Trivia: Born and raised in New Jersey, press-shy James Gandolfini forged a film career as a prolific character actor before finally emerging as a bona fide star in the critically-lauded HBO series The Sopranos. After earning his college degree in 1983, Gandolfini headed to New York to study at the Actors Studio. Supporting himself for almost ten years as a bartender and nightclub manager, Gandolfini's major break came in 1992 with a role in a Broadway version of A Streetcar Named Desire starring Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange, and his film debut in Sidney Lumet's A Stranger Among Us. Following small parts in several 1993 films, including the Quentin Tarantino-scripted True Romance, Gandolfini played more substantial roles as one of the heavies in Terminal Velocity (1994), Geena Davis' neighborhood boyfriend in Angie (1994), one of the submarine crew in Crimson Tide (1995), and a stuntman-turned-Mob enforcer in Get Shorty (1995). Equally gifted at playing characters on either side of the law, Gandolfini appeared as the violent neighbor who assaults Robin Wright Penn in She's So Lovely (1997) and a cop in Lumet's legal drama Night Falls on Manhattan (1997).Gandolfini played supporting roles in several more films, including Fallen (1998) and A Civil Action (1998), before he was cast as the head of a dysfunctional Mafia family in The Sopranos. Anchored by Gandolfini's superbly-nuanced performance as Prozac-popping, mother-bedeviled capo Tony Soprano, The Sopranos was hailed as a TV masterpiece for its alternately funny, surreal and deadly-serious look at New Jersey Mob life. Though he was passed over for the Emmy, Gandolfini won the SAG and Golden Globe Awards for Lead Actor in a TV drama for The Sopranos' 1999 season. During the series break, Gandolfini appeared as a slimy pornographer in 8MM (1999).Gandolfini finally added the Emmy to his trophies in 2000 for the second season of The Sopranos. Despite the inevitable criticism about the series' sophomore slump, there was no question as to Gandolfini's continuing excellence as the New Jersey Mob paterfamilias. Gandolfini followed his Emmy triumph with a supporting role as a gay hit man in The Mexican (2001), easily stealing the film from co-stars Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt. Even as he was earning The Mexican's few good notices in theaters, Gandolfini was garnering still more plaudits for The Sopranos' controversial third season, as Tony's increasingly delinquent son elicited anguished soul-searching from Tony about his legacy. Though his third Emmy nomination spoke to his formidable TV presence as Tony, Gandolfini also further burnished his movie credits with a small part in Joel Coen and Ethan Coen's Cannes Film Festival award winner The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), and a major starring role as a corrupt Army colonel who goes head-to-head with Robert Redford's incarcerated general in The Last Castle (2001). Gandolfini continued to impress on The Sopranos for the show's run, which finally ended in 2007. He would also find success on screen, appearing in a wide and impressive variety of roles in films like All the King's Men, The Taking of Pelham 123, and Violet & Daisy. Tragically, Gandolfini died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 2013 at the age of 51.

Trivia: Born October 2, 1954, it's no surprise that Lorraine Bracco, with her thick Brooklyn accent, was raised in a working-class neighborhood in New York City, but her twenties were not as predictable. Relocating to Europe, she spent several years living in France as a fashion model and working in radio, TV commercials, and films. She appeared in the Lina Wertmuller crime thriller Un Complicato Intrigo Di Donne, Vicoli E Delitti along with American actor Harvey Keitel, to whom she would be married for ten years. Moving back to New York to study acting with Stella Adler and the Actor's Studio, she made her U.S. debut as a hooker in The Pick-Up Artist (also with Keitel) and later starred as a Queens housewife in Ridley Scott's Someone to Watch Over Me. After a couple roles in Sing and The Dream Team, she received an Oscar nomination for her work as mobster Henry Hill's wife in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, making her a full-blown movie star overnight. She continued working in features for the remainder of the '90s, most notably opposite Sean Connery in Medicine Man, as the whip-cracking Delores Del Rio in Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, and as Leonardo DiCaprio's long-suffering mother in The Basketball Diaries.Then in 1999, when Bracco got the stellar role of Dr. Jennifer Melfi on the hit HBO series The Sopranos. Bracco stayed with the series until 2007, playing the understated psychiatrist of mob boss Tony Soprano, and picking up several Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild awards over the years. The show kept her busy, but the actress continued to pursue other projects, playing a nervous mother in Penny Marshall's Riding in Cars With Boys , and taking on a recurring role on the series Lipstick Jungle. In 2010 Bracco co-starred in the comedy Son of Morning, and directed the ensemble drama Love and Distrust (starring Robert Downey, Jr., James Franco, and Amy Adams) the same year. Bracco took on a recurring role as Angela Rizzoli in the television series Rizzoli & Isles (2010-2012), and continues to work in film and television.

