Trivia: Moved to London, England, at the age of seven.The film Akeelah and the Bee (2006) inspired her to become an actor.Studied at the Identity School of Acting.Found out she got the role of Shuri in Black Panther (2018) while she was at a bus stop in London.Featured in Drake's music video "Nice for What."Skilled at rapping and freestyling.

Trivia: Although Lupita Nyong'o might seem like an overnight success story at first glance -- she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her feature-film debut, 12 Years a Slave -- her meteoritic rise is really the product of an artsy, globe-hopping upbringing and a tremendous amount of hard work.The second of six children, Nyong'o was born on March 1, 1983, in Mexico City to Kenyan parents Peter Anyang' and Dorothy. Her father was a visiting lecturer in political science at the Colegio de México at the time, and according to the Kenyan custom of naming children after current events, her parents chose the Spanish name "Lupita" (a shortened version of "Guadalupe").The family returned to Kenya the following year, and Nyong'o grew up in a middle-class community in Nairobi. She got the acting bug early on, appearing in school plays and making her professional debut at 14 as Juliet in a performance of Romeo and Juliet by the Phoenix Players, a Nairobi-based repertory company.At 16, her parents sent her back to Mexico, where she learned Spanish while studying at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México's Learning Center for Foreigners (in fact, she's fluent in four languages total: English, Spanish, Luo, and Swahili). She went to the United States for her undergraduate education, earning a degree in film and African studies at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA. Afterwards, she worked as a production assistant on a number of movies, including The Constant Gardener, which filmed near Nairobi. During the shoot, star Ralph Fiennes gave her the following advice when she said she wanted to be an actress: "Only act if you can't breathe without it." Nyong'o said those words stayed with her, reminding her of how difficult and volatile her chosen profession could be.Deciding to commit herself fully to acting, she enrolled in a Master of Fine Arts program at the Yale School of Drama -- just after appearing in the Kenyan TV series Shuga and writing, directing, and producing a documentary about Kenya's albinos and the discrimination they face. During her time at Yale, she acted in such productions as Uncle Vanya and Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, and won the Herschel Williams Prize for "acting students with outstanding ability." Her extraordinary talent did not go unnoticed for long: Only weeks before graduating, she was cast in 12 Years a Slave as Patsy, the role that would win her an Oscar.Since then, she's appeared in the 2014 thriller Non-Stop, and brought to life the CGI character Maz Kanata in the 2015 blockbuster Star Wars: The Force Awakens. She is also known as a style and fashion icon: In 2014, she was named the new face of Lancôme cosmetics, and was touted as the most beautiful woman in the world by People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" issue. At the same time, Nyong'o continues to support causes near and dear to her heart, serving as an ambassador for the conservation organization WildAid.

Trivia: Parents are from Zimbabwe; she moved there with them when she was 5. Has written three plays that she says are "a trilogy of Zimbabwe's coming-of-age from a female perspective." Calls herself a Zimerican because of her roots in Zimbabwe and America. Speaks four languages: French, Shona, Xhosa and English. Taught playwriting and acting in Zimbabwe, Liberia and South Africa. Received the Macalester College 2011 Young Alumni Award.

Trivia: Recalled helping her mother in her restaurant when he was young.At the age of 9, he moved from Trinidad and Tobago to the United States along with his family.Actress Jenna Marbles studied with him in high school.While in college, he acted in theater.Studied along with actress Lupita Nyong'o at Yale School of Drama.Is an advocate for the awareness and prevention of diabetes, and has contributed to the American Diabetes Association.

Trivia: Is of Purepecha and Nahua descent.Discovered his passion for acting after his father enrolled him in acting school.Worked as a cameraman at the beginning of his career in the entertainment industry.Has supported many causes against racism and racial inequality in the entertainment industry in Mexico.Is a fan of Mexican actor Noé Fernandez.

