Trivia: Hailed by many critics as one of the most brilliant and versatile actors of his generation, Robert Downey Jr. chalked up a formidable onscreen track record that quickly launched the young thesp into the stratosphere. Although, for a time, Downey's stormy offscreen life and personal problems threatened to challenge his public image, he quickly bounced back and overcame these setbacks, with a continued array of impressive roles on the big and small screens that never sacrificed his audience appeal or affability.The son of underground filmmaker Robert Downey, Downey Jr. was born in New York City on April 4, 1965. He made his first onscreen appearance at the age of five, as a puppy in his father's film Pound (1970). Between 1972 and 1990, he made cameo appearances in five more of his father's films. The actor's first significant role, in 1983's Baby, It's You, largely ended up on the cutting-room floor; it wasn't until two years later that he began landing more substantial parts, first as a one-season cast member on Saturday Night Live and then in the comedy Weird Science. In 1987, he landed plum roles in two films that capitalized on the Brat Pack phenomenon, James Toback's The Pick-Up Artist, (opposite Molly Ringwald), and Less Than Zero, for which he won acclaim playing cocaine addict Julian Wells.Through it all, Downey cultivated an enviable instinct for role (and script) selection. His turns in Emile Ardolino's classy reincarnation fantasy Chances Are (1989), Michael Hoffman's Soapdish (1992), Robert Altman's Short Cuts (as the Iago-like Hollywood makeup artist Bill Bush), and Richard Loncraine's Richard III (1995) wowed viewers around the world, and often, on those rare occasions when Downey did choose substandard material, such as the lead in Richard Attenborough's deeply flawed Chaplin (1992), or an Australian media parasite in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers (1994), his performance redeemed it. In fact, critics deemed Downey's portrayal as one of the only worthwhile elements in the Chaplin biopic, and it earned the thesp a Best Actor Oscar nomination, as well as Golden Globe and British Academy Award noms.Around this time, Downey's personal life took a turn for the worse. In June 1996, the LAPD arrested the actor (who had already spent time in three rehabilitation facilities between 1987 and 1996) on counts including drug use, driving under the influence, possession of a concealed weapon, and possession of illegal substances, a development which struck many as ironic, given his star-making performance years prior in Less than Zero. A month after this arrest, police found Downey Jr. unconscious on a neighbor's lawn, under the influence of a controlled substance, and authorities again incarcerated him, taking him -- this time -- to a rehab center. A third arrest soon followed, as did another stint in rehab. His stay in rehab didn't last long, as he walked out, thereby violating the conditions of his bail. More arrests and complications followed -- in fact, the actor had to be released from rehab to make James Toback's Two Girls and a Guy -- but he still landed a few screen appearances and won praise for his work in Mike Figgis' One Night Stand (1997) and Altman's otherwise-disappointing Gingerbread Man (1998). In addition, he starred in one of his father's films, the offbeat Hugo Pool (1997). In 1999, he had three films out in theaters: Friends and Lovers, Bowfinger, and In Dreams. He delivered a particularly chilling performance in the latter, as longhaired psychopathic child murderer Vivian Thompson, that arguably ranked with his finest work. But Downey's problems caught up with him again that same year, when he was re-arrested and sentenced to 12 months in a state penitentiary. These complications led to the actor's removal from the cast of the summer 2001 Julia Roberts/Billy Crystal comedy America's Sweethearts and his removal from a stage production of longtime friend Mel Gibson's Hamlet, although a memorably manic performance in Curtis Hanson's Wonder Boys made it to the screen in 2000. Downey's decision -- after release -- to pursue television work, with a recurring role on Ally McBeal, marked a brief comeback (he won a 2001 Best TV Series Supporting Actor Golden Globe for the performance). Nevertheless, series creator David E. Kelley and the show's other producers sacked Downey permanently when two additional arrests followed. During this period, Downey also allegedly dated series star Calista Flockhart.In 2002, a Riverside, CA, judge dismissed all counts against Downey. In time, the former addict counseled other celebrity addicts and became something of a spokesperson for rehabilitation. He starred as a hallucination-prone novelist in The Singing Detective in 2003, and while the film didn't achieve mainstream success, critics praised Downey for his interpretation of the role, alongside Oscar winners Adrien Brody and Mel Gibson. The same could be said for Gothika (2003), the psychological thriller that placed him opposite Hollywood heavyweight Halle Berry. In 2004, Downey appeared in Steven Soderbergh's portion of the film Eros.Downey achieved success throughout 2005 with appearances in George Clooney's critically lauded Good Night, and Good Luck -- as one of Ed Murrow's underlings -- and he paired up with Val Kilmer in Shane Black's directorial debut Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. He continued balancing more mainstream fare, such as Disney's Shaggy Dog remake, with challenging films such as Richard Linklater's rotoscoped adaptation A Scanner Darkly. That same year, Downey wrapped production on Hanson's Lucky You, the story of a card shark (Eric Bana) who faces off against his father (Robert Duvall) at the legendary World Series of Poker, while simultaneously attempting to woo a beautiful singer (Drew Barrymore).Downey continued to show his versatility by joining the casts of Zodiac, David Fincher's highly-touted film about the Zodiac Killer, and the Diane Arbus biopic Fur, with Nicole Kidman. A supporting role in Jon Poll's 2007 directorial debut Charlie Bartlett followed. The biggest was yet to come, however, as 2007 found Downey taking on the roles that would make him an even bigger star than he'd been in his youth, as he took on the leading role of sarcastic billionaire and part-time super hero Tony Stark in the big screen adaptation of the comic book Iron Man, as well as self-important actor Kirk Lazarus in the comedy Tropic Thunder. Both films turned out to be not just blockbuster successes at the box office, but breakaway hits with critics as well, and in addition to major praise, the actor also walked away from 2008 with an Oscar nomination for his performance in Tropic Thunder.After Iron Man premiered, Marvel studios decided to move forward with a film empire, and Downey's Tony Stark became the anchor of the series, starring in his own Iron Man trilogy and appearing in many other films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe like the Avengers (2012) and its sequel Avengers: Age of Ultron (2014). Downey still found time to appear in side projects, like The Judge (2014), which he also produced.

Trivia: A handsome young actor whose breakout role as a popular jock in Not Another Teen Movie found him in high demand, Chris Evans (born June 13th, 1981) followed with a role in the moderately successful comedy The Perfect Score before truly coming into his own before the cameras. Born in Sudbury, MA, Evans spent the majority of his childhood in Boston before his love of acting brought him to New York City the summer after his junior year of high school. It was during this time that the aspiring actor alternated between an internship at a casting office and summer acting classes. With a little help from a contact he made that summer, Evans began auditioning shortly after graduating from high school. A supporting role in the short-lived television series Opposite Sex gave the up-and-comer his first break on the small screen, and a supporting role in the feature The Newcomers preceded an appearance in the popular prime-time drama Boston Public.At this point it appeared as if everything was going smoothly for Evans, but his career would soon shift gears and kick into overdrive thanks to a featured role in the teen comedy parody Not Another Teen Movie. Cast as the popular jock who transforms an ugly duckling into a popular princess, Evans ran with the role and proved a more than capable comic talent. If audiences had wondered where Evans had disappeared to in the following few years, their curiosities were answered when the young actor took a leading role in the moderately successful comedy The Perfect Score. Though to many it may have seemed that Evans career had stalled somewhat, a role as an unsuspecting young man who receives a desperate phone call from a kidnapping victim in the 2004 thriller Cellular offered some relief from the seeming drought of choice roles. A subsequent role in the same year's The Orphan King served as a strong follow-up before hearty roles in such 2005 releases as Fierce People and The Fantastic Four found him leaning ever closer to becoming a true marquee draw.The role of Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four would be somewhat telling of what was in store for the actor -- though not for a few more years. He would appear in projects like the romcom The Nanny Diaries in 2007 and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World in 2010, but none of these breaks compared to the big one he scored in 2011, playing the title role in 2011's Captain America: America's Soldier. He found similar success in 2012's wildly successful The Avengers, for which he reprised his role as Captain America.

