Trivia: Staying true to his last name, Joaquin Phoenix has made a career out of making a couple of films, disappearing, and then reappearing from the ashes to rise upward toward greater glory. The actor, who began his career under the name of "Leaf," lived for a long time in the shadow of his older brother, River. After River's tragic death at the age of 23, Leaf abandoned his career for two years, making a comeback in 1995 with his performance in To Die For, directed by Gus Van Sant (who ironically directed River in one of his last films, 1993's Even Cowgirls Get the Blues). Since then, the actor, who changed his name back to Joaquin in the early '90s, has worked steadily in Hollywood, solidifying both his experience and reputation.Born Joaquin Raphael Phoenix on October 28, 1974, in Puerto Rico, Phoenix was raised in a close-knit, unconventional family. His parents encouraged all of their children to go into acting, and Phoenix did just that, following in the footsteps of older siblings River and Rain. As Leaf Phoenix, he got his first significant role in 1986's Spacecamp, and then went on to star in Russkies (1987) and Parenthood (1989), the latter of which was successful enough to make Phoenix something of a fledgling star. However, he chose to retreat from Hollywood, spending a few years traveling and living with his father in Mexico.It was River's 1993 death that brought his younger brother -- now called Joaquin -- back into the limelight, albeit a very unwelcome limelight. The 911 call that Phoenix made as his older brother lay dying was broadcast over radio and television in the aftermath of River's death. Again, Phoenix left Hollywood, not to be seen again until 1995, when his performance as the tragically confused and horny Jimmy Emmett won him an array of positive reviews. From there, Phoenix went on to film Inventing the Abbotts (1997), which failed at the box office but introduced the actor to his co-star Liv Tyler, with whom he had a three-year relationship.Phoenix's next project, Oliver Stone's U-Turn (1997), also proved to be a modest flop, but Return to Paradise (1998), in which he starred with Vince Vaughn and Anne Heche, was a bigger hit among critics and filmgoers. He starred again with Vaughn in Clay Pigeons (1998), which unfortunately didn't fare as well as his previous film. However, his next endeavor, 8MM with Nicolas Cage, although not a huge box office hit, did win him acclaim for his portrayal of thoughtful porn shop owner Max California, further proving that the family talent was not solely the province of Phoenix's late, great older brother. In 2000 Phoenix took one of his biggest and most extravagant roles to date as Commodus in director Ridley Scott's big-budget peplum Gladiator. Phoenix's turn as the devious Commodus was a marked departure from the actor's generally likeable characterizations, and proved further indication of his dramatic versitility. On the opposite end of the period piece spectrum, Jaoquin appeased art-house crowds with a memorable performance as the priest who runs the asylum housing the Marquis de Sade in Quills before moving closer to the present and impressing critics with a leading role in Buffalo Soldiers (2001). As a bored military camp clerk who runs goods in the black market, Phoenix's impressive performance was well recieved by festival critics and continued to provide further argument for his viability as a leading man. Phoenix would next turn-up alongside Mel Gibson in The Sixth Sense director M. Night Shyamalan's rural alien invasion thriller Signs. Replacing actor Mark Ruffalo after Ruffalo pulled out of the film due to ill-health, Phoenix stepped into the role as Gibson's younger brother, a member of a family caught in an alien invasion following the appearance of crop circles in the family's cornfield. In 2003, Phoenix lent his voice to the Disney animated film Brother Bear, before re-teaming with M. Night Shyalaman for The Village, a thriller in the same vein as Signs that proved a major disappointment to audiences and critics alike. He followed this with a small part in the highly respected Hotel Rwanda, playing an American camera man covering the 1994 war in Rwanda that ended in 1 million deaths as a result of genocidal murder. This performance, along with his role as a rookie firefighter in Ladder 49 helped him establish himself as an everyman, as well as a character actor.By 2005, Phoenix had developed a reputation as a dependable, versatile actor, but he would rise from respectability to greatness with his depiction of legendary country singer Johnny Cash in James Mangold's biopic Walk the Line. Performing all his own singing for the part and learning the guitar from scratch, Phoenix received a Golden Globe Award for the film, along with his costar Reese Witherspoon.Phoenix's reputation for reliability fell under question when he arrived for a guest spot on Late Night with David Letterman disheveled and seemingly intoxicated. Though his appearance on Letterman was intended as a promotional piece for Two Lovers (2008), a romantic drama following a depressed young man (Phoenix) who finds himself in the middle of a love triangle, it was eventually revealed that the Letterman appearance was intended for I'm Still Here, a "biopic" depicting Phoenix as a drug-addled, emotional disaster. Shortly before the premier of I'm Still Here, director Casey Affleck admitted the film was satirical in nature and not meant to be taken literally.Two years after that public-relations hiccup, Phoenix returned earning rave reviews for his role as a disturbed war veteran who falls under the spell of a charismatic cult leader in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama The Master. His work in that film was recognized by the Academy, who tapped Phoenix for the Best Actor category.