Trivia: A respected actress of the stage, screen, and television, Angela Bassett has been one of the few African-American actresses to break Hollywood's color boundary. She has specialized in playing strong women familiar with adversity and has worked in genres from "chick flick" (Waiting to Exhale) to sci-fi action (Strange Days) to biography (What's Love Got to Do with It?), the last of which featured her in a star-making performance as Tina Turner.Born in New York City on August 16, 1958, Bassett was raised in St. Petersburg, Florida by her mother. Growing up in a household where money was tight, she was taught determination and independence. These values were called into service after an eleventh grade Upward Bound trip to Washington, D.C., when Bassett saw James Earl Jones in a Kennedy Center production of Of Mice and Men. Deciding that acting was her calling, she became involved in a number of local productions in St. Petersburg. She continued to act at Yale University, where she earned a scholarship; after completing a B.A. in African-American studies, she also spent three years at the Yale School of Drama. One of Bassett's mentors at Yale was the drama school's dean, stage director Lloyd Richards, who was so impressed with her talent that he cast her in two of his productions, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Joe Turner's Come and Gone. Although she enjoyed relative success on the stage, Bassett, like other African-American actors, had a difficult time finding roles in television and film.In 1986, Bassett made her screen debut in the cult favorite F/X. Following supporting roles in Kindergarten Cop (1990) and John Sayles' City of Hope (1991), she had her first significant screen role in John Singleton's acclaimed Boyz 'N the Hood, playing a struggling single mother. Two years later, after playing the wife of civil rights leader Malcolm X in Spike Lee's biopic and the Jackson Family matriarch in the made-for-TV The Jacksons: An American Dream, Bassett had her screen breakthrough as Tina Turner in What's Love Got to Do with It?, a performance that earned her a Best Actress Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe. As her newfound status allowed her to expand her range of work, Bassett went on to star in a series of diverse films. In 1995, a foray into futuristic action in Strange Days was complemented by a lead in the successful women's ensemble drama Waiting to Exhale (based on the novel by Terry McMillan), in which Bassett starred alongside Whitney Houston, Lela Rochon, and Loretta Devine. In 1998, she starred as the title character in another McMillan adaptation, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, playing a divorcee whose discontent is ably assuaged by a hunky twenty-year-old (Taye Diggs). The following year, she had a supporting role in Music of the Heart and again tried her hand at action in Supernova, a sci-fi thriller. Starring in former Orson Welles collaborator and blacklisted director John Berry's critically panned swansong Boesman and Lena in 2000, Bassett (along with co-star Danny Glover) earned praise for their sensitive performances as a troubled South African couple striving to seek stability in the face of Apartheid.Her career continued to evolve with a part in The Score in 2001. The next year she executive produced and starred in a biopic about civil rights figure Rosa Parks. She was part of the large ensemble John Sayles brought together for Sunshine State, and co-starred opposite Bernie Mac in the sports comedy Mr. 3000. In 2006 she played the mother in the spelling bee drama Akeelah and the Bee, and she continued to land parts in big-budget blockbusters such as Green Lantern and This Means War.Since 1997, Bassett has been married to actor Courtney B. Vance, whom she had known since their days at Yale.

Trivia: The bewitching Lake Bell was born and raised in New York City, later heading across the state to Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs before making the leap across the pond to transfer to Rose Bruford College in London, England. It was there that she began to get her acting feet wet, appearing in numerous stage productions including The Pentecost and The Seagull. Bell returned to the States to begin her onscreen career, appearing on two episodes of the long-running drama ER and alongside Jeff Goldblum in the TV movie War Stories. In 2004, she took on the recurring role of Sally Heep on The Practice. When that series was canceled, she continued the role on its spin-off, Boston Legal, and stayed with the show as a regular until 2006. Bell also appeared as a main cast member on the shortlived series Miss Match and Surface before making the transition to the big screen. In 2008, she played a woman being haunted by the ghost of her boyfriend's ex-fiancée in Over Her Dead Body, alongside Paul Rudd and Eva Longoria Parker. In the years to come, Bell would maintain her position as a successful actress, appearing in movies like No Strings Attached, and movies like How to Make it in America and Childrens Hospital. She also stepped behind the camera, writing and directing the comedy In a World....

