Trivia: Staking claim on her fame with her role in the comedy-horror spoof Scary Movie, Regina Hall has frequented the big screen in roles that far from betrayed her age. Born in 1971 in Washington, D.C., Hall earned a degree in journalism from N.Y.U. before embarking on a film career. In 1997, she began appearing in commercials at age 26, and then made the giant leap into movies. Her recurring role in Scary Movie and the sequel Scary Movie 2 exhibited the 30-year-old's ability to maintain her youthful appearance, as she portrayed the high-school-aged Brenda Meeks. Hall's first film role had come in 1999 with a small role in Malcolm D. Lee's drama The Best Man. The following year, she made several film appearances, including her starring role in Scary Movie. In addition, she played small parts in two films directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, the drama Love and Basketball, and the TV movie Disappearing Acts, featuring Sanaa Lathan and Wesley Snipes. In 2001, Hall's list of credits grew to include her first television role, as Corretta Lipp on the prime-time drama Ally McBeal, which was a recurring role for several episodes. Also that year, Scary Movie 2 was released, in addition to the Mandel Holland comedy The Other Brother, featuring Hall as Vicki. One year later, she starred in the action-drama Paid in Full, directed by Charles Stone III. She reprised her role as Brenda Meeks yet again for Scary Movie 3 (2003) and Scary Movie 4 (2006), and played a supporting role in the 2009 crime thriller Law Abiding Citizen. The following year she had some success for her supporting role in Neil LaBute's remake of Frank Oz's black comedy Death at a Funeral, in which she co-starred with Danny Glover, Peter Dinklage, and Martin Lawrence, among others. She co-starred with Kevin Hart and Michael Ealy in Think Like a Man (2012), which was adapted from Steve Harvey's non-fiction self-improvement book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man.

Trivia: Grew up in foster care after her biological mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia and began attending Laugh Factory Comedy Camp at the age of 15 at the recommendation of her social worker. Developed Chuckles Not Knuckles, a comedy-show program that promotes nonviolence to inner-city students. Performed on a USO Comedy Tour in Japan for U.S. troops. In 2011, was cast in David E. Talbert's national tour of What My Husband Doesn't Know. Performed in Jenny McCarthy's stand-up comedy tour Dirty, Sexy, Funny in 2014.

Trivia: Standing merely five feet tall, Jada Pinkett Smith is known for her high-energy charm, receiving attention for the spunky role she played in her friend Keenan Ivory Wayans' Low Down Dirty Shame in 1994. She was born on September 18, 1971, in Baltimore, MD, where she grew up and went on to study dance at Baltimore School for the Arts. She then attended North Carolina School of Arts, but dropped out when Wayans found her an agent to launch her acting career.Real notice came when she worked on Bill Cosby's series A Different World starting in 1991. Thereafter she appeared in several films including her more serious roles as the single mother in Menace II Society and the girlfriend in Jason's Lyric (1994). Eddie Murphy's 1996 rendition of The Nutty Professor brought her back to comedy, and the extensive hype around the film allowed her fame to swell. In 1997, she married fellow actor (and former rap star) Will Smith; the following year, she appeared in Woo and Return to Paradise, and gave birth to son Jadan. Pinkett Smith made a cameo in Spike Lee's Bamboozled in 2000, and then returned to a serious lead role in Doug McHenry's Kingdom Come (2001) with Whoopi Goldberg, which was shot while she was pregnant with daughter Willow.Her film career later ramping up with roles in the two Matrix sequels, the Tom Cruise thriller Collateral, and with vocal work in the Madagascar series, Pinkett Smith made the leap to television as a compassion head of nursing on TNT's Hawthorne, which debuted in 2009 and ran for three seasons. An ardent supporter of Barack Obama, Pinkett Smith also fronts the heavy metal band Wicked Wisdom, which released their first CD in 2006, and performed on the Ozzfest tour in 2009.

