Trivia: Few performers experience a meteoric rise to fame on par with that of actress Maggie Grace. An Ohio native whose parents co-ran a jewelry business, Grace left her Columbus home amid complete obscurity, nurturing dreams of becoming an A-list actress, and within five years made that dream a reality, given her ability to test out of high school and graduate years ahead of time. With the blessing of her parents, Grace promptly moved to Los Angeles at age 16 and snagged an agent. Roles in low-medium-budgeted features and short-lived television series (FOX's Septuplets and Oliver Beene) followed, but it was her breakout turn in the blockbuster series Lost -- as the pampered, spoiled and bratty Shannon Rutherford -- that made her a superstar. From that launching pad, she transitioned to a number of features, including the supernatural horror opus The Fog (2005) (a remake of the 1980 John Carpenter film of the same name), director Robin Swicord's gentle romantic comedy The Jane Austen Book Club (2007), and a leading role as the abducted daughter of an ex-soldier (Liam Neeson) in the high-adrenaline thriller Taken (2008) (a role she would reprise for 2012's Taken 2 and 2015's Taken 3). In 2011, she booked a role in another high-profile franchise, playing a vampire in the two-part The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. Grace also found time for a recurring role on the series Californication, and in 2014, appeared in the ensemble dramedy About Alex.

Trivia: A former model, Dutch-born actress Famke Janssen had her screen breakthrough as Xenia Onatopp, James Bond's (literally) man-crushing foe in GoldenEye (1995). After earning fame and a certain dose of coy notoriety for her portrayal of the character, who was endowed with the unique ability to squash potential seducers to death between her thighs, Janssen went on to prove that she was more than just the latest variety of Bond babe.Born in Holland on January 1, 1964, Janssen launched her lucrative modeling career at an early age. Moving to New York when she was barely out of her teens, she soon tired of the vacuous nature of modeling and enrolled at Columbia University, where she studied literature and creative writing. Janssen made her screen debut in the 1992 drama Fathers and Sons. Following the success of GoldenEye, the actress began finding steady screen work, appearing in such films as Robert Altman's The Gingerbread Man (1998), in which she played Kenneth Branagh's ex-wife; Woody Allen's Celebrity (1998), which cast her as Branagh's girlfriend; and Robert Rodriguez's The Faculty, in which Janssen's part was furthered by alien brainwashing, instead of Branagh.After closing the century with another excursion into supernatural grotesqueries in the remake of The House on Haunted Hill (1999), Janssen began the 21st century on a somewhat more heroic note, playing one of the titular group of superheroes in Bryan Singer's adaptation of the popular comic book X-Men.

Trivia: Brooklyn-born Xander Berkeley made the rounds on numerous TV shows throughout the '80s, '90s, and 2000s, not just as an actor, but as a makeup artist. The actor has put his uncanny talent in the makeup department to use on the sets of many shows, like on 24, where he designed his own makeup to depict his character's affliction with radiation sickness.Berkeley got his start in show business in the early '80s, appearing on shows like Moonlighting, The A-Team, and M*A*S*H. He went on to appear in movies, as well, like The Rock and Apollo 13, but he frequently returned to the small screen for memorable roles like George Mason, head of the Counterterrorist Unit on 24, and Sheriff Roy Atwater on CSI. In the coming years, Berkeley would continue to find success on teh small screen, on shows like Nikita.

Trivia: Katie Cassidy -- the daughter of onetime Partridge Family sensation and teen idol David Cassidy and fashion model Sherry Williams -- jump-started her fame not as an actress but as a teen pop star, à la Britney Spears or Jessica Simpson. A trained vocalist from the age of 12, Katie teamed up with music mega-producer Joel Diamond in 2004, and released her first single that summer, banking off of her father's fame with a remake of "I Think I Love You." In 2005, Cassidy appeared in a recurring role on the popular family drama 7th Heaven as Zoe. She slid into the feature arena inauspiciously, as Kelli, one of the slasher victims in the grotesque, critically panned gorefest Black Christmas, then traveled the comedic route with supporting roles in the Adam Sandler vehicle Click (2006), the ensemble picture You Are Here (2007, as an aspiring Hollywood climber), and the Cary Elwes comedy Walk the Talk (2007). Cassidy is perhaps best known, however, for her recurring role as Ruby on Supernatural, a program about a couple of young men journeying across the country in their black Impala and fighting off evil supernatural forces. In 2008 she appeared in the box office smash Taken, and followed that up with one of the main parts in the 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Trivia: Became interested in acting after playing the role of Tiny Tim in a stage production of A Christmas Carol in third grade. Studied at American Conservatory Theater's Young Program. Lived in Italy and other locations in Europe while attempting to find work as an international banker. First professional acting job was in a Folgers commercial. Began appearing on TV in the early 1990s, performing in small roles on Cheers, The X-Files, NYPD Blue and Mad About You. Wrote, directed and starred in a 2010 film titled Morning opposite his wife, actress Jeanne Tripplehorn.

