Trivia: Actor Nicolas Cage has always strived to make a name for himself based on his work, rather than on his lineage. As the nephew of filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, Cage altered his last name to avoid accusations of nepotism. (He chose "Cage" both out of admiration for avant-garde musician John Cage and en homage to comic book hero Luke Cage). Even if he had retained the family name, it isn't likely that anyone would consider Cage holding fast to his uncle's coattails. Time and again, Cage travels to great lengths to add verisimilitude to his roles.Born January 7, 1964, in Long Beach, CA, to a literature professor father and dancer/choreographer mother, Cage first caught the acting bug while a student at Beverly Hills High School. After graduation, he debuted on film with a small part in Amy Heckerling's 1982 classic Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Following a lead role in Martha Coolidge's cult comedy Valley Girl (1983), Cage spent the remainder of the decade playing endearingly bizarre and disreputable men, most notably as Crazy Charlie the Appliance King in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), Hi McDonough in Raising Arizona (1987), and Ronny Cammareri in the same year's Moonstruck, the last of which won him a Golden Globe nomination and a legion of female fans, ecstatic over the actor's unconventional romantic appeal.The '90s saw Cage assume a series of diverse roles, ranging from a violent ex-con in David Lynch's Wild at Heart (1990) to a sweet-natured private eye in the romantic comedy Honeymoon in Vegas (1992) to a dying alcoholic in Mike Figgis' astonishing Leaving Las Vegas (1995). For this last role, Cage won a Best Actor Oscar for his quietly devastating portrayal, and, respectability in hand, gained an official entrance into Hollywood's higher ranks. After winning his Oscar, along with a score of other honors for his performance, Cage switched gears in a way that would prove to be, with the occasional exception, largely permanent. He dove into a series of action movies like the Michael Bay thriller The Rock, the prisoners-on-a-plane movie Con Air, and the infamous John Woo flick Face/Off. Greeted with hefty paychecks and audience approval, Cage forged ahead on a career path lit largely with explosions.There would be exceptions, like 1998's City of Angels, a remake of Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire, and Martin Scorsese's Bringing Out the Dead, and the the lightly dramatic romantic comedy The Family Man, but Cage stuck mostly to thrillers and action movies. A spate of such films would fill his resume, like Gone in 60 Seconds, The Life of David Gale, 8MM, and Snake Eyes, but Cage would briefly revisit his roots in character work, teaming with Being John Malkovich director Spike Jonze in 2002 for a duel role in the complex comedy Adaptation (2002). With Cage appearing as both screenwriter Charlie Kaufman as well as his fictional brother Donald, Adaptation followed Charlie's attempt to adapt author Susan Orlean's seemingly unfilmable novel The Orchid Thief as a feature film, and Donald's parallel efforts to write his own hacky yet lucrative script by following the guidance of a caustic, Syd Field-like screenwriting instructor (Brian Cox). A weighty role that demanded an actor capable of portraying characters that couldn't differ more emotionally despite their outward appearance, Adaptation brought Cage his second Oscar nomination -- and he was soon back to business as usual.2004 saw the release of the megahit adventure film National Treasure, which cast Cage as an archaeologist convinced there's a treasure map on the back of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The outrageous film would earn a sequel in 2007, but first Cage made the ill-advised decision to star in Neil LaBute's reworking of the Robin Hardy/Anthony Shaffer collaboration The Wicker Man (2006). Though video compilations of the movie's most hilariously hackneyed moments would become popular on the internet, Cage was soon portraying a motorcycle-driving stuntman who sells his soul to Mephistopheles -- in Mark Steven Johnson's live-action comic book adaptation Ghost Rider. Upon premiering in the States, the film became a big success. In the same year's sci-fi thriller Next, directed by Lee Tamahori, Cage plays Cris Johnson, a man who attains the ability to see into the future and must suddenly decide between saving himself and saving the world; the film failed to ignite the way Ghost Rider did just a couple months before it. Next came Bangkok Dangerous, Knowing, The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans, Drive Angry, Seeking Justice, and Trespass -- all high octane, high adrenaline movies that found Cage diving, leaping, and shooting his way through the story. Cage found himself with a surprise hit in Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass (2010), playing a vigilante former cop in the black comedy film. He voiced the main character in 2013's animated The Croods, but then mostly stuck to action-crime-thriller-type movies for the next couple of years, including films like Left Behind (2014), The Runner (2015) and The Trust (2016).

