiled L.A. socialite in Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring, followed by a small role, playing herself, in This is the End. She had a supporting role opposite Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly in the big-budget epic Noah (2014).

Trivia: Stuttered as a young child. Performed in the Philip Glass opera White Raven at age 6. Sang with the Metropolitan Opera Children's Chorus from age 9 to 11. Dropped out of high school at 16. Received the Chopard Trophy for male Revelation of the Year at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012. Plays drums and sings in the band Sons of an Illustrious Father.

Trivia: Mae Whitman began acting at the ripe old age of six with a role in the 1994 alcoholism drama When a Man Loves a Woman. Appearances in Bye Bye, Love and Independence Day followed before multiple-episode stints on the CBS dramas Chicago Hope and JAG. In 2001, Whitman was cast in the title role of the Fox Family Channel period sitcom State of Grace, about a pair of adolescent girls overcoming cultural differences against the backdrop of 1960s America. After that show's two-season run, she could next be seen as George Michael's milquetoast girlfriend Ann on the critically acclaimed Fox sitcom Arrested Development. A starring role opposite Andre Braugher on the short-lived FX series Thief came in 2006. And in 2007, Whitman was cast in a supporting role on NBC's reimagined The Bionic Woman. In the years to come, Whitman would remain active on screen, starring on the series Parenthood, and in movies like The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Trivia: Bearing a sort of Catherine Deneuve-by-way-of-Kelly Clarkson look, Kate Walsh may have an impressive list of film and TV roles on her resumé, but her primary acting venue was the stage. Starting out in regional theater in Tucson, AZ, where she went to college, Walsh later got involved with the Piven Theatre Workshop and Shakespeare Repertory in Chicago, as well as the comedy troupe Burn Manhattan in New York. By the mid-'90s, Walsh began slowly but surely making the transition to the screen with appearances on TV shows like Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order. Walsh's list of film and TV appearances soon grew, and among her scads of roles were a number of prominent parts on very popular shows. She became a regular on The Drew Carey Show in 1997, donning a fat suit to play Drew's weight-struggling girlfriend, and in 2001, she took a recurring role on the HBO series The Mind of the Married Man.In 2005, Walsh joined the cast of the smash-hit series Grey's Anatomy, playing Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd, estranged (and eventually ex-) wife of "Doctor McDreamy," Patrick Dempsey. Walsh suddenly went from a working actress to a well-known face, and it looked like the perfect time for the actress to segue into the big screen in a starring capacity, after a string of minor appearances in major films. Sadly, this wasn't to be, but the actress did join the cast of Private Practice in 2007, and appeared in the films Legion (2010), Angel's Crest (2011), and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012).

Trivia: Proving that there is a reason for the existence of the cliché "tall, dark, and handsome," Dylan McDermott has won many a heart, as well as many a critical nod, for his role on the Emmy-winning television series The Practice. The actor struggled for years before landing his part as a lawyer on the show in 1997. Since then, the critical appreciation he has garnered has been complemented by his regular appearances in the style sections of a number of magazines, making him one of the most visible actors in Hollywood.Born October 26, 1962, in Waterbury, CT, McDermott had a tumultuous childhood. After his parents' divorce, his mother died when the actor was very young. McDermott was, by his own account, something of a delinquent, but his life began to turn around when he discovered acting as a teenager. His interest in the theater was given an additional boost by his stepmother, the playwright Eve Ensler. Ensler encouraged the actor, whom she formally adopted when he was 19, and he began training for his career at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse. After acting in stage productions such as Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues, McDermott made his film debut as platoon leader Sgt. Franz in 1987's Hamburger Hill. His next notable role was as Julia Roberts' husband in Steel Magnolias. Despite being part of one of the biggest hits of 1989, real fame eluded McDermott, who secured limited recognition for his reported real-life role as Roberts' boyfriend rather than for his acting in the film.After appearing in leading man roles in a string of disappointing films, including Jersey Girl with Jami Gertz, McDermott's luck began to change, with a part in Clint Eastwood's 1993 smash In the Line of Fire. The following year, he got a lead role as Elizabeth Perkins' lawyer love interest in Miracle on 34th Street. The relative success of that film was inversely proportional to McDermott's next, the ill-received Woody Harrelson vehicle The Cowboy Way (1994). McDermott rebounded somewhat with his leading role as Holly Hunter's love interest in the following year's Home for the Holidays, but it wasn't until two years later, when he appeared in a few episodes of Ally McBeal and landed his role on The Practice, that McDermott began to find true success. Winning a 1999 Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe award for his work on the show, the actor (who by this point was also the subject of numerous articles and Best Dressed photos with his wife, stage actress Shiva Ashfar) found previously closed doors being opened, most notably in the form of a big-screen starring role in the 1999 romantic comedy Three to Tango, co-starring Matthew Perry and Neve Campbell. Increasingly in demand as a television actor in the following years, McDermott turned up in the boardroom jungle series Big Shots and the short-lived police drama Dark Blue before shattering small screen taboos as a cheating husband who unwittingly moves his family into a haunted house in the twisted FX Network series American Horror Story. In 2012, as if to balance the morbidity of his latest television endeavor, the handsome and versatile actor flexed his comic chops opposite Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis in the election year political comedy The Campaign. He also appeared in the teen pic The Perks of Being a Wallflower, playing the lead character's father. McDermott returned to TV shortly thereafter, starring in the short-lived Hostages before taking the lead in Stalker.