Trivia: Considered one of the best actors of his generation, Robert De Niro built a durable star career out of his formidable ability to disappear into a character. The son of artists, De Niro was raised in New York's Greenwich Village. The young man made his stage debut at age 10, playing the Cowardly Lion in his school's production of The Wizard of Oz. Along with finding relief from shyness through performing, De Niro was also entranced by the movies, and he quit high school at age 16 to pursue acting. Studying under Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg, De Niro learned how to immerse himself in a character emotionally and physically. After laboring in off-off-Broadway productions in the early '60s, De Niro was cast alongside fellow novice Jill Clayburgh in film-school graduate Brian De Palma's The Wedding Party (1969). He followed this with small movies like Greetings, Hi, Mom!, Sam's Song, and Bloody Mama.De Niro's professional life took an auspicious turn, however, when he was re-introduced to former Little Italy acquaintance Martin Scorsese at a party in 1972. Sharing a love of movies as well as their neighborhood background, De Niro and Scorsese hit it off. De Niro was immediately interested when Scorsese asked him about appearing in his new film, Mean Streets, conceived as a grittier, more authentic portrait of the Mafia than The Godfather. De Niro's appearance in the film made waves with critics, as did his completely different performance as a dying simple-minded catcher in the quiet baseball drama Bang the Drum Slowly (1973). Francis Ford Coppola was impressed enough by Mean Streets to cast De Niro as the young Vito Corleone in the early 1900s portion of The Godfather Part II. Closely studying Brando's Oscar-winning performance as Don Corleone in The Godfather, and perfecting his accent for speaking his lines in subtitled Sicilian, De Niro was so effective as the lethally ambitious and lovingly paternal Corleone that he took home a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the role.De Niro next headed to Europe to star in Bernardo Bertolucci's opus, 1900 (1976) before returning to the U.S. to collaborate with Scorsese on the far leaner (and meaner) production, Taxi Driver. After working for two weeks as a Manhattan cabbie and losing weight, De Niro transformed himself into disturbed "God's lonely man" Travis Bickle. One of the definitive films of the decade, Taxi Driver earned the Cannes Film Festival's top prize and several Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and De Niro's first nod for Best Actor. Controversy erupted about the film's violence, however, when would-be presidential assassin John W. Hinckley cited Taxi Driver as a formative influence in 1981.De Niro and Scorsese would reteam for the lavish musical New York, New York (1977), and though the film was a complete flop, De Niro quickly recovered with another risky and ambitious project, Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter (1978). One of the first wave of Vietnam movies, The Deer Hunter starred De Niro as one of three Pennsylvania steel-town friends thrown into the war's inferno who emerged as profoundly changed men. Though the film provoked an uproar over its portrayal of Viet Cong violence as (literally) Russian roulette, The Deer Hunter won several Oscars.Returning to the realm of more personal violence, De Niro followed The Deer Hunter with his and Scorsese's masterpiece, Raging Bull, a tragic portrait of boxer [%Ray La Motta]. Along with his notorious 60-pound weight gain that rendered him unrecognizable as the middle-aged Jake, De Niro also trained so intensely for the outstanding fight scenes that La Motta himself stated that De Niro could have boxed professionally. Along with his physical dedication, De Niro won over critics with his ability to humanize La Motta without softening him. Raging Bull received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.Though he was well suited to star in Sergio Leone's epic homage to gangster films, Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Leone's tough, transcendent vision couldn't survive the studio's decision to hack 88 minutes out of the American release version. De Niro next took a breather from films to return to the stage, playing a drug dealer in the New York Public Theater production Cuba and His Teddy Bear. During his theater stint, De Palma made De Niro a movie offer he couldn't refuse when he asked him to play a small role in his film version of The Untouchables (1987). As the rotund, charismatic, bat-wielding Al Capone, De Niro was a memorable adversary for Kevin Costner's upstanding Elliot Ness, and The Untouchables became De Niro's first hit in almost a decade. De Niro followed The Untouchables with his first comedy success, Midnight Run (1988), costarring as a bounty hunter opposite Charles Grodin's bail-jumping accountant.Though he earned an Oscar nomination for his touching performance as a patient in Penny Marshall's popular drama Awakenings (1990), movie fans were perhaps more thrilled by De Niro's return to the Scorsese fold, playing cruelly duplicitous Irish mobster Jimmy "The Gent" opposite Ray Liotta's turncoat Henry Hill in the critically lauded Mafia film Goodfellas (1990). De Niro worked with Scorsese again in the thriller remake Cape Fear (1991), sporting a hillbilly accent and pumped-up physique. It was Scorsese and De Niro's biggest hit together and earned another Oscar nod for the star. De Niro subsequently costarred as a geeky cop in the Scorsese-produced Mad Dog and Glory (1993).De Niro also revealed that he had learned a great deal from his work with Scorsese with his own directorial debut, A Bronx Tale (1993). A well-observed story of a boy torn between his father and the local mob, A Bronx Tale earned praise, but De Niro was soon back to working with Scorsese, starring as Vegas kingpin Sam Rothstein in Casino (1995) -- based on the story of real-life handicapper Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal -- staged with Scorsese's customary visual brilliance and pairing De Niro with his Raging Bull brother and Goodfellas associate Joe Pesci.Appearing in as many as three films a year after 1990, De Niro was particularly praised for his polished reserve in Michael Mann's glossy policer Heat (1995), which offered the rare spectacle of De Niro and Pacino sharing the screen, if only in two scenes. After indifferently received turns in The Fan (1996), Sleepers (1996), and Cop Land (1997), De Niro stepped outside his comfort zone to play an amoral political strategist in Barry Levinson's sharp satire Wag the Dog (1997) and a dangerously dimwitted crook in Quentin Tarantino's laid-back crime story Jackie Brown (1997). De Niro was front and center -- and knee deep in self-parody -- in the comedy Analyze This (1999), aided and abetted by a nicely low-key Billy Crystal as his reluctant psychiatrist. De Niro would continue to lampoon his own tough-guy image in the sequel Analyze That, as well as the popular Meet the Parents franchise. As the decade wore on, De Niro took on roles that failed to live up to his acclaimed earlier work, such as with lukewarm thrillers like The Score, Godsend, Righteous Kill, and Hide and Seek. However, De Niro continued to work on his ambitious and long-planned next foray behind the camera, the acclaimed CIA drama The Good Shepherd.He continued to work steadily in a variety of projects including Stardust, What Just Happened, and Everybody's Fine. He became a Kennedy Center honoree in 2009. He reteamed with Ben Stiller for Little Fockers in 2010, and played a corrupt politician in Machete that same year. In 2011 he appeared opposite Bradley Cooper in the thriller Limitless, which seemingly laid the groundwork for their reteaming as father and son in the 2012 comedy Silver Linings Playbook. For his work in that movie, De Niro earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Trivia: Father is German and mother is African American.Found her passion for acting in grade school and performed in community theaters and local stages throughout her childhood.Also attended Muscota New School and Harlem School of the Arts in New York, New York.Made her film debut with a minor role in the 2015 hit independent film James White.Fluent in German, English and French.

