Trivia: Naomi Watts had already been a working actress for over a decade when she earned notice as a promising newcomer in David Lynch's Cannes Film Festival prizewinner Mulholland Drive (2001).Born September 28th, 1968, Watts began acting in her teens, landing her first film role in For Love Alone (1986). Watts subsequently appeared with future Hollywood headliners Nicole Kidman and Thandie Newton in John Duigan's disarming teen romance Flirting (1991). Watts's next film with Duigan, Wide Sargasso Sea (1992), was not so well received. After her first taste of Hollywood with Joe Dante's schlock movie homage Matinee (1992), Watts nabbed a starring role as Jimmy Smits's disturbed student in George Miller's little seen courtroom drama Gross Misconduct (1993). Watts then starred as Jet Girl to Lori Petty's Tank Girl (1995), but the science fiction fantasy suffered an ignominious box office fate. After a series of TV movies and thrillers, including Sleepwalkers (1997) and Children of the Corn IV (1996), Watts appeared in Marshall Herskovitz's high-toned Venetian courtesan costumer Dangerous Beauty (1998) and successful TV docudrama The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer (1999). Watts's breakthrough finally arrived when David Lynch cast her in his ABC pilot Mulholland Drive. Though ABC canceled the project in 1999 after Lynch turned in a typically mood-drenched work, StudioCanal financed its transformation into a feature that debuted to acclaim at Cannes in 2001. A Los Angeles dreamscape akin to Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive featured Watts as the blonde half of a female duo caught in a mystery of shifting identities. Drawing attention for her not-for-network TV love scene with co-star Laura Harring, Watts also earned praise as a rising "new" actress.Though ignored for an Oscar nomination, Watts's tour-de-force dual performance earned her numerous accolades and critics' awards, igniting her career. Working steadily in the wake of Mulholland Drive, Watts scored a box-office as well as critical success a year later with The Ring (2002), the Hollywood remake of the Japanese horror blockbuster. Starring Watts as an intrepid reporter investigating the origins of a lethal videotape, The Ring overcame studio doubts to become a sleeper hit, solidifying Watts's new star status. Watts subsequently donned period dress for the Showtime western The Outsider (2002), and to co-star alongside fellow Aussie Heath Ledger in The Kelly Gang (2003). Balancing her genre work with potentially headier fare guided by notable directors, Watts also appeared with Kate Hudson, Glenn Close and Stockard Channing in the Merchant-Ivory romantic comedy Le Divorce (2003), and won a leading role opposite formidable actors Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro in Alejandro González Iñárritu's 21 Grams (2003).In 2004, Watts worked opposite Mark Ruffalo for the independent film We Don't Live Here Anymore, and reteamed with Sean Penn for The Assassination of Richard Nixon. She landed the starring role of Ann Darrow in director Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong (2006), and starred in the 2006 remake of The Painted Veil. Watts was praised for her work as a British midwife who accidentally gets involved in the Russian mafia in director David Cronenberg's psychological thriller Eastern Promises. Watts starred along with Clive Owen in 2009's The International, for which she played the part of an assistant district attorney who participates in a plan to rob a bank, and co-starred alongside Samuel L. Jackson, Annette Benning, and Kerry Washington for the drama Mother and Child. Watts was later cast in Dream House (2011), a thriller starring Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz, and worked with Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2011 biopic J. Edgar. In 2012 she played the mother of a family trapped in a catastrophic storm in The Impossible, garnering a Best Actress nomination for her work in the film.

Trivia: Fair-haired Australian actor Simon Baker (occasionally billed as Simon Baker-Denny, and not to be confused with the Native American performer of the same name) specialized in playing suave, cultured, and sophisticated types, with many assignments as a romantic lead. He debuted as a performer in his native country, with roles on such popular Oceanian series as E Street (1989), Heartbreak High (1994), and Naked (1995), but made the Hollywood leap opposite fellow Aussie import Russell Crowe with a small supporting role in the Curtis Hanson-directed post-noir blockbuster L.A. Confidential (1997). Taking the success of this as a cue, Baker then accepted a lead in the similar, albeit less-favorably received, outing Judas Kiss (1998). He starred opposite Val Kilmer and Carrie-Anne Moss in Red Planet (2000), and opposite Hilary Swank in The Affair of the Necklace (2001), but achieved far greater recognition and acclaim in the lead role on the CBS drama series The Guardian (2001-2004). He played Nick Fallin, a coke-addled attorney who finds redemption via child advocacy, until the series was canceled after three seasons. Successive projects included a turn in the big-budget horror sequel The Ring Two (2005); a role as Anne Hathaway's prospective suitor (whom she rejects in favor of her career) in David Frankel's The Devil Wears Prada (2006); and a part as one half of an interracial couple in Something New, opposite Sanaa Lathan. Meanwhile, at about the same time, Baker played Jeff Breen, a professional thief, on the short-lived CBS crime series Smith, starring Ray Liotta. In fall 2008, Baker headlined the new detective series The Mentalist, playing an investigator with razor-sharp obervational skills. He also took on the lead role -- as a parent who opens up a nasty Pandora's box when he searches for his missing daughter -- in director Dror Soref's supernatural horror outing Not Forgotten (2008). He earned an Emmy nomination in 2009 for his work on The Mentalist, and he appeared in the 2011financial drama Margin Call.