Trivia: Known as part of "the Purchase Mafia" thanks to her status as one of the many illustrious alumni of the State University of New York at Purchase, Edie Falco is one of America's most well-respected television and film actresses. A native of Brooklyn, Falco, who is of Sicilian heritage, was born in 1963. She got her professional start acting in fellow-Purchase alum Hal Hartley's films, most notably Trust (1991), which cast her as the unrepentantly trampy older sister of a pregnant cheerleader (Adrienne Shelly). Falco spent the 1990s dividing her time and talent between TV and film, doing recurring work on such series as Homicide: Life on the Street and Law and Order, and appearing in a slew of diverse films that included Woody Allen's Bullets over Broadway (1994) and The Addiction (1995).In 1997, Falco began earning kudos for her performance as Officer Diane Whittlesey on the HBO prison drama Oz; she stayed with the show for two years, after which she garnered even greater acclaim for her work on another HBO series, The Sopranos. Cast as Carmela Soprano, wife of Mafioso Tony Soprano, Falco won Emmies and Golden Globes for her work on the show, sticking with it until its conclusion in 2007. Falco would also cearn accolades for her film work, in movies like Hurricane Streets, Judy Berlin, and Freedomland. The small screen would continue to offer Falco great opportunities to display her talent, however, with her title role on the medical drama Nurse Jackie.

Trivia: Before his starring role in The Sopranos made his name, character actor Michael Imperioli worked in numerous films during the 1990s with an impressive array of New York-based talent. Born in Mount Vernon, NY, Imperioli did not have to move far when he decided to study acting at New York City's Stella Adler Conservatory. Soon after his 1988 movie debut, Imperioli burnished his acting resumé with a small part as Spider, shot by Joe Pesci in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas (1990). The following year, Imperioli earned his first role in a Spike Lee film, Jungle Fever (1991). Becoming a Lee regular, Imperioli also played small parts in Malcolm X (1992), Clockers (1995), and Girl 6 (1996), and garnered his first feature screenplay credit as co-writer and executive producer of Lee's Summer of Sam (1999). Imperioli added Italian-American authenticity to Nancy Savoca's quirky ethnic tale Household Saints (1993) and appeared with future Sopranos co-stars Dominic Chianese in The Night We Never Met (1993) and Edie Falco in Abel Ferrara's vampire allegory The Addiction (1995). Briefly "going Hollywood" with parts in the first Michael Bay extravaganza Bad Boys (1995), and Walter Hill's Last Man Standing (1996), Imperioli returned to his New York state of mind in the latter half of the 1990s. Working with The Addiction star Lili Taylor again, Imperioli was an arrogant Ondine to Taylor's disturbed Factory hanger-on Valerie Solanas in Mary Harron's I Shot Andy Warhol (1996). Audiences could finally attach a name to Imperioli's oft-seen face when he was cast as drug-addicted wannabe screenwriter/mobster Christopher Moltisanti in David Chase's Mafia series The Sopranos. A critical hit from its 1999 debut onward, The Sopranos' potent combination of black comedy, family drama, and violence allowed Imperioli to display the full range of his talents onscreen, particularly when Christopher dabbles in Method acting, and offscreen as one of the second season writers. Imperioli is married and has two children.

