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 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: 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 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: Actor Sebastian Stan studied drama at Rutgers University before beginning his professional acting career, making minor appearances on TV shows like Law & Order. Eventually, Stan was cast in the 2006 film The Architect, as well as 2007's The Education of Charlie Banks. Then, in 2009, the actor scored a major role in a TV series, playing Jack Benjamin on the NBC series Kings. He went on to appear in the award-winning Black Swan, the comedy Hot Tub Time Machine, the superhero flick Captain America: The First Avenger, Gone, and The Apparition.

Trivia: As a character player of Italian extraction, Frank Grillo found himself cast, almost by default, in tough, slick, street-smart roles specializing in urban cops, detectives, and assorted mafia types. Actually, Grillo's onscreen aura -- so often perceived as "unmistakably New York" -- was somewhat misleading: he grew up not in the Bronx or Brooklyn but in upstate New York, and gravitated to sports prior to drama, weighing his options and finding himself torn between a full-time career as an athlete and life as a full-time actor. Grillo's parents, it seems, would have neither, and sent him to business school at NYU; as soon as Grillo ended up on Wall Street, however, fate intervened: his path criss-crossed with that of a casting agent, and he promptly landed a role in a beer commercial. That marked the first of over 25 similar assignments, plugging various products and services. He took a massive step up in prestige and exposure when cast as regular Hart Jessup on the soap The Guiding Light, then enjoyed multi-episode runs and guest spots on such primetime series as The Shield, CSI, Las Vegas, and Without a Trace. Grillo's feature roles include The Mambo Kings (1992), April's Shower (2003), and Pride and Glory (2008). As the yers rolled on, Grillo would find himself cast in memorable projects like Blue Eyes, Edge of Darkness, Warrior, and The Grey.