Trivia: From the opening moments of Menace II Society (1993) in which he commits a shocking double homicide, talented young actor Larenz Tate engrained himself into the public psyche as the virtual epitome of the random and senseless violence of the inner-city streets. And while subsequent roles in such similar projects such as Dead Presidents (1995) may have pigeonholed actors of lesser talent, versatile Tate has transcended his troubled ghetto-dwelling film persona to become an actor of impressive dramatic and comedic range. Born on the west side of Chicago in September 1975, Tate was the youngest of three siblings whose family moved to California when he was nine years old. Convinced by their parents to enter a drama program at the Inner City Cultural Center, the trio didn't take the lessons seriously until classmate Malcolm-Jamal Warner's ascent to fame after being cast on the hugely popular sitcom The Cosby Show. Subsequently realizing that they could parlay their efforts into a tangible form of success, the siblings began to receive small roles and in 1985 Tate made his small-screen debut in an episode of The Twilight Zone -- The Series. Following appearances in such popular television series as 21 Jump Street and The Wonder Years, Tate was cast in the made-for-television feature The Women of Brewster Place before receiving a recurring role in the popular family comedy series Family Matters (both 1989). Offers soon began pouring in and, following numerous small-screen roles, collaborative filmmaking siblings Albert and Allen Hughes approached Tate to star in their debut feature Menace II Society. A jarring vision of inner-city desperation and decay, the film found Tate channeling his substantial energy into creating a truly memorable character that audiences would not soon forget. Following up his breakthrough role with the little-seen but often-praised television series South Central, Tate would later appear in the family comedy-drama The Inkwell before re-teaming with the Hughes brothers for Dead Presidents (1995) and taking on the role of a love-stricken young poet in the romantic drama Love Jones (1997). With subsequent roles in such films as The Postman (as the automotively monikered Ford Lincoln Mercury), Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998), and 2000's Love Come Down, Tate continued to compel audiences well into the new millennium. Though a big theatrical release had eluded Tate for the first few years of the millennial turnover, the talented young actor would soon turn up opposite Laurence Fisburne in the high-octane Biker Boyz (2003). The thrills kept coming with a role in the action-packed Vin Diesel misfire A Man Apart, with a subsequent role in the Oscar underdog Crash affording Tate the ability to riff on the persona he had so successfully perfected in Menace II Society. Later that same year, Tate would play Quincy Jones to Jamie Foxx's Ray Cherles in director Taylor Hackford's critically-acclaimed biopic Ray. Upon taking back to the streets in director Vondie Curtis Hall's tense 2006 action entry Waist Deep, it was time to try to mediate a peaceful solution to a potentially-explosive situation when the cousin of Tate's character realizes that his car has been stolen with his son still inside. He joined the cast of the hit FX TV series Rescue Me in that shows fourth season, and stayed with the program until its conclusion in 2011.

Trivia: Was inspired to pursue an acting career when, as a youngster, he saw Denzel Washington in A Soldier's Story; 22 years later, he got to meet Washington. Appeared in the plays A Taste of Honey, Frankenstein and A Midsummer's Night Dream while at the University of South Carolina. Played boxer Big Willie Little in 2004's Million Dollar Baby.

Trivia: Bearing a sort of Catherine Deneuve-by-way-of-Kelly Clarkson look, Kate Walsh may have an impressive list of film and TV roles on her resumé, but her primary acting venue was the stage. Starting out in regional theater in Tucson, AZ, where she went to college, Walsh later got involved with the Piven Theatre Workshop and Shakespeare Repertory in Chicago, as well as the comedy troupe Burn Manhattan in New York. By the mid-'90s, Walsh began slowly but surely making the transition to the screen with appearances on TV shows like Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order. Walsh's list of film and TV appearances soon grew, and among her scads of roles were a number of prominent parts on very popular shows. She became a regular on The Drew Carey Show in 1997, donning a fat suit to play Drew's weight-struggling girlfriend, and in 2001, she took a recurring role on the HBO series The Mind of the Married Man.In 2005, Walsh joined the cast of the smash-hit series Grey's Anatomy, playing Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd, estranged (and eventually ex-) wife of "Doctor McDreamy," Patrick Dempsey. Walsh suddenly went from a working actress to a well-known face, and it looked like the perfect time for the actress to segue into the big screen in a starring capacity, after a string of minor appearances in major films. Sadly, this wasn't to be, but the actress did join the cast of Private Practice in 2007, and appeared in the films Legion (2010), Angel's Crest (2011), and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012).