Trivia: Following extensive dramatic training at Carnegie Tech, American actress Nancy Marchand did some stage work, then entered the infant TV medium with a 1950 production of Little Women. One year later she appeared on Broadway for the first time; for the rest of the '50s she fluctuated between on-stage classics (Shakespeare, Euripedes) and TV anthologies and soap operas. In later years, Nancy explained that she retreated to contemporary characters on TV because she was "tired of being a queen or a poor put-upon Greek" on stage. A handsome woman, but not voluptuously beautiful in the then-fashionable Marilyn Monroe tradition, Ms. Marchand was usually cast in character roles: she was the dateless "dog" with whom lonely Bronx butcher Rod Steiger fell in love in the original 1953 telecast of Paddy Chayefsky's Marty. Marchand made her movie bow in another Chayefsky work, The Bachelor Party (1957). In 1960, Ms. Marchand won an Obie for her stage performance as the Madam of a fantasy-granting brothel in Genet's The Balcony (also in the cast were future TV stars Michael Conrad and Jack Dodson). From 1977 through 1982, Ms. Marchand played Mrs. Margaret Pynchon, a powerful newspaper executive said to be patterned after the Washington Post's Katherine Graham, on the TV series Lou Grant; she won four Emmies, one for each year of the series' existence. When at one point her character suffered a stroke and spent several weeks recovering, Ms. Marchand was besieged with get-well cards from fans who believed that the actress' fictional stroke was genuine. Recent film appearances for Nancy Marchand include the role of the long-suffering mayor in The Naked Gun (1988).

Trivia: New York native Jamie-Lynn Sigler started acting at the tender age of seven, appearing in regional theater productions and eventually working her way up through the professional ranks. In 1999, she added on-camera acting to her repertoire when she was cast as Meadow Soprano, daughter of mob boss Tony Soprano on the smash-hit HBO Mafia series The Sopranos, but she didn't take stage acting off her list of priorities. By 2001, the 20-year-old actress had nabbed the lead role in a touring production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, opposite Eartha Kitt, and by 2002, she was starring as Belle in the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast. The Sopranos became a cultural phenomenon and Sigler became a household name. She took the opportunity to try out other projects, like the 2004 TV movie Call Me: The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss, in which she played the title role. She also got married to her agent, A.J. DiScala, in 2003 and changed her name to Jamie-Lynn DiScala, saying that she was a traditional girl and had always planned to take her husband's name. Unfortunately, their marriage came to an end in 2006, and the young actress went back to her maiden name. As The Sopranos approached its sixth and final season in 2007, Sigler had a number or projects waiting in the wings. She'd already signed on to appear in two comedies slated for release later that year: New York City Serenade, with Freddie Prinze Jr., and Homie Spumoni, with Whoopi Goldberg.

Trivia: After decades of honing his acting skills on stage and screen, and eventually carving out a niche for himself as a "gangster," Dominic Chianese came upon his most widely recognized role as Uncle Junior on the hit HBO mob series The Sopranos, beginning in 1999. Born in 1931, in Bronx, NY, Chianese attended Brooklyn College, and began appearing on-stage in 1952. He would appear on and off-Broadway in theater for over 45 years before his famous role on The Sopranos, adding film and television to his repertoire along the way.After his first film role in 1972, as a panhandler in a drama called Fuzz, he embarked on what would become the trademark of his career with his first gangster role, as Johnny Ola in Coppola's The Godfather Pt. II (1974), the classic, starring Al Pacino. Chianese also appeared in All the President's Men in 1976, and would work with Pacino again in the 1979 thriller ...And Justice for All.Throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Chianese had numerous roles of all kinds from major feature films to stage to made-for-TV movies. He was featured in Fort Apache, the Bronx in 1981, and had a small role in Pacino's Looking for Richard in 1996. In 1999, HBO debuted its mobster series The Sopranos, starring James Gandolfini, and Chianese's long-term experience acting in all kinds of mob-related roles finally paid off with his part as Corrado "Uncle Junior" Soprano. The series earned incredible success, and in 2001, Chianese was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series for his role on the program. In 2002, he was featured in Adrian Lyne's drama Unfaithful, starring Diane Lane, Richard Gere, and Olivier Martinez.

Trivia: Known to audiences around the world as A.J. Soprano, the wayward, emotionally troubled son of mobster Tony Soprano on the famous crime family's eponymously titled blockbuster HBO series, Robert Iler actually debuted on film a year prior to that program, with a small role in the romantic drama The Tic Code (1998), directed by Gary Winick. Iler re-teamed with Winick for a supporting role in the coming-of-age sex comedy Tadpole (2002), and appeared in the Ben Affleck superhero vehicle Daredevil (2003). In a bizarre instance of art mirroring life, Iler made headlines in July 2001 for assisting in the robbery of two teenage boys on a New York City street corner. He was sentenced in May 2002 to three years' probation for petty larceny.