Trivia: Veteran stage actress Frances Conroy studied drama at the Neighborhood Playhouse and the Juilliard School in New York. During the '70s, she performed regularly with regional and touring theater companies, including an off-Broadway production of Othello with Richard Dreyfuss and Raul Julia. One of her first film appearances was as a generic Shakespearean actress in Woody Allen's 1979 classic Manhattan. In 1980, she made her Broadway debut in The Lady From Dubuque. Small roles followed in feature films like the sports drama Amazing Grace and Chuck and the family drama Rocket Gibraltar (as one of Burt Lancaster's daughters). She mainly focused on her stage career for the rest of the '80s, appearing with the Broadway cast of Our Town and receiving several Drama Desk nominations.In 1992, Conroy became friends with famed playwright Arthur Miller. This friendship led to much involvement in his productions, on both stage and screen. During this time, she also appeared on some television shows, miniseries, and made-for-TV movies, and met and married fellow actor Jan Munroe. She was nominated for a Tony Award in 1998 for her work on the Broadway hit Ride Down Mt. Morgan. Like many of her theatrically trained colleagues, she received unexpected attention for the award-winning HBO dramatic series Six Feet Under. For her role of family matriarch Ruth Fisher, she's been recognized by the Screen Actor's Guild, the Golden Globes, and the Emmys. Following small roles in the mainstream Maid in Manhattan and the independent Die Mommie Die, Conroy portrayed legendary actress Katharine Hepburn's mother, Kit, in Martin Scorsese's 2004 Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator.In 2005 she had a small part in the drama Broken Flowers, and appeared in the ill-fated remake of The Wicker Man in 2006. In 2008 she lent her vocal talents to the cast of The Tale of Despereaux and in 2010 she acted with Robert De Niro in the drama Stone. 2011 saw her return to the small screen with a part in American Horror Story.