Trivia: One of the most prominent female hip-hoppers of the 1990s thanks to her soulful and uplifting rhymes, Queen Latifah has also crafted an increasingly successful screen presence.Born Dana Owens in Newark, NJ, on March 18, 1970, this police officer's daughter worked at Burger King before joining the group Ladies Fresh as a human beatbox. Disgusted at the misogynistic, male-dominated rap scene, Owens adapted the moniker of Queen Latifah (meaning delicate and sensitive in Arabic) and was soon on her way to changing the way many people looked at hip hop. Soon gaining a loyal following due to her unique perspective and role model-inspiring attitude, Latifah recorded the single "Wrath of My Madness" in 1988 and the following year she released her debut album, All Hail the Queen. Making her feature debut three short years later in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever, Latifah began refining a screen persona that would be equally adept in both drama and comedy. After starring as magazine editor Khadijah James on the FOX sitcom Living Single (1993-1998) and landing increasingly prominent film roles in Set It Off (1996), Living Out Loud (1998), and The Bone Collector (1999), she was given her own personal televised outlet in the form of The Queen Latifah Show in 1999. Losing her brother in a motorcycle accident in 1995 (she still wears the motorbike's key around her neck) in addition to grieving a friend who was shot when the two were carjacked the same year, Latifah has persisted in overcoming tragedy to remain positive and creative. The talented songstress has also appeared as both the Wicked Witch of the West (1998's The Wizard of Oz) and Glenda the Good (The O.Z. in 2002), in addition to remaining an innovative and inspiring recording artist. In 2003, Latifah hit a watershed moment in her career and in the public perception of her image: she signed to portray Matron Mama Morton in Rob Marshall's bold cinematization of the Bob Fosse musical Chicago. For Latifah, the turn embodied a breakthrough to end all breakthroughs - it dramatically reshaped the artist's image from that of a hip-hop singer turned actress to that of a multitalented, one-woman powerhouse with astonishing gifts in every arena of performance - voice, drama and dance. Latifah deservedly netted an Oscar nomination for this role, but lost to Catherine Zeta-Jones, who played Velma Kelly in the same film.Later that same year, the multifaceted singer/actress took a dramatic step down in ambition and sophistication, joining Steve Martin for the odd couple comedy Bringing Down the House. That farce tells the occasionally rollicking story of a hyper-anal white lawyer (Martin) who attempts to "hook up" with a barrister he meets online, but discovers that she is (surprise!) actually a slang-tossing black prison escapee with a mad taste for hip hop dancing (Latifah). Ironically - given the seemingly foolproof and ingenious premise - the film collapsed, thanks in no small part to an awkward and craven screenplay that fails to see the logic of its situations through to fruition, and wraps with a ludicrous denouement. The film did score with viewers, despite devastating reviews from critics across the country. (If nothing else, the picture offers the uproarious sight of Martin in hip-hop attire, and does celebrate Latifah's everpresent message of much-deserved respect for black women). Latifah's onscreen activity skyrocketed over the following half-decade, with an average of around 5-7 roles per year. One of her most popular efforts, Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004), constitutes a sequel to the urban comedy-drama Barbershop (2002). The original picture (without Latifah in the cast) concerned the proprietors and patrons of a (mostly) all-black barbershop on the south side of Chicago, with seriocomic lead characters portrayed by Ice-T, Cedric the Entertainer and others. In the second Barbershop go-round, Latifah plays Gina, the owner of an inner-city beauty parlor who operates her business next door. Those films reached a combined total of around $143 million worldwide, thanks in no small part to a pitch-perfect demographic that flocked to both efforts without abandon. The pictures also generated a Latifah-dominated sequel, Beauty Shop (2005), devoted to the exploits of Gina, her customers, and her employees, particularly the flamboyantly gay stylist Jorge Christoph (Kevin Bacon). The movie expanded the target audience of its predecessors and upped the ante by working in WASPy female characters played by A-listers Andie MacDowell and Mena Suvari and having Gina move her shop to the more audience-friendly Atlanta. Though the picture failed to match the grosses of its predecessors, it did reel in just under $38 million worldwide. Each of the installments generated mixed reviews from critics, Concurrent with Beauty Shop's release, Latifah signed on to collaborate with director Mark Forster and stars Will Ferrell and Emma Thompson in the comedy-fantasy Stranger than Fiction (2006). In that picture - about a man (Ferrell) who discovers he is the character in a book by a washed-up author (Thompson), and due to be killed shortly, Latifah plays Penny Escher, the "assistant" hired to end Thompson's creative block and put her back on track. Though Latifah's constituted a minor role (and, arguably, a throwaway at that), the film itself scored on all fronts, including craftsmanship, audience reactions, box office and critical response. After voicing Ellie in the CG-animated feature Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), Latifah revisited cinematic song-and-dance (and reteamed with House director Adam Shankman) for the hotly-anticipated musical comedy Hairspray, based on the hit Broadway production (which was, in turn, based on the 1988 John Waters film). Latifah plays Motormouth Maybelle, in a cast that also includes Christopher Walken, Michelle Pfeiffer and an in-drag John Travolta, reprising the role originated by Divine. Latifah signed to star alongside Diane Keaton and Katie Holmes in the crime comedy Mad Money -- a remake of the British farce Hot Money (with echoes of 1976's How to Beat the High Cost of Living) about a trio of female janitors in the Federal Reserve bank who team up to rob the place blind. In addition to music, movies, and television, Latifah also found time to author a book on self-esteem entitled Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman, and to serve as co-chairman of the Owens Scholarship Foundation, Inc., which provides assistance to academically gifted but financially underpriveleged students.