Trivia: Born in New York and raised in Vermont, actress Elizabeth Perkins headed for Chicago after high school, where she was trained at the Goodman School of Drama. In a busy three-year period (1984-1987), Perkins co-starred in the touring company of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs, married Chicago-based actor Terry Kinney (they have since split), was featured on Broadway, and made her film debut in About Last Night... (1986). The actress went on to play Tom Hanks' vis-à-vis in Big (1988), the terminal cancer patient with whom William Hurt begins a relationship in The Doctor (1992), and the "She" to Kevin Bacon's "He" in He Said, She Said (1991). The biggest box-office hit with which Elizabeth Perkins has been associated was 1994's The Flintstones, in which she portrayed the long-suffering Wilma.Though supporting roles in such projects as From the Earth to the Moon, 28 Days, and The Ring Two kept Perkins busy over the next decade, it couldn't help but feel like her career momentum had stalled out a bit by the mid-2000s. Fortunately for comedy fans, television writer/producer Jenji Kohan (Gilmore Girls) recognized her talent, and in 2005 Perkins began a successful four year run on the hit television series Weeds. Cast as the busybody neighbor of a suburban single mother-turned-pot dealer played by Mary-Louise Parker, the talented comic actress earned three Emmy nominations for her role in the series, though the actual award sadly slipped through her fingers each time. Nevertheless, the success appeared to reinvigorate Perkins' small screen career, with roles in Vince Uncensored, teh Closer, and How to Live WIth Your Parents for the Rest of Your Life following in quick succession.

Trivia: Whether following in the footsteps of the seemingly irreplaceable Robert Reed as the all-wise patriarch of the Brady clan or raising the ire of a nation of embittered office workers as the blissfully malevolent Lumbergh in Mike Judge's popular workplace comedy Office Space, longtime character actor Gary Cole can always be depended on to bring life to his varied and oddly endearing characters, despite their sometimes questionable motivations. Even in his earliest role as Snoopy in a high school production of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, the Park Ridge, IL, native knew his destiny lay on the stage; from that moment straight through Cole's higher education at Illinois State University, his dedication to the theater never wavered. So dedicated was Cole that, during his third year at I.S.U., the eager up-and-comer dropped out to help found the Remains Theater. Transferring over to Chicago's acclaimed Steppenwolf Theater in 1985, Cole quickly made a name for himself in such productions as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Balm in Gilead. Though Cole had essayed a handful of television roles in the early '80s, it wasn't until his breakthrough role as a suspected murderer in the 1984 made-for-television feature Fatal Vision that audiences truly began to take notice. Cole's role as the drug-addicted son of an alcoholic father in the 1986 made-for-TV drama Vital Signs showed that he undoubtedly had the chops to make it on the small screen. Despite an increase in television roles, the ambitious actor continued to impress on the stage as well. Cole's first taste of weekly series life came with his role as a former cop who finds redemption as a late-night radio talk show host in the 1989 series Midnight Caller. In the following decade, he would expand his career into feature film territory. Cole's silver-screen career began with a role as a Secret Service agent in the Clint Eastwood thriller In the Line of Fire (1993), and his natural skills onscreen lent a surprising amount of depth to the supporting role. A few supporting television performances were quick to follow, and in 1995, Cole cracked up audiences with his role as suburban philosopher Mike Brady in the hit comedy The Brady Bunch Movie. Cole would reprise the role in the following year's sequel A Very Brady Sequel, but not before returning to series work as the sheriff in the short-lived, but well-loved, oddity American Gothic. As his feature career gained momentum, Cole still remained loyal to the stage and small screen. In 1998, a role in the acclaimed HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon found him going as strong as ever, and on the heels of supporting roles in A Simple Plan and I'll Be Home for Christmas, Cole played what was perhaps his most widely recognized role to date in Office Space (1999). Cast as by-the-books corporate figurehead William "Bill" Lumbergh, Cole delivered a performance that was pure comic gold for anyone who has weathered the never-ending drone of life in cubicle-land. In 2001, Cole loaned his voice to the hit "Adult Swim" cartoon Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, playing several characters, including Birdman himself. The next year, Cole continued to dabble in animated television with his performance as the titular character's father in the hit series Kim Possible. Back on the big screen, he took the role of the villainous heavy in the Eddie Murphy/Owen Wilson comedy I Spy and returned to the role of Mike Brady in the made-for-television sequel, The Brady Bunch in the White House. In 2003, he was cast in the recurring role of new Vice President "Bingo Bob" Russell for the fifth season of the critically acclaimed dramatic series The West Wing. The popular character actor could also be seen in supporting capacity in the 2004 comedies Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.Cole maintained his status as a talented comic with a series of vocal performances on the animated television show The Family Guy, while showcasing his versatility by appearing in the sequel to the American version of The Ring. In 2006 he played opposite Will Ferrell in the NASCAR comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. He appeared in the spy drama Breach, and lent a scary presence to the pot comedy Pineapple Express. He became a part of the HBO series Entourage for that show's final two seasons, and in 2011 he was in the hit family comedy Hop.

