Trivia: Paul Dano first caught major attention in 2006, when he played the grumpy, nihilistic teenager Dwayne in the sleeper hit Little Miss Sunshine. Dano had actually been paying his dues in the industry for five years when the indie comedy put him on the map, first starring in the tense 2001 drama L.I.E. at the age of 17, when he performed under the name Paul Franklin Dano. Even before that, young Dano appeared in several Broadway productions including A Christmas Carol and Ragtime. He went on to appear in the crime thriller Taking Lives as well as the critically acclaimed The Ballad of Jack & Rose. Then, in 2006, Dano took the infamous role in Little Miss Sunshine of a surly teenage brother who's taken a vow of silence. He immediately followed it with the subversive Fast Food Nation before signing on to re-team with his Ballad of Jack & Rose co-star Daniel Day-Lewis in the Paul Thomas Anderson historical drama There Will Be Blood. Dano also lent his voice to the big-screen computer-animated adaptation of the classic children's book Where the Wild Things Are, voicing the main character of Alexander. He continued to jungle indie fare like Gigantic, Meek's Cutoff, and Being Flynn with supporting turns in more high-profile projects including Knight and Day as well as Cowboys & Indians.

Trivia: Possessing the kind of elegant screen beauty that often draws comparisons to a Breakfast at Tiffany's-era Audrey Hepburn, actress Elizabeth Banks' onscreen career has been steadily rising since the up-and-coming actress won the Young Hollywood Award for "Exciting New Face" back in 2003. With roles in such notable Hollywood hits as the Spider-Man films and Seabiscuit, Banks has not only had the pleasure of sharing the screen with hot-property actor Tobey Maguire multiple times, but has also been nominated -- alongside Maguire, Jeff Bridges, William H. Macy, and Gary Stevens -- for an "Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture" award by the Screen Actors Guild for her performance in the latter. The Pittsfield, MA, native got her first taste of fame when nominated Harvest Queen in her hometown's annual fall celebration, and in the years that followed, Banks would receive her bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and go on to pursue her graduate degree at the American Conservatory Theater. In 1998, Banks made her feature debut in the controversial addiction drama Surrender Dorothy, with subsequent small-screen roles in Third Watch and Sex and the City only serving to contribute to her rapidly growing profile in film and television. Of course, a move from New York to Los Angeles also may have had something to due with her landing more film roles, and though she would appear under her real name, Elizabeth Mitchell, in the 2000 action thriller Shaft, she soon had to change her name to avoid conflict with another actress who had already established a career under that surname. Undaunted, Banks forged on with roles in the cult comedy Wet Hot American Summer and the romantic drama Ordinary Sinner in 2001, with a supporting performance as Betty Brant in the 2002 box-office smash Spider-Man providing her most substantial onscreen performance to date. With roles opposite Madonna in Swept Away and Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can, it was obvious that Banks' career was on the rise, but it was her winning performance in Seabiscuit that truly put her on the map. Though the Screen Actors Guild award that the she and the cast were nominated for would ultimately go to the cast of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, it was obvious to all who had been following her career that Banks was only at the beginning of her Hollywood ascent. In 2003, Banks appeared in the drama The Trade before reprising her role as Betty Brant for Spider-Man 2, and with increasingly prominent roles in Heights, The Sisters, and The Baxter scheduled through 2005, audiences could rest assured that they would be seeing plenty more of Banks in the years to come.By the time Banks turned in a standout supporting role as a bookstore employee who may hold the means of solving The 40 Year Old Virgin's titular dilemma in the 2005 Steve Carell hit, it seemed that she was an actress capable of brightening most any screen. A substantial role as a small-town trophy wife in director James Gunn's comic-frightener Slither found Banks having noticable fun in front of the cameras, with a pair of appearances on the popular television medical comedy Scrubs preceding a more serious-minded turn in the inspirational 2006 sports drama Invincible.2008 was a very busy year for Banks in which she continued to build her career as a comedic presence in films as varied as Role Models, Meet Dave, and Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and was also allowed to stretch her dramatic wings as Laura Bush in Oliver Stone's biopic W. In 2009 she first played the role of a conservative television commentator who becomes a romantic partner for Alec Baldwin's character on the award-winning sitcom 30 Rock, a role she would return to intermittently for the next few years. In 2011 she co-starred in the comedy Our Idiot Brother, and in 2012 she had a supporting part in the phenomenally successful adaptation of The Hunger Games.