Trivia: Adept at essaying a broad array of roles, Michael Peña launched his career with guest appearances on such series as NYPD Blue, Homicide: Life on the Street, and ER, as well as longer stints on Felicity and The Shield. Though his big-screen work officially stretches back several years prior to Million Dollar Baby (2004), that Clint Eastwood-directed Best Picture winner represented Peña's first major Hollywood credit. His involvement only amounted to a small part, but he re-teamed with Baby scripter Paul Haggis for higher (supporting) billing in the latter's Crash (2005) -- also a Best Picture Winner, and this one a searing, acerbic indictment of inner-city racism. Peña scored one of his first leads under the aegis of director Oliver Stone, co-starring opposite Nicolas Cage in the taut, suspenseful thriller World Trade Center (2006) -- a docudrama about the two New York City Port Authority rescue workers trapped beneath the rubble of the fifth building when the towers fell. Peña followed it up with a turn as a genial, resourceful FBI agent who assists a government-conned scapegoat (Mark Wahlberg) in Antoine Fuqua's conspiracy thriller Shooter (2007), and essayed a key supporting role in director Robert Redford's ensemble drama Lions for Lambs, opposite Redford, Meryl Streep, and Tom Cruise. As the years followed, Peña would find continued success in comedy endeavours like Observe and Report, 30 Minutes or Less, and Tower Heist, as well as on the TV series Eastbown & Down.

Trivia: The daughter of director Stephen Gyllenhaal (Waterland [1992]) and screenwriter Naomi Foner (Running on Empty [1988]), and the sister of hot young Hollywood heartthrob Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko [2001], The Good Girl [2002], Moonlight Mile [2002]), Maggie Gyllenhaal seems to have all the makings of a successful young starlet with her Tinseltown background and curiously unique beauty. Born in November 16th, 1977, Gyllenhaal got some early screen breaks thanks to roles in such Stephen Gyllenhaal films as Waterland (1992) and Homegrown (1998). Soon graduating from Columbia University with an English degree, pretty Gyllenhaal continued to refine her acting skills on the stages of New York and London theaters in such productions as The Tempest and The Butterfly Project. Her ascent into the collective film conscience continued with a humorous turn in director John Waters' anarchic Cecil B. Demented and alongside younger brother Jake in the surreal teen fantasy Donnie Darko (2001). Soon gaining more prominent roles alongside such hot Hollywood actors as Drew Barrymore (Riding in Cars With Boys [2001]) and Josh Hartnett (40 Days and 40 Nights [2002]), Gyllenhaal would turn up later in 2002 in eccentric director Spike Jonze's sophomore effort, Adaptation. Her supporting roles offering but a glimpse into her engagingly offbeat talent, Gyllenhaal truly came into her own with her breakthrough performance as a mentally unstable secretary in director Steven Shainberg's 2002 dark comedy Secretary. Cast opposite former '80s wonder boy James Spader, Gyllenhaal displayed a careful balance of unshielded vulnerability and mild sadomasochism as the film's troubled lead. Nominated for numerous awards including a Golden Globe and Independent Spirit for Best Actress, Secretary found the disarming actress branded the "it" girl to watch for in the coming years. While subsequent supporting performances in such films as Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Casa de Los Babys, and Mona Lisa Smile may not have offered fans the large dose of Gyllenhall that they sought after Secretary, audiences could see her in a starring role opposite John C. Reilly in the 2004 George Clooney/Steven Soderbergh-produced remake Criminal. Gyllenhaal kept up her status as an independent film icon in 2005 with major parts in The Great New Wonderful and earning praise for her work in Don Roos' Happy Endings where she got to show off her vocal talents performing a selection of Billy Joel songs. 2006 would be a very busy year for the actress. She co-starred in Oliver Stone's 9/11 film World Trade Center, gave an award winning performance as a drug addict in SherryBaby, played opposite Will Ferrell in the comedy Stranger Than Fiction, and lent her voice to the Steven Spielberg produced animated film Monster House. That same year she announced that she was expecting her first child with her longtime boyfriend actor Peter Sarsgaard. In 2008, Gyllenhaal appeared in the record-breaking box-office smash sequel The Dark Knight, taking over the role played by Katie Holmes in Batman Begins. She followed that up in 2009 with a hilarious supporting turn in Away We Go as an overly-involved mother. But it was her appearance that same year in the low-key drama Crazy Heart opposite Jeff Bridges that earned her some of the best reviews of her career as well as a Best Supporting Actress nominations from the Academy.