Trivia: Earned the nickname "Miami Steve" because of the tropical brightly colored clothes he favored as a young man. Played guitar and sang backup vocals for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band from 1975 to 1984; rejoined the band after a world tour in 1999. Has twice been honored by the United Nations for his human-rights activism. Formed the all-star musical group Artists United Against Apartheid to record the single "Sun City" in 1985. Brother Billy married actress Adrienne Barbeau in 1992. Was cast in The Sopranos after series creator David Chase saw Van Zandt induct '60s hitmakers the Rascals into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Backup band for the 1999 album Born Again Savage included U2's Adam Clayton on bass and Jason Bonham on drums. Created the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to history of rock and roll, in 2007.

Trivia: Has been candid about his early life of crime and two stints in jail. While serving a stretch in Sing Sing for armed robbery in the early '70s, he became hooked on acting during a visit by a traveling troupe called the Theater of the Forgotten, which led to his first movie role in 1974's Crazy Joe. A character actor with a lengthy résumé, he has frequently been cast by Woody Allen (who grew up in the same Brooklyn neighborhood) and James Toback. Member of the GAG (Gangsters Actors Guild), an informal fraternity of performers who have made careers out of playing hoodlums on TV and in films. Active in charities that help children, including St. Jude's and HeartShare.

Trivia: Well-known for his pivotal role in the popular HBO series The Sopranos, it will probably come as no surprise to many that some of Pastore's earliest roles were in such films as the Italian wedding comedy True Love (1989) and Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas.Born in 1946, Pastore was a well-known nightclub manager in New York for 20 years before friends Kevin and Matt Dillon convinced him to consider a career in acting. Soon taking acting lessons and turning up in community theater productions, Pastore made his feature debut in the heavy metal horror fiasco Black Roses before gaining ground on the familiar roles that would follow him through to his breakthrough success on The Sopranos. Along the way to that success, Pastore would turn up in numerous popular films including Awakenings (1990), Carlito's Way (1993), and the 1997 television miniseries The Last Don.

Trivia: Since making her film debut in 1984's Dune, Alicia Witt has matured into one of the more steadily employed young actresses in Hollywood. With a resumé that includes both film and television work, the flame-haired Witt has become known for her roles in projects as varied as the TV sitcom Cybill and 1998's teen horror flick Urban Legends.Born August 21, 1975, in Worcester, MA, Witt displayed a remarkable precocity from an early age. Talking by age two and reading by the age of four, she made her film debut in Dune at the age of nine and earned her high school GED when she was 14. Her next role of any import was on David Lynch's TV series Twin Peaks (1990) and was later followed by a secondary role in 1993's Bodies, Rest & Motion, co-starring Bridget Fonda, Phoebe Cates, Eric Stoltz, and Tim Roth. In 1994, Witt earned Sundance credibility with her turn as a murderous teen in Fun and the following year was introduced to a wider audience with her role as Cybill Shepard's daughter on Cybill. A variety of roles followed in films ranging from the desultory (1995's Four Rooms) to the delightful (Alexander Payne's 1996 satire Citizen Ruth). 1996 also saw Witt in one of her more recognizable roles, as one of Richard Dreyfuss' struggling band students in Mr. Holland's Opus. Her recognition was further heightened with her appearance in 1998's Urban Legends, in which she co-starred with a number of other nascently twinkling stars, including Jared Leto, Joshua Jackson, and Rebecca Gayheart. She had a memorable part in John Waters scathing satire Cecil B. Demented, and went on to appear in Vanilla Sky, Two Weeks Notice, The Uspide of Anger, the Al Pacino thriller 88 Minutes, Peep World, and Cowgirls 'n Angels.