Trivia: Usually blonde and frequently bronzed, Australian-born actress/singer/pinup girl Holly Valance first caught the attention of Aussi television viewers with a regular role on the long-running soap opera Neighbours before making a bid for international stardom as a picturesque pop princess. The Melbourne native was the child of a Serbian father and an English mother, who always encouraged musical development in their children. Family played an essential role in the aspiring actress' childhood, and in between sessions of swimming on the beach and practicing Muay Thai, young Valance could frequently be found in the company of her extended family of half brothers and sisters. By the age of 12, Valance was scouted by a prolific modeling agency, and by 15, she had landed the role of feisty Felicity "Flick" Scully on Neighbours. Though she was initially hesitant to take the part, a little encouragement from her parents went a long way in launching her acting career, and she was soon one of the most popular characters on the program. After three years on the small screen, however, Valance was ready to advance to the next stage in her career. In the spring of 2002, Valance took her love of music to the next level. Her debut single, "Kiss Kiss," topped charts all across Europe, with the popular singles "Down Boy" and "Naughty Girl" following in short order. Just one year after the release of her debut album, Footprints, Valance was already preparing her sophomore release, State of Mind. Of course, Valance was still eager to expand her onscreen career, and what better way to accomplish such an ambitious feat than to relocate to Los Angeles? In 2004, she did precisely that. After honing her craft at the renowned Leslie Kahn dramatic school, she appeared in such popular stateside series as Prison Break, CSI: New York, CSI: Miami, and the hit HBO series Entourage. Although Valance had been focusing most of her acting ambitions on the small screen up to this point in her career, appearances as a kung fu fighter in DOA and a fun-loving sorority girl in Pledge This! proved that she was eager to break into features as well.

Trivia: Standing a burly 6'4", Liam Neeson was once described by a theatre critic as a "towering sequoia of sex." To say that he has undeniable charisma is certainly accurate, but it is a charisma composed as much of impressive talent as of broken-nosed physical appeal. Bearing both versatility and quiet forcefulness, Neeson has been touted as one of the most compelling actors of the late 20th century.Born June 7, 1952, in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, Neeson had an upbringing partially defined by his involvement in boxing. He became active in the sport as a teenager, earning his distinctive broken nose in the process; he stayed with boxing until he began experiencing black-outs from repeated blows to the head. Initially interested in a career as a teacher, Neeson attended Belfast's Queens College, but he aborted his studies after developing a desire to act. In 1976, he joined Belfast's Lyric Theatre, and two years later he began performing the classics at Dublin's famed Abbey Theatre. While he was with the Abbey, Neeson was discovered by director John Boorman, who cast him as Gawain in 1981's Excalibur. Following his part in that action fantasy, Neeson had supporting roles in such films as The Mission (1986), and he was featured in leads opposite Cher in Suspect (1987) and Diane Keaton in The Good Mother (1988). He got his first starring vehicle in 1990 with Sam Raimi's Darkman; unfortunately, the film was a relative disappointment. Neeson continued to do starring work in such films as Big Man (1991), which featured him as a boxer, Ethan Frome (1992), and Under Suspicion (1992), but ironically, it was his work on the stage that led to his true screen breakthrough. In 1992, the actor was turning in a Tony-nominated performance in Anna Christie opposite Natasha Richardson (whom he would marry in 1994) on Broadway. His work attracted the notice of Steven Spielberg, who was so impressed with what he saw that he cast Neeson as Oskar Schindler in his landmark Holocaust drama Schindler's List (1993). Neeson received Best Actor Oscar and British Academy Award nominations for his performance, and he subsequently didn't have to worry about finding work in Hollywood, or elsewhere, again.More high-profile work followed for Neeson, who went on to star in such films as Nell (1994), Rob Roy (1995), and Michael Collins (1996). However acclaimed his previous work had been, none of it received the hype of one of Neeson's 1999 projects, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Although the film, which starred Neeson as a Jedi master, ultimately earned a galaxy's worth of negative reviews, it mined box office millions. Its success further enhanced Neeson's status as one of the world's most visible actors, and it even helped to downplay the disappointment of The Haunting, his other film that year.Neeson would enter the new millennium with a variety of projects on his to-do list, appearing in the Martin Scorsese period piece Gangs of New York in 2002, and the extremely popular romantic comedy Love Actually in 2003. The following year would find him tackling a meatier role, however, as he singed on to portray pioneering scientist and researcher on human sexuality Alfred Kinsey in the biopic Kinsey. The part would earn Neeson a Golden Globe nomination, and Neeson would follow its success with performances in Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven, as well as one in the blockbuster superhero reboot Batman Begins in 2005. He would also sign on to provide the voice of lion king Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia fantasy franchise.In 2008, Neeson starred in the thriller Taken, portraying a former CIA officer who employs his brutal skills learned on the job to find his kidnapped daughter. Audiences weren't accustomed to seeing the actor hold down the lead in an action film, but Neeson succeeded and the film was a categorical success. Sadly, the following year, Liam's wife actress Natasha Richardson died suddenly after suffering a severe head injury during a skiing accident. Neeson was left in care of their two children, Michael and Daniel, but was later able to resume his career. Neeson would find himself appearing in many action/adventure films over the coming years. He starred as the cigar-chomping ohn "Hannibal" Smith in the big-screen adaptation of The A-Team in 2010, and a man fleeing for his life and fighting for his identity in 2011's Unknown. The following year, Neeson played an oil driller stranded amid a pack of wolves in The Grey.