Trivia: Attended the Stagedoor Manor performing-arts summer camp in upstate New York while in high school. Before his voice broke, played the soprano lead in his high school's production of Oliver! Worked as his manager's assistant when he was first starting out. Competed in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Pro/Celebrity race in 2013, coming in second.

Trivia: Has three brothers and a sister. Moved from West Chester, PA, to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career when he was 18. Appeared in a commercial for State Farm best known for his quote, "And can I get a hot tub?"

Trivia: The son of actor Richard Cusack and younger brother of comic actress Joan Cusack, John Cusack started his career at the age of eight, under the guidance of his theatrically active mother. He made his stage bow with Evanston's Pivan Theatre Workshop and quickly went on to do commercial work, becoming one of Chicago's busiest commercial voice-over artists.Although Cusack began to emerge as an actor during the heyday of the Brat Pack, and appeared in a number of "teen" movies, he managed to avoid falling into the narrowly defined rut the phenomenon left in its wake. After making his film debut in 1983's Class, he had a brief but painfully memorable appearance as a member of Anthony Michael Hall's nerd posse in Sixteen Candles (1984). Bigger and better opportunities came Cusack's way the following year, when he achieved a measure of stardom with his portrayal of a sexually anxious college freshman in The Sure Thing (1985). The same year, he gained further recognition with his starring roles in Better Off Dead (which also granted him a degree of cult status) and The Journey of Natty Gann.Cusack spent the rest of the 1980s carving out a niche for himself as both a solid performer and something of a lust object for unconventional girls everywhere, a status aided immeasurably by his portrayal of lovable underachiever Lloyd Dobler in Cameron Crowe's 1989 ....Say Anything. He also began winning critical acclaim for his parts in more serious films, notably as a disgraced White Sox third baseman in John Sayles' Eight Men Out (1988) and as a con artist in Stephen Frears' The Grifters (1990).Cusack enjoyed steady work throughout the 1990s, with particularly notable roles in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway (1994), which featured him as a struggling playwright; Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), in which he starred as a journalist investigating a murder; Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), which cast him as the film's protagonist, a neurotic hit man; and the impressively cast The Thin Red Line, in which he played a World War II soldier. Just about all of Cusack's roles allowed him to showcase his quirky versatility, and the films he did to close out the century were no exception: in 1999 he first starred as an air-traffic controller in the comedy Pushing Tin and then appeared as Nelson Rockefeller in Cradle Will Rock, Tim Robbins' exploration of art and politics in 1930s America; finally, in perhaps his most unique film to date, he starred in Spike Jonze's Being John Malkovich as a puppeteer who discovers a way to enter the mind of the famous actor. The wildly original film turned out to be one of the year's biggest surprise hits, scoring among both audiences and critics. Cusack had yet another triumph the following year with High Fidelity, Stephen Frears' adaptation of Nick Hornby's novel of the same name. The actor, who co-wrote the script for the film in addition to starring in it, earned some of the best reviews of his career for his heartfelt comic portrayal of Rob, the film's well-meaning but oftentimes emotionally immature protagonist. The next year he played opposite Julia Roberts in the showbiz comedy America's Sweethearts. In 2002 he took a lead part in the controversial Hitler biopic Max, and he did a brief cameo for Spike Jonze in Adaptation.The next year he had a couple of hits with the John Grisham adaptation The Runaway Jury, and the psychological thriller Identity. In 2005 he was the lead in the black comedy The Ice Harvest opposite Billy Bob Thornton, as well as the romantic comedy Must Love Dogs.He earned solid reviews in 2007 for the Iraq War drama Grace Is Gone, playing the husband of a woman who dies while serving in the military., and in that same year he starred in the Stephen King adaptation 1408. In 2008 he appeared in and co-wrote the political satire War, Inc. The next year he was the lead in the disaster film blockbuster 2012.Cashing in on his status as an eighties icon, he had a hit in 2010 with the R rated comedy Hot Tub Time Machine, and in 2012 he portrayed Edgar Allan Poe in The Raven.

