Trivia: Born Walter Willis -- an Army brat to parents stationed in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany -- on March 19, 1955, Bruce Willis grew up in New Jersey from the age of two. As a youngster, he developed a stutter that posed the threat of social alienation, but he discovered an odd quirk: while performing in front of large numbers of people, the handicap inexplicably vanished. This led Willis into a certified niche as a comedian and budding actor. After high-school graduation, 18-year-old Willis decided to land a blue-collar job in the vein of his father, and accepted a position at the DuPont Chambers Works factory in Deep Water, NJ, but withdrew, shaken, after a co-worker was killed on the job. He performed regularly on the harmonica in a blues ensemble called the Loose Goose and worked temporarily as a security guard before enrolling in the drama program at Montclair State University in New Jersey. A collegiate role in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof brought Willis back in touch with his love of acting, and he instantly decided to devote his life to the profession.Willis made his first professional appearances on film with minor roles in projects like The First Deadly Sin, starring Frank Sinatra, and Sidney Lumet's The Verdict. But his big break came when he attended a casting call (along with 3000 other hopefuls) for the leading role on Moonlighting, an ABC detective comedy series. Sensing Willis' innate appeal, producers cast him opposite the luminous Cybill Shepherd. The series, which debuted in 1985, followed the story of two private investigators working for a struggling detective agency, with Willis playing the fast-talking ne'er-do-well David Addison, and Shepherd playing the prim former fashion model Maddie Hayes. The show's heavy use of clever dialogue, romantic tension, and screwball comedy proved a massive hit with audiences, and Willis became a major star. The show ultimately lasted four years and wrapped on May 14, 1989. During the first year or two of the series, Willis and Shepherd enjoyed a brief offscreen romantic involvement as well, but Willis soon met and fell in love with actress Demi Moore, who became his wife in 1987.In the interim, Willis segued into features, playing geeky Walter Davis in the madcap 1987 comedy Blind Date. That same year, Motown Records -- perhaps made aware of Willis' experiences as a musician -- invited the star to record an LP of blue-eyed soul tracks. The Return of Bruno emerged and became a moderate hit among baby boomers, although as the years passed it became better remembered as an excuse for Willis to wear sunglasses indoors and sing into pool cues.Then in 1988, Willis broke major barriers when he convinced studios to cast him in the leading role of John McClane in John McTiernan's explosive action movie Die Hard. Though up until this point, action stars had been massive tough guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, execs took a chance on Willis' every-guy approach to the genre - and the gamble paid off. Playing a working-class cop who confronts an entire skyscraper full of terrorists when his estranged wife is taken hostage on Christmas Eve, Willis' used his wiseacre television persona to constantly undercut the film's somber underpinnings, without ever once damaging the suspenseful core of the material. This, coupled with a smart script and wall-to-wall sequences of spectacular action, propelled Die Hard to number one at the box office during the summer of 1988, and made Willis a full-fledged movie star.Willis subsequent projects would include two successful Die Hard sequels, as well as other roles the 1989 Norman Jewison drama In Country, and the 1989 hit comedy Look Who's Talking, in which Willis voiced baby Mikey. Though he'd engage in a few stinkers, like the unsuccessful Hudson Hawk and North, he would also continue to strike told with hugely popular movies like The Last Boyscout , Pulp Fiction, and Armageddon.Willis landed one of his biggest hits, however, when he signed on to work with writer/director M. Night Shyamalan in the supernatural thriller The Sixth Sense. In that film, Willis played Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist assigned to treat a young boy (Haley Joel Osment) plagued by visions of ghosts. The picture packs a wallop in its final minutes, with a now-infamous surprise that even purportedly caught Hollywood insiders off guard when it hit U.S. cinemas in the summer of 1999. Around the same time, tabloids began to swarm with gossip of a breakup between Willis and Demi Moore, who indeed filed for divorce and finalized it in the fall of 2000.Willis and M. Night Shyamalan teamed up again in 2000 for Unbreakable, another dark fantasy about a man who suddenly discovers that he has been imbued with superhero powers and meets his polar opposite, a psychotic, fragile-bodied black man (Samuel L. Jackson). The movie divided critics but drew hefty grosses when it premiered on November 22, 2000. That same year, Willis delighted audiences with a neat comic turn as hitman Jimmy the Tulip in The Whole Nine Yards, which light heartedly parodied his own tough-guy image. Willis followed it up four years later with a sequel, The Whole Ten Yards.In 2005, Willis was ideally cast as beaten-down cop Hartigan in Robert Rodriguez's graphic-novel adaptation Sin City. The movie was a massive success, and Willis was happy to reteam with Rodriguez again the next year for a role in the zombie action flick Planet Terror, Rodriguez's contribution to the double feature Grindhouse. Additionally, Willis would keep busy over the next few years with roles in films like Richard Donner's 16 Blocks, Richard Linklater's Fast Food Nation, and Nick Cassavetes' crime drama Alpha Dog. The next year, Willis reprised his role as everyman superhero John McClane for a fourth installment of the Die Hard series, Live Free or Die Hard, directed by Len Wiseman. Though hardcore fans of the franchise were not overly impressed, the film did expectedly well at the box office.In the latter part of the decade, Willis would keep up his action star status, starring in the sci-fi thriller Surrogates in 2009, but also enjoyed poking fun at his own persona, with tongue-in-cheek roles in action fare like The Expendables, Cop Out, and Red. He appeared as part of the ensemble in Wes Anderson's quirky Moonrise Kingdom and in the time-travel action thriller Looper in 2012, before appearing in a string of sequels -- The Expendables 2 (2012), A Good Day to Die Hard, G.I. Joe: Retaliation and Red 2 (all 2013) and Sin City: A Dame to Die For (2014).