Trivia: An actor whose solid everyman quality has endeared him to audiences and critics alike, Jon Favreau first made his name with 1996's Swingers. The story of a group of rat pack-obsessed, out-of-work actors slumming amiably through life in L.A., the indie-comedy was one of the year's biggest sleeper hits and made a star out of Favreau, who also wrote the script.A native of Queens, NY, where he was born on October 19, 1966, Favreau was raised as the only child of two educators. After attending the Bronx High School of Science, he did an abbreviated stint at Queens College before heading to Chicago to pursue a comedy career. In Chicago, he studied improvisational comedy with Del Close and was a member of the ImrovOlympic troupe. Favreau's time in Chicago ended when he decided to head to L.A. to try and break into film; his experiences as a lovelorn, out-of-work actor would later provide the inspiration for Swingers.After years of false hopes and false starts that took the form of supporting roles in such disappointing films as Rudy and P.C.U., Favreau began channeling his experiences and those of his friends (who included fellow Swingers star Vince Vaughn) into a rudimentary script for Swingers. Encouraged to make his script into a film, the actor despaired of securing enough funding for the project until he met fledgling director Doug Liman, who convinced him that the film could be made for 250,000 dollars. Costs were cut by filming largely without permits and making use of inexpensive shooting locations such as Favreau's own apartment. The film's low-budget charm was sufficient enough to sway the powers-that-be at Miramax who picked it up for distribution. When Swingers was eventually released in 1996, it was hailed by critics as a funny and painfully accurate account of the L.A. scene and its various faux-hipster denizens, as well as the dynamics at work amongst a group of guys (Favreau, Vaughn, and company) and the women they try so desperately to impress. In the wake of the film's success, Favreau, who was being hailed as the latest in the long line of Hollywood "Next Big Things," chose to star in Very Bad Things (1998), a black comedy directed by actor-turned-director Peter Berg. The film, in which Favreau played a soon-to-be married man whose Las Vegas bachelor party goes disastrously wrong, received very mixed reviews, although most critics praised the actor's performance as a "suburban Joe" caught up in circumstances that rapidly spiral beyond his control. After playing the eponymous boxing legend in the made-for-TV Rocky Marciano in 1999, Favreau returned to the screen in 2000 to star as a football player in The Replacements, a sports comedy directed by Howard Deutch. That same year, he returned to the indie scene with Love & Sex, a take on urban romance. In 2001, Favreau re-teamed with Vaughn for Made, a crime comedy that cast the two actors as aspiring mobsters and marked Favreau's feature directorial debut. Also in 2001, Favreau made the jump to the small screen, producing and hosting IFC's Dinner for Five, a candid roundtable program featuring fellow actors and filmmakers. In 2003, not only did Favreau show up in supporting roles in the hits Daredevil and Something's Gotta Give, his sophomore directorial effort, the Will Ferrell holiday comedy Elf proved to be one of the season's biggest crowd-pleasers, grossing over 100 million dollars at the box office. He followed up that success by bringing Chris Van Allsburg's Zathura to the big screen, although it did not match Elf's box office success. After making a few cameos on TV shows like My Name Is Earl and Monk, Favreau re-teamed with Vince Vaughn once again for a supporting role in the 2006 comedy The Break-Up. He also lent his vocal talents to the animated film Open Season. That same year he announced he would be taking on directorial duties for the big screen adaptation of the comic book Iron Man. Though it wouldn't be released until 2008, Iron Man was a huge success, and helped further Favreau's already solid reputation as a director. Favreau went on to direct Iron Man 2 (2010), which enjoyed similar success.Favreau returned to the screen to play a role in the 2009 comedy Couples Retreat (which he also wrote), which follows a group of married adults who realize their inclusion in a tropical vacation depends on taking part in intense, mandatory therapy sessions. The same year, Favreau appeared in the buddy comedy I Love You, Man, and lent his voice to the cast of the animated children's adventure G-Force. In 2011, Favreau directed and produced the popular sci-fi Western Cowboys & Aliens, and worked as an Executive Producer for 2012's blockbuster hit Marvel's The Avengers.