Trivia: Born August 18th, 1937, the rugged, dashingly handsome Robert Redford was among the biggest movie stars of the 1970s. While an increasingly rare onscreen presence in subsequent years, he remained a powerful motion-picture industry force as an Academy Award-winning director as well as a highly visible champion of American independent filmmaking. Born Charles Robert Redford Jr. on August 18, 1937, in Santa Monica, CA, he attended the University of Colorado on a baseball scholarship. After spending a year as an oil worker, he traveled to Europe, living the painter's life in Paris. Upon returning to the U.S., Redford settled in New York City to pursue an acting career and in 1959 made his Broadway debut with a small role in Tall Story. Bigger and better parts in productions including The Highest Tree, Little Moon of Alban, and Sunday in New York followed, along with a number of television appearances, and in 1962 he made his film debut in Terry and Dennis Sanders' antiwar drama War Hunt. However, it was a leading role in the 1963 Broadway production of Barefoot in the Park which launched Redford to prominence and opened the door to Hollywood, where in 1965 he starred in back-to-back productions of Situation Serious but Not Hopeless and Inside Daisy Clover. A year later he returned in The Chase and This Property Is Condemned, but like his previous films they were both box-office failures. Offered a role in Mike Nichols' Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Redford rejected it and then spent a number of months relaxing in Spain. His return to Hollywood was met with an offer to co-star with Jane Fonda in a film adaptation of Barefoot in the Park, released in 1967 to good reviews and even better audience response. However, Redford then passed on both The Graduate and Rosemary's Baby to star in a Western titled Blue. Just one week prior to shooting, he backed out of the project, resulting in a series of lawsuits and a long period of inactivity; with just one hit to his credit and a history of questionable career choices, he was considered a risky proposition by many producers. Then, in 1969, he and Paul Newman co-starred as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, a massively successful revisionist Western which poised Redford on the brink of superstardom. However, its follow-ups -- 1969's Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here and The Downhill Racer -- both failed to connect, and after the subsequent failures of 1971's Fauss and Big Halsey and 1972's The Hot Rock, many industry observers were ready to write him off. Both 1972's The Candidate and Jeremiah Johnson fared markedly better, though, and with Sydney Pollack's 1973 romantic melodrama The Way We Were, co-starring Barbra Streisand, Redford's golden-boy lustre was restored. That same year he reunited with Newman and their Butch Cassidy director George Roy Hill for The Sting, a Depression-era caper film which garnered seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture honors. Combined with its impressive financial showing, it solidified Redford's new megastar stature, and he was voted Hollywood's top box-office draw. Redford's next project cast him in the title role of director Jack Clayton's 1974 adaptation of The Great Gatsby; he also stayed in the film's 1920s milieu for his subsequent effort, 1975's The Great Waldo Pepper. Later that same year he starred in the thriller Three Days of the Condor before portraying Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward in 1976's All the President's Men, Alan J. Pakula's masterful dramatization of the investigation into the Watergate burglary. In addition to delivering one of his strongest performances to date in the film, Redford also served as producer after first buying the rights to Woodward and Carl Bernstein's book of the same name. The 1977 A Bridge Too Far followed before Redford took a two-year hiatus from the screen. He didn't resurface until 1979's The Electric Horseman, followed a year later by Brubaker. Also in 1980 he made his directorial debut with the family drama Ordinary People, which won four Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor (for Timothy Hutton). By now, Redford's interest in acting was clearly waning; he walked out of The Verdict (a role then filled by Newman) and did not appear before the camera again for four years. When he finally returned in 1984's The Natural, however, it was to the usual rapturous public reception, and with 1985's Out of Africa he and co-star Meryl Streep were the focal points in a film which netted eight Oscars, including Best Picture. The 1986 film Legal Eagles, on the other hand, was both a commercial and critical stiff, and in its wake Redford returned to the director's chair with 1988's The Milagro Beanfield War. Apart from narrating the 1989 documentary To Protect Mother Earth -- one of many environmental activities to which his name has been attached -- Redford was again absent from the screen for several years before returning in 1990's Havana. The star-studded Sneakers followed in 1992, but his most significant effort that year was his third directorial effort, the acclaimed A River Runs Through It. In 1993 Redford scored his biggest box-office hit in some time with the much-discussed Indecent Proposal. He followed in 1994 with Quiz Show, a pointed examination of the TV game-show scandals of the 1950s which many critics considered his most accomplished directorial turn to date. After the 1996 romantic drama Up Close and Personal, he began work on his adaptation of Nicholas Evans' hit novel The Horse Whisperer. The filmmaker was back behind the camera in 2000 as the director and producer of The Legend of Bagger Vance. The film's sentimental mixture of fantasy and inspiration scored with audiences, and Redford next turned back to acting with roles in The Last Castle and Spy Game the following year. Though Castle garnered only a lukewarm response from audiences and critics alike, fans were nevertheless primed to see the seasoned actor share the screen with his A River Runs Through It star Brad Pitt in the eagerly anticipated Spy Game. 2004 brought with it a starring role for Redford, alongside Helen Mirren and Willem Dafoe, in The Clearing; he played a kidnapping victim dragged into the woods at gunpoint. The film drew a mixed response; some reviewers praised it as brilliant, while others felt it only average. In 2005, Redford co-starred with Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Lopez in the Lasse Hallstrom-directed An Unfinished Life. In addition to his acting and directing work, Redford has also flexed his movie industry muscle as the founder of the Sundance Institute, an organization primarily devoted to promoting American independent filmmaking. By the early '90s, the annual Sundance Film Festival, held in the tiny community of Park City, Utah, had emerged as one of the key international festivals, with a reputation as a major launching pad for young talent. An outgrowth of its success was cable's Sundance Channel, a network similarly devoted to promoting and airing indie fare; Redford also planned a circuit of art house theaters bearing the Sundance name.

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: Decided to learn karate to defend himself against a school bully. Began training in martial arts when he was 7; holds black belts in Kyokushin karate and Brazilian jujitsu. Says his MMA hero is Randy Couture. Was named Fighter of the Year in 2009 by Sports Illustrated. Was named Canadian Athlete of the Year two straight times by Rogers Sportsnet, beating out Sidney Crosby. Appears in the action films Death Warrior (2008) and Never Surrender (2009).