Trivia: After 12 years as a struggling actor, Mark Ruffalo became the next big thing with his exceptional performance in the Oscar-nominated independent film You Can Count on Me (2000). Born in Wisconsin on November 22nd, 1967, Ruffalo wanted to be an actor as a child, but he ignored his early aspirations until the end of high school. Not sure what else to do, Ruffalo headed to Los Angeles at 18 "out of desperation" to study the craft at the prestigious Stella Adler Conservatory. After taking classes for several years and evading career decisions, Ruffalo began to venture into L.A. theater and independent film. Along with acting in over 30 plays, as well as writing and directing one of his own theater works, Ruffalo spent the 1990s amassing roles in indie movies, beginning with A Gift From Heaven (1994). Working mostly in comedies, Ruffalo appeared in The Last Big Thing (1996) and alongside comic character actor stalwarts Steve Zahn and Paul Giamatti in Safe Men (1998); he also starred as an artist with love problems in the romantic comedy Life/Drawing (1999). Trying his hand at screenwriting, Ruffalo penned Slamdance success The Destiny of Marty Fine (1996). Two potentially higher-profile films, the disco period film 54 (1998) and Ang Lee's Civil War epic Ride With the Devil (1999), failed to make a positive impression on critics and audiences.Ruffalo's luck began to change, however, when he was cast in an off-Broadway production of This Is Our Youth. Not only did he win an acting award, but Ruffalo also got to know the playwright, Kenneth Lonergan. Despite his non-resemblance to future onscreen sister Laura Linney, Ruffalo talked Lonergan into auditioning him for the role of Linney's brother in Lonergan's first film, You Can Count on Me. Well-matched in familial chemistry, Ruffalo's self-destructive, irresponsible, sensitive Terry meshed perfectly with Linney's uptight Sammy and her sheltered son, Rudy (Rory Culkin), creating a deeply felt portrait of troubled yet strong family bonds. Earning raves for its nuanced performances as well as sharp writing, You Can Count on Me garnered Ruffalo the Montreal Film Festival's Best Actor prize and talk of an Oscar nod. Though he didn't get the nomination, Ruffalo swiftly moved up the Hollywood ranks, starring as an imprisoned military pilot caught between Robert Redford and James Gandolfini in The Last Castle (2001), and as a soldier in John Woo's WWII saga Windtalkers (2001).Ruffalo's ascent to stardom was temporarily sidetracked, however, when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor while filming The Last Castle in 2000. Forced to drop out of the Joaquin Phoenix role in M. Night Shyamalan's summer hit Signs (2002), Ruffalo had surgery and spent months rehabilitating from the procedure. Having made a full recovery, Ruffalo returned to work.After Ruffalo appeared as Gwyneth Paltrow's boyfriend in the woeful flop View From the Top (2003), his lead performance as the male axis of a complicated love triangle in the indie film XX/XY (2003) garnered far more enthusiastic critical kudos than the movie itself. Ruffalo also stayed firmly within the independent cinema realm, co-starring as terminally ill Sarah Polley's lover in the drama My Life Without Me (2003). Ruffalo subsequently scored roles in two higher-profile, if still offbeat, Hollywood projects. In Jane Campion's long-gestating adaptation of erotic thriller In the Cut (2003), Ruffalo co-starred as a homicide detective who becomes involved with Meg Ryan's lonely New York professor.2004 started off with a bang for Ruffalo when We Don't Live Here Anymore, a film he both starred in and produced, received the top dramatic prize at the Sundance Film Festival. The film saw the actor teamed with Laura Dern, Peter Krause, and Naomi Watts and traced the crumbling of four characters' friendships and marriages when two of them engage in an affair. Ruffalo's next two roles would be increasingly lighter by comparison. In the Charlie Kaufman-scripted brain twister The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, he played a goofy scientist who attempts to erase Jim Carrey's memories of Kate Winslet. He then starred opposite Jennifer Garner in the romantic comedy 13 Going on 30.Three for three with the critics in 2004, Ruffalo's next project of the year was not only met with positive reviews but was a box-office winner as well. In Michael Mann's Collateral, Ruffalo played the lawman trying to track down a menacing hitman played by Tom Cruise as the hired gun terrorizes cabdriver Jamie Foxx.Ruffalo attempted to capture a mass audience with a pair of big-budget romantic comedies in 2005. Sadly, both Just Like Heaven and Rumor Has It... failed to garner large box office, even though Ruffalo was fine in both efforts. The next year, he appeared in Kenneth Lonergan's second directorial feature, Margaret, and he was part of the powerhouse cast for Steven Zaillian's remake All the King's Men, which included Sean Penn, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, and Anthony Hopkins. While All the King's Men, too, failed to gain a solid following -- an especially shocking surprise given the powerhouse cast on display in the film -- the verdict on Margaret had yet to be decided when, in early 2007, Ruffalo appeared onscreen opposite Robert Downey Jr. and Jake Gyllenhaal in director David Fincher's Zodiac. Ruffalo was praised for his performance as a South Boston native struggling to end the cycle of poverty and crime in 2008's crime drama What Doesn't Kill You, and delivered a solid supporting performance in the complex romantic comedy The Brothers Bloom.Ruffalo's star would grow exponentially throughout the late 2000s and beyond after he delivered solid performances in a series of critically acclaimed features including a turn as partner to Detective Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) in Martin Scorsese's haunting adaptation of author Dennis Lehane's thriller Shutter Island. The actor then took over the role of the Hulk in The Avengers, a 2012 summer blockbuster from director Joss Whedon.He was part of the ensemble in the box office hit Now You See Me in 2013, and enjoyed stellar reviews in the made-for-HBO drama The Normal Heart in 2014. That same year Ruffalo scored a Best Supporting Actor nomination from the Academy for his role in Foxcatcher, playing the champion wrestler David Schultz. In 2015, he reprised his role in the Avengers sequel, and earned a third Oscar nomination for his work in Spotlight.

Trivia: Australian actor Chris Hemsworth became a favorite face in his native country when he wasn't yet a teenager, appearing on Australian TV shows like Neighbours and Home and Away in the early 2000s. He would go on to cross the pond, appearing in American movies like 2009's Star Trek, in which he played George Kirk. His next big splash in Hollywood would come in the years to follow, as he was cast as Thor in the big screen adaptations of The Avengers and Thor. The Avengers turned out to be a mega-smash, lending even more luster to his other films from that year including Snow White and the Huntsman and the remake of Red Dawn. In 2013, he played British race car driver James Hunt in Rush, before picking up the hammer again in Thor: The Dark World.

