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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: A hulking character actor who brings new meaning to the concept of versatility, Oliver Platt has appeared in a dizzying array of films that make him instantly recognizable but not instantly placeable to the average filmgoer. Since making his screen debut as an oily Wall Street drone in Mike Nichols' Working Girl (1988), Platt has lent his talents to almost every conceivable genre, including period dramas, political comedies, children's films, and campy horror movies.The son of a U.S. Ambassador, Platt was born in Windsor on January 12, 1960, Platt and his family soon moved to Washington, D.C. Thanks to his father's job, he had an exceptionally itinerant childhood. By the time he was 18, he had attended 12 different schools in places as diverse as Tokyo, the Middle East, and Colorado. Long interested in acting, Platt received a BA in drama from Boston's Tufts University; following graduation, he remained in Boston for three years to pursue his stage career. In 1986 he moved to New York, where he performed in a number of off-Broadway productions and had the lead in the 1989 Lincoln Center production of Ubu. Following his screen debut in Working Girl, Platt began finding steady work in such films as Married to the Mob (1988), Postcards from the Edge (1990), Beethoven (1992) -- which featured him and future collaborator Stanley Tucci as puppy thieves -- and Benny and Joon (1993). He also proved himself adept at cheesy period drama in The Three Musketeers (1993), which cast him as Porthos, and at all-out comedy, as demonstrated by his turn as a struggling comic in Funny Bones (1995). Rarely cast as a leading man, Platt has always been visible in substantial supporting roles, equally comfortable at portraying nice guys, bad guys, and just flat out weird guys alike. As Ashley Judd's suitor in Simon Birch (1998), he was the straight man, while in The Impostors (1998), his second collaboration with Tucci (two years earlier he served as associate producer for the latter's Big Night), he again displayed his capacity for broad physical comedy as a struggling actor who finds himself a stowaway on an ocean liner. In Dangerous Beauty (1998), Platt was able to exercise his nasty side as a bitter nobleman-turned-religious zealot in 16th-century Venice; that same year, his capacity for exasperated quirkiness was displayed in Bulworth, which cast him as Warren Beatty's put-upon, coke-snorting campaign manager.1999 proved to be a somewhat disappointing year for Platt, as two of his films, Three to Tango (which featured him as a gay architect) and the schlock-horror Lake Placid, which cast him as an idiosyncratic mythology expert, were both critical and commercial flops. A third film that year, Bicentennial Man -- in which Platt played the scientist who turns the titular robot (Robin Williams) into a man -- fared somewhat better. The following year, Platt's comic abilities were again on display in Gun Shy, in which he hammed it up as a bottom-rung mafioso with an overblown ego.Fortunately for the workhorse actor, the 2000s seemed to prove the boost -- and exposure -- his sagging career needed. Earning back to back Emmy nominations in 2006 and 2007 for his performance opposite former Tufts University classmate Hank Azaria in the weekly dramedy Huff, Platt was also nominated for a Screen Actor's Guild Award for his turn as New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner in the TV mini-series The Bronk is Burning (2007). With 2008 came yet another Ammy nomination -- this time for his guest role on the hit FX series Nip/Tuck -- and in 2009 he appeared as Nathan Detroit in the Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls. Other notable television appearances from this phase of Platt's career included a recurring character on the seriocomic HBO series Bored to Death and a prominent role as the husband of a suburban housewife diagnosed with cancer in the Showtime comedy drama series The Big C.

Trivia: Australian actor Jesse Spencer launched his career with a long stint (from the mid- to late '90s) on the popular Aussie soap opera Neighbours, playing Billy Kennedy. He followed that up with a number of key supporting roles in acclaimed features, such as that of Marwood de Whichehalse in Mike Barker's R.D. Blackmore adaptation Lorna Doone (2001) before signing on for the lead in Russell Mulcahy's inspirational drama Swimming Upstream (2002). That picture -- about a young man destined to become a champion swimmer despite the setbacks thrown into his path by an abusive father (Geoffrey Rush) became a small-scale hit and earned favorable reviews. After a turn in the Brittany Murphy vehicle Uptown Girls (2003), Spencer landed one of his greatest achievements when he signed on to play Dr. Robert Chase on the Fox medical drama House, and the series quickly became a hit. Offscreen, Spencer made headlines for his romantic involvement with House co-star Jennifer Morrison (Dr. Allison Cameron). The two -- who reportedly met on the set of House -- became engaged during the 2006 holidays.

Trivia: Was a star volleyball player in high school and was named Section Two Volleyball Player of the Year in Pennsylvania. Studied business management in college. Big break came when he was cast as a regular on Fashion House in 2006. Appeared in Lady Gaga's 2011 music video "You and I." Played the recurring role of werewolf Mason Lockwood on The Vampire Diaries. Participated in the Chicago Polar Bear Plunge, which raises money for the Special Olympics, in 2015.

Trivia: Was captain of her high-school drill team. Starred in Baylor University's stage production of Eurydice in 2008. Was a participant in Hulu's 24-hour live stream reality web series If I Can Dream, which followed five aspiring performers. In 2010, performed at an event for the Pepsi Refresh Project to support the creation of a community garden in Los Angeles.