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: A man with a peculiar face and small stature born into a long line of performers, Toby Jones might seem born to be a character actor. Jones' father, Freddie Jones, has graced the screen in a multitude of projects, from David Lynch's enigmatic sci-fi epic Dune to BBC adaptations of classic works of literature. Meanwhile, Jones' mother was born to a family whose legacy in acting went back seven generations, setting the stage for Toby's career almost before he was born. Jones took to the stage at his school in Oxfordshire, England, where he discovered an aptitude for theatrical acting. Though stage work would remain an important element of his professional life, Jones eventually tried his hand at screen work, beginning with a minor role in the 1992 film adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Orlando. Many of these bit parts would follow in movies like Ever After and Les Miserabes, as Jones' distinct and memorable visage set him apart from the masses. This same unique quality eventually began to win him more substantial roles, like a four-episode run as a pathologist on the U.K. detective show Midsomer Murders, and a chance to explore vocal acting as the voice of the animated Dobby the House Elf in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. More of Jones' usual small but memorable parts would follow, such as Smee, right-hand man to Captain Hook in Finding Neverland. Then in 2004, Jones got the chance to sink his teeth into not one but two substantial characters -- both with considerably more screen time than he was accustomed to. In the U.K. made-for-TV biopic Elizabeth I, Jones played Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, spymaster, and later secretary of state to Queen Elizabeth, a man infamous for his odd, slight appearance. Exaggerating his quirky physical characteristics and delving deeply into the complex character, Jones was lauded by audiences and critics alike. That same year, Jones won the starring role of controversial writer Truman Capote in Infamous, the big-screen American telling of the writing the true-crime novel In Cold Blood. A dream role both for his artistic sensibilities and the furthering of his career, Jones joined a cast of American stars including Sigourney Weaver, Sandra Bullock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Isabella Rossellini, and Daniel Craig. In typical Hollywood style, the film was green-lit around the same time that another studio was beginning production on a feature with the same subject matter, and Bennett Miller's Capote was scheduled to be released first. The buzz surrounding this rival production, however, was not the kind that Infamous producers were hoping for; instead of generating interest in their film, they feared that the overwhelming praise that Capote was receiving for its script, direction, and acting by star Philip Seymour Hoffman would only overshadow their own film. The release date for Infamous was pushed back as Capote went on to sweep the awards circuit, picking up over 40 awards and nominations including Oscar nods for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (for Catherine Keener's performance as Harper Lee), and Best Screenplay, as well as an Oscar win for Hoffman in the category of Best Actor. With Capote seeming to have already carved a place in the history of cinema and Philip Seymour Hoffman moving to the top of the list of gifted and respected actors, the cast and crew of Infamous had to worry that for all their hard work, their production would be seen as little more than the "other Truman Capote movie." Its release was finally set for late fall of 2006, roughly a year after its original date. Jones, however, was not going to spend the meantime biting his nails. By the time Infamous hit theaters, Jones had already completed filming on an adaptation of the Somerset Maugham novel The Painted Veil, and begun production on Nightwatching, a film about the life of the artist Rembrandt in which Jones would play the Dutch painter Gerard Dou.

Trivia: Born May 12th, 1986, Canadian-born actress Emily VanCamp began her career with the Canadian production of Are You Afraid of the Dark? in 2000. She would soon follow this with roles in Glory Days and The Ring Two before scoring her big break with the starring role of Amy Abbott on the series Everwood in 2002. She stayed with the show until 2006, but returned to television the next year playing Rebecca Harper on the drama Brothers & Sisters.

Trivia: Character actor Maximiliano Hernandez burst onto the scene in the mid- to late '90s and essayed a series of occasional roles, often ones of an ethnic nature. His resumé includes one- and two-time contributions to the series Law & Order and The Shield, and a bit part as a bartender in James Gray's organized crime drama The Yards (2000), starring James Caan and Mark Wahlberg.

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: Born in New Zealand, and moved to Australia at age 8. First acting role was playing a robbery victim in a training video for police. Worked as a stunt double before getting cast in breakout role on Heartbreak High. Played a bad boy on Heartbreak High; very different from his own high school days, where he enjoyed art and poetry. Has played villains in both the Marvel and DC cinematic universes; Jack Rollins in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Anatoli Knyazev in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Trivia: Possessing an almost hypnotic earthy beauty that perfectly compliments her effectively understated acting style, Jenny Agutter made a lasting impression on cinema lovers worldwide with appearances in such films as The Railway Children (1970), Walkabout (1971), and Logan's Run (1976). Although she continued to appear in features in the ensuing decades, the actress also made a notable name for herself as both a high-profile philanthropist and photographer. Born in Taunton, Somerset, England, in the winter of 1952 of military parents, Agutter had seen most of the world by the age of 11, when she was enrolled in the Elmhurst Ballet School in Cambury, Surrey. She made her film debut in East of Sudan (1964) when only 12, and, after utilizing her dance skills in Ballerina the following year, she made her biggest impression to date in the feature version of The Railway Children (1970). (She had previously appeared in a television series based on the story.) Entering drama school at the age of 17 while living in London, the demands of her studies frequently conflicted with an increasingly busy film schedule. Around the time of her appearance in Nicolas Roeg's surreal outback drama Walkabout, Agutter decided to move to Hollywood. There, she quickly gained a reputation as a formidable talent, and her 1971 performance in a made-for-TV production of The Snow Goose (opposite Richard Harris) earned the actress her first Emmy award. Frequently alternating between television and film during the following few years, Agutter once again turned heads as the heroine of Logan's Run (1976). A fugitive of a system that terminates all citizens over the age of 30, the futuristic movie proved to be a hit and the actress became well known to stateside science fiction aficionados. Agutter was appeared on-stage frequently during this period, and her love for the theater was clearly on display in such efforts as The Man in the Iron Mask (1976) and Othello (1981). Following her high-profile role as a nurse who falls for a lycanthrope in John Landis' An American Werewolf in London, Agutter kept things low-key through the remainder of the '80s, although eagle-eyed fans could catch a quick glimpse of her in such features as Amazon Women on the Moon (1987) and King of the Wind (1988). In the late '80s, she met Swedish hotelier Johan Tham while attending an arts festival in Bath, and the two were married the following year; a son following shortly thereafter. Moving back to England following their marriage, the couple made a home in Cornwall. Although her film roles would become increasingly sporadic over the next decade, Agutter did appear in small capacities in such features as Darkman (1990), Child's Play 2 (1990), and Blue Juice (1995). More frequent during this period were television roles, which included The Buccaneers (1995), Bramwell (1998), and a small-screen remake of The Railway Children in 2000 (this time playing the mother). Drawn back into films at the dawn of the new millennium, Agutter appeared in The Parole Officer (2001) and Number One Longing, Number Two Regret (2002). In addition to her acting career, Agutter published a book of photography in 1984, Snap: Observations of London and Los Angeles, and, over the years, became increasingly involved with such charitable causes as The Cystic Fibrosis Trust and Action for Children, an organization which provides shelter and resources for homeless children.