Trivia: Hampshire, England native Martin Freeman can be seen in a variety of television, theater, and radio productions, though he is probably best known for his role as Tim Canterbury in the BBC's award-winning sitcom The Office, and as everyman Arthur Dent in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005). Freeman's credits also include the British police comedy Hot Fuzz, a brief appearance in Shaun of the Dead, and the lead role in director Gavin Claxton's The All Together. In addition to his comedy roles, Freeman has turned in a number of dramatic performances, including a turn as Lord Shaftesbury in Charles II: The Power & the Passion, a 2003 BBC historical drama, and the legendary painter Rembrandt in Nightwatching (2007). In 2010 he had a hit on the small screen playing Dr. Watson to Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock, and two years later he took the pivotal role of Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Hobbit.

Trivia: Daughter of Ghanaian parents.Her parents separated before she was born, and was raised by her mother.Studied at Prima del Teatro and Theatre Royal Stratford East.Performed in poetry open mics under the name Michaela The Poet.Playwright Ché Walker encouraged her to study acting.Wore a Kente cloth dress designned by her mother to attend the 2016 BAFTA Awards.

Trivia: Character actor Richard Schiff has done prolific work on both the large and small screens, and has appeared in films ranging from Seven (1995) to Living Out Loud (1998). Appearing as a cross between Wallace Shawn and Kevin Spacey, Schiff, a native of the East Coast, began his career as a stage director in New York. After founding and serving as the artistic director of the Manhattan Repertory Theatre and directing a number of on- and off-Broadway productions, he realized that he wanted to act. As such, Schiff began performing on both the stage and in independent films, then moved to Los Angeles so as to better pursue an acting career. He continued to work in the theatre, joining Tim Robbins' Actors Gang, and gradually broke into film. Appearances in such films as Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1992), the Coen Brothers' The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), and Steven Spielberg's The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) helped to put Schiff on the map as a character actor and led to substantial roles in Living Out Loud, which cast him as Danny De Vito's brother, and Dr. Dolittle (1998), in which he played one of Eddie Murphy's fellow men of medicine.Schiff also continued to do a great deal of work on television, appearing in shows ranging from Ally McBeal to E.R. In 2000, he joined the cast of the acclaimed NBC series The West Wing, playing the Chief Press Advisor to the President (Martin Sheen). That same year, he received a Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Emmy nomination for his portrayal. In the years to come, Schiff would remain active on screen, appearing on TV series like Past Life, The Cape, and House of Lies.

Trivia: Spent her childhood in Essen, Germany attending elementary school and high school there. Was inspired to become a performer at age 12 after watching a production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe rock musical Starlight Express. Made her professional screen acting debut playing Silke in the 2001 Dutch motion picture hit Ik ook van Jou. Some of the many musicals in which she has performed include Cats, West Side Story, Beauty and the Beast, Evita, Chicago and The Lion King. Is fluent in English, German and Dutch. Is a passionate martial artist skilled in Tai Chi Chen, Tai Chi Yang, Qi Gong and Shaolin Kung Fu.

Trivia: Took tap-dancing lessons as a youngster. Modelled for Modell's Sporting Goods and Toys"R"Us. Appeared in Pleasure P's 2008 music video for "Did You Wrong." Provided the voice of Jace in the video game Gears of War 3. Was homeschooled but was allowed to play on the basketball team at New Jersey's Newark Arts High School. Once received a $40,000 royalty check that was supposed to be sent to NBA great Michael Jordan, who starred in Space Jam. The catchphrase "Where's Wallace?", a reference to his teen drug-dealer role in HBO's The Wire, became popular among fans of the series. His middle name, Bakari, is Swahili and means "of noble promise."

Trivia: Is of Ugandan descent. Was part of the cast for the first two series of Skins, and is also credited as a writer on two episodes. Performed and recorded a parody of Boy Better Know song "Too Many Men" with Jason Lewis. Won a special Evening Standard Award in 2010 for his work in Sucker Punch at the Royal Court Theatre in London. Was named one of BAFTA's Brits to Watch in 2011. Was selected for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab in 2016.