Trivia: Born in Pennsylvania c. 1967, Maria Bello attended Villanova University as a political science major, but acting ability - evident from an early drama class - altered her career plans. Following graduation, Bello honed her acting skills in a number of New York theater productions before she broke through to the public as one of the leads in the short-lived TV spy comedy Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1996). Bello gained broader primetime exposure as Dr. Anna Del Amico on NBC's blockbuster ER during the 1997 season and segued into films with her performance as recovering junkie Ben Stiller's confidante in the film-a-clef Permanent Midnight (1998), adapted from Jerry Stahl's harrowing book.Bello scored her first pop hit as Mel Gibson's beautiful cohort in the harsh crime drama Payback (1999). Poised to potentially become one of the select group of actors who transition smoothly from television to film, Bello co-starred as one of the bottle-tossing, bar-stomping babes in charge of the titular drinking establishment in the Bruckheimer-produced hellraiser Coyote Ugly (2000). When Coyote Ugly failed to live up to box office hopes, Bello starred as Suzi Loomis in Bruce Paltrow's Duets, and as Ruth Harkness in the IMAX feature China: The Panda Adventure (2001), based on her real-life experiences with the eponymous creatures. Bello scored a bona fide critical, if not financial, hit with Paul Schrader's biopic about slain Hogan's Heroes star Bob Crane, Auto Focus (2002). As Crane's co-star and second wife Patricia, Bello holds her own opposite Greg Kinnear's bravura performance as the nymphomaniacal Crane, evoking the complex emotions of a spouse who accepts yet ultimately cannot contend with her husband's desires.A year after Auto Focus, Bello would score even bigger with the critics with a starring role alongside William H. Macy in the gritty Vegas romance The Cooler. As the cocktail waitress who falls for Macy's sadsack ne'er-do-well, Bello brought a sense of extreme realism to her character. The film netted her a Best Supporting Actress nomination from the Screen Actors Guild and a runner-up prize from The National Society of Film Critics.In early 2004, Bello appeared as Johnny Depp's estranged wife in the Stephen King adaptation The Secret Window, and in John Sayles' well-received political thriller Silver City. Though subsequent appearances in the fairly forgettable Assault on Precinct 13, The Dark, and The Sisters followed in 2005, Bello's Golden Globe-nommed performance as an unassuming housewife who married into mystery in A History of Violence, coupled with her prominent performance as a determined alcohol lobbyist in the critically-acclaimed Thank You for Smoking, helped to get her back in the good graces of critics and end the year on a decidedly high note. When 2006 arrived, Bello joined Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena, and Maggie Gyllenhall in World Trade Center, Oliver Stone's docudrama/survival picture that recounted the experiences of two Port Authority firefighters trapped beneath the rubble of the destroyed buildings. Bello joins the cast of the same year's Flicka, adapted from the seminal children's novel by Mary O'Hara (and incarnated decades prior as the movie and TV series My Friend Flicka) , alongside Alison Lohman and country singer Tim McGraw.Bello had a lead part in Alan Ball's feature film directorial debut Towelhead in 2007, and tackled the indie horror film Downloading Nancy the next year. In 2010 she scored a small part in the Adam Sandler comedy Grown Ups as well as major parts in a couple of dramas - The Company Men and Beautiful Boy.She next returned to television, taking the lead role in the NBC remake of the British series Prime Suspect in 2011. The show was cancelled after only 13 episodes, but Bello quickly booked another television role, in the second season of Fox's Touch, opposite Kiefer Sutherland. That show was also canceled after that season, and Bello returned to film, reprising her role in Grown Up 2 in 2013.Active in social causes as well, Maria Bello co-founded the Harlem not-for-profit arts and education program, Dream Yard Drama Project for Kids.

Trivia: Balancing independent film and Hollywood, Stephen Dorff made his name as a versatile actor with a particular talent for playing assorted rebels and villains. The son of composer Steve Dorff, the younger Dorff opted for the acting side of show business instead. Entering the industry as a teenager, Dorff cut his acting teeth on TV in the late '80s with guest spots on several series, including Roseanne and Married With Children, and roles in TV movies, including I Know My First Name Is Steven (1989). Dorff jumped to feature films with the starring role as a socially conscious South African boxer in The Power of One (1992). Voted the National Association of Theater Owners' Male Star of Tomorrow in 1992, Dorff next earned attention with his lead performance as Beatle manqué Stu Sutcliffe in the British biopic Backbeat (1993). He also appeared in the genre thriller Judgment Night that same year, with Emilio Estevez and Cuba Gooding Jr. Despite his Hollywood beginnings, Dorff focused more on independent productions in the mid-'90s, including the media satire S.F.W. (1994). His nuanced performance as Warhol Factory transvestite superstar Candy Darling in Mary Harron's acclaimed I Shot Andy Warhol (1996), though, definitively revealed that Dorff could be more than a pretty, brooding face. Dorff further held his own opposite Jack Nicholson in neo-noir Blood and Wine (1997) and against Harvey Keitel in crime drama City of Industry (1997), but neither film made a box office impression. Dorff scored a summer popcorn hit, however, as Wesley Snipes' flamboyant vampire nemesis in the comic book adaptation Blade (1998). Displaying his range, Dorff starred opposite Susan Sarandon in the romance Earthly Possessions (1999) for HBO, and put two different spins on movie director characters in Phil Joanou's film à clef Entropy (1999) and John Waters' black comedy Cecil B. Demented (2000). Branching out into another medium, Dorff starred in Quantum Project (2000), the first film produced for the Internet. Dorff continued to do work in a series of independent films, but occasionally would appear in more mainstream fare such as fear dot com, Cold Creek Manor, and Alone in the Dark. He had his largest profile film in years in 2006 as part of the cast of Oliver Stone's 9/11 film World Trade Center. He maintained his footing in the independent film world by starring opposite Milla Jovovich and Aisha Taylor on that same year's .45.Over the next several years, Dorff would find an ongoing series of roles in an impressive variety of projects, like Michael Mann's Public Enemies, Sophia Coppola's Somewhere, and Tarsem Singh's Immortals.

