Trivia: An actress whose piercing, pale blue eyes could give even Meg Foster a run for her money, Emily Deschanel has come quite a long way since being listed as one of Interview magazine's "Six Actors to Watch" back in 2001. The firstborn daughter of Oscar-winning cinematographer Caleb Deschanel and actress Mary Jo Weir (their second was starlet Zooey), Emily received her B.F.A. in theater from Boston University before launching her career on the stage and screen. Early roles in It's a Shame About Ray and Rose Red found the rising starlet gradually gaining her footing before the cameras, and as her confidence as an actress increased, so did her screen time. By the time Deschanel appeared in such features as Cold Mountain and The Alamo, viewers were already beginning to pick up on her talent, while she could also still be seen acting on-stage, frequently appearing in plays for the Interact Theatre Company. In 2003, Deschanel appeared in minor capacity as a receptionist in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2, with her role in Ghost House Pictures' 2004 frightener Boogeyman serving to prove that she was much more than just another pretty face.As the 2000's rolled on, Deschanel would prove to be an even bigger force on the small screen, playing forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan, partner of FBI agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz), on the popular Fox crime drama series Bones.

Trivia: Look up the words "handsome" and "brooding" in any dictionary and chances are you'll have a pretty good description of actor David Boreanaz. Tall, dark, and possessing the sort of alluring charisma that suggests an Abercrombie and Fitch model from the dark side, Boreanaz flourished on the small screen in the early 2000s when his Buffy the Vampire Slayer role was spun off into the supernatural-flavored series Angel.Born in Buffalo, NY, and raised in Philadelphia, Boreanaz was inspired at age seven to pursue a career in acting after witnessing the legendary Yul Brynner's performance in The King and I. In the years that followed, the aspiring actor would strive to keep the dream alive, and when it came time for higher education, Boreanaz opted to study his craft at Ithaca College in New York. The allure of a life in films soon drew Boreanaz to Los Angeles, although it wouldn't take him long to realize that struggling actors were a dime a dozen in sunny California. Dreams of his name in lights soon gave way to realities such as earning a living by parking cars and handing out towels at a sports club -- and uncredited parts in such films as Aspen Extreme and Best of the Best 2 (both 1993) certainly weren't paying the rent. A one-time role on Married...With Children as daughter Kelly's (Christina Applegate) motorcycle-riding boyfriend gained the struggling actor modest exposure -- and his luck would soon change in the most unexpected (though somewhat typical by Hollywood standards) way. While Boreanaz was walking his dog in Hollywood, a manager was taken by his captivating intensity, and a subsequent introduction to casting agent Marcia Shulman almost immediately ensured his landing the role of the vampire Angel on the soon-to-be-hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Two years after the premiere of Buffy, Boreanaz's character proved popular enough to earn his own eponymously titled spin-off series, and the show proved a solid hit for the WB until it was inexplicably canceled in mid-2004. Of course, by this point, Boreanaz could rest fairly easy thanks to roles in such features as Valentine (2001) and I'm With Lucy (2002). Fans who couldn't get enough of the actor's dark side could look forward to his role as the villainous Luc Crash in The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2004).Soon however, Boreanaz found another compelling small-screen role, playing Special Agent Seeley Booth on the hit detective series Bones.

Trivia: A Boston native whose early work included stints with the Dallas Theater Center and New York's Mint Theater Company, actor T.J. Thyne studied his craft with theaters throughout the United States and British Columbia before receiving his B.F.A. in acting from the USC School of Theater. Numerous television roles were quick to follow after Thyne hit the audition circuit with unusual ferocity, and by the year 2000, Thyne had racked up nearly 50 small-screen credits thanks to appearances on such shows as Home Improvement, Party of Five, Walker, Texas Ranger, and Just Shoot Me. In 2002, Thyne founded the Los Angeles-based Theater Junkies Productions with the aim of producing for both stage and screen; their popular short film Validation subsequently screened at film festivals across the country. Memorable supporting roles in such high-profile features as Erin Brockovich Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Ghost World, How High, and Something's Got to Give made Thyne an increasingly familiar face to movie fans, though it was the actor's casting as bug expert Dr. Jack Hodgins in the hit Fox forensics drama Bones that would transform him into a bona fide television star. Thyne has also done frequent commercial work, with his role as a Shania Twain-singing Chevy truck passenger proving a particularly memorable television spot.

