Trivia: A picture of bronze beauty whose radiant personality and unwavering devotion to family endeared her to Univision viewers when she debuted as host the popular 1995 travel series Fuera de Serie, model/actress Sofía Vergara's crossover appeal was cemented when a memorable performance on the FOX Network's 1995 American Comedy Awards launched her almost instantaneously into Hollywood stardom. Born on July 10th, 1972 in Barranquilla, Colombia, Vergara joined an extended, musically-inclined family that included five brothers and sisters in addition to many cousins, quiet and studious Vergara attended the private bilingual school Marymount while dreaming of a future career in dentistry. At the age of 18, Vergara married the man who had been her childhood sweetheart since age eleven, and soon thereafter the young couple gave birth to a baby boy. Thanks to years of hard work and intense studies it appeared as if young Vergara was at last close to realizing her childhood dream of becoming a dentist, though an innocent walk on the beach proved that fate had other things in store for the career-minded beauty. Glimpsed by a well-known photographer as she strolled the shore in her native Colombia, Vergara was soon stepping in front of the cameras to appear in a Pepsi commercial that soon made her a recognizable face across the country. A move to Bogotá two years later found Vergara making a name for herself on the runway as well as the small screen, and soon the rising starlet's popularity would spread stateside when she accepted an offer to host the globetrotting Univision series Fuera de serie. Her undeniable charm even more infectious on screen than it was in the glossy pages of high fashion magazines, Vergara was an instant hit and soon branched out as host of the weekly prime-time variety-show A Que No Te Atreves. When a brief but memorable performance at the 1995 American Comedy Awards found her appeal reaching even further beyond Spanish-speaking audiences and into the American mainstream, it didn't take long for Hollywood to come calling. In 2002, many American filmgoers got their first look at the up-and-coming actress when Vergara appeared in a supporting role in director Barry Sonnenfeld's ill-fated comedy Big Trouble. Pushed back from its original release date of 2001 due in large to sensitivities resulting from a plot involving a bomb and an airplane, Big Trouble died quickly at the box office before hastily being relegated to life on the home-video market. Though her following two films, Chasing Papi and The 24th Day, didn't fare much better at the box office, Vergara's winning performance in the high-flying 2004 comedy Soul Plane did well in showcasing both her remarkable beauty and impeccable comic timing. Her subsequent role in the animated IMAX film Robots found her stepping behind the cameras for her first voice-over role, though audiences could rest assured that in 2005 Vergara would be back in front of the lens not only in director Catherine Hardwicke's eagerly anticipated Dogtown and Z-Boys companion piece The Lords of Dogtown but the comedies Pledge This! and Grilled as well. However, Vergara is most recognizable for her starring role as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett on the award winning television drama Modern Family, and would remain active over the following years with appearances in New Year's Eve (2011), The Three Stooges (2012), Machete Kills (2013) and Chef (2014). She landed her first true starring role in 2015, opposite Reese Witherspoon in Hot Pursuit.

Trivia: It seems appropriate that Julie Bowen, an actress who helps tutor high school students in her spare time and says she usually prefers staying home with a good novel to going out to a party, would rise to fame playing Carol Vessey, the pretty and quick-witted high school teacher on the popular comedy-drama series Ed. Born Julie Bowen Luetkemeyer in Baltimore, MD, on March 3, 1970, Bowen first acquired a taste for acting as a child, when she began putting on plays with her sisters at home. Bowen developed a more serious interest in the theater while studying at Brown University, where she received a degree in Italian Renaissance studies; she appeared in a number of student theater productions, including Guys and Dolls and Lemon Sky, and in her senior year she was cast in her first film, an independent feature called Five Spot Jewel. After graduating, she began honing her craft by studying at the Actor's Institute, Shakespeare and Company, and Will Geer's Theatricum, and began pursuing a career in television, landing roles in television commercials and eventually winning a supporting role on the daytime drama Loving. She also appeared in a student film directed by Edward Burns, several years before he made his breakthrough independent feature The Brothers McMullen. In 1995, Bowen became a regular on a short-lived adventure series, Extreme, and the following year she earned a showy role in the hit comedy feature Happy Gilmore. In 1998, Bowen did a nine-episode run on E.R., before debuting on Ed in 2000, receiving enthusiastic reviews and solid ratings, finally earning her an unqualified success on television. TV would offer Bowen several more successful roles over the coming years as well, from recurring roles on Lost and Weeds, to a starring role on the legal comedy/drama Boston Legal. The quirky, humorous vibe of the show showcased Bowen's sharp sense of comedy, leading to a starring role on the hit sitcom Modern Family.