Trivia: Universally known as one of the sexiest women in Hollywood, Scarlett Johansson has actually been acting professionally since the age of eight. A native of New York City, where she was born on November 22, 1984, Johansson was raised -- along with her twin brother -- as the youngest of four children, and she developed an interest in acting at the age of three. After enrolling in classes at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute for Young People, she made her stage debut opposite Ethan Hawke in the off-Broadway production of Sophistry. Her film debut followed in 1994, when she had a supporting role in North, and she subsequently appeared in the little-seen Just Cause (1995) and If Lucy Fell (1996). Johansson had her first significant screen breakthrough with her role as one of two orphaned teenaged sisters in Manny & Lo (1996), a coming-of-age drama directed by Lisa Krueger. Johansson, who shared the screen with Aleksa Palladino and Mary Kay Place, earned an Independent Spirit Award Best Actress nomination for her work in the film, and she soon found herself being tapped by Robert Redford to star as Kristin Scott Thomas' daughter in The Horse Whisperer (1998). Although the film met with a very mixed reception, Johansson was widely praised for her portrayal of a girl who loses her leg and her best friend in a horrific accident.In 2000, the actress signed on to play one of the heroines (alongside Thora Birch) of Terry Zwigoff's screen adaptation of Ghost World, Daniel Clowes' celebrated comic about the adventures of two teen girls grappling with post-high school life. That same year, she starred in American Rhapsody, in which she portrayed a young girl who escapes communist Hungary in the 1950s and travels to the U.S.Though she would take a brief detour into camp with the 2002 giant spider fiasco Eight Legged Freaks, the respect Johansson had gained in the film industry as a result of her previous dramatic roles found the young actress in high demand among indie directors while quickly catching the eye of the Hollywood elite. With Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation, Johansson's touching performance as a young girl who strikes a tentative friendship with a washed-up American actor (memorably portrayed by Bill Murray) left no doubts regarding her dramatic skills, and although a Best Actress Oscar nomination eluded her, she received a boatload of nods from critics' groups and the Golden Globes. The rising starlet was soon cast in the lead of such subsequent films as The Girl with the Pearl Earring (2003) and The Perfect Score (2003).After sticking to form in 2004 with roles in In Good Company and A Love Song for Bobby Long, Johansson took her first stab at a lead role in a big budget Hollywood flick, starring opposite Ewan MacGregor in Michael Bay's futuristic actioner The Island. While the picture was panned by critics and avoided by audiences, it did nothing to slow the young star down. She closed out the year by receiving virtually unanimous praise for her performance in Woody Allen's Match Point.She immediately reteamed with Allen, who was full of praise for the young actress after their first collaboration, for the supernatural comedy/murder mystery Scoop in 2006. Johansson would spend the next several years enjoying her status as an A-list actress, appearing in a wide range of projects, like The Nanny Diaries and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. In 2012, she joined The Avengers as Natasha Romanoff, playing the character in several more films in the series.

Trivia: A former die-hard theater actor who made a comfortable transition to screens both big and small in the late '90s, Jeremy Renner drew praise and courted controversy with his portrayal of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. A California native, Renner discovered his love for acting while drifting through various majors at college. He dabbled in computer science and criminology before taking an acting class, and soon decided to double major in theater and psychology, the stage offering the struggling student a healthy outlet for his sometimes bottled emotions. After graduation, the aspiring actor moved to Los Angeles in hopes of finding work. A starring role in the play Search and Destroy (which he also co-directed) earned Renner positive notice from critics, and, in 1995, he made his feature debut in the critically panned gross-out comedy National Lampoon's Senior Trip. Numerous film and television supporting roles followed, including a 1999 guest-starring appearance as a former puritan turned menacing vampire on the popular WB series Angel. Three years later, and despite bearing almost no physical resemblance to the titular character, Renner's chillingly low-key performance as a true-life murderer and cannibal in the biopic Dahmer earned him an Independent Spirit Award Best Actor nomination. In 2003, he received more exposure in a role opposite Colin Farrell in the big-budget action thriller S.W.A.T. After taking the lead as an institutionalized member of the Aryan Nation in Neo Ned, he then stepped before the camera for Italian actress/director Asia Argento in J.T. LeRoy's 2004 screen adaptation of his story collection The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things.Renner scored big roles in the drama North Country and the zombie sequel 28 Weeks Later before heading up the quirky TV cop show The Unusuals, which lasted only one season on ABC. However, his work in Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker, as a soldier who specializes in disarming IED's in Iraq, brought him stellar reviews and a number of industry accolades including Best Actor nominations from The Screen Actors Guild, the Independent Spirit Awards, and the Academy. He aslo won that very same award from numerous critics groups.Two years later he returned to the Oscar race for his supporting turn as Ben Affleck's best frined in The Town. He would follow that up with a pair of giant box office hits, co-starring opposite Tom Cruise in the fourth Mission: Impossible movie, and then taking the part of Hawkeye in The Avengers in 2012. That same year he would take over the part of Jason Bourne in The Bourne Legacy, and he lent his voice to the animated film Ice Age: Continental Drift. He appeared in the Academy Award-nominated American Hustle in 2013 and then filled his plate with sequels like The Avengers: Age of Ultron and Mission: Impossible 5.