Trivia: Great-grandfather was the king of a Ghanaian tribe. Discovered, with his brothers, at a mall in Beverly Hills. Worked as a model before becoming an actor. Featured on the cover of Face2Face Africa magazine with his brothers in 2012. At his 21st birthday party, asked guests to donate to Africafifty6 Tanzania Orphanage in lieu of giving him gifts.

Trivia: Began high school at the age of 12 and college at the age of 16 on a full scholarship to SUNY Binghamton. Worked as an appellate-law clerk and trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice before becoming a federal prosecutor. Honored with a special-achievement award from U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno for her work in the prosecution of child sexual predators. Appeared as a substitute anchor for ABC's World News Now and America This Morning. Was a host and legal analyst for various CNN programs from 2007 until 2016, during which time she hosted a weekly segment titled Sunny's Law. Named senior legal correspondent and analyst for ABC News in February 2016. Has moderated and spoken at events for the National Bar Association, Association of Corporate Counsel and Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

Trivia: Has worked as an assistant director.Has participated in roller derby, competing with the Acadiana Roller Girls.

Trivia: The earliest published credit for American actor Robert Miano was the role of "Modoc leader" in Bridger, a 1976 TV movie. Miano resurfaced in the late 1980s in supporting and bit roles in films -- most of these low-budget productions which generally went directly to video. 1987's Weeds, a good prison-rehab film starring Nick Nolte, was an exception to Miano's B-credits. Otherwise, Robert Miano could be seen in such fair to middling productions as Troma's Club Life (1986), China Girl (1987), Easy Wheels (1989), Ministry of Vengeance (1989) (as Ali Aboud), The Rain Killer (1990) and Diplomatic Immunity (1991).

Trivia: Hailed as one of the founders of the neo-soul movement of the 1990s, along with D'Angelo and Erykah Badu. Before his big break in the music business he worked as a waiter in restaurants in New York. (He was not a good waiter, he acknowledges.) His father, who died in a place crash when he was 3, was Puerto Rican, and his mother is Haitian. To protect his family's privacy, he took on his middle name as a stage name. Started writing songs at 17 and taught himself to play keyboards and guitar. He was signed to Columbia in 1994 and recorded his debut album, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite, that year, but due to label management changes, it was not released until 1996. His debut album celebrates committed monogamy and was inspired by an intense and brief love affair. His influences include Marvin Gaye, Prince, Al Green and Leon Ware. For most of the 2000s, he was out of the limelight and did not release a CD from 2001 until '09. He spent the time, he said, reading, playing piano, and, not surprisingly (as he is a ladies' favorite), dating. His "comeback" 2009 CD, BLACKsummers'night, drew critical raves and topped the R&B charts.

Trivia: Best known for his individualistic promulgation of jazz-rap during the 1990s -- a decade when gangsta rap threatened to take over much of the urban music scene -- underground rapper Common attained recognition for the sophisticated lyrics and ever-present political subtexts in his raps. Something of a critics' favorite, Common also achieved commercial success with such albums as Can I Borrow a Dollar? (1992, his debut), Like Water for Chocolate (2000), Electric Circus (2002), and Be (2005). During the first 15 years or so of his career, the Chicago native's filmed activity remained generally confined to music videos, performance films, and also urban and rap-themed documentaries such as the 2003 Soundz of Spirit, the 2004 Letter to the President, and 2005's jubilant Dave Chappelle's Block Party. By 2007, Common began branching out into dramatic roles. That year, the rapper landed supporting parts in such films as Joe Carnahan's darkly comic action thriller Smokin' Aces and Ridley Scott's period crime drama American Gangster.In 2008 he appeared in Wanted, and the next year he landed a role in the high-profile sequel Terminator Salvation. He played the part of an scary bad guy in the comedy Date Night in 2010, the same year he played the lead opposite Queen Latifah in the romantic comedy Just Wright. He was one of the many members of the ensemble cast in 2011's New Year's Eve, and lent his vocal talents to Happy Feet Two that same year. In 2012 he appeared in the family fantasy film The Odd Life of Timothy Green.