Trivia: Of the dozens of fresh faces thrust upon the public by Hollywood in 2001, few made an impression like Jay Hernandez. Although his breakthrough film Crazy/Beautiful received only mixed reviews and middling box office, critics praised the 23-year-old for his sensitive portrayal of a lower-class kid pulling himself up out of the barrio. He also received notices for his chemistry with in-demand co-star Kirsten Dunst.Javier "Jay" Hernandez was born February 20, 1978, in Montebello, CA, where he was raised from childhood on alongside two older brothers, and sister. A chance encounter with a Hollywood agent while riding in a Los Angeles elevator was all it took to get the ball rolling for the handsome aspiring actor, and in 1998 Hernandez made his acting debut as Antonio Lopez on the NBC sitcom Hang Time before moving on to MTV's over-sexed soap Undressed.Subsequently in high demand thanks to an impressive performance in Crazy/Beautiful, Hernandez's feature career soon hit the fast-track with supporting performances in such wide-release efforts as Joy Ride, The Rookie, Torque, and Ladder 49. In 2004 the emerging star would hit the gridiron as a Texas high-school football underdog in Friday Night Lights, but it wasn't until 2005 that Hernandez would finally come into his own with lead role in both the blood-soaked shocker Hostel and the eagerly-anticipated crime thriller sequel Carlito's Way: Rise to Power. The following year Hernandez would work with one of the most controversial filmmakers in Hollywood when he landed a key role in director Oliver Stone's World Trade Center; an inspirational drama detailing the experiences of two port authority officers who became trapped in the rubble when the Twin Towers collapsed during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The actor co-starred in Quarantine, the 2008 remake of Paco Plaza's Spanish-language horror film [REC], and joined the cast of Nothing Like the Holidays, which followed a family in a state of crisis during the proverbial most wonderful time of the year. Hernandez took a small role in Takers (2010), a gritty crime caper starring Matt Dillon, and appeared in LOL (2012), a poignant comedy drama starring Miley Cyrus and Demi Moore. Much like his character in Crazy/Beautiful, Hernandez enjoys playing sports and reading during his spare time.

Trivia: Distinguished character actor Michael Shannon essayed a diverse series of characterizations onscreen, beginning just after the start of the new millennium. A veteran member of Chicago's experimental Red Orchid theatrical troupe, Shannon specialized in small, multidimensional portrayals that added to the overall effectiveness of each project -- per his contributions to Vanilla Sky (2001), 8 Mile (2002), and Bad Boys II (2003). Whenever necessary, Shannon imperceptibly blended into the material at hand. He played a therapist in Nicole Kassell's psychodrama The Woodsman (2004), yet by virtue of his emotional intensity and eccentric look, Shannon evinced an ability to dominate with his onscreen presence, as well. Nowhere was this tendency more evident than in William Friedkin's psychological thriller Bug (2006). As adapted by Tracy Letts from his own stage play, the film concerns a shabby and skanky drifter (Shannon, reprising his role from the play) with a serious complex of delusional schizophrenia, who believes that bugs are crawling beneath his skin and enters a terrifying pas de deux with a young waitress (Ashley Judd). Shannon followed it up with a memorable contribution to Oliver Stone's World Trade Center -- as a military man desperate to help in any way possible during the 9/11 tragedy -- and Sidney Lumet's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), a crime thriller about two brothers who team up to rob a jewelry store. Shannon grabbed his first taste of stardom with his breakout role as a mentally disturbed man in Sam Mendes' adaptation of Revolutionary Road. His truthful, menacing character cut through the main characters' self-deception, and Shannon's off-kilter delivery won him glowing notices from critics, as well as a nomination for Best Supporting Actor from the Academy. He worked steadily after that success appearing in The Greatest, Jonah Hex, and Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. In 2010 he had a pair of critical successes that included his work as a repressed federal agent on the HBO series Boardwalk Empire, and his portrayal of the eccentric rock entrepreneur Kim Fowler in The Runaways. In 2011 he again earned raves for his work a schizophrenic in Take Shelter. His intensity got him cast relatively often as bad guys, something he put to great effect in the 2012 action film Premium Rush and in the criminal biopic The Iceman.

