Trivia: Often noted for her striking feature debut as a gun-toting seductress in the Coen brothers' noirish gangster crime thriller Miller's Crossing (1990), Marcia Gay Harden has since bounced between disparaging disappointment and critical prosperity, and is commonly praised for her chameleon-like ability to immerse herself in characters that are often the polar opposite of the cheerfully optimistic actress.Born in La Jolla, CA, on August 14, 1959, as the third of five children in a military family, Harden's clan moved constantly. Her passion for drama sparked by a period that the family spent in Greece (when she attended Athenian plays), Harden studied drama in college, earning a B.A. in theater from the University of Texas, and an M.F.A. in theater from New York University. After graduation, Harden continued to hone her acting talents on stage in Washington, D.C. Immediately evincing an innate ability to portray a wide range of characterizations, Harden earned two Helen Hayes Award nominations - one for her role in Beth Henley's Crimes of the Heart and one for her role in The Miss Firecracker Contest. Angels in America brought Harden to Broadway, where she found further success in earning both Tony Award and Drama Desk nominations, as well as winning the Theater World Award for Best Actress. Though she had made an impressive screen debut in Miller's Crossing, disappointment soon followed with a slew of critically shunned successes mixed with a series of creative misfires. Though discouraged in the critics' failure to recognize what Harden considered to be some of her best work, Harden began to focus less on Hollywood validation for happiness, and instead shifted her attention to refining her acting abilities. Moving from quirky dramatic roles, such as her manipulative character in Crush (1992), to quiet dramas like 1996's The Spitfire Grill, and such mainstream efforts as The First Wives Club (also 1996) and Meet Joe Black (1998), Harden felt comfortable in a wide variety of roles. She also occasionally compromised on her choice of material during this period (perhaps out of necessity) - such as the dumb-dumb comedy Spy Hard, with Leslie Nielsen, and the 1997 Absent Minded Professor rehash Flubber (starring Robin Williams).But her fortunes began to turn with a supporting role in Ed Harris' long-anticipated Jackson Pollock biopic Pollock (2000) that finally brought the actress much-deserved, mainstream critical recognition for her work. Reunited with Harris from their pairing in an earlier stage production of Sam Shepard's Simpatico, Harden's role as Pollock's dysfunctional muse earned her the Best Supporting Actress Oscar at the 2000 Academy Awards. The dawning years of the new millennium were undeniably kind to the tireless actress, and after a trio of made-for-television movies in the year 2000 Harden essayed the role of a stylish but enigmatic catalyst to a mystery with decidedly comic undertones in Susan Seidelman's Gaudi Afternoon, and portrayed the NASA engineer love interest of Tommy Lee Jones's crop duster, Hawk, in Clint Eastwood's Space Cowboys; Harden and Eastwood forged a strong professional bond and would work together again, several years later.A brief foray into sitcom territory followed soon thereafter, when Harden co-starred with Richard Dreyfuss in shortlived television series The Education of Max Bickford (2001), and the following year, she stuck to the small screen for the mini-series Guilty Hearts and the made-for-television feature King of Texas (the latter earning her a a Golden Sattelite nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Made for Television). An adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear set in the Old West, King of Texas found Harden essaying the role of cattle-baron John Lear's (Patrick Stewart) eldest daughter. Equally busy in 2003, Harden abandoned the small screen to work with some of the most acclaimed filmmakers in Hollywood. Following her second onscreen assignment for Clint Eastwood - in his deeply flawed but commendable ensemble piece Mystic River - Harden essayed the role of a mother attempting to adopt a South American girl in longtime indie filmmaker John Sayles' Casa de Los Babys and provided a key supporting performance in Mike Newell's Mona Lisa Smile. She contributed to the disappointing (and eminently forgettable) Gene Hackman/Ray Romano onscreen pairing Welcome to Mooseport (as president Hackman's campaign manager) but fared better by joining the cast of Richard Linklater's remake The Bad News Bears, starring Billy Bob Thornton (Harden plays the mom who brings Thornton's slovenly Morris Buttermaker in to coach the team). After relatively limited work throughout 2005 - including a small-scale voiceover assignment as Willa Cather in Joel Geyer's Willa Cather: the Road is All and Mrs. Merriman in the heartwarming family drama Felicity: An American Girl Adventure - Harden's activity crescendoed over the course of 2006, with appearances in no less than three A-list features. These entailed work in multiple genres, and suggested a broad array of fun and challenging characterizations. In Lasse Hallstrom's late 2006 docudrama The Hoax, Harden plays Edith Irving, the wife of scam artist Clifford Irving (portrayed by Richard Gere) during his notorious early-1970s scheme to forge an autobiography of the late Howard Hughes. In Paul Weitz's American Dreams, she plays yet another matron - this time the wife of American president Dennis Quaid, as the generally clueless fellow (!) is sent on a nationally-broadcast talent program. And Harden joins the celebrity-studded ensemble of the more conventional Dead Girl - a murder mystery directed by Karen Moncrieff, whose cast members include Harden, Giovanni Ribisi, Brittany Murphy, Piper Laurie, Josh Brolin, and Mary Steenburgen. The plot recalls Ray Lawrence's Lantana, in its investigation of several seemingly-unrelated lives that intersect in unforeseen ways as the mystery surrounding a woman's death is gradually disclosed to the characters and audience. In 2007 she acted in both The Hoax and Sean Penn's Into the Wild. She joined the cast of the hit show Damages in the second season. In 2009 she played a concerned mother in the roller derby comedy Whip It, and played a harried school administrator in Detachment for director Tony Kaye in 2011.Offscreen, Harden married property master and occasional location scout Thaddaeus Scheel (Boys on the Side, Houseguest, The Spitfire Grill) in 1996. The couple has three children.