Trivia: Best known as Steve, the boyishly charming nice-guy bartender (and the perfect complement to his onscreen romantic partner, snappish Miranda Hobbes) in HBO's blockbuster original series Sex and the City, the slightly diminutive, raven-haired American character actor David Eigenberg was born in Manhasset, NY, on May 17, 1964. As the only boy in a family of six children, Eigenberg moved with his parents and sisters at age four to Naperville, IL, a farming community just outside of the Windy City -- where he remained through the end of adolescence. Eigenberg reportedly struggled as a student, barely scraping by; a handful of run-ins with the law and minor recreational drug abuse allegedly ensued. Eigenberg did graduate from Naperville High School in 1982, however, and was promptly accepted to the University of Iowa, where he planned to study social work. For better or worse, this was not to be, for the Chicagoan ripped his dormitory apart during the first semester and was promptly booted out of the university after five weeks.A stint in the Marines and various construction jobs followed, instilling in Eigenberg healthy amounts of much-needed self-discipline and a sharply honed work ethic. These skills paved the way for Eigenberg's true calling: acting. A love of the dramatic arts had already taken root for the thespian when -- at age 12 -- he had signed on to play a key role in a local production of Kurt Vonnegut's Happy Birthday, Wanda June, and received an outstanding review from a local critic. These fond memories doubtless came flooding back when an adult Eigenberg auditioned -- and was selected for -- a large part in the Dennis Rosa-directed Chicago stage musical One Shining Moment, opposite Megan Mullally and Alan Ruck. Dissatisfied with a mere taste of the theatrical arts and eager to extend acting into a full-time passion, Eigenberg subsequently moved to New York and attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, working odd jobs on the side (construction et al.) to put himself through school.Scattered roles followed, including a guest appearance on The Cosby Show and a bit part in the awful 1989 generation-gap comedy Rude Awakening (co-starring Cheech Marin and Eric Roberts), but Sex and the City (which Eigenberg auditioned for out of innumerable hopefuls) represented the actor's first huge break. He reportedly auditioned for a small part, and though the show's producers did not deem him right for the characterization, they felt so impressed by Eigenberg's presence that they created the character of Steve Brady especially for him, as an extension of his own personality; the plan, again, was to create a sincere, committed, down-to-earth male paramour to offset Miranda's (Cynthia Nixon) cynicism.Though initially intended as a temporary part, the popularity of the character among viewers (and Eigenberg's onscreen chemistry with Nixon) led to Eigenberg's permanent inclusion on the show, as well as subsuquent movies.Circa 2002, Eigenberg expanded into film roles by playing the business partner of Richard Gere in Mark Pellington's underrated supernatural thriller The Mothman Prophecies. When Eigenberg's Sex and the City run ended with the wrap-up of that series (at the end of the 2003-2004 season), he continued his cinematic work, first voicing Nermal the Cat in the FX-extravaganza Garfield: The Movie, then playing Reggie, the lover of Alicia Goranson's Myra, in Adrienne Weiss' quirky indie romantic comedy Love, Ludlow. Eigenberg returned to the same genre amid a cast of unknowns with the 2007 film The Trouble with Romance, directed by Gene Rhee. He reprised his role in the Sex and the City movie in 2008 and the sequel in 2010. In 2012, he joined the cast of NBC's Chicago Fire, playing a firefighter in the Windy City.

Trivia: Is half-Georgian, half-Armenian; moved to the United States at age 2. Appeared in The History Boys at the Timeline Theatre in Chicago in 2009, while he was still attending college. Prepped for his role in Chicago Fire by doing ride-alongs with the Chicago Fire Department. Shared an apartment with Chicago Fire castmates Charlie Barnett and Joe Minoso during the show's first season.

Trivia: Was named the associate artistic director for Teatro Vista in Chicago in 2009. Appeared in the Goodman Theatre's production of A Christmas Carol in the 2011-12 season. Had a memorable recurring role on the Starz series Boss where his character's ears were cut off. Shared an apartment with his Chicago Fire castmates Yuri Sardarov and Charlie Barnett when the show was first picked up.

Trivia: A slightly tough and weathered character actor who specialized in playing gruff, domineering types (including guards, Mafiosos, and authoritarian fathers), Christian Stolte debuted onscreen in the early '90s and went on to distinguish himself with bit parts in films including Novocaine (2001), Road to Perdition (2002), and Stranger Than Fiction (2006). On the small screen, Stolte took on the recurring role of C.O. Keith Stolte during the first two seasons (2005-2007) of the cult series Prison Break. Back on the big screen, he received unusually prominent billing with his wry comic turn as a Mafia hitman assigned to rub out his cousin, in the character comedy Osso Bucco (2007).

Trivia: Appeared in the Children's Musical Theaterworks' 2008 production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Worked in commercials and as a print model before moving into television roles. Her role on Blood & Oil was recast twice before producers settled on Mayo.

Trivia: As a youngster, wanted to be a stuntman after watching Steve McQueen in Bullitt (1968). Realized acting was more up his alley after appearing in a Baton Rouge stage production of N. Richard Nash's The Rainmaker in 1981. In 2004, founded production company Ransack Films, which produced The Season Before Spring (2008), a full-length documentary about the first post-Hurricane Katrina Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Launched the Web site www.locationtalent.com, an online directory for cast, crew and entertainment-industry workers listed by geographical location, in 2007. Was honored by self-improvement magazine Exceptional People in 2010 for his career and humanitarian work.

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.