Trivia: Was athletic as a kid and teen; once hit three home runs in an All-Star game and later pitched a 10-inning no-hitter with 20 strikeouts. Played football at Brown University. Loved movies so much he decided to take an acting class in college and immediately knew acting was his calling. Early TV roles included guest spots on The Equalizer, Spenser: For Hire and Kate & Allie before landing pivotal roles in movies Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) and The Shawshank Redemption (1994). Appeared in Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) as Romulan commander Suran. Best known for playing the Presidential Chief of Staff on 24 and the principal on Everybody Hates Chris. Co-founded theatrical production company the Eumenides Group. Is an acclaimed singer and has recorded four CDs; tours with the Jude Ciccolella Band.

Trivia: A New York City native who had more film and theater experience by the age of 15 than many actors could aspire to in a lifetime, Connor Paolo appeared in numerous television commercials before making the transition to Broadway in The Full Monty and playing a younger version of actor Kevin Bacon's character in Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winning Mystic River. Back in the B.C. era, Paolo could be seen portraying a young Alexander in director Oliver Stone's Alexander before continuing his partnership with the director as the son of Nicolas Cage's character in World Trade Center. On the small screen, Paolo's roles on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Gossip Girl also helped to build the foundation for an enduring career in television that started to yield fruit with a major role on the series Revenge.

Trivia: A graduate of the Juilliard School, Viola Davis built an exceptional background in theater productions and has continued to perform on-stage throughout her television and film career. Making her feature-film debut in 1996 as a nurse in The Substance of Fire, she followed that up with several TV movies and guest-star appearances on dramatic series like Law & Order and NYPD Blue. She went on to play another nurse in City of Angels, a hospital drama with a predominately African-American cast that didn't last long on CBS. She began collaborating with Steven Soderbergh for Out of Sight, and went on to star in two of the director's next few films, Traffic and Solaris. In 2001, she appeared in Kate and Leopold and in Oprah Winfrey's television presentation of Amy & Isabelle. The next year she played parts in both Far From Heaven and Denzel Washington's directorial debut, Antwone Fisher.Davis continued to work steadily in a variety of notable projects including Steven Soderbergh's Solaris, Syriana, and played a notable part in the television movie biopic of American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino. However, in 2008 she landed the small but crucial role of the mother in John Patrick Shanley's adaptation of his award-winning play Doubt. Although her screen time is minimal, her indelible performance garnered her Best Supporting Actress nominations from the Hollywood Foreign Press, the Screen Actors Guild, and the Academy. Davis became a well known entity almost instantly, and was soon filling her docket with projects like 2009's State of Play, 2010's Knight and Day and Eat Pray Love, and an arc on the series United States of Tara.Davis next appeared in the box office hit 2011 big screen adaptation of Kathryn Sockett 's period novel The Help, garnering still more praise as well as Best Actress nominations from the Academy, BAFTA, the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the Golden Globes, and the Screen Actors Guild. Her performance was still making waves when the critics began lauding her agian, this time for her role in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close that same year.

Trivia: A native of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, born in 1977 to a Cuban mother and father, Armando Riesco moved to metropolitan San Juan with his parents at the age of three and grew up in that community, then attended Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola High School and studied English under the tutelage of the esteemed Fr. Francis Golden. This linguistic knowledge prompted the young man for a move to the mainland United States after high school, and he encountered no difficulty gaining acceptance to Northwestern University as a theater major, where he was mentored by David Downs. Thereafter, Riesco maintained an emphasis on stage work for several years, both Chicago-area theater and New York off-Broadway theater, at such prestigious venues as the Tribeca Playhouse and the Manhattan Theater Club, and moved into film and television work in the mid-2000s. Memorable features that enlisted Riesco in the cast included the Zach Braff comedy Garden State (2004), the Jimmy Fallon/Drew Barrymore romantic comedy Fever Pitch, and the high-flown adventure spectacle National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007). In 2008, Riesco turned up as Benigno in Steven Soderbergh's massive, ambitious four-hour Che Guevara biopic Che.

Trivia: Actor Jon Bernthal went to great lengths to learn his craft, moving from his native Washington, D.C., to Russia where he attended the Moscow Art Theatre School. Following his return to the U.S., Bernthal then obtained his M.F.A. from Harvard University's Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at the American Repertory Theatre. After graduating, he pursued a career in theater, appearing in numerous Broadway and off-Broadway plays, before he began transitioning into onscreen work with appearances on shows like Boston Legal and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In 2006, Bernthal was cast in a starring role on the short-lived CBS sitcom The Class, after which he appeared alongside Elijah Wood in the indie feature Day Zero. Berenthal scored the part of Al Capone in the sequel to the mega-successful Night at the Museum, and he had his most high-profile success to that point in 2010 when he was cast as Shane in the AMC zombie series The Living Dead. He also appeared in Oren Moverman's sophomore film, the cop drama Rampart.