Trivia: A native of Houston, TX, Brett Cullen graduated from that city's university, also finding time to compete in fencing and contribute to the Houston Shakespeare Festival. Opting for a shot at stardom over continuing his theater studies, Cullen landed a role on The Chisholms as his first breakthrough. He achieved much attention as Bob Cleary in the highly successful miniseries The Thorn Birds, which led to a stint on the nighttime soap Falcon Crest. He continued to work steadily on both the stage and the screen including production of Guys and Dolls, The Little Foxes, and numerous Shakespearean plays. His film credits include Courage Under Fire and Apollo 13, a role that led to him joining the cast of the Tom Hanks-produced television spectacle From the Earth to the Moon. Cullen has had recurring roles on such respected programs as Ugly Betty, Friday Night Lights, The West Wing, and Lost. In 2007, he starred opposite Uma Thurman in the drama In Bloom. That same year, Cullen starred in the pilot for the television program Life Is Wild, but he was replaced when the show went to series by D.W. Moffett. He had a major role in 2008's The Life Before Her Eyes as well as Brothel. Two years later he played the dad of the troubled lead singer of The Runaways, and he followed that up with a part in the teen comedy Monte Carlo. In 2012 he could be seen in the blockbuster The Dark Knight Rises.

Trivia: An athletic, all-American actor whose remarkable audition opposite Colin Farrell led director Joel Schumacher to cast him in his 2000 war drama Tigerland on the spot, Shea Whigham may not be a household name, but with impressive performances in such subsequent features as All the Real Girls and Out of This World, he's certainly become a talent to watch for. Born the son of former Florida State University quarterback Frank Whigham, the young athlete excelled at tennis and soccer in his early years, eventually entering college on a tennis scholarship. It was during his higher education that Whigham discovered a passion for acting, and soon thereafter, the aspiring thespian was accepted into New York's prestigious S.U.N.Y. Purchase Conservatory. A friendship with roommate Kirk Acevedo led the burgeoning actors to co-found the New York-based theater troupe The Rorschach Group, following graduation, with Whigham serving double duty as both performer and artistic director at the downtown Manhattan theater company for three years. After making an impression on audiences with his performance in Tigerland, Whigham went on to appear opposite Sam Neill in the made-for-television nautical drama Submerged, and in the next few years he would continue to gain onscreen momentum by turning in impressive performances in such efforts as All the Real Girls. If the majority of his post-Tigerland roles didn't offer quite the exposure of his impressive debut, appearances in such high-profile Hollywood efforts as Cheer Up and The Lords of Dogtown showed that Whigham was ready and willing to work his way back into the spotlight. He followed through on his potential with a string of mostly indie films including Wristcutters: A Love Story, Splinter, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, and Machete. He was cast as the corrupt police officer brother of the scheming prohibition-era gangster Nucky Thompson in HBO's Boardwalk Empire, and he would co-star in Take Shelter with his Boardwalk castmate Michael Shannon. In 2012 Wigham could be seen on the big screen in three big projects, Big Miracle, Oliver Stone's drug drama Savages, and David O Russell's crowd-pleaser Silver Linings Playbook.

Trivia: Is of Jewish descent.Started his acting career in theaters.Made his debut on television and film in 1993.Used to read novels out loud to his wife when their child was a toddler.In 2019, he supported the Riley's Way Foundation, aimed to provide teen lead projects to inspire them kindness.Is skilled at tennis.

Trivia: Started his comedy career in Boston in the mid-1980s and soon after moved to New York City. In 2000, his first one-man show, Jerusalem Syndrome, had an extended off-Broadway run and was released as a book in 2001. A few of his comedy album titles include Not Sold Out, Tickets Still Available, and Final Engagement. Created, in 2009, the podcast WTF with Marc Maron, which featuring interviews with comedians, old friends, and acquaintances. He is often praised for creating a comfortable space on his podcast for comedians to open up about personal issues; notably in his interviews with Robin Williams and Carlos Mencia.