Trivia: After spending the 1980s playing a series of drug addict and character parts, Samuel L. Jackson emerged in the 1990s as one of the most prominent and well-respected actors in Hollywood. Work on a number of projects, both high-profile and low-key, has given Jackson ample opportunity to display an ability marked by both remarkable versatility and smooth intelligence.Born December 21, 1948, in Washington, D.C., Jackson was raised by his mother and grandparents in Chattanooga, TN. He attended Atlanta's Morehouse College, where he was co-founder of Atlanta's black-oriented Just Us Theater (the name of the company was taken from a famous Richard Pryor routine). Jackson arrived in New York in 1977, beginning what was to be a prolific career in film, television, and on the stage. After a plethora of character roles of varying sizes, Jackson was discovered by the public in the role of the hero's tempestuous, drug-addict brother in 1991's Jungle Fever, directed by another Morehouse College alumnus, Spike Lee. Jungle Fever won Jackson a special acting prize at the Cannes Film Festival and thereafter his career soared. Confronted with sudden celebrity, Jackson stayed grounded by continuing to live in the Harlem brownstone where he'd resided since his stage days. 1994 was a particularly felicitous year for Jackson; while his appearances in Jurassic Park (1993) and Menace II Society (1993) were still being seen in second-run houses, he co-starred with John Travolta as a mercurial hit man in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, a performance that earned him an Oscar nomination. His portrayal of an embittered father in the more low-key Fresh earned him additional acclaim. The following year, Jackson landed third billing in the big-budget Die Hard With a Vengeance and also starred in the adoption drama Losing Isaiah. His versatility was put on further display in 1996 with the release of five very different films: The Long Kiss Goodnight, a thriller in which he co-starred with Geena Davis as a private detective; an adaptation of John Grisham's A Time to Kill, which featured him as an enraged father driven to murder; Steve Buscemi's independent Trees Lounge; The Great White Hype, a boxing satire in which the actor played a flamboyant boxing promoter; and Hard Eight, the directorial debut of Paul Thomas Anderson.After the relative quiet of 1997, which saw Jackson again collaborate with Tarantino in the critically acclaimed Jackie Brown and play a philandering father in the similarly acclaimed Eve's Bayou (which also marked his debut as a producer), the actor lent his talents to a string of big-budget affairs (an exception being the 1998 Canadian film The Red Violin). Aside from an unbilled cameo in Out of Sight (1998), Jackson was featured in leading roles in The Negotiator (1998), Sphere (1998), and Deep Blue Sea (1999). His prominence in these films added confirmation of his complete transition from secondary actor to leading man, something that was further cemented by a coveted role in what was perhaps the most anticipated film of the decade, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), the first prequel to George Lucas' Star Wars trilogy. Jackson followed through on his leading man potential with a popular remake of Gordon Parks' seminal 1971 blaxploitation flick Shaft. Despite highly publicized squabbling between Jackson and director John Singleton, the film was a successful blend of homage, irony, and action; it became one of the rare character-driven hits in the special effects-laden summer of 2000.From hard-case Shaft to fragile as glass, Jackson once again hoodwinked audiences by playing against his usual super-bad persona in director M. Night Shyamalan's eagerly anticipated follow-up to The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable (2000). In his role as Bruce Willis' brittle, frail antithesis, Jackson proved that though he can talk trash and break heads with the best of them, he's always compelling to watch no matter what the role may be. Next taking a rare lead as a formerly successful pianist turned schizophrenic on the trail of a killer in the little-seen The Caveman's Valentine, Jackson turned in yet another compelling and sympathetic performance. Following an instance of road rage opposite Ben Affleck in Changing Lanes (2002), Jackson stirred film geek controversy upon wielding a purple lightsaber in the eagerly anticipated Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones. Despite rumors that the color of the lightsaber may have had some sort of mythical undertone, Jackson laughingly assured fans that it was a simple matter of his suggesting to Lucas that a purple lightsaber would simply "look cool," though he was admittedly surprised to see that Lucas had obliged him Jackson eventually saw the final print. A few short months later filmgoers would find Jackson recruiting a muscle-bound Vin Diesel for a dangerous secret mission in the spy thriller XXX.Jackson reprised his long-standing role as Mace Windu in the last segment of George Lucas's Star Wars franchise to be produced, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). It (unsurprisingly) grossed almost four hundred million dollars, and became that rare box-office blockbuster to also score favorably (if not unanimously) with critics; no less than Roger Ebert proclaimed it "spectacular." Jackson co-headlined 2005's crime comedy The Man alongside Eugene Levy and 2006's Joe Roth mystery Freedomland with Julianne Moore and Edie Falco, but his most hotly-anticipated release at the time of this writing is August 2006's Snakes on a Plane, a by-the-throat thriller about an assassin who unleashes a crate full of vipers onto a aircraft full of innocent (and understandably terrified) civilians. Produced by New Line Cinema on a somewhat low budget, the film continues to draw widespread buzz that anticipates cult status. Black Snake Moan, directed by Craig Brewer (Hustle and Flow) dramatizes the relationship between a small-town girl (Christina Ricci) and a blues player (Jackson). The picture is slated for release in September 2006 with Jackson's Shaft collaborator, John Singleton, producing.Jackson would spend the ensuing years appearing in a number of films, like Home of the Brave, Resurrecting the Champ, Lakeview Terrace, Django Unchained, and the Marvel superhero franchise films like Thor, Iron Man, and The Avengers, playing superhero wrangler Nick Fury.

Trivia: Often noted for his comment that he enjoys working in all of his films -- as long as he doesn't have to see any of them -- actor James Spader (born February 2nd, 1960) may have missed out on seeing a few good performances in some pretty memorable films.Though descended from a long line of scholars and professors, Spader, in ironic contrast to his theatrical image as the definitive terminal yuppie, dropped out of Phillips Andover prep school to pursue a career as an actor. Forsaking his formal education, Spader instead decided to focus his attention on acting by studying at the Michael Chekhov school in New York, while also working a variety of odd jobs to support himself until he found success as a thespian. Making his debut in the 1978 comedy Team Mates, Spader began the slow process of gaining more frequent work with roles of increasing substance. Spader's first role came in Franco Zeffirelli's soft-core teen melodrama Endless Love (1981) (also notable as the debut of another young unknown actor named Tom Cruise. After a brief, mid-'80s stint in teen exploitation including Tuff Turf and The New Kids (both 1985), Spader gained mainstream recognition with his first fore in yuppiedom as Molly Ringwald's insincere suitor in Pretty in Pink (1986). Over the course of the next few years, Spader would refine his slimy persona to perfection in Wall Street (1987) and Less Than Zero (1987), and take an interesting turn as a possible serial killer in the Jack the Ripper thriller Jack's Back (1988), but it was the end of the decade that brought the defining role in Spader's career.Though his role in independent filmmaker Steven Soderbergh's voyeurism-obsessed sex, lies and videotape did little to propel his persona into more likeable territories, it showed an actor with considerable talent who wasn't afraid to take risks, winning him the Best Actor award at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. Spader's dark portrayal of the ominously seductive videophile struck a chord in audiences and critics alike and turned him into a household name. The '90s found Spader expanding his yuppie image into more sympathetic territory with roles in White Palace and Bad Influence (both 1990), and he continued his likeable trend in the first of the mega-budget Dean Devlin/Roland Emmerich collaborations, Stargate (1994), before reverting back as Jack Nicholson's manipulative lycanthropic rival in Mike Nichols' imaginative satire Wolf (1994). Controversy soon followed with David Cronenberg's widely panned study of fetishistic alienation Crash (1996), and Spader has worked steadily since, with roles in Supernova (2000) and Speaking of Sex (2001). With the release of Secretary (2002), Spader once again found himself in the favor of art house audiences for his portrayal of a demanding lawyer who hires a recently released mental patient for the eponimous duty.Spader found success on the small screen once again for his work on Boston Legal from 2004 to 2008 as the character of Alan Moore, a vehemently moral attorney who resorts to unethical methods during his pursuit of justice (a role that would win the actor two Emmys). Spader made a guest appearance on an episode of The Office, and returned to the sitcom in 2011 as part of the main cast.

Trivia: The sister of the famous twins Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen, Elizabeth Olsen learned the ropes of acting by hanging around the set of Full House. She also opted to learn her craft in a structured setting, enrolling at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and performing with the Atlantic Theater Company. Eventually turning her attention to on-camera acting, Olsen made waves with her film debut, playing a woman attempting a normal life after living in a cult in the 2011 drama Martha Marcy May Marlene. The performance earned the actress much acclaim as well as numerous award nominations, and she followed its success with a role alongside Robert De Niro and Sigourney Weaver in Red Lights, and by taking the lead in the America remake of Silent House. In 2013, Olsen appeared in the Beat Generation bio-pic Kill Your Darlings, playing Jack Kerouac's first wife, Edie; she also starred in Oldboy, the American remake of the 2003 film of the same name. The following year, she starred in the big-budget reboot of Godzilla. The film was a success, but it was Olsen's cameo appearance in another film that year that caused bigger waves. In a post-credit scene in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Olsen was revealed to be the Scarlet Witch, setting up her starring role in 2015's Avengers: The Age of Ultron.