Trivia: Appeared with his brother John Turturro in several Spike Lee films, including Mo' Better Blues (1990) and Jungle Fever (1991). Auditioned for the role of NYPD Blue's Det. James Martinez during his lunch break while working as a hotel doorman. Met wife Lissa Espinosa on a plane while she was working as a flight attendant. Was a contestant on Celebrity Fit Club in 2006. Starred on the Web series Dusty Peacock in 2009. Years after making his breakthrough as a rookie detective on NYPD Blue, he took on the role of a veteran NYC beat cop mentoring a rookie on Blue Bloods in 2010. Collects baseball memorabilia from all teams, though is a self-professed lifelong NY Yankees fan. In fact, his passion for the game was celebrated in 2009 when he was featured on an MLB series, I Breathe Baseball. Focusing on his obsession with the Yankees, it featured former NY manager Joe Torre and then-NY outfielder Johnny Damon.

Trivia: While most recognizable for his portrayal of Leonardo Di Caprio's doomed Italian sidekick in Titanic (1997), actor Danny Nucci had over three dozen film and television credits on his resumé before he even auditioned for the blockbuster. Born in Klagenfurt, Austria, and raised just outside of Venice, Italy, Nucci is the second child of a French Moroccan mother and an Italian father. His family relocated to the States when Nucci was only seven years old. They lived temporarily in Queens, NY, (where Nucci attended P.S. 144 in Forest Hills and P.S. 90 in Kew Gardens) before settling in California's San Fernando Valley. Nucci caught the acting bug as a student at Ulysses S. Grant High School in Van Nuys, CA, when the drama teacher recruited him for a production of West Side Story. Soon afterward, he volunteered to answer phones at a Variety Club charity telethon just for the chance to be on television, which was his first break.Forty auditions later, Nucci began his professional acting career at age 14 with a bit part on the ABC soap opera General Hospital. Roles on Richard Pryer's kids show Pryor's Place, Family Ties, and in the teen science fiction film The Explorers (1985) quickly followed. Yet, Nucci suffered a temporary emotional set back when he did not make the cast of Rob Reiner's Stand by Me (1986), after being called back several times. Devastated, he took a five-year hiatus from feature films in order to polish his skills on the small screen. He appeared on Hotel, The Twilight Zone, Growing Pains, Magnum, P.I., and Tour of Duty, and in numerous television films (including a stint as Keanu Reeves' younger brother in 1986's Brotherhood of Justice), as well as garnered three Young Artist Award nominations. Nucci's performance in the 1987 CBS Schoolbreak Special An Enemy Among Us was so powerful that the network showed the telefilm during prime time. He then played Gabriel Ortega on Falcon Crest from 1988 to 1989 -- earning his fourth Young Artist Award nomination for his performance -- before returning to features as Chris Young's sidekick in the teen comedy Book of Love (1991). This led to a small role in Frank Marshall's Alive (1993), the true story of a Uruguayan rugby team that is stranded in the Andes after a plane crash, starring Ethan Hawke, Vincent Spano, and Illeana Douglas. Work in several television films, B-movies, and independent features ensued, including A Matter of Justice (1993), Ray Alexander: A Taste for Justice (1994), and Blind Justice (1994).Nucci's big break arrived when casting directors tapped him to play Petty Officer Rivetti in Tony Scott's box-office smash Crimson Tide (1995). He held his own opposite the film's stars, Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman, impressing producer Jerry Bruckheimer who immediately cast Nucci as a Navy SEAL in Michael Bay's The Rock with Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, and Ed Harris. He then appeared as a doomed deputy in the Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle Eraser (1996), before proving his comedic talent as a paparazzo stalking Bette Midler and Dennis Farina in That Old Feeling (1997).After rapping up his role as Fabrizio De Rossi in 1997's Titanic (which instantly became the world's highest-grossing film), Nucci returned to independent features like the thriller Love Walked In (1998) and the comedy Friends & Lovers (1999). He then joined the supporting cast of producer David E. Kelley's only unsuccessful television series, Snoops. After the show's cancellation, television producer Jonathan Axelrod (who is married to Nucci's Alive co-star, Illeana Douglas) tapped Nucci to star in the CBS sitcom Some of My Best Friends. Based on the independent film Kiss Me, Guido (1997), the show featured Nucci as Frank Zito, a big-hearted wannabe actor from Queens who unknowingly moves in with a gay roommate played by Jason Bateman. Though called "pretty darn funny" by the New York Times, the series was ultimately canceled. Yet, Nucci immediately bounced back with the Sci Fi Channel miniseries Firestarter 2: Rekindled (2002), the sequel to Mark Lester's blockbuster adaptation of the Stephen King novel. The four-part series, which stars Marguerite Moreau, Malcolm McDowell, and Dennis Hopper, gained such a following that the network decided to develop it into a regular series.In the meantime, Nucci completed filming on Monika Mitchell's Break a Leg (2003) with his girlfriend, actress Paula Marshall, before moving on to appear in such acclaimed films as World Trade Center, as well as TV series like The Booth at the End.