Trivia: Initially rising to fame thanks to his skillful rhymes and savvy business skills, rapper-turned-actor Sean Combs surprised audiences who may have doubted his dramatic abilities by turning in a moving and unforgettable appearance as a death-row inmate whose wife seeks solace in the arms of the man who executed him in Marc Foster's acclaimed 2001 drama Monster's Ball. Though subsequent roles in the 2003 musical comedy Death of a Dynasty and the 2004 made-for-television drama Love in Vain give testament that Combs' Hollywood aspirations are still very much in tact, he continues to hold on to his status as one of hip-hop's most powerful players thanks to a series of hit albums and collaborations, as well as a successful clothing line which bears his namesake. Born to a working class couple in Harlem, NY, the murder of Combs' father when the future superstar was a mere two years old prompted his mother to relocate to Mount Vernon to provide a safer environment for young Sean and his sister, Keisha. Combs' skills for paying the bills was evident early on when the entrepreneurial youngster landed a paper route at 12, and not long after that the aspiring businessman was receiving his higher education at the esteemed Howard University. An internship at Uptown Entertainment found Combs' connections expanding and real-world experience growing, with Combs achieving the status of director of A&R for the company by the age of just nineteen. In the years that followed, Combs would not only shape the careers of such popular artists as Mary J. Blige and Jodeci, but also build a successful career as a recording artist himself with such albums as his debut No Way Out and the follow-up Forever. Combs' performance in Monster's Ball opposite Halle Berry may have been the first feature performance that brought him widespread recognition in film, though to that point, the multifaceted rapper had made numerous cameos and personal appearances on multiple talk shows and awards programs.Although he maintained a successful music career, he also wanted to make it as an actor. To that end, he appeared in the sequel to Carlito's Way and earned positive reviews for his work in a 2008 version of A Raisin in the Sun. In 2010 he had an excellent supporting turn in the comedy Get Him to the Greek and spoofed himself in I'm Still Here. He also executive produced the high-school football documentary Undefeated which won the Oscar for best Documentary Feature.

Trivia: Born in Camden, AR, R&B musician Shaffer Chimere Smith Jr. is better known as his stage name Ne-Yo. His debut album In My Own Words was released in 2006, and the singer would remain squarely in the public eye during the following years, with a consistent stream of hits. Ne-Yo would also make regular appearances in films, with roles in Save the Last Dance 2, Stomp the Yard, and Battle: Los Angeles. He starred as the Tin Man in the NBC's live-event version of The Wiz in 2015.

Trivia: Morris Chestnut's career makes a case for the argument that for the bulk of the '90s, there simply were not enough good roles for talented African-American actors. After making an impressive debut as Ricky in John Singleton's Boyz 'N the Hood, Chestnut spent several years wallowing in television, appearing in made-for-TV movies and doomed series. Chestnut, born in Cerrios, CA, on New Years Day 1969, majored in drama and finance at California State University. Little is known about his personal life. Chestnut admitted in a 2001 interview with Essence.com that he doesn't enjoy giving interviews or discussing his private life, but then let it slip that he is married.Chestnut's first professional acting role was in Boyz 'N the Hood in 1991. He followed that up with roles in various TV movies, as well as a part on Patti LaBelle's short-lived sitcom Out All Night. Chestnut continued to steadily, but he often had only bit parts in throwaway, big-budget films, like 1995's Under Siege 2 or 1997's G.I. Jane. But as the decade ended, movies about young, professional African-Americans and their problems with family and relationships began to fill the cineplexes, creating roles for Chestnut and all the other talented black actors stuck in minor TV and film roles. In 1999, Chestnut starred in The Best Man with Taye Diggs and Nia Long, playing a professional athlete who doesn't know that his soon-to-be wife dallied with his best man -- who is about to release those details in his first novel, a Roman à clef about their time in college. The Best Man earned pretty good reviews, did well at the box office, and even earned Chestnut a NAACP Image Award nomination for his performance. He followed it up with The Brothers, another film centering on the themes of fidelity and success among urban professionals. Chestnut joined Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson for a supporting role in The Game Plan (2007), a family-oriented sports comedy, and became known for his portrayal of Ryan Nicholas on V, a sci-fi television drama from ABC.