Trivia: Nina Dobrev first caught audience's attention with a role in the horror musical Repo! The Genetic Opera in 2006. The unconventional film endeared her to a cult audience, but she soon followed it up with more conventional fare, joining the cast of Degrassi: The Next Generation. She would play teen mother Mia Jones on the show until 2009, and also appeared in other projects like the drama Away from Her, and the dance movie How She Move. In 2009, Dobrev was cast in one of the leading roles in the CW series The Vampire Diaries. The show was a hit, but Dobrev still found time to work in movies, appearing in Chloe (2009), The Roomate and Arena (both 2011) and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012).

Trivia: Debuted on film after inquiring about a misprinted casting notice for a female lead in a short film called My Ambition (2006). After auditioning, Simmons was cast on the spot and the directors never re-ran the notice with a correction. Won the role of Chip Dove in Jennifer's Body despite stiff competition from actor Bo Barrett. Was offered the role as Young Neil in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World over Facebook. Played Andrew in the short film version of Whiplash, which preceded the feature-length version. Has stated an interest in founding a charity which provides for the homeless.

Trivia: Displaying the type of understated, dark-eyed good looks that make him a natural candidate for an art house pinup, Paul Rudd impressed filmgoers throughout the latter half of the 1990s with his talent for turning in performances marked by thoughtful insight and an unassuming charisma. Since his turn as Alicia Silverstone's endearingly self-righteous stepbrother in the 1995 film Clueless, Rudd has enjoyed a sort of low-key fame that has allowed him to branch out both in film and on the stage.The son of British-born parents, Rudd came into the world via Passaic, NJ, on April 6, 1969. Because of his father's job in the airline industry, Rudd and his family traveled a great deal, eventually settling in Kansas City, KS. After graduating from high school, Rudd attended the University of Kansas, where he majored in theater. Following his graduation, he was accepted as a student at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts/West in Los Angeles. His studies there led to a three-month theater workshop at Oxford University's British Drama Academy, where he was tutored by the producer and editor Michael Kahn. During his time in England, Rudd also co-produced the Globe Theatre's Bloody Poetry, in which he starred as the poet Percy Shelley, and then performed the title role of Hamlet, in a production directed by Ben Kingsley. Back in the States, Rudd made his television debut in 1992, in the series Sisters. As Ashley Judd's boyfriend Kirbie Philby, Rudd stayed with the show until 1995. During this time, he also appeared in other television productions, including the short-lived series Wild Oats (1994). In 1995, he made his big-screen debut in Amy Heckerling's Clueless, a film that met with a lavish dose of unanticipated success. Although much of the limelight was reserved for the film's star Alicia Silverstone, Rudd also received a fair amount of press, as well as the adulation of a new generation of fans who warmed to the actor's unconventional appeal. The same year, he played the lead in the sixth Halloween installment, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. The year 1996 proved to be one of hits and misses, as it included his leading part in the straight-to-video Overnight Delivery, co-starring Reese Witherspoon, and the highly successful William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, in which he played against type as the arrogant Dave Paris. The same year, Rudd starred in the obscure but critically praised Canadian independent The Size of Watermelons, before going on to make the equally obscure, critically trashed The Locusts (1997). Theatrically, however, 1997 provided positive experience in the form of a Broadway production of Alfred Uhry's The Last Night of Ballyhoo, in which Rudd had a lead role. There were further positive experiences for Rudd in 1998, as in addition to his principal role in the well-received The Object of My Affection, he starred in the high-profile Lincoln Center production of Twelfth Night, which co-starred Helen Hunt and was directed by Nicholas Hytner, his Object director. Rudd continued his theater work the following year, with Neil LaBute's Bash, an off-Broadway show that also featured Calista Flockhart and Ron Eldard. In addition, he had a starring role in 200 Cigarettes, a film remarkable for both its enviable ensemble cast (including Christina Ricci, Ben Affleck, and Martha Plimpton) and the overwhelmingly desultory reviews it received. However, even the most savage of critics were able to single out Rudd for praise, further reflecting the actor's ability to make a favorable impression in even the most unfavorable of films.After a turn as Nick Caraway in a made-for-television adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Rudd showed off his ability pull off broad-comedy in the largely improvised 2001 parody film Wet Hot American Summer. He changed gears considerably for his next project, The Shape of Things which saw him reteam with director LaBute.In 2004, Rudd again flexed his skills as a comedic scene-stealer with a supporting role in the 70s-era Will Ferrell vehicle Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Keenly aware that he was very much on to a good thing, Rudd kept the laughs coming in Tennis, Anyone...? and The Baxter before hitting yet another comedy homerun in the 2005 Steve Carrell comedy The 40 Year Old Virgin. The movie moved Rudd several notches up on the radar of comedy fans, and he followed it up with memorable turns in many more laugh-fests over the coming years, including Knocked Up in 2007, Forgetting Sarah Marshall in 2008, Role Models in 2009, and I Love You, Man in 2009. Having made himself a favorite comic actor in the industry, Rudd was soon able to pick and choose increasingly perfect roles for his style, starring in 2010's Dinner for Schmucks with Steve Carrell in 2010, and Our Idiot Brother with Zooey Deschanel in 2011. The following year, on the heels of the big screen comedy Wanderlust and a recurring role on television's Parks and Recreation, Rudd reprised his role from Knocked Up in writer/director Judd Apatow's semi-sequel This is 40.

