Trivia: Though she remains best known for her long-running portrayal of Wild West hero Calamity Jane on the HBO period Western Deadwood, classically trained thespian Robin Weigert launched herself to stardom on the theatrical circuit, and had almost ten years of stage work under her belt when she finally moved into filmed roles in Los Angeles. An M.F.A. graduate of NYU's much-revered drama program, Weigert subsequently landed roles in such on- and off-Broadway productions as The Seagull, Noises Off, and Madame Melville. In terms of cinematic and television work, Weigert also gained recognition for her evocation of the Mormon Mother in HBO's Angels in America (which reunited her with Seagull collaborator Mike Nichols) and appeared in the Steven Soderbergh espionage thriller The Good German, opposite George Clooney and Cate Blanchett. Weigert also guest-starred on episodes of Lost, The Unit, Cold Case, and Law & Order: SVU. In 2007, she joined the cast of the cop drama Life as the hardworking Lt. Karen Davis. On the big screen she could be seen in Synecdoche, New York and Things We Lost in the Fire.

Trivia: An intense, versatile performer, William Fichtner, born November 27th, 1956, emerged as a memorable character actor through his work with some of the most notable filmmakers of the 1990s and beyond. After his military brat childhood, Fichtner studied criminal justice in college before moving to New York City to shift his focus to acting. Fichtner got his first major acting job on the serial As the World Turns in 1988 and played bit parts in Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1992) and Robert Redford's Quiz Show (1994). Steven Soderbergh gave Fichtner his first substantial film role as a small town hood in the neo-noir The Underneath (1994). After supporting turns in Kathryn Bigelow's Y2K fantasy Strange Days (1995) and Michael Mann's stylish police saga Heat (1995), Fichtner earned kudos for his psychotic hit man in actor Kevin Spacey's directorial debut Albino Alligator (1997). As a gentle blind scientist in Robert Zemeckis' empyreal sci-fi adventure Contact (1997), Fichtner further revealed his considerable range; among the hip ensemble cast in Doug Liman's time-bending rave comedy Go (1999), Fichtner managed to stand out with his humorously unsettling performance as a narcotics cop with an agenda. Fichtner finally achieved leading man status as one of Demi Moore's amours in Passion of Mind (2000), but Alain Berliner's first American effort failed at the box office. Moving easily between independent films and big-budget Hollywood, Fichtner next co-starred as one of the ill-fated swordfishermen in Wolfgang Petersen's adaptation of The Perfect Storm (2000). Maintaining his prolific ways after The Perfect Storm's success, and earning a place in Vanity Fair's 2001 photo spread of premier supporting actors, Fichtner took on a varied trio of roles in three major 2001 releases. After playing a small part as Josh Hartnett's dad in Michael Bay's overwrought $198 million disappointment Pearl Harbor (2001), Fichtner's turn as a gay detective in the lumbering comedy What's the Worst That Could Happen? (2001) was one of the bright spots in an otherwise disposable movie. Back in his no-nonsense manhood style, Fichtner then appeared as a master sergeant involved in the troubled 1993 mission in Somalia in Ridley Scott's Oscar bait military drama Black Hawk Down (2001).After the ensemble carnage of Black Hawk Down, Fichtner moved to the small screen for a starring role as one of two maverick ER doctors in the ABC medical drama MDs (2002). A competitive time slot and poor reviews, however, hampered MDs' ratings. Though his foray into series television stumbled, Fichtner continued to rack up movie credits, appearing alongside Christian Bale and Emily Watson in the dystopian science fiction thriller Equilibrium (2002).In 2004, Fichtner appeared in Nine Lives, a critically successful episodic drama following the lives of nine women, and after participating in a variety of films throughout 2005 (The Chumscrubber, Empire Falls) and the television series Invasion Iowa, Fichtner joined the cast of the Academy Award-winning drama Crash. The actor continued to enjoy television success in the series Prison Break (2006-07), and played a conservative judge in an episode of The West Wing. Fichtner took on a role playing a bank manager in Gotham City for Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (2008), and joined the casts of Date Night (2010), The Big Bang, and Drive Angry (all 2011).

Trivia: Canadian actor Kim Coates honed his craft on-stage in a number of theaters in his native country. Eventually he made his way to television on episodes of Miami Vice and Night Heat, among other shows. His feature credits include The Last Boy Scout, The Client, and Kevin Costner's infamous Waterworld. He appeared in the Oscar-wining Western Unforgiven as well as re-teaming with Costner on his underrated oater Open Range. Continuing to bounce steadily between work on the big and small screens, Coates scored a recurring part on the thriller series Prison Break. In 2008 he was cast in the hit FX cable drama Sons of Anarchy, and in 2011 he had a memorable supporting turn as a hockey coach in the sports comedy Goon.