Trivia: The balding, likeable, nervous-looking character actor Paul Giamatti is the son of the author, Yale president, and Major League Baseball commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti. After earning his M.F.A. in Drama from Yale, the younger Giamatti got started on his acting career with small film parts and TV guest spots. He quickly became a recognizable face but his name was not yet well-known in Hollywood, while on-stage he appeared in lead roles for Broadway productions of The Three Sisters and The Iceman Cometh. Giamatti's film breakthrough came in 1997 with the role of media executive Kenny (aka "Pig Vomit") in the Howard Stern movie Private Parts. In his next few films, he played small yet funny parts like the inept mob henchman in Safe Men, the slave-peddling ape in Planet of the Apes, and the bellboy in My Best Friend's Wedding. He then got starring roles in the HBO movies Winchell (opposite fellow character actor Stanley Tucci) and If These Walls Could Talk 2. Giamatti seemed to get good parts in both independent films (Storytelling, Confidence) and in major studio blockbusters (Big Momma's House, Big Fat Liar). After playing the real-life eccentric Bob Zmuda in Milos Forman's Man on the Moon, he got his first major starring role in 2003 as the leading real-life eccentric Harvey Pekar in American Splendor, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. The same year he starred in the FX original movie The Pentagon Papers with James Spader.Many thought Giamatti was more than deserving of an Academy Award nomination for his role in American Splendor, but when the nods were announced his name was absent. Nonetheless, he received even more raves for his next film. As the wine-loving love-lorn lead in Sideways, Giamatti wowed critics and increased his popularity with audiences exponentially. However, despite the overwhelming accolades and multiple Oscar nominations for the film, Giamatti was again ignored by the Academy.Next up, Giamatti returned to supporting work with a role in director Ron Howard's acclaimed 2005 biopic of boxer Jim Braddock, Cinderella Man. Playing the concerned, passionate manager to Russell Crowe's headstrong underdog, Giamatti finally received some belated Academy attention, even if he lost the 2005 Best Supporting Actor prize to popular favorite George Clooney. No matter, since Giamatti was already at work on his next leading man project in M. Night Shyamalan's Lady in the Water. Of course his role as the befuddled apartment complex supervisor attempting to protect a mysterious woman who emerges from the swimming pool in Shyamalan's eagerly-anticipated fairy-tale thriller still only seemed like the beginning of an incredibly productive period that continued to capitalize on Giamatti's post-Sideways success, and with an exhausting six films featuring the actor scheduled for release in 2006 alone, the actor previously content essaying supporting roles found himself increasingly gravitating towards the status of leading man. Still, it wasn't all big budget blockbusters for the screen's most well-known wine connisseur, and with a prominant role as an obsessive falconer in writer/director Julian Goldberger's 2006 adaptation of author Harry Crews 1973 novel The Hawk is Dying, Giamatti delivered the distinct message that his career was still very much about the creativity afforded to actors and not necessarily the financial payoff. An additional role in the romantic fantasy adventure The Illusionist that same year found Giamatti taking a trip back to turn-of-the-century Vienna to play a conflicted police inspector whose outward obligations to the aristocracy belie his growing suspicions that they may be covering up an especially confounding murder. With a voice that was equally as recognizable as his distinctive face, Giamatti began lending his vocal chords to a variety of animated projects including Robots, The Ant Bully, The Haunted World of El Superbeasto and the curiously titled Amazing Screw-on Head as well. Unrelenting in the coming years, Giamatti would continue to take on a wide range of memorable character roles in interesting films like Shoot Em Up, John Adams, Cold Souls, The Last Station, The Hangover Part II, The Ides of March and Rock of Ages.

Trivia: Jake Abel began signing for television and film roles in his late teens. Despite a deceptively clean-cut appearance, Abel specialized (at least initially) in portrayals of super-intense, conniving, slimy young men with more than a few ulterior motives. He was particularly memorable on the short-lived, prime-time science fiction drama Threshold (as a deeply disturbed adolescent whose exposure to an audio signal gave him super strength) and as a slightly sadistic coach who gets the surprise of his life when he challenges a young female figure skater to a game of hockey in the Disney-produced feature Go Figure (2005). In 2007, Abel signed for two of his first major feature roles: one in the raunchy stoner comedy Strange Wilderness (2008) and a much different supporting turn as the son of an inventor (Greg Kinnear) who gets bilked out of a fortune by the auto industry in the biopic Flash of Genius (2008). In 2010, he played the supporting role of Luke Castellan in Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, later reprising his role in the 2013 sequel, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. Abel's résumé also includes appearances on such programs as Summerland, CSI: Miami, Cold Case, ER, Supernatural and Grey's Anatomy.