Trivia: Began acting on stage at age 6; appeared in Macbeth in 1999 and in Arthur Miller's All My Sons a year later. Made TV debut in 2001 in the BBC/A&E movie Armadillo and was a regular on the six-part BBC teen drama Feather Boy. Made theatrical-film debut in the title roles of the 2002 family drama Tom & Thomas; other major film credits include The Illusionist and the coming-of-age comedy-drama Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. Stars as John Lennon in the 2009 film Nowhere Boy, which focuses on the early life of the rock icon; began a relationship with the film's director, Sam Taylor-Wood, who is 23 years his senior.

Trivia: Originally trained as an Olympic swimmer, German actor Thomas Kretschmann began his career in the theater as part of the Schiller Ensemble in Berlin. In 1989, he started working steadily in German-language theater productions, television, and film. He moved to Vienna, Austria, in 1991 and won the Max Ophül prize for Best Young Actor. He broke into international feature films with the German war drama Stalingrad and the Italian thriller The Stendhal Syndrome. At this point, he was developing a knack for playing authority figures and other tough guys in action-packed situations. In addition to his numerous other appearances in European films, he gained pivotal roles in Coppia Omicida, Tease, and the American film Total Reality. In 2000, Hollywood was introduced to Kretschmann with the submarine adventure U-571 and the action thriller Blade II. Though he relocated to Hollywood, he continued working in international features for the historical epic I cavalieri che fecero l'impresa as well as Roman Polanski's The Pianist. Other projects for 2004 included a starring role in the romance Head in the Clouds and a return to submarine action for In Enemy Hands.

Trivia: A former Westminster Bridge busker who shot to fame in such stateside efforts as A Knight's Tale and A Beautiful Mind (both 2001), actor Paul Bettany's willingness to challenge himself by jumping genres has given him rare exposure on both sides of the Atlantic. Born in London, Bettany was raised in Brookmans Park, Hertfordshire from age nine. Introduced to acting by his father (a teacher and ex-actor who gave up the stage for the classroom) and fueled by a love of cinema (Casablanca [1942] and Brief Encounter [1945] provided Bettany with early inspiration), the aspiring actor would subsequently pursue studies at London's Drama Center. Though the popular misconception that he was raised in a "theater family" continues to shadow the actor, Bettany has publicly stated that, by the time he was around, his father was working as a teacher and his mother's days as a singer were long behind her. Following his stage debut in the West End production of An Inspector Calls, it wasn't long before Bettany made his television debut in the U.K. mystery series Wycliffe in 1994; and his feature debut in 1997's harrowing war drama Bent showed much promise. Alternating between film and television work with such efforts as The Land Girls (1997) and Coming Home (1998) in the following years, Bettany continued to climb the credits until his breakthrough performance in 2000's Gangster No. 1. Though Bettany would return to the role of supporting player for Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang) (2000), that same year's depraved black comedy Dead Babies once again found him taking the lead. The following year would introduce the talented young actor to American audiences in the adventure comedy A Knight's Tale, as well as in the biopic A Beautiful Mind, in which he played the college roommate of troubled mathematician John Nash (Russell Crowe). In addition to providing him with an introduction to future wife Jennifer Connelly (the couple would wed in January of 2003), the film made an impact with American audiences. That same year Bettany appearred opposite Willem Dafoe in The Reckoning, and a supporting performance in director Lars von Trier's 2003 thriller Dogville kept audiences hungering for more. Later re-teaming with A Beautiful Mind co-star Crowe for director Peter Weir's Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Bettany would next make his first foray into romantic comedy territory opposite Kirsten Dunst in Wimbledon. Action/adventure roles would prove to be a bread and butter for Bettany as the 2000's continued, with roles in Firewall, The Da Vinci Code, Inkheart, The Tourist, Priest, and even a turn as the voice of Jarvis in Iron Man (a role he would return to for subsuquent sequels, as well as The Avengers).

Trivia: A Swedish actor who has become known to American audiences thanks to roles in Breaking the Waves and Good Will Hunting, Stellan Skarsgård is one of Scandinavia's best-known and most well-respected performers. Renowned for giving measured characterizations that draw their strength from a delicate complexity, Skarsgård is one of those rare actors who is able to do strong work regardless of the quality of the material he is in, displaying the sort of quiet fortitude that allows him to survive even the worst screen fiascos.Born in Gothenburg on June 13, 1951, Skarsgård became a star in his country, when, as a teenager, he was cast on the TV series Bombi Bitt och jag. After his film debut in 1972, he did years of stage work with Stockholm's Royal Dramatic and made a number of dramas with the director Hans Alfredson, the most notable of which, Den Enfaldige Mordaren, featured Skarsgård in a Silver Berlin Bear-winning performance as a misunderstood man with a deformity. In 1988, Skarsgård got a tentative introduction to a transatlantic audience with a small role in Philip Kaufman's The Unbearable Lightness of Being; two years later, he had a similarly minor role in another international hit, The Hunt for Red October.Skarsgård's true international breakthrough came courtesy of his role as Emily Watson's husband in Lars Von Trier's highly acclaimed Breaking the Waves (1996). The actor more than held his own opposite Watson, who gave one of the year's most lauded performances, and he found previously unimagined opportunities available to him in Hollywood. In 1997, he starred as a frustrated mathematician in Gus Van Sant's award-winning Good Will Hunting and was also featured in Steven Spielberg's Amistad; his work in both films culminated in an Outstanding European Achievement in World Cinema award from the European Film Academy. Later that same year, the actor appeared in My Son the Fanatic as a German businessman with the unfortunate surname of Schitz -- he also gave a stellar portrayal of a detective who slowly loses his mind while investigating a murder in the Norwegian film Insomnia.A prolific actor, Skarsgård appeared in a number of small ambitious projects in 2000, including Passion of Mind with Demi Moore, Mike Figgis' Time Code, and Harlan County War. The following year, while he showed up in the poorly-received thriller The Glass House, Skarsgård gained critical praise for his performance in Taking Sides.2003 saw Skarsgård taking a role in Lars von Trier's highly anticipated Dogville and signing on for the oft-plagued The Exorcist: The Beginning. After several debacles, the prequel to the horror classic finally found its way to movie theaters in 2004, the same year the actor costarred in Antoine Fuqua's King Arthur. After going toe-to-toe with the Devil himself in 2005's Exorcist: The Beginning (as well as Paul Schrader's alternate cut Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist), Skarsgård joined the crew of the Flying Dutchman in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and its follow-up Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and went medieval in the Swedism Arn films. A chilling turn as the ruthless warden in the fact-based King of Devil's Island showed a downright malevolent side to Skarsgård, though it was subsequent roles in the Marvel Comics features Thor and the Avengers, as well as a turn as the mysterious Martin Vanger in David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, that offered the veteran actor the most international exposure in the wake of his voyage on the high seas.