Trivia: An accomplished young actor who has graced the stage, screen, and television, Harold Perrineau Jr. has earned a well-deserved reputation as a performer willing to take on just about anything, with roles ranging from drag queens to hardened criminals. A native of Brooklyn, Perrineau studied music and theatre at the Shenandoah Conservatory, but began his career as a dancer with the Alvin Ailey Company, performing with the troupe for a year and a half. A gradual shift to acting led Perrineau to the theatre, where he acted in a number of shows including Dreamgirls, the critically acclaimed Avenue X, and the off-Broadway revival of Godspell.While he was working on the stage, Perrineau also began appearing on TV in such shows as The Cosby Show, The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, I'll Fly Away, and Law & Order. He segued onto the big screen in the late '80s, but had his first memorable role as Rashid Cole, a young man searching for his long-absent father (Forest Whitaker) in Smoke, an acclaimed 1995 drama directed by Wayne Wang and based upon the writings of Paul Auster. The following year he gained further exposure for his flamboyant, explosive portrayal of Mercutio in Baz Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. At one point outfitted in a glitter miniskirt and platform heels, Perrineau proved a worthy, if idiosyncratic, foil for Leonardo Di Caprio's Romeo and gave a performance that marked him as one of the more distinctive Mercutios in the play's history.Perrineau subsequently appeared in a number of supporting roles in films ranging from Auster's Lulu on the Bridge (1998) to The Best Man (1999), a celebrated romantic comedy directed by Malcolm D. Lee (cousin of Spike Lee) that saw Perrineau share the screen with other members of a group widely billed as a new generation of African-American actors, including Taye Diggs, Morris Chestnut, and Nia Long. In addition to appearances in various independent films, Perrineau starred in Woman on Top (2000), a comedy that cast him as the drag queen best friend of a young woman (Penelope Cruz) experiencing romantic woes.In 1997, Perrineau made the move to the small screen, assuming the role of paraplegic convict and narrator Augustus Hill on the acclaimed HBO series Oz. The brutally violent, hard-hitting series generated Perrineau thousands of fans, and he stayed with the show until 2003 - the same year he took up the role of Link in The Matrix Reloaded, the second film in the explosive Matrix franchise. He would reprise the role the next year for the third and final installment in the series, The Matrix Revolutions, before returning to television just months later for the role of Michael on the cryptic ABC sci-fi/mystery/drama Lost. Playing a conflicted and sometimes morally ambiguous character, Perrineau soon proved to be a vital member of the cast, taking a hiatus from the series in 2007 only to return in 2008.Despite becoming a pivotal component of primetime TV, the actor remained as active in movies as ever. He took on the role of Flynn in the 2007 horror sequel 28 Weeks Later, and starred alongside Michael Madsen in the 2008 thriller The Killing Jar. After Lost ended in 2010, Perrineau continued to alternate between TV and film, playing the villain in season 5 of Sons of Anarchy and a decidedly lighter role as the bass player in a wedding band in the short-lived TBS comedy Wedding Band. He also played a supporting role in the controversial Oscar-nominated film Zero Dark Thirty (2012).

Trivia: With a quiet exterior and a unique array of facial expressions that hint at something hilarious simmering beneath the surface, actress/comedian Mary Lynn Rajskub, born June 22nd, 1971, has come a long way since joining the cast of Mr. Show back in 1995. Born in Detroit, Michigan on June 22nd, 1971, Rajskub's entry into the comedy scene wasn't entirely intentional, the former performance artist decided to try her hand at humor when a non-comedic performance at the San Francisco Art Institute elicited unexpected laughs from the audience. Subsequently realizing the absurdity inherent in overly serious performance art, Rajskub soon adjusted her act to become a parody of performance art. The unique take on live comedy quickly caught on with audiences, and shortly thereafter, Rajskub was approached by Bob Odenkirk and David Cross and asked to join the cast of their upcoming HBO stream-of-consciousness comedy series Mr. Show. A somewhat bitter falling out with series co-creator Cross found Rajskub departing from the series after a year to take a job at Seattle's Best Coffee, but her career as a caffeine dealer would quickly come to an end when Garry Shandling caught wind of her act. Subsequently cast as the enthusiastic but somewhat awkward talent booker on The Larry Sanders Show, Rajskub also began to branch out into feature territory with supporting roles in such films as Bury Me in Kern County and the mockumentary The Thin Pink Line (both 1998). Blink-and-you'll-miss-her roles in such high-profile releases as Man on the Moon and Road Trip were quick to follow, with a small but memorable turn as a bubble-wrapped cult member in Dude, Where's My Car? preceding yet another fleeting appearance in the "Fiction" segment of director Todd Solondz's Storytelling. By this point, Rajskub had expanded her presence on television with a recurring role in Veronica's Closet, and after appearing with Girls Guitar Club bandmate Karen Kilgariff in the independent drama The Anniversary Party, she made a move back to the small screen with the ill-fated sketch comedy series The Downer Channel. If that series didn't last long, Rajskub didn't need to worry since appearances in such features as Punch-Drunk Love, Sweet Home Alabama, and Legally Blonde 2 found her slowly drifting toward more substantial roles on the silver screen. After becoming a frequent player in the 2003-2004 season of the wildly popular television series 24, Rajskub took an ominous turn with her role as Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme in the 2004 made-for-television remake Helter Skelter.In 2006 she took on supporting roles in the Academy Award winning comedy drama Little Miss Sunshine, and director Christine Jeffs slice-of-life comedy drama Sunshine Cleaning. The continued to deliver solid supporting performances in 2008's Julie & Julia, and 2011's Safety Not Guaranteed.

Trivia: Attended the University of Arizona on a football scholarship. Played for the Denver Broncos in 1989. Made his film debut in the 1996 Ellen DeGeneres comedy Mr. Wrong. Taught classes for the acting coach Ivana Chubbuck; later opened his own acting studio.

Trivia: As a high-school student, wrote and performed short plays for friends and family. Wrote and starred in the one-man show Bartenders (2002) at New York's John Houseman Theatre. Has guest starred on two Larry David sitcoms: appeared in an episode of Seinfeld as one of Jerry's neighbors; later appeared in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm as a bowling-alley employee. Enjoys collecting antiques.