Trivia: American brothers Rob and Chad Lowe became actors in childhood (Chad would ultimately win an Emmy for his TV work). Rob was acting from the age of eight in 1972; seven years later, he was a regular on the TV series A New Kind of Family, playing the teenaged son of star Eileen Brennan. That series was shot down quickly, but Lowe's film career picked up when newspaper and magazine articles began aligning the handsome, sensitive young actor with the burgeoning Hollywood "brat pack," which included such new talent as Molly Ringwald, Matt Dillon, Charlie Sheen, and Anthony Michael Hall. Along with several fellow "packers" (Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, and Emilio Estevez), Lowe starred in 1985's St. Elmo's Fire; this film and the earlier Hotel New Hampshire (1984) represent the most memorable projects in Lowe's otherwise negligible film output. In 1989, Lowe's already flagging film stardom received a severe setback when he was accused of videotaping his sexual activities with an underage girl (the evidence has since become a choice item on the sub-rosa video cassette circuit). Arrested for his misdeeds, Lowe performed several hours' worth of community service, then tried to reactivate his career. Since then, Lowe has matured into something of a brat-pack George Hamilton, successfully lampooning his previous screen image in such comedies as Wayne's World (1992) and Tommy Boy (1995).Though his comedic endeavors would continue throughout the 1990s in films such as Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) and its sequel, Lowe gained notice for such dramatic roles as that of the mute and strangely plague-immune Nick Andros in the long-anticipated TV miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand (1994). Lowe's roles throughout the '90s may have not been the prominently featured roles in A-list films that his early shooting-star may have suggested, though he did maintain steady work in an interesting variety of small-budget projects. Lowe's casting on the popular political drama The West Wing brought the actor back into the public eye in what many considered to be one of the most intelligently written dramatic series on television. His turn as quick-witted liberal speechwriter Sam Seaborn brought Lowe through the dark days of his scandalous past, back to an audience who may have forgotten his charm as an actor. He would stay with the series until 2005, all while continuing to pick new projects that involved creativity and an open mind. He tested his limits with roles in films like Salem's Lot and Thank You For Smoking, and in 2004, he began starring in his own TV series, playing Dr. Billy Grant on the crime drama Dr. Vegas. The show lasted until 2008, by which time he had already signed on for the prime time dramedy Brothers & Sisters, starring alongside Calista Flockhart. He had a major part in The Invention of Lying in 2009, and that same year he landed a regular gig on the well-reviewed NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. In 2011 he was the executive producer and one of the leads in the ensemble film I Melt With You.

