Trivia: Started acting at age 5; began with commercials and student films. Trained in dance during his childhood; credits this training for his athleticism in filming movies. Auditioned for Oprah as part of Boyz Crew, a child boy-band, at age 10. Earned two Breakthrough Performance nominations for The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete. Performed Steve Buscemi's monologue from Fargo for a movie, was later complemented by Buscemi himself for the performance.

Trivia: A source of perpetual inspiration to millions of young hopefuls, African-American pop diva-turned-actress Jennifer Hudson proved -- with glorious bravado -- that the most gifted and determined young talents can bounce back from a painful and public rejection and land squarely at the pinnacle of success, transcending even what they might have accomplished had the initial rejection never occurred. Born September 12, 1981, in Chicago, IL, Hudson was blessed with an astounding vocal range of six octaves and a perfect musical ear as a young girl, and rigorously trained as a chanteuse from the age of seven, initially in her Baptist church choir, then in dozens upon dozens of stage musicals and talent shows during adolescence. After high school, she briefly attended college but dropped out not long after. In 2002, 21-year-old Hudson landed a job as featured vocalist on the Disney Wonder cruise ship. Circa 2004, with American audiences deep in the throes of reality television, Hudson auditioned in Atlanta, GA, for the third season of Fox's American Idol series, made the cut, and quickly moved along to the semifinalist round. Her songs as a participant in the series included Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing," Elton John's "The Circle of Life," and Martha & the Vandellas' "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave." Though Ryan Seacrest later indicated that Hudson received a higher number of votes than any performer from a previous episode, Hudson was unceremoniously eliminated from the running. Reigning judge Randy Jackson -- a highly respected music producer -- brought Hudson back in the "wildcard" round to join the finalists, but with seven contenders remaining, Hudson was booted off of the series -- despite the well-publicized fact that her range and ability clearly outflanked those of her competitors. That decision infuriated millions; Elton John -- a previous guest judge on Idol -- accused Simon Cowell and others of stark racism, while other commentators, acknowledging that two of Hudson's competitors were also African-American, suspected a deliberate decision to split the contenders demographically. Regardless of the reason, Hudson quickly overcame her disappointment. In late 2005, Hudson auditioned among 783 hopefuls for the lead role of Effi "Melody" White, a female vocalist unfairly ousted from the ranks of a three-member female pop group in the early '60s -- because, ironically, her "look" isn't right -- in Chicago scribe Bill Condon's hotly anticipated late 2006 film musical Dreamgirls, an adaptation of the early '80s Tony award-winning Broadway hit. An ecstatic Hudson landed the part while cutting her first album (roundly trumping the 2004 Idol winner, Fantasia Barrino, in the process), and had to gain almost 25 pounds to perfect Effi's "look" onscreen. Production commenced in January 2006. A media blitz surrounded Hudson's triumph in the role that lifted her into the limelight even months prior to the stateside release of Dreamgirls in December 2006. This buzz included a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination and widespread comparisons to Jennifer Holliday, who originated the Effi role on Broadway in 1981. These predictions began to come true, starting with a win for Best Supporting Actress at that year's Golden Globes awards. The Cinderella story materialized in full on Oscar night when she captured the Best Supporting Actress trophy. The press helped Hudson land a record deal with Clive Davis' J Records, which slated the release of her premiere album for January 2007, mere weeks after the stateside debut of Dreamgirls. Her acting career continued in the 2008 period drama The Secret Life of Bees, and that same year she joined the cast of Sex In the City for their big-screen debut. In 2011 she starred in a biopic of Winnie Mandela, and tried her hand at comedy with the 2012 farce The Three Stooges.

Trivia: Although she never had received any formal vocal training, Glendale, AZ's Jordin Sparks managed to make her way into the final 24 on the sixth season of American Idol. Only 17 at the time of her audition, she was one of that year's youngest competitors; as the competition winded down in May 2007, Sparks found her fiercest competition eliminated, and was eventually crowned the next American Idol. She continued her music career and eventually moved to acting, making her film debut in Sparkle (2012), which was Whitney Houston's film final role. Her next major film role was in 2014's apocalyptic thriller Left Behind.