Trivia: Actress, comedian, and paragon of cynicism Janeane Garofalo was born on September 28, 1964, in Newton, NJ. During high school, her family relocated to Houston, TX, where the trauma of the move prompted her famously insecure, self-loathing persona to begin blossoming in full. While studying history at Providence College, Garofalo entered a comedy talent search sponsored by the Showtime cable network, winning the title of "Funniest Person in Rhode Island." Dreaming of earning a slot on the writing staff of the Late Night With David Letterman program, she became a professional standup upon graduating college but struggled for a number of years, working briefly as a bike messenger in Boston. Upon moving to the Los Angeles area, Garofalo met actor/comedian Ben Stiller, who in 1992 invited her to join the cast of his short-lived but acclaimed Fox television sketch comedy program The Ben Stiller Show. A stint on Garry Shandling's breakthrough HBO series The Larry Sanders Show (for which she was nominated for an Emmy award in 1996) soon followed, and in 1994 Garofalo reunited with Stiller in the film comedy Reality Bites, a role which earned her the much-despised tag of "Generation X comedian." That fall, she joined the cast of Saturday Night Live but exited before the conclusion of the season, publicly disheartened by the show's increasing drop-off in quality.After signing on as a correspondent on Michael Moore's news magazine TV Nation and hosting Comedy Product, a standup showcase on the Comedy Central cable network, Garofalo began work on her breakthrough role, co-starring with Uma Thurman in the 1996 romantic comedy hit The Truth About Cats and Dogs. That same year, she also co-starred with Bill Murray in Larger Than Life, and appeared briefly in The Cable Guy and Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy. Garofalo's prolific output continued in 1997; in addition to starring roles in two comedies, Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion and The Matchmaker, she was featured prominently in James Mangold's Cop Land and Paul Schrader's Touch, she hosted the MTV series Indie Outing, and she remained a fixture of the emerging alternative comedy circuit. In 1998, Garofalo's career continued to thrive, with starring and supporting roles in a number of films. Some of her more notable work included Clay Pigeons, a black comedy with Vince Vaughn and Joaquin Phoenix; Permanent Midnight, which marked another collaboration with Stiller; and the animated Kiki's Delivery Service, which featured Garofalo as the voice of a new age artist and mystic. She also acted against type as one half of a revoltingly cheerful couple in Bruce McCulloch's comedy Dog Park. The following year, Garofalo appeared in no less than five films, with a supporting part in the ensemble piece 200 Cigarettes, a starring role as an unconventional action heroine called the Bowler in Mystery Men (which also featured Stiller), and prominent turns in Kevin Smith's eagerly awaited Dogma, Hampton Fancher's psychological thriller The Minus Man, and the satirical comedy Can't Stop Dancing, in which she acted alongside fellow comedienne Margaret Cho.In 2001, Garofolo took on the role of Catherine Connolly in The Laramie Project, HBO's docudrama chronicling the aftermath of the death of Matthew Shepard, and filmmaker David Wain's comedy Wet Hot American Summer. The actress joined the cast of Pixar's Ratatouille in 2007 to voice the role of Colette, a talented French chef, and appeared on television shows including Two and a Half Men, 24, and Criminal Minds.

Trivia: It might be stretching things to suggest that American comedienne Sandra Bernhard's off-kilter spin on life was caused by her family's moving from the cozy confines of Michigan to the rough-and-tumble expanses of Arizona. One gets the feeling that Bernhard would have been on the outside looking in wherever she went. Utilizing her outsized lips and jutting chin for comic effect, Bernhard became a standup comedian at age 19, and two years later got her first big break as a regular on the short-lived Richard Pryor Show (where the press release misspelled her name as Bernhart). Her act, which like all good comedy acts was better seen than described, consisted of cutting-edge commentary about sexual stereotyping and survival; one felt compelled to laugh lest Bernhard bolt from the stage and physically assault the audience. This dangerous quality carried over into her star-making film role in King of Comedy, as a psychotic fan of talk show host Jerry Lewis. While Bernhard's funkiness worked in this film's favor, it was detrimental to her villainous turn in the 1990 fiasco Hudson Hawk, though she was no worse than any other element of this notorious bomb. A tireless creator of comedy, Bernhard has scored with her 1985 best-selling record album I'm Your Woman, her 1988 solo off-Broadway show Without You I'm Nothing (made into a film in 1990), and her autobiography Confessions of a Pretty Lady. While she spent much of her early career skirting around the subject of her own sexual preferences, in recent years Bernhard has "outed" herself, which has added an extra layer of public fascination to her onetime close friendship with Madonna, as well as her recurring appearances on the TV sitcom Roseanne.