Trivia: Owing his unique, smoldering good looks to his German mother and West African father, actor Boris Kodjoe first caught the attention of Hollywood casting agents in the pages of major men's magazines, as one of the most highly sought-after male models of the late '90s. The former star tennis player delayed a career in marketing -- his major in college at Virginia Commonwealth University -- for a chance to be the subject of fashion spreads from such photographers as Herb Ritts and Bruce Weber. The exposure led him to Hollywood, where he first found roles as a romantic heavy on television, and eventually a steady gig on the small-screen version of Soul Food. Despite starring roles in a pair of independent features (The Gospel and Doing Hard Time), Kodjoe's big-screen breakthrough would come courtesy of the second feature in writer/director Tyler Perry's popular Madea series, 2006's Madea's Family Reunion. Kodjoe would continue to find success in the coming years on shows like

Trivia: Fair-haired, blue-eyed American actress Bonnie Somerville seemed tailor-made for on-camera work, and fell into her niche as supporting actress, beginning in her mid-twenties -- typically in the casts of Hollywood A-list features and hit television programs. In an unusual feat for an ingenue, the Brooklyn-born Somerville took one of her first bows as a lead -- with a starring role in the epic-length TV miniseries Shake, Rattle and Roll (1999), about an apocryphal music group from the '50s called "the Heartaches." Somerville portrayed Lyne Danner, the lead singer of the group. Many supporting roles followed, such as a small turn in the 2000 Harold Ramis comedy Bedazzled and a multi-episode role on the hit sitcom Friends as Mona, a girlfriend of Ross (David Schwimmer). Somerville then signed for regular roles in occasional sitcoms during the early 2000s, including Grosse Pointe and In-Laws; unfortunately, these failed to catch fire with the public. Somerville's fate turned in 2003 with a multi-episode run on the Fox prime-time soaper The O.C.; the actress played Rachel Hoffman, a former associate of Sandy Cohen's (Peter Gallagher) from the DA's office, who makes advances toward her married colleague but receives a rebuff from him.After a supporting turn in the big-screen comedy Without a Paddle (2004), Somerville scored a regular part as Det. Laura Murphy on the hit cop drama NYPD Blue; she played the role throughout its 12th and final season (2004-2005). Not long after, the actress signed for another regular TV part, portraying Mimi, the restaurant manager of Nolita (and daughter of the owner, Pino [Frank Langella]) in the U.S. sitcom Kitchen Confidential (2005). Unfortunately, that program folded shortly after it premiered, but the actress found another major TV role when she was cast in the Darren Star (Sex and the City) ABC drama Cashmere Mafia in 2008; she played Caitlin Dowd, a senior VP for a cosmetics company on that series, which focused on the lives of a group of four friends who were high-powered New York City businesswomen.

Trivia: Is a 2nd-degree black belt in Shotokan karate and two-time bronze medalist at the Pan American Games. During her time at Stanford, held the position of student body president, was a cheerleader and danced with the school's Bollywood dance troupe. Won the title of Miss India America in 2007. Left her job as a business analyst at McKinsey & Company to pursue an acting career. Modeled for Bare Escentuals, Herbal Essences, Clinique, Kohl's, Verizon and Nescafé. Featured in an interview for the HBO documentary East of Main Street that examines underrepresentation of Asian actors in American media. Co-founder of the non-profit organization Hospital for Hope.

Trivia: Launched his own acting studio, The Sandbox, upon graduation from NYU. Summered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts while working his way into film and television. Played Mercutio in an off-Broadway production of Romeo and Juliet.