Trivia: Tall and dark actor Ty Burrell has the kind of deep-set eyes and sharp features that make him ideal for roles such as the self-absorbed yuppie who cast a cold gaze in Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead and the authoritative yet undeniably vain plastic surgeon on the CBS sitcom Out of Practice. And while Burrell's background may indeed be in repertory theater, it is in the worlds of film and television that he has truly come into his own.Equally comfortable on screens both large and small, Burrell found his footing before the camera thanks to walk-on roles on Ellen and The West Wing before supporting performances in Ivan Reitman's Evolution and Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down singled him out as a talent to watch for on the big screen. Never one to stay away from the stage for too long a stretch, the Ashland, Oregon, native subsequently returned to the boards to star in the Signature Theatre off-Broadway production of Burn This opposite Edward Norton and Catherine Keener. While subsequent television roles in Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit served well to prepare Burrell for his regular role in the comedy series Out of Practice -- a lighthearted affair about a dysfunctional family of physicians -- big-screen roles in Dawn of the Dead, In Good Company, Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus, and National Treasure: Book of Secrets virtually ensured a lasting career in film as well. In 2007, he was cast as a regular on the Kelsey Grammer/Patricia Heaton local-news sitcom Back to You as field reporter Gary Crezyzewski, but the show only lasted one season. Burrell bounced back in a big way with a prominent supporting role as Dr. Samson in the summer 2008 release The Incredible Hulk.In 2009 Burrell enjoyed his most high-profile success so far as a member of the ensemble in Modern Family, the hit ABC sitcom that would earn him a number of award nominations. On the big screen in 2010 he had a small but memorable part as a creepy morning-show host in Morning Glory, and the next year played a part in the political satire Butter as a champion butter carver.

Trivia: A native of Missoula, MT, who came of age in Albuquerque, Jesse Tyler Ferguson first cut his dramatic chops on the American stage, delivering fluid performances in such on and off-Broadway productions as On the Town, The 25th Annual Puttnam County Spelling Bee, Little Fish, and Hair. Ferguson moved into filmed work as early as 2000, with a bit part in the made-for-television opus Sally Hemings: An American Scandal, and appeared on the British situation comedy Absolutely Fabulous, before making his mark as a regular on two series: The Class (2006), as Richie Velch, a former "nerd" thrust back into a social situation with various members of his third-grade class during adulthood; and Do Not Disturb, as a housekeeper at a Manhattan hotel more preoccupied with strife at home than with sticking to the requirements of his daily grind.

Trivia: A veteran improv comedian, Eric Stonestreet honed his skills at the ImprovOlympic theater, but soon transitioned to the screen, making appearances on shows like ER and The West Wing during the early 2000s. He would go on to land roles in films like Ninja Cheerleaders and American Crude, but scored his biggest break when he was cast as Cameron in the sitcom Modern Family in 2009. He won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for that role in the acclaimed show's first season. The show remained popular, and Stonestreet ended up appearing in the big-screen comedy Bad Teacher.

Trivia: Made feature-film debut as Howard Stern's daughter in Private Parts (1997). Played orphan Molly in Peabody Award-winning TV-movie Annie (1999), and later portrayed the titular tot in a 2002 production of Annie at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, N.J. Made Broadway debut in 2006 as a 12-year-old Jacqueline Bouvier (later Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis) in Grey Gardens: The Musical, by Pulitzer- and Tony Award-winner Doug Wright (I Am My Own Wife). Has appeared with her father, Edward James Hyland, in two films (1998's The Object of My Affection and 1999's Cradle Will Rock), and with her brother, Ian, in Spanglish (2004). Suffers from kidney dysplasia and received a kidney from her father in April 2012.

Trivia: Aspired to become an actor at a very young age when she wanted to crawl into the TV to actually go exploring with Dora the Explorer. First acting job was in a Cool Whip commercial. Took her first trip to Europe to act in the 2008 big-screen version of Speed Racer, which was filmed in Germany. Is an avid music fan and aspiring singer who loves to record songs with her friends in bands such as 4evercrush and WickedSweet. Favorite sports are track, soccer and tennis. Is a fan of the Twilight series of novels. Is environmentally conscious and urges young readers to "renew, reuse and recycle" in interviews.

Trivia: Began acting and modeling at 3 years old, following his brother, Aidan, into the business. Has studied with acting teachers Patrick Malone and Lisa Picotte in order to improve his craft. Is a collector of vintage Hot Wheels toy vehicles and Legos. Is a member of Mensa.

Trivia: Moved from Texas to Los Angeles at age 6 with his mother and 11-year-old sister, Raini, when the latter wanted to pursue an acting career (their father stayed in Texas to work); after one year, despite not wanting to go to California in the first place, he liked what his sister was doing and enrolled in acting classes. Has appeared in numerous commercials, including ones for WalMart, Dodge and Blue Cross-Blue Shield. He and sister have been homeschooled.

Trivia: Studied piano and sang in the school choir while growing up, and in a three-hour medley of plays in a big sixth-grade show, roles included Bernardo in West Side Story and Conrad in Bye Bye Birdie. Is a founding member of Freestyle Love Supreme, an improvisational, hip-hop comedy troupe that has toured the U.S., Europe, Australia and Canada. Wrote earliest draft of In the Heights—which would win the 2008 Tony Award for Best Musical and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize—in 1999, during his sophomore year in college, where it was first produced. Presented In the Heights onstage in Waterford, Conn., in 2005, and off-Broadway in 2007, the latter winning two Drama Desk Awards (for Ensemble Performance and Choreography) out of nine nominations, before making its Broadway debut in 2008. Other accolades include the 2007 ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award and a 2007 Theatre World Award for Outstanding Debut Performance. Worked with Stephen Sondheim on Spanish translations for some lyrics and dialogue for a 2009 Broadway revival of West Side Story. In 2009, performed at the inaugural White House Evening of Poetry, Music, and the Spoken Word, hosted by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. Won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his musical Hamilton in 2016.