Trivia: Earthy, ofttimes disheveled comic actor Oliver Platt has been essaying film roles large and small since the early '90s. Among his earliest appearances was as one of villain Dean Jones' henchmen in the 1992 sleeper Beethoven. He has since popped up as Eric in Benny and Joon, Jack Harrell in The Temp, and Jeremy in Indecent Proposal -- all in 1993. That same year, he shared top billing with Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland, and Chris O'Donnell as Porthos in The Three Musketeers. Oliver Platt carries the whole show in the little-seen Funny Bones (1995), wherein he portrays a failed standup comic (the son of Jerry Lewis and Leslie Caron) who licks his wounds in a rundown British coastal town.

Trivia: S. Epatha Merkerson is a Tony-nominated and Obie-winning, African-American stage actress, but is best known for her portrayal of detective squad chief Lt. Anita Van Buren in the series Law and Order. Born and raised in Detroit as the youngest of five children, she was a fine arts graduate of Wayne State University and began her New York theater career in the late 1970s. Merkerson was nominated for a Tony award for Best Actress for her performance as Berniece in The Piano Lesson and won an Obie award in 1992 for her work in I'm Not Stupid. Her screen credits include Jacob's Ladder and Loose Cannons and, perhaps most visibly, her role as Joe Morton's terrified wife in James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Merkerson made her television debut as Reba, the Mail Lady on Pee Wee's Playhouse, and has appeared on The Cosby Show, among other series, but her most important single television appearance may have been in the first season Law and Order show "Mushrooms," in which she portrayed the grief-stricken mother of an 11-month-old boy who is shot accidentally. Her work was not only memorable to the audience during that key first season, but also to the producers, who later picked Merkerson for the role of the new detective squad chief in the series' fourth season--a role she continued to play for over ten years. Merkerson's talent on the small screen led to roles in numerous TV movies such as Breaking Through and A Mother's Prayer, as well as roles in such films as Radio and The Rising Place. Still, her monumental gifts in both presence and interpretation may not have truly been utilized until she took the part of a strong matriarch who runs a 1960's boarding house in HBO's mini series Lackawanna Blues. Her first leading role in almost twenty years on screen, her performance earned her an Emmy Award as well as a Golden Globe. After her triumphant turn in Lackawanna Blues she returned to the big-screen in Craig Brewer's follow-up to Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan co-starring Christina Ricci and Samuel L. Jackson.Over the coming years, Merkerson would appear in a number of films, like The Six Wives of Henry Lefay and Mother and Child.

Trivia: Is of African-American and Brazilian descent and speaks Portuguese, French, Spanish and English. Was the runner-up in Season 3 of America's Next Top Model in 2004. Worked as a model for companies including Garnier Fructis, Oil of Olay, RadioShack and Dr. Scholls. Was in the music video for Jay-Z's "Roc Boys" in 2007. Appeared off-Broadway in The First Breeze of Summer, directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson.

Trivia: Born in Cleveland's Little Italy and later moved with his family to the suburb of Chesterland, OH. Played junior varsity soccer in high school. Studied "red nose clowning" as part of his undergraduate acting studies. Played Lysander in the 2012 Classic Stage Company's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, opposite Bebe Neuwirth and Christina Ricci. Appeared onstage in Neil LaBute's Reasons To Be Pretty at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, with Shawn Hatosy, Alicia Witt and Amber Tamblyn in 2014.

Trivia: Began acting in his high school's stage production of Barnum where he juggled and sang in the choir. Started formally singing in high school and took his first voice lesson at 17. Received the Outstanding Senior Project Award in 2005 from Indiana University for his work in their Individualized Major Program. Was nominated for three Astaire awards for his performance in the 2011 Broadway revival of Anything Goes. Appears in Norah Jones' music video for "Happy Pills" (2012).

Trivia: Born on the Japanese island of Okinawa, Brian Tee moved with his parents to the U.S. at the age of two. After growing up in the sunny suburbs of L.A., he graduated high school and enrolled at Cal State Fullerton with a major in pre-law. In an effort to remain connected to the arts, he took an acting for non-majors class and discovered a deep love of performance. Causing something of a family upset, he dropped out of Cal State and enrolled in the Dramatic Arts Acting program at the University of California, Berkeley. After graduating, he began auditioning, landing appearances on shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Pretender. In 2006 he scored a role as the Drift King in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift before signing on for Nanking, Bill Guttentag's documentary about the 1937 massacre of the Chinese city.

Trivia: Grew up wanting to be an entertainer; would often sing and act out scenes for friends and family from Grease, Newsies and Les Misérables. Often went on tour with her father, who was a drummer for Billy Joel. Began playing the violin as a child and was a member of the Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra. Played a violin solo at the wedding of Christie Brinkley and Peter Cook. First professional acting job was at age 16 on the WB's Safe Harbor. Worked as a model in Japan after graduating from high school. Big break came in 2005 when she was cast on ABC Family's Beautiful People; was later cast on One Tree Hill, Pretty Little Liars and The Vampire Diaries. Played violin on Raphael Saadiq's 2004 album Ray Ray and on Stevie Nicks' 2011 CD In Your Dreams. Is a hospice volunteer and is the first-ever Hospice Ambassador for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO).