Trivia: At age 6, took professional dance lessons. A few years later was part of an ensemble that performed on the White House lawn at an Easter egg hunt. Competed in the 2002 World Dance Championships and took home a gold medal in tap. Was a member of his high school's baseball and football teams. Relocated to Los Angeles, CA, in 2002. Won the first TV role that he auditioned for, a non-speaking dance part on ABC's Drew Carey Show. Made movie debut, as a dancer, in the 2006 comedy Clerks II. Appeared on the short-run MTV reality dance program Dancelife in 2007; was one of six dancers featured in the show. Made TV acting debut in the Oxygen 2008 made-for-cable movie Center Stage: Turn It Up. First major film role was in the 2011 remake of the 1984 classic Footloose.

Trivia: Possessing a dark and delicate beauty enhanced by an alluringly hypnotic pair of large and deeply expressive eyes, actress Joanna Going gained notice early on with appearances in such soap operas as Another World and the early-'90s revival of Dark Shadows. Though her early work would consist mostly of soap operas and made-for television features, the mid-'90s found Going making a slow but steady transition into feature film territory. A Washington, D.C., native who was raised in Newport, RI, Going was the oldest of six siblings and graduated from Rogers High School in 1981. Later moving on to Emerson College, Going would subsequently study acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. Her television debut in Search for Tomorrow followed shortly thereafter, and by 1987 Going was entering into a two-year stint on the long-running soap opera Another World. Remaining on the small screen for Dark Shadows immediately following Another World, Going made her feature debut in 1994's Wyatt Earp. A touching performance in the little-seen 1996 feature Eden ensured that Going would continue to climb the credits, and subsequent roles in Keys to Tulsa and Inventing the Abbots (both 1997) continued to find Going in good company. Though appearances in Still Breathing (1997) and Cupid & Cate (2000) would go largely unseen, Going would later maintain visibility opposite Helen Mirren in the television series Georgetown. In 2003 Going could be spotted in the dramatic thriller The Runaway Jury (2003).

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: Like a lot of actors, Johnny Sneed's first breaks came in the form of appearances on popular TV shows. In his case, they were shows like Friends and ER, and he even scored a recurring role on The Guardian before transitioning into supporting roles on the big screen. He appeared in Fever Pitch as well as the tween comedy Sleepover before snagging an even more prominent role in Ben Stiller's The Heartbreak Kid.

Trivia: Worked as an entertainer at children's parties during college. Starred in a Philips Norelco campaign for Bodygroom that went viral in 2006. Began appearing in small guest roles on TV series such as Ugly Betty, How I Met Your Mother and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia in 2007. Provided voice-over work for characters in Grand Theft Auto V. Co-hosts a podcast called Open Sky Fitness.

Trivia: A role in the Michael Weller play Help! brought her to Los Angeles. Got her start in the late 1990s with guest-star roles on The Pretender, Party of Five and The X-Files. Appeared in producer Steven Bochco's series City of Angels, NYPD Blue and Murder One. Wrote, performed and toured in her one-woman show, Besame Mucho...O.K., That's Enough. Cast alongside fellow West Wing alum Bradley Whitford in The Good Guys.

Trivia: Formed the Beach Boys with brothers Carl and Dennis, cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine. Deaf in his right ear since he was a child. Taught himself to play piano. Wrote the music for such classics as "California Girls," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "God Only Knows," "Good Vibrations" and "Surfin' Safari." Although considered one of the architects of surfin' music, never actually surfed. Retired from touring in 1965 to concentrate on recording. Was inspired to create the Beach Boys' classic Pet Sounds by the Beatles' Revolver; Pet Sounds in turn inspired the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Father of Carnie and Wendy Wilson (two-thirds of the pop group Wilson Phillips). Suffered a mental breakdown while recording Smile, the Beach Boys' follow-up to Pet Sounds. He wouldn't finish the album until 2004, when he recorded and released it as a solo artist. Developed schizoaffective disorder in his mid-20s. Underwent extensive therapy during the mid-1970s and again during the '80s with controversial psychotherapist Eugene Landy. Met his future wife Melinda in 1986 when she sold him a car. At one time had at least 16 dogs.

Trivia: University of Kansas City graduate Dee Wallace is best known for her role as Elliot's divorced mom in the box-office gold mine E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982). A former ballerina, Wallace had made her cinematic debut three years prior to E.T. with a minor role in 10 (1979). She co-starred in The Howling (1981) and Cujo (1983), with actor Christopher Stone, whom she married (hence her current professional name). Dee Wallace and Christopher Stone also shared top billing on the syndicated TV series The New Lassie (1989-1990).

Trivia: Was raised on a farm outside Wilkes-Barre, PA. Is a vegan. Is an animal rights activist and has had many pets, including a pig. Received his big break when he landed the role of Byron in the series Andy Richter Controls the Universe.