Trivia: Strawberry blonde, freckle-faced, and willowy, Sissy Spacek was among the most popular female stars of the late '70s and '80s. The Texas born and bred actress originally aspired to become a singer, and, after heading east to New York, got her start singing at coffee houses in Greenwich Village. Billing herself as "Rainbo," Spacek also cut a single, "Johnny, You Went Too Far This Time." On the side, she earned money by recording backup vocals on television commercials.When the acting bug bit, Spacek enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Theatrical Institute. While she technically made her film debut as an extra in Andy Warhol's Trash (1971), her official debut is listed as Michael Ritchie's Prime Cut (1972). The actress' first crack at stardom came in 1973, when she played a teenage accomplice to ruthless cross-country killer Martin Sheen in Terrence Malick's disturbing Badlands. The role earned her critical acclaim, as did her portrayal of a sweet teen who becomes a violent radical in the made-for-television movie Katherine (1975).Spacek's true breakthrough came when she played a troubled, shy teenager who discovers that she has telekinetic powers and uses them to get bloody revenge upon her cruel schoolmates and mother in Brian De Palma's chilling adaptation of Stephen King's novel Carrie (1976). Her work in the film earned her a Best Actress nomination, as well as permanent cult status. She once again experimented with emotional instability in Robert Altman's Three Women the following year, and then got to show off her singing abilities playing Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter in 1980. Her portrayal of Lynn became one of Spacek's best-known roles, and it earned her an Oscar for Best Actress.In 1981, Spacek starred in Raggedy Man, which was directed by her husband, Jack Fisk. Her career remained in high gear through the mid-'80s with such memorable turns as her Oscar-nominated work in Missing (1982) and The River (1984), but after 1986, when she was again nominated for an Oscar for her work in Crimes of the Heart, Spacek partially withdrew from acting to concentrate on raising kids. Throughout the 1990s, she occasionally returned to the big screen, lending her talents to such features as JFK (1991), The Grass Harp (1996), and Affliction (1998). In 1999, she turned in memorable performances playing Brendan Fraser's mother in Blast From the Past and Richard Farnsworth's speech-impaired daughter in David Lynch's The Straight Story. In 2001 the quietly intense actress shined once again in director Todd Field's critically praised In the Bedroom. Suffering from severe trauma and depression after her son is viciously murdered, Spacek's brooding and sympathetic performance in Bedroom found the actress taking home a Golden Globe for Best Actress and earning an Oscar nod in the same category.She continued to work steadily in projects such as the drama North Country, the comedy Hot Rod, Four Christmases, and Get Low. In 2010 she joined the cast of the HBO series Big Love, and the next year she had a key role in the Oscar-nominated drama The Help, resulting in one of the biggest commercial hits of her illustrious career.

Trivia: Born May 12th, 1986, Canadian-born actress Emily VanCamp began her career with the Canadian production of Are You Afraid of the Dark? in 2000. She would soon follow this with roles in Glory Days and The Ring Two before scoring her big break with the starring role of Amy Abbott on the series Everwood in 2002. She stayed with the show until 2006, but returned to television the next year playing Rebecca Harper on the drama Brothers & Sisters.

Trivia: Made Broadway debut in 2002 in The Graduate as the Assistant Desk Clerk, and later played Elaine Robinson when Alicia Silverstone left the production. Met her future husband, Judson Pearce Morgan, during the production of The Graduate. Had a starring role in The Collective, a 2008 horror film she cowrote, codirected and coproduced with her husband.