Trivia: American actress Patti D'Arbanville was 13 when she was discovered by "underground" filmmaker Andy Warhol. Wary of Warhol's reputation, D'Arbanville's mother wouldn't permit her daughter to work for the director until the girl was 17 -- at which point she enacted a lesbian love scene in Warhol's Flesh (1968). Unlike many Warhol protegees, D'Arbanville was able to matriculate to mainstream movies, though many of these, particularly the 1977 Bilitis, were obsessed with sex and procreation. The actress endeared herself to middle-America movie fans in the Barbra Streisand/Ryan O'Neal vehicle The Main Event (1979), stealing the show as a girl with a hacking (and hilarious) cough. Other D'Arbanville performances of note include the role of Ken Wahl's lady love on the TV series Wiseguy, and the redoubtable Cathy Smith in the 1989 John Belushi biopic Wired.

Trivia: One of Broadway's most celebrated actresses, Donna Murphy is a commanding, versatile performer whose credits also encompass film and television. A native of New York, Murphy was born in Queens on March 3, 1958, and grew up on Long Island as the oldest of seven children. She attended New York University briefly, dropping out at the age of 20 to try her luck on the New York stage. Work on and off Broadway followed, until in 1993 Murphy landed the greatest role of her career thus far. Picked by Stephen Sondheim to star in his musical Passion as Fosca, a bitter, consumptive woman caught up in unrequited longing for a handsome soldier, she earned stellar reviews and, ultimately, the 1994 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Now one of Broadway's most in-demand actresses, she went on to win yet another Tony in the same category, this one for her performance in the 1995 revival of The King and I. In addition to her work on the stage, Murphy has also made a number of appearances on screens big and small, doing supporting work in such films as Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) and Nicholas Hytner's Center Stage (2000), the latter of which cast her as a demanding but ultimately warmhearted ballet teacher. The actress has also lent her talents to a host of TV shows, including Law & Order and The Practice.

Trivia: Sporting a slightly tough, ethnic look that spoke to his ease with urban material -- a proclivity that would mark his project choices time and again -- character actor Nick Damici made one of his first major onscreen impressions among audiences as the profane Detective Richard Rodriguez in Jane Campion's cerebral psycho-sexual thriller In the Cut (2003). After a bit part in Oliver Stone's docudrama World Trade Center, Damici emerged as a scenarist, scripting and essaying a lead in the horror opus Mulberry Street (2007) -- about a bizarre virus that turns the population of New York City into a group of carnivorous, rat-like creatures.

Trivia: A burly, heavyset character player whose presence suggested both paternal warmth and authority, Cliff Bemis originally grew up on a family owned dairy farm in Elyria, OH, then (later) Lorain, OH, after his father's ailing health prevented him from continuing on as a farm laborer and prompted him to move into the floral business. Following high school graduation, Cliff attended Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, where he discovered an intense love of drama and began to pursue professional acting work alongside his studies. He subsequently became involved in Cleveland-area theater and film on multiple levels (including numerous musical theater roles and opera roles, voiceover and jingle-singing assignments, and industrial film appearances), but for many years limited himself to Cleveland-area work. That all changed in 1987 when Bemis' path happened to criss-cross with that of husband and wife actors Robby Benson and Karla de Vito (Modern Love); the pair encouraged Bemis to relocate to Los Angeles, secure an agent, and begin signing for film and television roles. Some of the features in which Bemis appeared include Pink Cadillac (1989), Jack the Bear (1993), Nancy Drew (2007), and Billy: The Early Years (directed by Benson) as a charismatic religious leader. Over the years, Bemis also signed for innumerable television guest roles on series including Quantum Leap, Cheers, Married... With Children, and Dallas. He is also known as one of the chief television spokespeople for the International House of Pancakes (IHOP) restaurants.

Trivia: The frequently glamorous African-American actress Tawny Cypress built her career from the very late '90s onward. Her first major role was the minor character Melissa in the Richard Gere/Winona Ryder sudser Autumn in New York (2000). She went on to appear in a variety television programs in both guest parts (NYPD Blue, Law & Order: Criminal Intent) and recurring roles (Third Watch, All My Children), but it wasn't until 2006 that she truly gained mainstream attention. That fall, she took on the role of Simone Deveaux on the prime-time fantasy drama Heroes, a series that soon became a massive hit. She remained with the show for one season, and then could be seen on the New Orleans-set police drama K-Ville in the fall of 2007, playing Ginger "Love Tap" LeBeau, the only main character who was a female officer.

Trivia: Attended the University of Arizona on a football scholarship. Played for the Denver Broncos in 1989. Made his film debut in the 1996 Ellen DeGeneres comedy Mr. Wrong. Taught classes for the acting coach Ivana Chubbuck; later opened his own acting studio.