Trivia: Popular Sopranos actress Drea de Matteo's unique blend of Italian-American sensuality and unpretentious rock & roll-girl chic has found her ascending the ranks to become one of Hollywood's hottest stars. Though de Matteo's role on The Sopranos was originally intended to be little more than a one-time appearance, her undeniable screen presence soon found her returning to the role of Jersey girl-turned-Mafioso moll Adriana La Cerva in the popular HBO crime drama. Oddly enough, it was stage legend Andrew Lloyd Webber who first sparked showbiz aspirations in the Queens native. When de Matteo was around ten years old, Rum Tum Tugger whisked her on-stage during a performance of Webber's enduring stage musical Cats; the jarring experience proved alternately petrifying and compelling for de Matteo, and the intoxicating glow of the spotlight immediately cast its spell on the young showbiz hopeful. With a mother who worked as a screenwriter, young de Matteo was no stranger to the business, and though she would become something of a wild child during her teens, she never lost sight of her starstruck dreams. When it came time to pursue higher education, she set her sights on N.Y.U.'s Tisch School of the Arts. Though de Matteo initially intended to become a director, her acting talents quickly caught the eyes of casting agents. In 1996, de Matteo made her feature debut in the romantic comedy The "M" Word, and though the film would go largely unseen, her next role provided just the breakthrough needed to boost her career. Though the actress never expected her part in The Sopranos to go beyond one episode, the casting agents were quick to make her a regular player on the Emmy-winning series. Subsequent roles in such independent films as Meet Prince Charming (1999) and Sleepwalk (2000) gained little more attention than The "M" Word had, but de Matteo was able to fulfill a lifelong dream of working with Bad Lieutenant director Abel Ferrara when she appeared in the director's 2001 crime drama 'R Xmas. If de Matteo's feature career had gone virtually unnoticed by mainstream filmgoers to this point, roles in such wide releases as Swordfish (2001) and Deuces Wild (2002) soon found her star rising. In 2003, she was finally given the opportunity to live out her rock-star dreams by strumming the bass in director Alex Steyermark's musical drama Prey for Rock & Roll. An association with actress Jenny McCarthy (whom de Matteo had previously acted alongside in 2001's The Perfect You) next led to an appearance opposite the former MTV girl and Playboy Playmate in the 2003 romantic comedy Dirty Love. In 2004, de Matteo went back in front of the camera for Steyermark in the true-crime drama West Memphis Three (which was inspired by the events covered in the documentary Paradise Lost). The following year, de Matteo could be seen in prominent roles in Ferrara's Go Go Tales and the action remake Assault on Precinct 13. Even with her frequent film roles, de Matteo remained primarily a television actress, playing Joey's sister in the short-lived Friends spin-off Joey, and later joining the casts of Sons of Anarchy and Desperate Housewives.In addition to her film and television career, de Matteo also owns Filth Mart, a popular New York City rock-chic clothing boutique.

Trivia: Aida Turturro, born September 25, 1962, in New York City, can be seen in numerous feature films in addition to her most well-known role as Janice on HBO's Sopranos series. Turturro has show business in her blood, attested by the careers of her cousins, Nicholas Turturro and John Turturro (actor-brothers), and is a long-term friend of Sopranos co-star James Gandolfini. She and Gandolfini have made collaborate film appearances in Fallen (1998) and Angie (1994) -- in the latter of which, Turturro supported the role of Geena Davis as her best friend. In 1992, Turturro and Gandolfini starred with Jessica Lange and Alec Baldwin on Broadway in A Streetcar Named Desire.Residing in New York for much of her life, Turturro attended the State University of New York at New Paltz as a theater student and graduated in 1984. Her first feature-film appearance came in 1989 as Grace in True Love, a film involving Italian family life. She has since made numerous film and network television appearances, including the features Jersey Girl and Denise Calls Up, and multiple episodes of both Law & Order and Mr. & Mrs. Smith.In 1998, she collaborated with cousin John Turturro in a supporting role under his direction in Illuminata. Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001), a silly adventure film following up a pair of Dundee hits in the 1980s, featured Turturro in the role of Jean. In that same year, she appeared in Edward Burns' Sidewalks of New York, the title of which attracted gratuitous attention to its theatrical release shortly after the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.She enjoyed a long run on The Sopranos, and acted in her brother John's idiosyncratic musical Romance & Cigarettes, and had a major part in 2010's A Little Help.

Trivia: First on-screen role was as an extra in Martin Scorsese's Casino. Was working as the entertainment director at Las Vegas's Riviera Hotel and Casino when he was hired for The Sopranos in 2000. Original audition for The Sopranos was for the part of the FBI agent who worked with "Big Pussy" Bompensiero in the second season. He was turned down, but landed the role of Bobby "Bacala" Baccalieri (for which he wore a fat suit in his first two seasons). Authored several tongue-in-cheek books that celebrate Italian-American culture: A Goomba's Guide to Life and The Goomba's Book of Love, written with Charles Fleming; and The Goomba Diet: Living Large and Loving It. Has appeared multiple times on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno as a special correspondent. Is a Yankees and Knicks fan, and studies true-crime stories in his spare time.