Trivia: Born April 3rd, 1982, model-turned-actress Cobie Smulders grew up in her native British Columbia and commuted regularly from Vancouver to Los Angeles while looking for assignments. Smulders reportedly secured a work visa thanks to her first major role: that of Robin, the charming TV reporter whom lead character Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) falls in love with on their very first date, on the sitcom How I Met Your Mother (2005). Before that, she had been a regular on the adventure series Veritas: The Quest and had appeared several times on The L Word (both series were shot in Canada). Her resumé also includes minor feature appearances in the Chris Klein comedy The Long Weekend (2004, as Ellen) and the Rock-headlined actioner Walking Tall (2004, as the Exotic Beauty). The actress continued to find success with How I Met Your Mother, and appeared as Agent Maria Hill in 2012's blockbuster The Avengers.

Trivia: An acclaimed character actor of the stage, screen, and television, Don Cheadle often manages to steal most of the scenes in which he appears. That is no small feat, for the slender African-American actor has, at first glance, a rather unassuming physical presence, particularly when compared to some of his big-name co-stars. An actor whose style compliments rather than overshadows the performances of those around him, Cheadle stands out for his rare ability to bring a laid-back intensity and subtle charisma to his roles.A native of Kansas City, MO, Cheadle was born on November 29, 1964, to a psychologist father and bank manager mother. During his early childhood, his family moved to Denver and then Nebraska. One thing that remained a constant in Cheadle's childhood was his interest in performing, which began around the age of five. In addition to acting, he was interested in jazz music and his parents supported both of these endeavors. By the time he graduated from high school, he had scholarships from both music and acting schools; choosing the latter, he attended the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia. Following graduation, Cheadle made his film debut with a small role as a hamburger server in Moving Violations (1985). He honed his acting skills as a guest star on television series ranging from Hill Street Blues to Night Court, and, in 1992, he landed a regular role as a fussy hotel manager on The Golden Palace. Although the show faltered after only one season, Cheadle landed on his feet, subsequently snagging the plum role of earnest district attorney John Littleton on Picket Fences (1993-1995). While he was building a career on television, Cheadle was also earning a reputation in feature films. He first made an impression on audiences with his lead role in Hamburger Hill (1987), and, in 1994, he had his true screen breakthrough portraying Denzel Washington's best friend in Devil in a Blue Dress. So good was his performance -- which earned him a number of film critics awards -- that many felt an Oscar nomination was inevitable; when the Academy passed him over, many, including Cheadle, wondered why. However, the actor chalked it up to politics and got on with his career, working steadily throughout the remainder of the decade. 1997 proved to be a big year for him: he co-starred in three major films, Volcano, Boogie Nights, and John Singleton's Rosewood. He won particular praise for his work in the latter two films, earning nominations for SAG and Image awards.The following year, Cheadle made a triumphant return to television with his portrayal of Sammy Davis Jr. in The Rat Pack, winning an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe award. Also in 1998, he did stellar work in Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight and Warren Beatty's Bulworth, playing a down and dirty ex-con in the former and a drug lord in the latter. Another Emmy nomination followed in 1999, for Cheadle's powerful portrayal of a school teacher sent in to counsel a young man on death row, in A Lesson Before Dying. Cheadle would become something of a fixture in Soderbergh's films, and in fact delivered a stunning performance as a federal drug agent in the director's epic muckraking drama Traffic (2000).Cheadle then turned up in Soderbergh's remake of the Rat Pack classic Ocean's Eleven in 2002.The chasm between Traffic and Ocean's Eleven (not in terms of quality but in terms of intended audience and depth) is instructive; it established a definitive career pattern for Cheadle during the mid-late 2000s. Throughout that period, the gifted actor continually projected versatility by alternating between buttered-popcorn pictures - such as Soderbergh's 2004 and 2007 follow ups to Eleven (Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen) - and more complex, demanding, intelligent material. For example, in 2004 (a particularly vital year for Cheadle) the actor delivered a four-barrelled lead portrayal in the heart-wrenching docudrama Hotel Rwanda. In that politically-tinged, factually-charged account, the actor plays the Rwandan manager of a Kigali hotel, so devastated by the surrounding massacres of his fellow countrymen that he turns the establishment into a clandestine refugee camp. Cheadle justly netted an Oscar nomination for his work. That same year, the thespian held his own against lead Sean Penn (no small feat, that) in the depressing and despairing yet critically acclaimed psychodrama The Assassination of Richard Nixon. Cheadle reserved his most formidable coup, however, for 2005, when he both produced and co-starred (opposite many, many others) in Paul Haggis's difficult ensemble film Crash-a searing, biting meditation on racism and the Best Picture winner of its year. In early 2007, Cheadle paired up with actor Adam Sandler and writer-director Mike Binder for Reign Over Me, a two-character drama about a dentist (Cheadle) reunited with his displaced college roommate (Sandler) after the trauma of 9/11. The picture reeled in generally favorable, if not universally positive, reviews. Later that same year, the actor essayed the lead role in Talk to Me. As directed by Kasi Lemmons, this period drama recreated the life and times of the controversial 1960s convict-cum-shock jock Petey Greene (Cheadle) who rides to fame amid the throes of the civil rights movement and Vietnam-era tumult; many critics tagged the portrayal as definitively Oscar worthy.Cheadle would remain a top star over the coming years, appearing in everything from the kid-friendly Hotel for Dogs to the gritty crime thriller Brooklyn's Finest. Cheadle would also take over the role of Lt. James Rhodes in the Iron Man sequel, replacing Terrence Howard. Cheadle would also find success on the small screen, producing and starring in the critically acclaimed comedy series House of Lies.

Trivia: A Big Easy-born actor who honed his skills at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts before completing his education at Juilliard, Anthony Mackie portrayed ill-fated rapper Tupac Shakur in a stage production of Up Against the Wind before taunting Detroit-based rapper Eminem as a member of the rival rhyming crew in the box-office hit 8 Mile. Subsequently appearing onscreen alongside some of the biggest names in the business, Mackie took the lead as a sperm-donating former biotech executive opposite Ellen Barkin and Ossie Davis in Spike Lee's She Hate Me, and proved that he could even hold his own against such screen legends as Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman with a substantial role in the boxing drama Million Dollar Baby. While it may be on the silver screen that Mackie has courted the majority of fame, the ascending star also appeared on the Broadway stage in high-profile productions of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Drowning Crow.Few actors could dream of a career that advanced as quickly as Mackie's did, and the same year he played leading man in She Hate Me, the then-twenty-five-year-old would earn an Independent Spirit Award nomination for his memorable portrayal of a homeless shelter employee struggling with his cultural and sexual identity in Brother to Brother. Just when it seemed as if Mackie's rigorous work schedule couldn't get any more demanding, the actor would appear in no less than six movies in 2006 including the racially charged kidnapping drama Freedomland, the underground street-ball drama Crossover, and opposite Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox in the fact-based football film We Are Marshall.Firmly established, he played a supporting role in the Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker in 2008, and reprised his role of Tupac Shakur in the Notorious B.I.G. biopic, Notorious (2009). Mackie played a former Black Panther in Night Catches Us (2010) and played a supporting role in The Adjustment Bureau (2011). In 2012, he played the historical figure William H. Johnson, Abraham Lincoln's valet, in the fictionalized (obviously) historical action film, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Mackie joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2014, playing Sam Wilson/Falcon in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and reprised the role in later MCU movies.