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: After making his film debut alongside a cast of future stars, Cole Hauser made his own mark as a TV and indie film actor in the 1990s. Raised in Santa Barbara, Hauser got hooked on acting in junior high. Shortly after he moved to Los Angeles at age 15 to pursue his chosen career, Hauser was cast in the prep school anti-Semitism drama School Ties (1992) along with up-and-comers Brendan Fraser, Chris O'Donnell, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck. After this auspicious beginning, Hauser became part of an equally noteworthy ensemble of young stars-to-be in Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused (1993), appeared in the NBC TV movie A Matter of Justice (1993), played a skinhead in John Singleton's college drama Higher Learning (1995), and starred as an abusive boyfriend in All Over Me (1997). Hauser was cast in the lead role in the ABC series High Incident in 1996, but the show lasted only two seasons. Following a supporting role as one of Damon and Affleck's Boston cronies in their breakthrough hit Good Will Hunting (1997), Hauser played a small part in Stephen Frears' little seen modern Western The Hi-Lo Country (1998) and scored a hit as one of the marooned travelers battling mutant aliens in the sci-fi sleeper Pitch Black (2000). After reuniting with his Tigerland (2000) co-star Colin Farrell in the box office failure Hart's War (2002), Hauser gained more notice for his supporting role later that year in the women's melodrama White Oleander (2002). Though he only appeared in a few scenes, Hauser's kindly and sexy young foster dad Ray easily caught the eye of the audience as well as troubled foster teen Alison Lohman. Returning to more testosterone-friendly work, Hauser subsequently co-starred with Hart's War officer Bruce Willis in Antoine Fuqua's action thriller Man of War (2003), and got behind the nitro-charged wheel for the sequel The Fast and the Furious 2 (2003). He continued to work in little-seen fare like Paparazzi and The Cave, but did score a part as one of Vince Vaughn's brothers in the aptly titled comedy The Break-Up. Over the next several years, Hauser would remain active on screen, appearing in films like The Cave, The Break-Up, and The FAmily That Prays, as well as on TV series like K-Ville and Chase. Hauser's father is actor Wings Hauser.

Trivia: Born in London to Grenadian parentage, distinguished actor Eamonn Walker acquired a deep-seated interest in drama at the age of 9, when he witnessed Sidney Poitier acting; the experience helped the young man perceive drama as a powerful tool to change individual lives. Walker began his professional life in repertory theater by touring across United Kingdom and tackling roles in smaller regional productions, then formally honed his craft in South London's Albany Empire. Thereafter, Walker unveiled an ability to seamlessly segue between portrayals of African Americans, West Indians, and Africans. He first bowed in front of the camera in the early '90s, but came into his own around the tail end of that decade as the deeply conflicted Muslim/black nationalist Kareem Said on all six seasons of HBO's harrowing prison drama Oz (1997-2003). That marked a watershed assignment that opened up the floodgates to many others, including a small contribution to M. Night Shyamalan's sci-fi thriller Unbreakable (2000), a turn as Baptiste Senior in director Andrew Niccol's political thriller Lord of War (2005), and an uncanny portrayal of blues legend Howlin' Wolf in the period ensembler Cadillac Records (2008). In 2006, Walker drew from his theatrical roots -- and made more than a few headlines -- with a Broadway performance opposite Denzel Washington in Julius Caesar.

Trivia: Grew up in Newburyport, Massachusetts.While his father served as a colonel in the U.S. Air Force, lived in Europe, mainly Germany and England, for 13 years.Played sports at military bases and wanted to be a sportscaster.Studied communications in San Diego.Worked as a bartender and as a personal assistant to Andrew Stevens.