Trivia: A kohl-eyed actor who has oozed a steady stream of low-key testosterone through a series of films that include Dazed and Confused (1993), A Time to Kill (1996), and The Limey (1999), Nicky Katt has brought life to a stable of idiosyncratic, often dysfunctional characters that have established him as one of the more adventurous young performers in Hollywood. A former child actor who first worked on shows ranging from V to Father Murphy, Katt got his adult breakthrough in Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused, a film that also helped to launch the careers of such castmates as Parker Posey, Matthew McConaughey, and Joey Lauren Adams. He went on to do prolific supporting work, showing up to particularly memorable effect as a one-armed convenience store clerk in Gregg Araki's The Doom Generation (1995), as a belligerent redneck in Joel Schumacher's A Time to Kill (1996), and as Renee Zellweger's ambitious attorney boyfriend in One True Thing (1998). One of his most memorable roles came courtesy of Steven Soderbergh's The Limey, which featured Katt as a dreadlocked, sociopathic hitman whose running (and largely improvised) commentaries on various passersby provided some of the film's most unnerving comic moments. Although he has been seen mainly in a supporting capacity, Katt has also done notable lead work, particularly in Linklater's SubUrbia (1997), in which he managed to stand out from a talented ensemble cast with his portrayal of an alcoholic and xenophobic ex-Air Force recruit. The actor also starred in and executive produced Adam Goldberg's Scotch and Milk (1998), an acclaimed post-noir drama that featured him as one of a group of aimless friends skulking and posing their way around Los Angeles. With a growing list of credits and further roles in such well-received films as Boiler Room (2000), which cast him as a money-grubbing broker, Katt began the 21st century on a very promising note. With roles in such high-profile releases as Insomnia and director Steven Soderbergh's Full Frontal (both 2002), Katt continued to hold that note, all the while maintaining a growing fan base with his role as geology teacher Harry Senate on the popular evening drama Boston Public.He continued to work steadily in a variety of projects including the indie I Love Your Work, doing a cameo for Richard Linklater in School of Rock, Planet Terror, and appearing opposite Jodie Foster in the vigilante drama The Brave One.

Trivia: Became accustomed to performing on stage by serving as an altar boy at church. Hired as a teenager by his insurance adjuster/private investigator father to deliver subpoenas during one summer vacation, but lost the job after his father discovered he was using it as a Method Acting opportunity to interact with strangers in character. Cast in his first union acting job as Frankenstein's Monster in the cult musical Have I Got A Girl For You. Honored with a caricature on the wall of Sardi's in 2005. After meeting and impressing Tom Selleck on the set of In & Out (1997), Selleck recommended him for a role on Blue Bloods.

Trivia: A former secretary, Julie Adams inaugurated her film career in a series of slapped-together westerns starring James Ellison and Russell Hayden. She billed herself under her real name of Betty Adams until she was signed by Universal in 1949; she then became Julia Adams, which was modified to Julie by the early 1950s. Fans of the 1953 horror film Creature From the Black Lagoon tend to believe that Julie became a leading lady on the strength of her role in this film as the imperiled--and fetchingly underclad--heroine. In fact, she had been cast in good parts as early as 1950, notably the wealthy fiancee of newly blinded GI Arthur Kennedy in Bright Victory (1951). Curiously, some of her largest roles of the 1950s, in films like The Private War of Major Benson (1955) and Away All Boats (1956), were her least interesting. She cut down on her film appearances in the early 1960s to concentrate on television, a medium that permitted her to hold out for meatier acting assignments. Though she still tended to be cast in such negligible roles as the star's wife in The Jimmy Stewart Show (1971), Julie was proud of her many powerful guest-star appearances on dramatic programs: she was particularly fond of her performance as a middle-aged pregnant woman on a 1969 installment of Marcus Welby MD. Julie Adams was at one time married to actor/director Ray Danton.

Trivia: William Mapother has staked out a peripheral film career thanks to his cousin, Tom Cruise. With haunting eyes and a brooding demeanor, Mapother was a memorable choice to play Marisa Tomei's vicious ex-husband in In the Bedroom (2001), his most recognizable role. Cruise gave the Kentucky native his start with production assistant jobs on Cocktail and Rain Man (both 1988), then a small role in Born on the Fourth of July (1989), where he also worked as the actor's assistant. Mapother has continued to appear in the margins of Cruise films, ranging from Magnolia (1999) to Minority Report (2002), as well as undertaking a larger role in the Cruise-produced Without Limits (1998).

Trivia: With the role of Steve Bushak in 1990's The Freshman, actor Frank Whaley inaugurated a fruitful film career. Whaley went on to be prominently featured in three 1991 pictures. He played real-life guitarist Robby Krieger in The Doors, and two leading roles: the hapless tourist caught up in literary espionage in Back in the U.S.S.R. (1991) and the feckless night watchman with both a runaway heiress and a gang of burglars on his hands in Career Opportunities (1991). Whaley has continued averaging two to three film appearances per annum; would that the films themselves were more profitable than the likes of Swing Kids (1993) and A Midnight Clear (1993).