Trivia: British actress Hayley Atwell rode to fame on the crest of her role as the female lead in Woody Allen's resonantly English, crime-themed black comedy Cassandra's Dream (2007), then signed for another prestigious assignment -- the lead in Julian Jarrold's period drama Brideshead Revisited (2008), adapted from the seminal novel by Evelyn Waugh. She tried her hand at period drama again with The Duchess, before switching gears with a role in the 2009 remake of The Prisoner for TV. In 2011 she landed her most high-profile success to that point playing the love interest of Steve Rogers in Captain America: The First Avenger.

Trivia: Born in London on September 6, 1972, and raised in the Hackney borough, Elba pursued acting as a high school student at the behest of a drama teacher. Elba paid his dues with many supporting roles on British television, including such series as Bramwell, The Bill, Degrees of Error, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, and The Governor. The actor grew deeply frustrated, however, over the seemingly irrepressible tendency of British casting directors to peg him in supporting roles. "Back in London," he later recalled, "I was always just going to be the best friend, or the crook or the detective on the side." When Elba could take no more of this, he immigrated to the United States. Within a few years, Elba landed a starring role on what would come to be known as one of the best TV series of all time, The Wire.Elba's performance as pusher "Stringer" Bell attained widespread popularity with viewers and helped put Elba on the map. Elba then transitioned into big-screen roles in movies like The Gospel, The Reaping, Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls, 28 Weeks Later, and the Alien prequel Prometheus. Elba also enjoyed more stateside TV success on shows like The Office and Luther.

Trivia: Moved to New Jersey at the age of 5 and lived there for six years before going back to South Korea.Wanted to be a TV anchor, and was inspired by the Kiruna Shin Show on CNN Asia.Worked as an intern reporter in the Korea Times.Started her acting career while she was still in college.Is skilled at tennis.Is an avid fan of judo.

Trivia: Andy Serkis always wanted a future in entertainment. Growing up in Ruslip Manor, England, he visualized himself working behind the scenes in production. Today, he is an impressive British character actor with over 50 stage, television, and film credits, distinguished performances on both Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery!, and a highly coveted role in Peter Jackson's three-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Serkis began his acting career in theater. He has appeared on almost every renowned British stage -- the Royal Court, the Royal Exchange Manchester, the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Hull Truck, Dukes Lancaster, the Nuffield Studio, and Donmar Warehouse -- and in a host of popular plays. His resumé includes performances in King Lear, Othello, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, Faust, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and a star-studded production of Hurly Burly with Kelly MacDonald, Elizabeth McGovern, Rupert Graves, and Stephen Dillane. The actor has fashioned a television career as prolific as his stage work. In 1987, Serkis made his small-screen debut in two episodes of the Rik Mayall vehicle The New Statesman. He then signed on as Sparky Plugs in the BBC series Morris Minor's Marvelous Motors (1989), a comedy about eccentric mechanics that specialize in fixing a type of car that no one in town owns. The next decade saw Serkis acting in several of Britain's heralded miniseries. In 1994, he appeared in the murder-mystery Finney. In 1996, he played Sergeant Corrigan in a television adaptation of Agatha Christie's The Pale Horse. In 1999, he starred in the Mystery! production Touching Evil as a grief counselor who tends to the husbands of women murdered by a brutal serial killer. In 2000, Masterpiece Theatre opened its 30th season with an adaptation of Oliver Twist that featured Serkis as Charles Dickens' terrifying loose cannon, Bill Sykes. That same year, the actor joined the international cast of Hallmark Hall of Fame's Arabian Nights, which included Dougray Scott, Mili Avital, and Rufus Sewell. In between juggling theater and television work, Serkis made his feature-film debut in the thriller Grushko (1993). His big-screen performances include a part in Mike Leigh's Career Girls (1997), a memorable turn as a wacky choreographer in the director's Topsy Turvy (1999), and the portrayal of 18th century English poet John Thelwall in Julian Temple's raucous Pandaemonium (2000). Serkis' most demanding role, however, did not require him to appear onscreen. Serkis supplied the voice and movement for the computer-animated creature Gollum in all three installments of Peter Jackson's trilogy The Lord of the Rings -- The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003). The slithery Gollum, once a naïve hobbit, is driven mad by the force of the ring and displays emotions that range from childlike to menacing. Though Gollum only lurks in the background in the first film, he is of major importance to the rest of the trilogy. Serkis worked closely with technicians from Weta Workshop and Digital to produce an empathetic and palpable representation of Tolkien's character. He performed in a suit covered in reflectors that were tracked by a computer-driven camera. Animation was then superimposed over his movement, producing one of the most realistic computer-generated images in modern cinema. After completing The Lord of the Rings, Serkis quickly returned to the London stage. In the summer of 2001, he starred with Sinead Cusack and Catherine McCormack in the U.K. production of Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind at the Donmar Warehouse. The play was one of the last productions overseen by the Donmar's former artistic director, Oscar winner Sam Mendes. The actor also began filming a WWI film with Billy Elliot's Jamie Bell, and wrote and directed his first short film, Snake. Besides starring his Hurly Burly co-star, Rupert Graves, Snake features Serkis' longtime partner, actress Lorraine Ashbourne. The couple has two children, Sonny and Ruby.In 2005 he served as the human model for Peter Jackson's King Kong. The next year he appeared in The Prestige, and the year after that he played a convicted murderer in Longford. He had a major starring role in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll playing legendary British rock star Ian Dury. In 2011 he was the model for Captain Haddock in Steven Spielberg's motion capture version of The Adventures of Tintin, and that same year he earned rave reviews for being the model for Caesar, the creature at the center of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. He returned to the roll of Gollum for Peter Jackson's two Hobbit films in 2012 and 2013.

Trivia: Known for both her blonde, ethereal beauty and her considerable talent, Julie Delpy is one of the most popular French actresses of her generation. Born to show business parents in Paris on December 21, 1969, Delpy was discovered at age 14 by director Jean-Luc Godard, who cast her in his 1985 Détective. The young actress had her first starring role two years later as the title character in Bertrand Tavernier's La Passion Béatrice, and then gained worldwide prominence with her portrayal of a young pro-Nazi eager to produce babies for the Fuhrer in Agneiszka Holland's Europa, Europa (1991).Subsequent efforts to make Delpy a mainstream Hollywood actress in such films as The Three Musketeers (1993) were largely resisted by Delpy herself, who demonstrated a preference for appearing in the small, thought-provoking films best appreciated at cinema festivals. She made some of her more memorable appearances in Killing Zoe (1994), which cast her as a kind-hearted prostitute; Krzysztof Kieslowski 's Trois Couleurs: Blanc (1994), in which she played a young woman who divorces her hairdresser husband because of his impotency; and Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise (1995), in which she gave an excessively charming portrayal of a woman who has a 24-hour romance with a young American (Ethan Hawke) she meets on a train.Delpy continued to be most visible in small, quirky films, as evidenced by her roles in L.A. Without a Map (1998), and But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), the latter of which -- a comedy about a rehab house for gay and lesbian teens -- cast her as a lipstick lesbian. In addition to the steady stream of parts in little-seen independent films, Delpy took on a recurring role on the hit NBC medical drama ER in 2001.In 2004, Delpy reteamed with Linklater and Hawke for the sequel Before Sunset, a film the three are also credited with writing together.In 2007 she wrote, directed, edited, and starred in the romantic comedy 2 Days in Paris opposite fellow Richard Linklater alum Adam Goldberg. She followed that directorial effort with The Countess in 2009 and 2 Days in New York in 2011. That same year, rumors swirled of a possible sequel to Before Sunset.