Trivia: New York-based character actor John Ventimiglia has built his career playing thugs, guards, cops, and other tough guys in television and movies. He guest starred on crime dramas like Law & Order and NYPD Blue until 1999, when he joined the cast of The Sopranos as Artie Bucco, the proprietor of the Nuovo Vesuvio restaurant and close personal friend of Tony Soprano. The Artie Bucco character name was used by HBO to sell a whole line of products (pasta sauce, cookbooks, etc.) to promote the show. His film career has been more low-key, mostly made up of small roles in independent dramas. In 1995, he played the stable father Andrew in Rebecca Miller's directorial debut, Angela. The next year, he had brief parts in four popular independent films: I Shot Andy Warhol, Girls Town, Trees Lounge, and The Funeral. He then co-starred in the crime comedy On the Run, opposite fellow Sopranos cast member Michael Imperioli, and appeared in King of the World, the made-for-TV movie about Muhammad Ali. Turning to voice acting, he narrated both the documentary The Art of Amália and Rebecca Miller's Personal Velocity. In 2002, he joined up with several other New York actors and writers for DV Workshop, a feature film collection of 24 short films for the Internet.

Trivia: A Naples native who was raised in Patterson, NJ, and earned a full scholarship to New York City's School of Visual Arts thanks to early display of creativity, actor Federico Castelluccio first rose to fame as an award-winning illustrator when actor George Burns personally commissioned a portrait from him. So impressed was Burns by the portrait that the legendary comic went on to sing the praises of Castelluccio to executives at PBS and ABC -- an act that allowed the artist to support himself by painting throughout his college years. Back in the realm of acting, Castelluccio honed his talents in summer stock, off-off-Broadway, and various Shakespeare festivals in the mid-'80s, eventually signing on with such respectable repertoire groups as the Flock and Eclectic theater companies. While roles in Twelfth Night and A View from the Bridge, among other plays, found Castelluccio growing increasingly comfortable on-stage, subsequent roles in such independent films as Made and Fire found the emerging actor focusing increasingly on film. Perhaps best known to television viewers as Neapolitan enforcer Furio Giunta on the hit crime drama The Sopranos, Castelluccio traded his silencer for a sword in the medieval fantasy adventure Dragon Dynasty before venturing back into the world of contemporary crime with a supporting role in the hit indie film A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. With high-profile feature roles in Aftermath, The Trouble with Cali, and Capers following in quick succession, fans could rest assured that they would be seeing plenty more of the prolific artist-turned-actor in the years to come.

Trivia: Supporting actor, occasional lead, onscreen from the '70s

Trivia: Father worked for the Oscar Mayer company for 40 years. Once had a job with an elevator company in which he had to count the number of people who rode the lift. Also had a job demonstrating toys in New York's FAO Schwartz. Made his Broadway debut in a 1998 revival of Wait Until Dark. Met his wife, actress Ilana Levine, when they worked together on the play Surviving Grace at the Kennedy Center in 2001. Part of the original Off-Broadway 2002 cast of Take Me Out, where he appeared completely naked on stage; his role was re-cast when the show transferred to Broadway. Played Mitch Albom in a touring company of the author's Tuesdays With Morrie.

Trivia: Heavyset, memorably colorful character actor Louis Lombardi attained recognition for his ability to tackle both aggressive and jovial roles with equal deftness. A Bronx native, Lombardi specialized in a down-to-earth, unaffected acting style he later termed "naturalistic." The thespian debuted on film at age 25 (around 1993) in the drama Amongst Friends. Though it received limited theatrical exposure, its run on the festival circuit and appearance at Sundance caught the eye of Oliver Stone, who felt impressed by Lombardi and cast him as Deputy Sparky in the ultraviolent media evisceration Natural Born Killers. 1994 represented Lombardi's breakthrough year -- one that witnessed him not merely working with Stone, but with such heavyweights as John Landis (in Beverly Hills Cop 3) and Tim Burton (in Ed Wood). By affording the actor the exposure he needed, that triple play left the door wide open for Lombardi to tackle new and successive projects on the big screen and television, including the features 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001), Animal (2001), and Wonderland (2003), and such series as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Ugly Betty, and 24.