Trivia: Actor Jeffrey Wright has earned an estimable reputation as one of the most versatile character actors of his generation, both on-stage and onscreen. Jeffrey Wright was born in Washington, D.C., in late 1965. Wright's father died when he was only a year old, and his mother, a lawyer working with the United States Customs Department, raised him with the help of her sister, a nurse. A strong student, Wright attended the prestigious St. Alban's School for Boys in Washington, D.C., and went on to receive a B.A. in Political Science at Amherst College in 1987. While at Amherst, Wright developed an interest in acting, and decided to continue his studies in the Theater department at New York University. While Wright was good enough to win an acting scholarship at N.Y.U., after only two months he opted to strike out on his own as a professional. Roles in off-Broadway plays followed, and Wright scored his first film role in 1990 with a bit part in Presumed Innocent. After a number of television roles and much theater work, in 1994 Wright got his big break when he was cast as Belize, Roy Cohn's nurse, in the acclaimed Broadway drama Angels In America: Perestroika; his performance won him a Tony Award. In 1996, Wright scored a breakthrough film role when he was cast in the lead of Basquiat, delivering a strong performance alongside a veteran cast which included Gary Oldman, Willem Dafoe, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, and Benicio del Toro. A steady flow of character roles followed, including showy supporting work in Celebrity, Ride With the Devil, and Shaft, while Wright gave a compelling performance as Dr. Martin Luther King in the made-for-cable film Boycott. Wright continued to pursue his love of live theater as well, winning an Obie Award in 2002 for his performance (opposite Don Cheadle) in Suzan-Lori Parks' play Topdog/Underdog. Critically-acclaimed screen roles in Lackawanna Blues, Broken Flowers, and Syriana kept Wright on the short list for producers in search of quality supporting players, and by bridging the gap between stage and screen with his multi-tiered role in the acclaimed HBO miniseries Angels in America, the actor would would earn both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. In 2006 Wright could be seen performing opposite Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard in director M. NIght Shyamalan's modern fairytale Lady in the Water.

Trivia: A Big Easy-born actor who honed his skills at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts before completing his education at Juilliard, Anthony Mackie portrayed ill-fated rapper Tupac Shakur in a stage production of Up Against the Wind before taunting Detroit-based rapper Eminem as a member of the rival rhyming crew in the box-office hit 8 Mile. Subsequently appearing onscreen alongside some of the biggest names in the business, Mackie took the lead as a sperm-donating former biotech executive opposite Ellen Barkin and Ossie Davis in Spike Lee's She Hate Me, and proved that he could even hold his own against such screen legends as Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman with a substantial role in the boxing drama Million Dollar Baby. While it may be on the silver screen that Mackie has courted the majority of fame, the ascending star also appeared on the Broadway stage in high-profile productions of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Drowning Crow.Few actors could dream of a career that advanced as quickly as Mackie's did, and the same year he played leading man in She Hate Me, the then-twenty-five-year-old would earn an Independent Spirit Award nomination for his memorable portrayal of a homeless shelter employee struggling with his cultural and sexual identity in Brother to Brother. Just when it seemed as if Mackie's rigorous work schedule couldn't get any more demanding, the actor would appear in no less than six movies in 2006 including the racially charged kidnapping drama Freedomland, the underground street-ball drama Crossover, and opposite Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox in the fact-based football film We Are Marshall.Firmly established, he played a supporting role in the Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker in 2008, and reprised his role of Tupac Shakur in the Notorious B.I.G. biopic, Notorious (2009). Mackie played a former Black Panther in Night Catches Us (2010) and played a supporting role in The Adjustment Bureau (2011). In 2012, he played the historical figure William H. Johnson, Abraham Lincoln's valet, in the fictionalized (obviously) historical action film, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Mackie joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2014, playing Sam Wilson/Falcon in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and reprised the role in later MCU movies.

Trivia: Grew up in London and Nigeria. Modeled in London and Milan before turning to acting (and after obtaining a master's degree in law); moved to the U.S. to pursue an acting career in 1994. Appeared in the music videos for EnVogue's "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" and Mary J. Blige's "Love No Limit." Nominated for NAACP Image Awards in the Best Supporting Actor: Drama Series category for his role in HBO's Oz in 1997 and 2000. The meaning of his name: "ade" (crown); "wale" (to come home); "akin" (warrior); "nuoye" (chief); "agbaje" (wealth, prosperity). Came up with the name of his Lost character, Mr. Eko, himself. Nickname is "Triple A."

Trivia: Wisconsin-born director/producer George Tillman Jr. learned the ropes of filmmaking at Columbia College in Chicago before diving headlong into a professional career. He made his first big splash as a director with the 1997 family drama Soul Food, and later found even greater success in the producer's chair with the successful Barbershop movie franchise. In 2009, Tillman returned to directing with the Notorious B.I.G. biopic Notorious.