Trivia: If Reece Thompson's appearances on such popular television shows as Tru Calling, The 4400, and Smallville didn't get him noticed by viewers, then his role as a stuttering teen who joins the debate team to win the heart of a high-school beauty in director Jeffrey Blitz's quirky comedy drama Rocket Science is sure to do the trick. A prolific television actor whose performances in such family-friendly shows as Zixx, Trollz, and Three Moons Over Milford served well to build him a healthy young fan base, Thompson was looking toward a fairly luminous future by the time he was cast in his first leading-man role. While the part of a stuttering teen seeking to impress a pretty classmate might not have been the most glamorous role a young actor could hope for, it did allow Thompson to prove that he had something more to offer the screen than just another pretty face. While Thompson had previously appeared in such features as Dreamcatcher and The Sandlot 2, this was his first headlining role, and he seemed more than up to the task.

Trivia: One of Hollywood's funniest and most underappreciated actresses, Joan Cusack was for years relegated to playing the buddy sidekicks of her more glamorous co-stars and known primarily as John Cusack's older sister. Thanks to a couple of Oscar nominations and strong roles in a number of movies, Cusack finally began getting her due in the late 1990s, earning both recognition and respect for her singular talent.Born in New York City on October 11, 1962, Cusack grew up in the Chicago suburb of Evanston. The daughter of actor and filmmaker Richard Cusack, she and her siblings were encouraged to perform from an early age. As a result, Cusack grew up acting on the stage and training with the Piven Theatre Workshop. She broke into film while still in her teens, getting her start - -and often acting alongside her brother -- in such teen comedies as My Bodyguard (1980) and Sixteen Candles (1984). In 1985 she was offered a part on the Saturday Night Live roster, but felt constrained by the lack of quality material offered to women, and left the show after one season. Gradually getting better supporting work in such films as Broadcast News (1987) and Married to the Mob (1988), Cusack had her screen breakthrough in Working Girl (1988), earning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her role as Melanie Griffith's street-smart best friend. More strong notices followed in 1989 for Cusack's work in the drama Men Don't Leave, in which she played a nurse who helps get Jessica Lange's life back on track after her husband's death. Though Cusack would move to Chicago for much of the 90's to focus on her family, she would appear in a handful of memorable titles, like My Blue Heaven (1990), Addams Family Values, Corrina, Corrina, Nine Months, and In & Out. Cusack would amp it up in the coming years, however, with appearances in a slew of popular films like Grosse Point Blank, Runaway Bride, High Fidelity, and Cradle will Rock. As the 2000's rolled onward, Cusack would continue to maintain her status as a go-to character actor, appearing in fims like Friends with Money, My Sister's Keeper and Mars Needs Moms, and on the critically acclaimed series Shameless.