Trivia: Michaela Conlin knew she wanted to be an actress from the tender age of six, and from the time she appeared in her first play that same year, there was no turning back from her future on the stage and screen.A native of Allentown, PA, who honed her skills in community and regional theater before studying acting at New York City's Tisch School of the Arts, Conlin earned her B.F.A. while simultaneously appearing in productions at the Playwrights Horizons Theater School and the Atlantic Theater Company. Later, she would travel to Amsterdam to take part in the Experimental Theater Wing's International Training Program. While Conlin's first screen role after graduation was grounded firmly in reality (she was chosen to appear in a documentary film detailing the lives of young actors in New York City), it was only after moving to Los Angeles that her career truly began to catch on. Roles in MDs, JAG, and The D.A. quickly helped to establish Conlin as a rising small-screen talent, and in 2005 she signed on to play Angela Montenegro in the Fox forensic crime drama Bones. She made her first post-Bones jump to the big screen playing a detective in the legal thriller The Lincoln Lawyer.

Trivia: Canadian-born Tamara Taylor first caught the eyes of fans with a recurring role on the '90s series Party of Five. She would make numerous appearances on various shows over the coming years, but Taylor's next big break came in 2006, with a starring role on the crime series Bones playing Dr. Camille Saroyan.

Trivia: Many know Illinois native John Francis Daley for his memorable role as high school freshman Sam Weir on the cult hit series Freaks and Geeks. An actor from the age of nine, Daley appeared in the touring production of the Broadway musical Who's Tommy? before branching into screen acting. He would go on to appear in films like Waiting and on the series Kitchen Confidential, later scoring another leading role on the popular crime show Bones, playing psychologist Lance Swees. He turned his talents to work done behind the camera, co-writing the script for the hit 2011 comedy Horrible Bosses.

Trivia: Attended Whittier College on a football scholarship. Sang and toured with the Whittier College choir. Played professional football in Europe as a wide receiver for the Klosterneuburg Mercenaries (Danube Dragons). Was a part-owner of the ABA franchise the Hollywood Fame. Is a producer and founding member of the production company Eleven Eleven Films.

Trivia: Standing 6'5" and weighing over 300 pounds, African American actor Michael Clarke Duncan inarguably possesses one of Hollywood's more unforgettable figures. A former bodyguard and bouncer, Duncan first gained attention when he appeared as one of a group of oil drillers sent to stop an asteroid from annihilating the Earth in the 1998 blockbuster Armageddon. A year later, Duncan's career got another significant boost when the actor earned lavish critical plaudits for his portrayal of a wrongfully convicted death row inmate in The Green Mile.Born in Chicago on December 10, 1957, Duncan was raised on the city's south side by his single mother. A serious student, Duncan decided that he wanted to play football in high school; after his mother refused to let him, fearing he would get hurt, he developed an interest in acting instead. Following his graduation from high school, the aspiring actor studied communications at Mississippi's Alcorn State University. His studies were cut short when he returned to Chicago to attend to his mother, who had fallen ill. He subsequently found work digging ditches with the Peoples Gas Company and moonlighted as a club bouncer. His work led to a chance encounter with a stage producer who hired him as a security guard for a traveling theatre company, which eventually brought Duncan to Hollywood. Upon his arrival in L.A., Duncan, who was hovering dangerously close to bankruptcy, secured further work as a security guard and found his first agent. He got his professional start on television, appearing in commercials, sitcoms, and on the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. He started his film career playing -- surprisingly enough -- bouncers in such films as The Players Club and Bulworth (both 1998), finally getting his big break -- and the first role that didn't require him to boot people out of clubs -- in Armageddon. Thanks to the great commercial success of Armageddon, Duncan was able to find subsequent employment in a number of productions, most notably The Green Mile. He earned overwhelmingly strong reviews for his portrayal of doomed, saintly John Coffey, a man whose conviction for a brutal double murder seems at odds with his exceedingly gentle, almost child-like demeanor. Duncan garnered Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for his work in the film. He next switched genre gears, re-teaming with Armageddon co-star Bruce Willis to star in the comedy The Whole Nine Yards, which cast him a brutish thug who terrorizes mild-mannered dentist Matthew Perry. Once again utilizing his massive girth to maximum effect in the following year's The Planet of the Apes Duncan followed up the big budget remake with the made-for-television They Call Me Sirr before once again flexing formidably, this time opposite The Rock, in The Scorpion King. Later turning up as the villainous Kingpin in the comic book superhero film Daredevil (2003), Duncan would also loan his voice to the same character in Spider-Man: The Animated Series later that same year. A string of vocal performances in such animated efforts as Kim Possible: A Stitch in Time, The Proud Family, and Crab Nebula found Duncan's vocal chords in increased demand in television, films, and even videogames, yet by 2005 the hard-working actor was back on the big screen with roles in both Robert Rodriguez's Sin City, and Michael Bay's The Island. Though action may have always been the best genre for the physically imposing actor to make an impression on the big screen, fans would take note that the hulking Duncan also had a keen sense of humor, a point made all the more evident by his role in the 2006 Will Ferrell NASCAR laugher Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Duncan continued to work in television in the following years, making appearances on popular shows including Chuck, Two and a Half Men, and Bones. In 2012, Duncan landed a starring role in The Finder, a short-lived series in which he once again took on the role of former lawyer Leo Knox, whom he had portrayed in Bones. In July of that same year, Duncan suffered a heart attack and never fully recovered; he died on September 3rd at the age of 54.