Trivia: Appeared in numerous stage productions helmed by legendary English playwright Harold Pinter, and was a close friend of the director until his death in 2008. Released his first folk music album, Cowley Road Songs, in 2005 under the name Doug Hodge. Made his Broadway directorial debut with 2015's Old Times, which starred Clive Owen. Has voiced commercials for Red Bull, British Airways, and British Gas.

Trivia: Is the daughter of fellow actors Martha Burns and Paul Gross. Made her film debut playing a minor role in Men with Brooms (2002). Has had an extensive career on the state, including, playing Katie in the Soulpepper Theatre Company's 2010 production of Doc, and directing the Stella Adler Studio of Acting's 2012 production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Made her television debut playing Debbie in 2017's crime-drama Mindhunter.

Trivia: Character actor Frank Wood kick-started his career with a series of bit parts, often cast as professional types or (occasionally beleaguered) everymen. Notable credits include performances in such A-listers as Down to You (2000), In America (2002), and Keane (2004). 2007 witnessed something of a career breakthrough for Wood; that year, he appeared in the critically acclaimed theatrical features Michael Clayton and Dan in Real Life, acted in Michael Lehmann's stoner comedy Flakes, and landed a regular supporting role as consulate worker Greg on the offbeat HBO comedy series Flight of the Conchords.

Trivia: Played the baritone and mellophone horn in his high school marching band. Got into acting during sophomore year of college after auditioning for the play Joe Turner's Come and Gone on a whim and landing the lead role. Planned to move to Washington D.C. and work in home security after graduation, before being persuaded to audition for the Yale School of Drama. Became friends with Sterling K. Brown when the pair were playing drag queens in Tarell Alvin McCraney's Wig Out at the Sundance Theatre Lab in 2007. Was part of the original Broadway cast of The Book Of Mormon.

Trivia: Moved to the Chicago suburb Naperville when he was 8 years old and began his career in rap, stand-up and improvisational comedy there.Is an alumnus of Second City Touring Company.Has listed Boxing, Football, Track & Field, Tennis, Cycling, Swimming, Baseball and Rollerblading as his athletics skills on his resume.Co-wrote the acclaimed improv-sketch-dance hybrid show "The Art of Falling" with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in 2014.Joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 2017.

Trivia: Of Irish, Italian and American Indian descent.Due to his father's job as a banker, lived overseas until he was 14.Worked at Lehman Brothers for two years.Studied at the Beverly Hills Playhouse.Frequent performer at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles.Host of The Bryan Callen Show podcast.

Trivia: Made his acting debut in We the Animals (2018).Portrayed Jonah in the adaptation of Justin Torres' novel We the Animals (2018).

Trivia: British television and film actor Adam James made one of his first big-screen appearances working for legendary horror director Dario Argento, with a lead role in the concluding chapter of Argento's witchcraft trilogy, Mother of Tears (2007).

Trivia: Was a professional golfer for almost thirty years.In 2014, became the resident lead actor for the NY Acting Ensemble.Studied improv and dance as part of the NY Acting Ensemble.

Trivia: With his handsome looks and playful demeanor, Justin Theroux made a memorable feature debut as a determined revolutionary in the successful indie film I Shot Andy Warhol.A graduate of Bennington College who was born and raised in Washington, D.C., Theroux later relocated to New York to pursue a career in the visual arts before stumbling across acting and immersing himself in the stage. Gaining momentum in off-Broadway plays before making the leap to features, Theroux made appearances in such popular television shows as Sex and the City and Ally McBeal while gravitating toward the big screen in Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion (1997), American Psycho, and eccentric director David Lynch's Mullholland Drive. After appearing in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and the dud Duplex, Theroux appeared in a couple of episodes of the critically respected HBO series Six Feet Under. Over the next couple of years he combined little independent projects like The Baxter and Strangers with Candy with more high-profile films like Michael Mann's Miami Vice. He reteamed with David Lynch for Inland Empire alongside other former Lynch collaborators Laura Dern, and Hayy Dean Stanton. He played Jesus in the religious-themed comedy The Ten, and in 2008 he co-wrote Ben Stiller's Hollywood satire Tropic Thunder, which led to an assignment writing the hit sequel Iron Man 2. In 2012 he co-starred in Wanderlust opposite Jennifer Aniston who he ended up in a high-profile relationship with. That same year he had a screenwriting credit on the hair-metal musical Rock of Ages. Theroux next starred in the bleak HBO drama The Leftovers and wrote the screenplay for Zoolander 2.