Trivia: Was an avid swimmer and rugby player in his youth. Worked at a variety of jobs before his acting career took off, including delivering milk, and selling cars and real estate. Performed in his parents' theater group and did radio voice-overs in New Zealand before moving to Australia in 1979, where he soon landed a role on the soap opera The Young Doctors. Became famous in Australia for playing the character Jim Robinson on the soap Neighbours for eight years. While he was playing bass in a band with his Neighbours costars at a 1987 charity event, a cast member named Kylie Minogue sang Little Eva's "The Loco-motion" with them, and her singing career was born. After moving to Los Angeles in 2000, quickly became familiar to U.S. audiences with roles on ER, The X-Files and The O.C., among other shows. Shared a 2007 Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for the ABC dramedy Ugly Betty. Says his motto is the Winston Churchill quote, "Never, never, never give up."

Trivia: Made his name as an actor on the classic Singapore drama series Masters of the Sea. Retired from acting in his mid-20s after doing two TV shows in Singapore. Eventually became Singapore's most successful actor overseas as he successfully crossed over and became a prominent figure in Hollywood. Has appeared in blockbusters such as The Dark Knight (2008), 2012 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). Also been dubbed to be one of Asia's 25 greatest actors of all time by CNN. Trained practioner of Tai Chi, Han also went through 5 months of kungfu training for his role on Marco Polo.

Trivia: Comedian Garry Shandling was best known for his top-rated, award-winning parody of television talk shows The Larry Sanders Show, which aired on the HBO cable network from 1993 to 1998. He started out as a comedy writer for other sitcoms and as a standup comedian. He landed his first television show, the It's Garry Shandling's Show, on Fox in 1985. The show was heavily autobiographical, to the point of replicating his apartment on a soundstage. Shandling, however, made his biggest impression with Larry Sanders, a show about the trials, tribulations, and double-dealing that goes on behind the scenes of a latenight talk show. Much of the show's material was drawn from experiences Shandling endured or witnessed on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, where he was a popular guest star.In addition to performing live and on television, Shandling has also played character roles in feature films, beginning with The Night We Never Met in 1993 and continuing with such varied projects as Hurly Burly and Dr. Doolittle, both in 1998. The actor tried his hand at starring with the 2000 extra-terrestrial comedy What Planet Are You From, a box-office dud Shandling also produced and wrote.As the decade wore on, Shandling's significant big screen roles were limited to the 2001 Warren Beatty picture Town & Country, before emerging in 2006 by lending his voice to the animated adventure Over the Hedge and appearing in a supporting part in Trust the Man. Meanwhile, on the small screen, he kept television viewers laughing as host of the 52nd and 55th Annual Prime Time Ammy Awards in 2000 and 2003 respectively. Though brief cameos in Iron Man 2 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Sacha Baron Cohen's The Dictator followed, the one-time comedy superstar largely continued to maintain a low-profile in his later years. He died suddenly in 2016, at age 66.

Trivia: Of German, Irish and Russian Jewish descent.Started his career in Chicago, Illinois, at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company.In 1998, moved to Los Angeles, California.Former member of the comedy troupe The Pretty Okay Ho-hum Spectacular on Ice!Played two roles in Magnolia (1999), the pharmacist in the prologue and the pharmacist in the scene of Julianne Moore's profane meltdown.