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: Tom Skerritt is probably the best-known actor whose name is never remembered. A rugged "outdoors" type, Skerritt briefly attended Wayne State University and UCLA before making his film bow in War Hunt (1962). His subsequent film and TV roles were sizeable, but so adept was Skerritt at immersing himself in his character that he seemed to have no tangible, recurrent personality of his own. Billed second as "Duke" in the original M*A*S*H* (1970), Skerritt did his usual finely-honed job, but audiences of the time preferred the demonstrative, mannered acting technique of Elliott Gould, Donald Sutherland and Robert Duvall; significantly, Skerritt's character was not carried over into the even more unsubtle M*A*S*H TV series. Finally, in 1980, Skerritt began to attain a following with his authoritative performance in Alien. Since that time, there's been no stopping him. He posed in a popular series of "Guess?" Jeans ads, appeared as a 1987-88 regular on "Cheers," starred in 1992's A River Runs Through It (directed by his long-ago War Hunt costar Robert Redford), and won a 1994 Emmy for his work on the TV series "Picket Fences."Skerritt would continue to work at a remarkable pace, usually appearing in several projects a year. From 1999's family drama The Other Sister to 2003's war thriller Tears of the Sun, the actor could be spotted by fans of seemingly every area of film throughout the 90's and 2000's. In 2006, he took a recurring role in the hit primetime drama Brothers and Sisters, and in 2008 he signed on for the redneck comedy Beer for my Horses. He went on to appear in Whiteout, Multiple Sarcasms, and he made a cameo as himself in the R rated talking teddy bear movie Ted.

Trivia: Born in Petion-Ville, Haiti, actor Jimmy Jean-Louis moved to Paris during adolescence (1980). He enrolled in business courses, but quickly realized that his heart lay in performance, and studied at the Academie International de Dance. This marked a prescient move, for around a decade later, producers discovered Jean-Louis during one of his dancing stints in a French club (1991); deeply impressed, they tapped him to appear in a Coca-Cola ad, the success of which prompted the star ascendant to spend several years modeling across Europe for such notables as Gianfranco Ferré and Valentino. By the mid-'90s, he was gracing music videos by such superstars as Mariah Carey, Seal, and George Michael, and appearing in low-budget "independent" films in Los Angeles. Hollywood A-list roles were quick to follow. Jean-Louis debuted on the big screen in the Jean-Claude Van Damme action opus Derailed, then signed for supporting roles in such films as Hollywood Homicide (2003), Monster-in-Law (2005), and Phat Girlz (2006). He achieved his most widespread fame, however, when cast in the recurring role of The Haitian on the superhero-themed serial Heroes (2007). He stuck with the program through its three-year run. His first part after the program was cancelled came in the 2010 action comedy Coursier.

Trivia: Educated in Switzerland and England, Irish actress Fionnula Flanagan studied for her trade at Dublin's Abbey Theatre. With her portrayal of Gerty McDowell in the 1967 film version of Ulysses, Flanagan established herself as one of the foremost interpreters of James Joyce. She made her 1968 Broadway bow in Brian Friel's Lovers then appeared in such Joycean theatrical projects as Ulysses in Nighttown and James Joyce's Women (1977). The last-named project earned her "Critic's Circle" awards in Los Angeles and San Francisco; it was subsequently committed to film in 1988, with Flanagan repeating her portrayal of Harriet Shaw Weaver. A familiar presence in American television, Flanagan has appeared in several made-for-TV movies, among them The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975), Mary White (1977), The Ewok Adventure (1984) and A Winner Never Quits (1986). She won an Emmy for her work as Clothilde in the 1976 network miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man. Fionnula Flanagan's weekly-series stints have included Aunt Molly Culhane in How the West Was Won (1977), which earned her a second Emmy nomination; Lt. Guyla Cook in Hard Copy (1987) and Kathleen Meacham, wife of police chief John Mahoney (another transplant from the British Isles) in Help (1990).

Trivia: Born in Ghana as a member of the Ashanti tribe, but raised in England. Worked as an engineer before turning to acting full-time. Made his big-screen debut in the 2000 supernatural thriller Bless the Child. Subsequently appeared in a number of big-budget action and sci-fi films, including Tears of the Sun (2003), 300 (2007) and Avatar (2009). Went through a three-week boot camp to prepare for his role as a gladiator trainer on the Starz historical drama Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Has practiced martial arts since the age of 6.

Trivia: Handsome and versatile American actor Harry Van Gorkum tackled a series of character roles from the late '80s onward, vacillating with great fluidity and ease between big- and small-screen work. He was memorable on a 1996 episode of Seinfeld as Craig, the wig master in a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; portrayed the colorful MC in Joel Schumacher's 1997 Batman & Robin; and landed a role opposite Sylvester Stallone and Madeleine Stowe in the 2002 crime comedy Avenging Angelo. In 2007, Van Gorkum donned sandals and a toga and played Vortgyn in Doug Lefler's Ancient Roman period epic The Last Legion.