Trivia: When Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures was released to international acclaim in 1994, it launched the career of a then-unknown actress by the name of Kate Winslet. Unfortunately, it didn't do the same for Winslet's co-star, the similarly unknown and equally talented Melanie Lynskey. As Pauline Parker, a New Zealand schoolgirl who, along with best friend Juliete Hulme (Winslet), brutally murders her mother, Lynskey turned in a performance that combined sullen adolescent alienation with cold-blooded brutality. Although marked as a promising newcomer, she did not enjoy a subsequent breakthrough of the magnitude of Winslet's but instead worked quietly for a few years, gradually earning belated recognition from audiences and industry figures alike.Born in New Plymouth, New Zealand, on May 16, 1977, Lynskey was a high school student when she was discovered by Peter Jackson's wife, Frances Walsh, who cast her in Heavenly Creatures. Following the film's success, the fledgling actress moved to Los Angeles, but encountered endless rejection thanks to her non-blonde, non-waifish physique, and after only six weeks returned to her native country. Eighteen months of film, theatre, and English studies at Victoria University followed, as did a supporting role in Jackson's The Frighteners (1996). A self-professed attitude change -- the result of her friendship with director Gaylene Preston, who encouraged the actress to make herself a stronger person -- also altered Lynskey's approach to acting, and she subsequently won a role in her first Hollywood film, Andy Tennant's Ever After (1998). Cast as the not-so-evil stepsister of Drew Barrymore's Cinderella-like heroine, Lynskey enjoyed the greater recognition the film's success afforded her and went on to supporting roles the next year in Detroit Rock City, in which she co-starred with Natasha Lyonne and Edward Furlong, and Michael Cacoyannis' adaptation of The Cherry Orchard, which also starred Alan Bates, Charlotte Rampling, and Katrin Cartlidge. With another successful independent film, Jamie Babbit's But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), and a Jerry Bruckheimer chick flick, Coyote Ugly, also under her belt, Lynskey began the new decade on a decidedly promising note.

Trivia: Mother was an Israeli actress who retired before Julia was born. As a teenager, took acting lessons in order to combat her shyness. Started acting at age 16; within three years, she had appeared in 10 movies, including major releases like The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Self-taped an audition for the lead in Electrick Children on a Monday; was hired two days later, and on-set filming the following week. Auditioned for a role in Not Fade Away that she did not get; however, the director liked her so much that he wrote a brand new part just to cast her.

Trivia: Dubbed "The Godfather of Gore" for his brilliant make-up and special effects work on countless horror movies, Tom Savini has grossed people out as the guy behind the gore on films ranging from Friday the 13th to Night of the Living Dead to Quentin Tarantino's From Dusk Till Dawn.Developing an interest in magic and illusion as a child, when he was inspired by the 1957 Lon Chaney biopic Man of a Thousand Faces, Savini spent most of his youth in his room, inventing characters and experimenting with make-up techniques. After studying acting and directing at Carnegie Mellon University, he went to Vietnam as a combat photographer for the Army; ironically, he would later gain fame for simulating on the screen the same kind of carnage he witnessed first-hand during the war.Savini first began working as a make-up and special effects man on horror movies during the early 1970s. Some of his more notable work during that decade and the subsequent years includes George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978), and Day of the Dead (1985), Friday the 13th (1980), the Creepshow series, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), Dario Argento's Trauma (1992), a 1995 re-make of Romero's Night of the Living Dead, which Savini also directed, and Tarantino's From Dusk Till Dawn (1996).In addition to his make-up and special effects work, Savini has a number of acting and directing credits to his name on the stage, screen, and television. He has also written a number of books about his trade and has been the subject of the documentary series Scream Greats.

Trivia: Began modeling at the age of 5. Born in Vancouver but moved to Southern California as a child. Studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. Began training in jiu-jitsu in 2004 and has since continued to compete in tournaments. Provided the voice for a character named George Murphy in the 2011 video game L.A. Noire. Appeared in Demi Lovato's music video for her 2015 single "Confident," which was directed by Robert Rodriguez.

Trivia: Actor Nicholas Braun got his start in the business while he was still a teenager, making small appearances on shows like Law & Order: SVU and Without a Trace in the early 2000s. His bright smile and impressive 6'4" stature made him a memorable presence onscreen, and he soon began appearing in Disney projects, like 2005's Sky High and 2008's Minutemen. Braun later starred in the 2009 Disney TV movie Princess Protection Program, and later that same year he was cast in the TV series adaptation of 10 Things I Hate About You.