Trivia: Tall, slim, and possessing impossibly large cheekbones, English actress Saffron Burrows first came to the attention of international audiences with her role in Circle of Friends (1995). Burrows, who had made her screen debut two years earlier in Jim Sheridan's In the Name of the Father, was cast as one of Minnie Driver's titular circle, an Irish girl who makes the mistake of getting involved with an older, morally suspect Englishman (Colin Firth).Thanks to the film's great success, Burrows found herself steadily employed, though not always in films of great quality. In 1999, she earned the label of "star on the rise" thanks to leading roles in four different films. Two of these, Wing Commander and Deep Blue Sea, were big-budget action films, while the others were art-house dramas directed by Mike Figgis. The first, The Loss of Sexual Innocence, cast Burrows as identical twins separated at birth, while the second, Miss Julie, was an adaptation of August Strindberg's play that featured Burrows as the title character, a wealthy young woman who enters into a ruinous affair with a servant.Later gravitating toward television with roles in Boston Legal, My Own Worst Enemy, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Bones, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Burrows continued to hone her skills as a journalist by penning articles for such prominent British publications as The Guardian and The Times of London while she wasn't plying her trade in front of the cameras.

Trivia: Lived in the Bahamas, England, Hong Kong and Italy while growing up; eventually settled in Toronto. Prior to acting, worked in the restaurant business with his father, who's a noted Italian chef. Was named Best Maître d' in the City by Toronto Life magazine. Began his showbiz career at age 30. Cocreated The Great Canadian Food Show, which he hosted; was nominated for a Gemini Award as best host in 2001. Best known for his roles on Little Mosque on the Prairie and 24.

Trivia: With his intimidating, tattooed, muscle-bound appearance, character actor Danny Trejo has formed a successful career as the all-purpose hard case over his curious and enduring cinematic career. Beating the odds of repeat offender syndrome after being released from prison, Trejo has risen through the ranks to find himself in high demand as an actor, and has even expanded his talents to include a producer credit to his resumé. His life story is just about as pristine an example of rehabilitation as one could ask for.Raised in the mean streets of East L.A., Trejo spent many of his early years incarcerated in such legendary prisons as Folsom and San Quentin on drug and robbery convictions. Channeling his intense energy into the boxing ring and winning numerous lightweight and welterweight titles, Trejo was released as a new man after completing a life-changing 12-step rehabilitation program to overcome his addictions. Applying the ideas that changed his life in an attempt to help others headed down a similar path, upon release Trejo became involved with numerous rehabilitation and counseling programs. A chance meeting with a young man who asked for his support at a Cocaine Anonymous meeting in 1985 later found the sympathetic ex-con meeting the struggling addict on the set of Runaway Train, and Trejo was quickly offered a role as a convict presumably based on his threatening appearance. Chance piled upon chance found an old prison buddy/screenwriter who remembered Trejo's hard-hitting boxing skills on the same set, and Trejo was then offered a chance to train Eric Roberts for a film, and was eventually offered the role as his opponent in the ring. Following with roles in The Hidden (1987), and later Lock-Up (1989), Marked for Death (1990), Mi Vida Loca (1993), and Heat (1995), Trejo formed an alliance with director Robert Rodriguez with Desperado in 1995, and soon graduated to such bigger-budget films as Con Air (1997) and The Replacement Killers (1998) in the latter 1990s. The Rodriguez-Trejo twosome found the actor taking on the role of Uncle Isadore "Machete" Cortez in the director's 2001 smash hit Spy Kids, and was later cast in both the film's sequel and Rodriguez's Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2002). Trejo continued to work steadily on the big and small screens in a variety of projects such as Alias, Monk, The Devil's Rejects, Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror, the indie drama SherryBaby, and Smiley Face. He enjoyed one of his rare big-screen starring vehicles when Robert Rodriguez made Machete -- a feature-length version of the trailer he created for Grindhouse -- in 2007. He went on to appear in Valley of Angels, Saint John of Las Vegas, A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, and Bad Ass.