Trivia: Actor Danny Pudi began his career with guest appearances on TV's West Wing and ER. This led to a four-episode arc on Gilmore Girls in 2006, and another recurring role on Greek. Then in 2009, Pudi joined the cast of the comedy series Community, opposite Joel McHale and Chevy Chase. His role as Abed, a pop-culture obsessed misfit who can only relate to the world through movie and TV references, made him a breakout star from the show on which he played many scenes with Donald Glover.

Trivia: A seasoned dramatic actor who brought an extensive theater background to his work in film and television, Steven Culp was born in La Jolla, CA. When he was young, his parents divorced, and Culp moved with his father, a naval officer, and his two sisters to Virginia. After high school, Culp studied English literature at The College of William & Mary. On advice from his professors, Culp transferred to the University of Exeter in England, and while in London, he became acquainted with a group of student actors. Culp soon developed an interest in the theater, and when he returned to the United States, Culp transferred to Brandeis University, where he majored in acting and theater arts. After graduating, Culp began working in off-Broadway and regional theater, and was first seen by a national audience in 1983 when he earned a role on the daytime drama One Life to Live, which lasted for a year. In the late '80s, Culp was relocated to California and began working regularly in television, while still working in theater as often as his schedule would allow. Culp made his TV-movie debut with a small role in 1988's Lincoln. His big-screen debut came a year later, in the movie Gross Anatomy. In 1995, Culp was cast as Special Agent Clayton Webb in the made-for-TV movie JAG. A year later, the movie was spun off into a weekly series, and Webb became a recurring character, developing a loyal fan base among the show's viewers. The same year the JAG series debuted, Culp was cast as Robert F. Kennedy in Norma Jean and Marilyn, a drama produced for HBO about the life and career of Marilyn Monroe. Culp's strong performance as Kennedy (as well as his chiseled good looks) was impressive enough that in 2000, Culp was cast again as RFK, this time in the Cuban Missile Crisis drama 13 Days. When he isn't busy with film and television commitments, Culp still performs in live theater and is a member of the artistic committee of the Interact Theater Company of North Hollywood, CA. Culp is married with two children. He likes to play the guitar and writes fiction in his spare time. Culp worked steadily through the 2000s and made appearances on the television series' Ally McBeal (2000), Murder She Wrote (2000), Desperate Housewives (2004), and The Traveler (2007).

Trivia: Was an athlete as a child; involved with Little League baseball but primarily played basketball. Studied acting at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford after graduating from Howard University in Washington, United States. Originally aspired to be a director. Made his TV debut in a 2003 episode of Third Watch. Trained for five months with baseball coaches to prepare for his role as Jackie Robinson in 42 (2013).

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 rough-cut British actor with a dark and slightly brooding presence, Dominic Cooper initially cut his chops on the London and Gotham stages, with two very different roles: adventurer Will Parry in the Royal National Theatre's epic production of Philip Pullman's iconoclastic fantasy His Dark Materials, and that of the womanizer Dakin in the Broadway run of Alan Bennett's The History Boys. Cooper earned favorable notices for each; the success of Boys prompted BBC Two Films and Fox Searchlight to launch a film adaptation in late 2006, also featuring Cooper. Though Boys scarcely represented Cooper's cinematic debut (he appeared in Neil Jordan's Breakfast on Pluto a couple of years prior, among other films), it did prove a watershed, spurring the young actor on to additional film work. In subsequent years, the thespian played Willoughby in John Alexander's U.K. television miniseries Sense and Sensibility (2008), adapted from the novel by Jane Austen; cut against type as an imprisoned white-collar criminal in the Wyatt Brothers' thriller The Escapist (2008); and essayed a supporting role as Sky, Sophie's (Amanda Seyfried) fiancé, in Phyllida Lloyd's big-screen ABBA musical Mamma Mia! (2008).From there, Cooper's career took off. He played future British Prime Minister Charles Grey and Keira Knightley's lover in the costume-drama The Dutchess (2008), followed by a supporting role in the Oscar-nominated An Education (2009), for which he shared a Screen Actor's Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Cooper had a busy 2011, first playing Howard Stark (also known as Tony Stark's father) in Captain America: The First Avenger; followed by a commanding performance in the dual roles of Uday Hussein and his look-a-like in The Devil's Double; and finally, a smaller part as famed photographer Milton H. Greene in My Week With Marilyn. He next took a role in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012), playing Lincoln's mentor in vampire hunting.