Trivia: Attended the School for Creative and Performing Arts from the fourth to the 10th grade. Hosted her own show called Cincinnati Youth Times while in high school. While attending Howard University, she co-hosted BET's Teen Summit talk show from 1998 to 2000. Started her career as a stand up comedian, performing at clubs in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. Is also a singer and a performed with a group called Assorted Flavors in 2008. In 2014, she wrote and produced her first film, an independent short called A Super Secret.

Trivia: Although she was born on Fort Ord military base in California, she was raised in the Bronx. Has traveled internationally as a salsa dancer since the age of 16. Her father works as a homicide detective in New York City. While honing her acting skills at the Maggie Flanigan Studio, she supported herself by working as a makeup artist. Was cast in the 2014 Amazon pilot The After, produced by Chris Carter, but the show never made it to series.

Trivia: Born in Trinidad and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Began acting at 11 years old. Landed her first paying job the same day she graduated college with Shakespeare & Company. Played Titania in a 1987 off-Broadway production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, opposite F. Murray Abraham, Fisher Stevens and Elizabeth McGovern. Nominated for five NCAAP Image Awards for her work on Any Day Now.

Trivia: Worked as a marketer and publicist for 14 years, prior to becoming a filmmaker. Made her directorial debut with the 2008 hip hop documentary, This Is the Life. Is the founder of ARRAY, a distribution collective dedicated to the promotion of films by people of color and women filmmakers. Was the first black female director to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her work in Selma. In 2015, Mattel created a Barbie Doll in her likeness, which sold out in 16 minutes.

Trivia: Painfully shy as a child, she was enrolled in an acting camp by her mother at age 11, and quickly became hooked. At 5-foot-11, she worked as a model in Europe, where she discovered her passion for cooking. Classically trained at the L'Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, Md., which she attended while running her own lunchtime catering business. A fan favorite during Season 5 of Top Chef, she spawned a memorable catchphrase with her "hootie-hoo" call. Released her first cookbook, Cooking With Love: Comfort Foods That Hug You, in November 2012. Owns Carla Hall Petite Cookies, an artisan cookie company based in Silver Spring, Md.

Trivia: Mike Epps' name has become synonymous with a particular style of humor, through his appearance with several other African-American artists in the same genre. Epps earned a large portion of his fame through his credits in several Ice Cube films, including Next Friday (also starring Chris Tucker), How High (with Redman and Method Man), Friday After Next, and All About the Benjamins. Aside from featuring Ice Cube, the common thread of these films was the hilarious prominence of marijuana-smoking comic characters like the ones portrayed by Epps.Born in Indianapolis, IN, into a large family, Epps' natural comedic ability was encouraged at an early age, and he began performing standup as a teenager. He moved to Atlanta where he worked at the Comedy Act Theater, before moving to New York City to star in Def Comedy Jam in 1995. His first major film role came just two years later when he starred in Vin Diesel's Strays, a dramatic portrayal of relationships and drugs. In 1999, he made an appearance on the HBO mafia series The Sopranos.In addition to his aforementioned film work with Ice Cube, Epps had several other feature-film appearances. In 2000, he was featured in Bait, starring Jamie Foxx and David Morse, and in the jail-comedy 3 Strikes. He performed the voice of Sonny in Dr. Dolittle 2, starring Eddie Murphy, in 2001. As he gained more recognition, his comedic talent began to blossom, as demonstrated in his two 2002 features: Kevin Bray's All About the Benjamins, an action-packed comedy, and the sequel-to-the-sequel, Friday After Next, in which he starred as Day-Day. He took over the part of Ed Norton in the big-screen remake of The Honeymooners, and had a major supporting role in the Petey Green biopic Talk to Me. He had a part in the smash 2009 comedy The Hangover, had a big part in Next Day Air, and a turn in Lottery Ticket. In addition to his acting, he kept churning out comedy specials.In 2012 he was one of the stars of Whitney Houston's last movie Sparkle, and played a teacher in the comedy Mac + Devin Go to High School. He reprised his role in The Hangover Part III and played the love interest in the HBO film Bessie. Epps also had a presence in TV, appearing in series like Survivor's Remose and Being Mary Jane, and playing the title role in the remake of Uncle Buck.