Trivia: In addition to being the man who crafted both the "Marvel Universe" as well as some of the most popular comic book superheroes of modern times, longtime artist and writer Stan Lee played a pivotal role in bringing genuine human emotion into comic book characters, a trait that, up until the creation of such characters as the enduring Spider-Man, was sorely lacking in comics. Born in New York in 1922, it was at the age of 17 that Lee began work as an assistant editor for Timely Comics. Promoted to editor soon thereafter, Lee remained with the company as it changed its name to Atlas and fought slumping sales in the following years. At first simply carrying on with the stories of the characters that had already been created, the company got a fresh burst of creativity when, in 1961, it changed its name from Atlas to Marvel Comics. Soon carrying stories of emotionally complex and multi-dimensional characters such as Spider-Man, The Hulk, and Daredevil, Lee's intelligent story lines -- coupled with artist Jack Kirby's impressive images -- helped Marvel's popularity surge during the '60s. Advancing to the position of publisher and editorial director in 1972, it was during this decade that such popular television series as The Incredible Hulk and The Amazing Spider-Man truly came to life on the small screen. Though many of the characters had appeared in cartoon form on television in the previous decade, their transformation from animated characters to living, breathing humans truly brought comics into a new light and exposed them to audiences who otherwise might have scoffed at such fiction. Of course, this was only the beginning, and throughout subsequent years, Lee's characters made the leap to feature films in such blockbusters as Bryan Singer's X-Men (2000) and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002). In addition to his role as a popular writer in comics, Lee also played a pivotal role in reducing censorship in the medium. Addressing the issue of drug addition in an issue of The Amazing Spider-Man at the request of public health officials, Lee defied the strict rules set by the Comics Code Authority (which banned any portrayal of drug use whether it be in a positive or negative light) and ultimately put the downfall of the CCA into motion. In the decades since, Lee's creations have not only graced the pages of comic books, but have sprung to life as never before with numerous film and television adaptations most successfully in the box-office smash The Avengers.

Trivia: British supporting actor Henry Goodman has been involved with everything from classical theater to television mysteries to movie comedies. On stage, he performed with the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Goodman made his feature film debut playing a cabbie in Queen of Hearts (1989).

Trivia: Is half French Canadian and half English. Trained in acting, singing and many genres of dance. At the age of 16 went on to train for three years at Laine Theatre Arts. Originally auditioned for the lead role on Wynonna Earp but was later called back to read for Waverly. Played Holly in Viva Forever!, a jukebox musical regarding the Spice Girls. Best known for playing the part of Waverly Earp on the series Wynonna Earp.

Trivia: British actor Julian Bleach specialized in roles of an otherworldly nature, and thus maintained a particularly strong presence in the fantasy and science fiction and horror genres. One of the many co-founders of the multimedia-driven theatrical revue christened Shockheaded Peter (which combined music, puppetry, pantomime, and other forms for a series of surrealist visual displays), Bleach began to land high-profile big-screen work in the mid-2000s, starting with roles in a pair of adult-oriented fantasy films: Terry Gilliam's The Brothers Grimm (2005, as Letorc) and Tarsem Singh's The Fall (2006, as a mystic). Bleach also portrayed Frankenstein's monster in ITV's 2007 revisionist production of Mary Shelley's seminal horror novel.

Trivia: South African-born actor Mandla Gaduka made his feature film debut in the 2009 sci-fi film District 9, about an alien race forced to live in slum conditions. With Peter Jackson helping produce the picture, the film garnered international attention.

Trivia: Though sharp-eyed Game Show Channel fanatics may recall her from her fireplace-winning stint on The Price Is Right or her appearance on Family Feud, pretty actress Linda Cardellini may be most affectionately known among her fans for her memorable early role as conflicted high school student Lindsay Weir on the short-lived television series Freaks and Geeks. Born in June of 1975 in Redwood, CA, Cardellini became fascinated with acting when asked to sing in a school play at the age of ten. Soon dedicating all of her spare time to stage productions and acting classes during her tenure at Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, CA, the young actress received her first television role when she was cast as a student at the ominously named Edgar Allen Poe High School in the creepy kids show Bone Chillers (1996). Feature roles followed shortly thereafter, with Cardellini appearing in such films as Good Burger the following year, and alongside future Freaks and Geeks cast mate (and future love interest) Jason Segel in Dead Man on Campus (1998). Later turning up as a teen tormented by a sadistic Dee Snyder in Strangeland, Cardellini appeared in small roles in a few other small-screen productions before finding herself in the studious but free-thinking shoes of her Freaks and Geeks alter-ego. Examining the flip side of the Beverly Hills 90210 beautiful and privileged teen set, the smart show had a solid cast, insightful writing, and a dedicated following. Unfortunately, it was canceled after less than 20 episodes. Following with supporting roles in The Prince and the Surfer (1999), Legally Blonde, and The Unsaid (both 2001), Cardellini's rising popularity contributed to her largest feature, that of the brainy super sleuth Velma in the live-action adaptation of the beloved animated mainstay Scooby-Doo. She joined the cast of the long-running NBC medical drama E/R in2003, and had one of her most-high-profile successes in 2005 when she appeared in the Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain. She lent her voice to the short-lived animated series The Goode Family in 2009, and the next year she acted in James Gunn's Super. In 2011 she appeared in Kill the Irishman, and was part of the voice cast of All-Star Superman.

Trivia: Born in 1983, Irish actress Kerry Condon got her start at the age of 16, first with a two-episode arc on the BBC's Ballykissangel and then with a small role in the Oscar-nominated adaptation of Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes. In the early part of the 2000s, she could be seen in supporting roles in the comedy Rat, the biopic Ned Kelly, and the indie ensemble drama Intermission. In 2005, Condon starred alongside Jet Li and Morgan Freeman in the action-drama Unleashed. That same year, she was cast in her most prominent and acclaimed role yet, that of Octavia of the Julii on the ambitious BBC/HBO co-production Rome. The great-niece of Julius Caesar and the older sister of Caesar's successor, Octavian, the character offered plenty of opportunities for Condon to wow audiences and critics with her performance.

Trivia: Decided he wanted to become an actor at age 13. Spotted in a Cambridge production of A Streetcar Named Desire by a talent agent, which led to his being cast in an ITV production of Nicholas Nickleby. Won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Newcomer to the London stage in 2008 for his performance in Cymbeline; he was also nominated for his performance in Othello. Auditioned for the title role in the 2011 film Thor and made it to the final five before being turned down; instead offered (and accepted) the part of Loki.