Trivia: Born in Michigan but moved with her family to Tennessee in 1998, and went to high school in suburban Nashville. Caught the acting bug at age 12 in a junior version of the Lynn Ahrens-Stephen Flaherty play Once on This Island. Mother, Jackie, was a 1983 Miss Oklahoma contestant and is a songwriter in Nashville, and her song "Dang" was a finalist in a 2007 competition sponsored by Country Music Television and the Nashville Songwriters Association International. Was headed to art school after high school, but decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue acting instead, and within a year landed roles on Nickelodeon's Big Time Rush and ABC's The Gates. In August 2015, was cast as a series regular on NBC's Chicago Med, a spin-off of Chicago Fire.

Trivia: Is the daughter of two scientists and the sister of a doctor. Knew she wanted to be an actor from a young age. Was a VJ for the station Musique Plus in Montreal. Performed in a 2001 production of Hamlet with the Hudson Shakespeare Company. Appeared on many of Dick Wolf's crime series, including Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Trial By Jury, before starring on his medical series Chicago Med. Speaks fluent French.

Trivia: A Michigan native, clean-cut actor and television emcee Jeff Hephner broke himself in as an actor by performing in regional theatrical productions in the Great Lakes State and in Florida. He attended Ferris State University in Grand Rapids, MI, before debuting on film with a small supporting role in the 2000 Joel Schumacher period drama Tigerland and a bit part as a waiter in the 2002 comedy Maid in Manhattan. Hephner received his broadest exposure, however, with recurring roles on the television series The Jury (as attorney Keenan O'Brien), and a multi-episode stint as Matt Ramsey on the primetime, teen-oriented soaper The O.C. Meanwhile, Hephner made guest appearances on programs including House, Nip/Tuck, and Without a Trace. In 2008, Hephner signed for the lead role of Morgan Buffkin in the CW primetime drama series Easy Money. A role in the short-lived CW cheerleading drama Hellcats follwed in 2009, and two years later Hephner could be seen opposite Kelsey Grammer in the dark Starz crime drama Boss.

Trivia: Is of Ghanaian descent. First tried acting in college, when he auditioned for a production of Paper Moon on a dare. Took acting classes at the Acting Studio in New York. Appeared in an off-Broadway production of Tallboy Walking. Cofounded the writing and performance group the Defiant Ones. Published a stage play, Black Thang, in 2003.

Trivia: Connecticut native Jesse Lee Soffer began his career at the tender age of eight when he appeared in the film Matinee, about the sci-fi movies that were popular in the 1950s. At the time, the youngster was performing under the stage name Jesse Lee, and he used that name when he appeared in many films throughout the '90s, such as The Brady Bunch Movie and Safe Passage. By the time he joined the cast of the well-known, long-running daytime soap opera As the World Turns in 2004, however, he was acting under his full name, Jesse Lee Soffer.

Trivia: Was a cheerleader in high school and college, and also grew up studying music, including piano and cello; training in the martial arts such as Tae Kwon Do; taking dance lessons; and competing in gymnastics. Won Miss Korea Chicago as a college student in 2004, which qualified her to compete in the Miss Korea pageant in Seoul. After college, spent two months in Kenya on a humanitarian mission before deciding to move to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. In addition to becoming the face for Clinique cosmetics in their advertising campaign in Asia in 2010, other modeling gigs include Reebok in South Korea and Nike in Japan. A singer-songwriter, released her debut album, My True Happy, in 2013.

Trivia: Dexter co-star C.S. Lee got bitten by the acting bug in high school and instantly knew what he wanted to do in life. Born in South Korea and raised in Washington State, the aspiring actor soon earned a full scholarship to Cornish College of the Arts and earned his BFA. Later, after earning his MFA from the Yale School of Drama (where he was also honored with a Carol Dye Acting Award), Lee worked the New York stage alongside such talents as Mia Katigbak and Mac Wellman for eight years in addition to becoming involved with community theater. Early appearances on the small screen included bits in Spin City, Guiding Light, and Law & Order (a role which seemed to foreshadow his later success in Dexter), with the occasional feature role (Random Hearts and The Stepford Wives) helping to keep Lee busy between small-screen runs. Voice-over work in such video games as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories offered Lee a welcomed opportunity to have a little fun behind the microphone, and after brief recurring appearances in Law & Order: Criminal Intent and The Sopranos, the hardworking actor joined the cast of Dexter as wisecracking forensics specialist Vincent Masuka.

Trivia: Best known for playing mean big brother Buzz in the Home Alone series, New York native Devin Ratray scored his first acting gig at the age of nine in the 1986 movie Where Are the Children? He continued to act throughout the '80s and '90s, appearing in movies and on television, including a memorable episode of Law & Order in which he played a mentally ill murderer. Ratray has also pursued his artistic talents in music, singing and playing guitar for the band Little Bill and the Beckleys.