Trivia: While many make a beeline for the stage from the time they're walking on two feet, James Lesure took a slightly more varied path. He studied at the Air Force Academy before going on to the University of Southern California, where he earned a B.F.A. in theater. He then traveled abroad, where he not only participated in stage productions of everything from Broadway musicals to Shakespeare, but also pursued his dream of being an amateur boxer. Settling back in the States, Lesure began making the rounds on TV, making small appearances on shows like NYPD Blue and Seinfeld. Then, in 2004, Lesure was cast as a member of an elite surveillance team on the hit series Las Vegas. Audiences loved his charming screen presence, and he stayed with the series for multiple seasons.

Trivia: Whether scaring the wits out of audiences as Samara in The Ring or lending her voice to more family-friendly fare such as Lilo & Stitch and the American release of Spirited Away, young Daveigh Chase had already experienced a rich and diverse career in Hollywood by the tender age of 12. Born in Los Angeles on July 24, 1990, young Chase was a mere three-years-old when she first began to show signs of inherent musical talent. Repeating the notes in pitch-perfect form when a piano tuner came to their house, Chase soon aspired to perform like the kids in the Barney videos that her parents had purchased for her. The following year, young Chase entered the Little Miss America Pageant, and though she didn't come away with top prize in the end, a subsequent win in a national vocal competition and dance contest gave her the confidence needed to keep chasing her dreams. Next appearing in a commercial for Campbell's Soup, Chase's vocal performances at the Timber Carnival and Oregon Jamboree eventually resulted in her taking the lead role in a play in St. George, UT -- a role that caught the eye of Disney scouts and eventually led to her casting in the animated hit Lilo & Stitch. Following an early television appearance on Sabrina the Teenage Witch in 1998, Chase's film career began to gain momentum. Though she would appear in a few minor roles in 2000, it was the following year that proved to be her breakthrough. With roles in Donnie Darko, A.I., and voice work as the young protagonist in Spirited Away, Chase was ready to take on Hollywood. Though her ability to alternate between haunted and humorous was a main reason for her casting in Lilo & Stitch, audiences would truly find out how haunting she could be in the flesh with the American remake of the breakthrough Japanese horror film The Ring. That same year, Chase would flee a tsunami of rodents in the made-for-television chiller Rats, and it seemed by now that she was truly coming into her own as a notable screen presence. After returning to voice work in Stitch! The Movie and the television series The Adventures of Lilo & Stitch (both 2003), Chase could be spotted in Big Paw: Beethoven 5, The Haunted Lighthouse, and the television series Oliver Beene.

Trivia: An accomplished stage actress, Kelly Stables starred in a number of theatrical productions -- including Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty -- before launching an impressive career onscreen. The former prom queen and cheerleader began with a handful of minor roles in movies like 2004's Bring It On Again and on the soap opera General Hospital before catching her big break in 2005, playing the grown-up version of evil little girl Samara in The Ring Two. Stables soon scored another major project, playing one of the leading roles on the fantasy series W.I.T.C.H. from 2005 to 2006.Stables next appeared in Together Again for the First Time and Dragon Hunter before taking on the recurring role of Melissa on the sitcom Two and a Half Men in 2008. She also began appearing on the series Greek as Janette and started acting on a web series called Soul Fire Rising, before signing on to reprise the role of Samara for The Ring Three. She starred in the quickly-canceled ABC sitcom Romantically Challenged, but quickly rebounded with the TV Land series The Exes. Stables also appeared in Horrible Bosses 2 in 2014.

Trivia: Independent film star Aleksa Palladino began her career in a starring role, at the age of 15, in Lisa Krueger's debut feature Manny & Lo (1996). Palladino played Lo, the pregnant runaway sister of Manny (Scarlett Johansson). For the next couple of years, she continued getting starring roles in small indie films including Red Dirt, Wrestling With Alligators, and The Adventures of Sebastian Cole. Making a brief move to made-for-TV movies, she starred in the USA Network original movie The Huntress as a 19-year-old girl avenging her father's death. Eventually, she accepted a couple of supporting roles for two downbeat dramas in 2001, Todd Solondz's Storytelling and Tanya Wexler's Ball in the House. Over the coming years, Palladino would find particular success with the period series Boardwalk Empire.

Trivia: North Carolina native Mary Elizabeth Winstead began training as a ballet dancer as a child, and later studied at Joffrey Ballet School in Chicago. She also studied singing and acting intensively and pursued a successful career on Broadway, appearing in productions like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Eventually transitioning to the screen, Winstead became an audience favorite when she made a handful of appearances on the soap opera Passions in 1999. She would go on to appear in movies like 2005's Sky High and Final Destination 3, before scoring the role of Lee -- the girl whose friends use her as collateral in order to drive a mint Dodge Charger -- in 2007's Death Proof, part of the double-feature Grindhouse. She played Lucy in Live Free or Die Hard, before taking on the role of Ramona V. Flowers in the quirky 2010 graphic novel adaptation Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.