Trivia: A songstress possessing a remarkable eight-octave vocal range who in the early '90s excelled to become one of the top female vocalists of the decade, Mariah Carey's rocky transition from musician to actress played a key role in fueling a much-publicized nervous breakdown in late 2001. And though her turn in Glitter (2001) may have not been quite the crossover success the aspiring actress had hoped for, as a remarkably talented vocalist Carey continues to maintain her supportive fan base as a result of her dynamic voice and exceptional songwriting abilities. Born the daughter of a former opera singer and vocal coach in Long Island, NY, in 1970, and named after the song "They Call the Wind Maria" from the popular Lerner and Loewe musical Paint Your Wagon (1969), Carey began singing at the age of four, and writing her own songs by the time she was attending Oldfield Middle School. Moving to New York to pursue a career as a vocalist a day after her graduation from Greenlawn's Harborfields High School, the ambitious singer soon teamed with keyboardist Ben Margulies and landed a job as a backup singer for Brenda K. Starr. Aided by Starr in ensuring her demo tape found its way into the hands of Columbia Records head Tommy Matola (the man whom Carey would later wed and eventually divorce) at a party, Carey was soon signed to the label and with the release of her massively successful eponymous debut in 1990, achieved overnight success. With strong follow-up efforts establishing Carey as one of the premier vocalists of the decade (she had a number one single each year of the 1990s, her songs spending more time at the Billboard top spot than any recording artist in history) it was only a matter of time before the established singer attempted to expand her career. After making her big-screen debut with a supporting turn in The Bachelor in 1999, Carey set her sights on a personal project for her first starring role. However, after suffering a physical and emotional breakdown months before the release of her big-screen debut in Glitter, Carey's "lambs" (her slang term for her loyal fans) rallied to her side in support upon the release of numerous scathing reviews. Inspired by such musical dramas as Fame (1980) and Purple Rain (1984), the semi-autobiographical retro tale of a young singer rising to fame despite the odds stacked against her was dismissed as cliché and laughably bad, with reviews specifically targeting the vulnerable singer's sub-par performance and the films unintentionally campy tone. Public appearances in which her behavior grew increasingly bizarre coupled with distressing messages on her website and fan phone line underscored the onetime pop diva's increasing mental collapse, making her admission into a Connecticut mental hospital seem almost inevitable to all who bore witness to her multiple public meltdowns. Following the failure of the accompanying album of the same name, Virgin Records bought out her 100-million-dollar contract for a mere 28 million dollars, and it appeared as if the one-time megastar had reached her nadir. Her career would see a boost along with her personal life, however, when she married pop star and TV personality Nick Cannon in 2008, later giving birth to twins.In 2009, she returned to acting in Precious, directed by Lee Daniels, playing a social worker in an unglamorous, dressed-down role. She later reunited with Daniels in 2013 to play a supporting role in The Butler. IN 2015, Carey made her directorial debut with the TV movie A Christmas Melody, in which she also co-starred.

Trivia: Wrote first song ("Here I Go Falling in Love") at age 11 for a girl he had a crush on but was too shy to play it for her. Nicknamed "Babyface" by funk musician Bootsie Collins because of his youthful appearance. Co-founded LaFace Records in 1989 with L.A. Reid. Has nurtured the careers of such artists as TLC, OutKast, Usher and Toni Braxton. Breakthrough album "Tender Lover" went triple platinum in 1989. Has written or co-written songs for dozens of artists, including Whitney Houston, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, Pink and Beyoncé. Has amassed more than 125 top R&B and pop hits, including 42 No. 1 R&B singles and 16 No. 1 pop songs that have generated cumulative single and album sales of over 500 million units. In 1999 a 25-mile stretch of I-65 that runs through Indianapolis was renamed "Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds Highway" in his honor. Received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame in 2013. Is a devoted philanthropist involved with several charities, including the Children's Diabetes Foundation, the Mike Milken Prostate Cancer Foundation and Keep Memory Alive.

Trivia: Moved from Cuba to Miami with his family when he was 14. Attended St. Thomas University on a baseball scholarship. Began his career as a model. Competed on two Telemundo reality shows: Isla de la Tentación and Protagonistas de Novela 2. Appeared in the music video for Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Into You." Paired with Cheryl Burke on season 14 of Dancing with the Stars.