Trivia: Canadian-born actor Benjamin Hollingsworth got his start in the business doing local theater, and eventually attended the National Theatre School of Canada. He transitioned into on-camera work with roles on Canadian TV shows like Trapped, Heartland, and Degrassi: The Next Generation. He was eventually cast in the made-for-cable installment of the Cutting Edge franchise Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream, and on the night time soap The Beautiful Life in 2009.

Trivia: A well-respected character actor who specializes in playing tough guys with a heart, Luis Guzman has appeared in a dizzying array of film and television productions since he began his professional acting career in the early 1980s.Born August 28, 1956, Guzman graduated from City College and worked for some years as a youth counselor at the Henry Street Settlement House. During his time as a social worker, he began performing in street theatre and independent films. Guzman got his first big break in the early '80s with a role on the popular TV series Miami Vice. He went on to work sporadically in film and television throughout the rest of the decade, appearing in such films as Sidney Lumet's Family Business and Ridley Scott's Black Rain (both 1989).Guzman's work schedule grew increasingly crowded as the 1990s progressed; kicking off the decade with an appearance in another Lumet piece, Q & A (1990), the actor began popping up in films ranging from romantic comedy (Anthony Minghella's Mr. Wonderful, 1993) to crime drama (Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way, 1993) to gay and lesbian historical docudrama (Nigel Finch's Stonewall, 1995). Thanks to directors Steven Soderbergh and Paul Thomas Anderson, Guzman became more readily recognizable in the late 1990s. For Soderbergh, he had substantial roles in Out of Sight (1998), which cast him as a prisoner whose planned escape is ruined by George Clooney; and The Limey (1999), in which he played Terence Stamp's gruff but good-hearted partner in revenge. For Anderson, Guzman appeared in both Boogie Nights (1997) and Magnolia (1999), playing a wannabe porn star in the former and a game show contestant in the latter. 2002 proved Guzman's busiest year to date as the increasingly visible actor appeared in no less than five films, including a prominant role in the caper comedy Welcome to Collinwood and a re-teaming with director Anderson with Punch-Drunk Love. On television, Guzman became a regular presence thanks to a recurring role on the HBO prison drama Oz, as well as appearances on such shows as Law and Order, NYPD Blue, and Walker, Texas Ranger.

Trivia: Licensed as a pilot, frequently flying out of Van Nuys, CA; originally planned to join the Royal Air Force. Attended prep school with eventual Spooks costar Rupert Penry-Jones. Emerged on the London stage when cast as Sky in Mamma Mia! and in the leading role of Andrew Lloyd Webber's production of Bombay Dreams. Created and coproduced RED, a dance show celebrating various movements and their influences on and from India.

Trivia: Moved from Tucson to Los Angeles at the age of 18 to pursue an acting career. Appeared in several horror films during the beginning of her career, including The Fun Park, Forget Me Not and The Graves. Was the body and face model for a video-game character named Liara T'soni in the Mass Effect series. Returned to her hometown in Reading, Pa., to mentor youth in the local RIZE program, an initiative that provides filmmaking education and resources. Competed in an episode of the 2011 revival of Fear Factor. Is fluent in American Sign Language.

Trivia: Discovered acting at age 13; at 15 won a scholarship to study at the famed Inner City Acting Academy in Los Angeles. Was the first African American to be ranked as the No. 1 college speaker in the nation (for two consecutive years); led USC Trojan Debate Squad to a national championship. In 1987 founded the Young Foundation to help youth achieve success; reorganized in 2000 as the Young Center for Academic and Cultural Enrichment to focus on youth leadership training. Was named an Ambassador of Goodwill by President Bill Clinton. Was an adjunct professor of English and Dramatic Arts at Woodbury University. Was inducted into the African American Hall of Education. Is the recipient of several distinguished awards, including the Ford Foundation Freedom Unsung Award, NAACP Social Achievement Award, President's Icon Award, and Man of the Year Award from the National Organization of Women at Work. Best known as Brandy Norwood's father, Frank Mitchell, on Moesha. Is a sought after motivational speaker.