Trivia: American leading actor Tom Hanks has become one of the most popular stars in contemporary American cinema. Born July 9, 1956, in Concord, CA, Hanks spent much of his childhood moving about with his father, an itinerant cook, and continually attempting to cope with constantly changing schools, religions, and stepmothers. After settling in Oakland, CA, he began performing in high-school plays. He continued acting while attending Cal State, Sacramento, and left to pursue his vocation full-time. In 1978, Hanks went to find work in New York; while there he married actress/producer Samantha Lewes, whom he later divorced.Hanks debuted onscreen in the low-budget slasher movie He Knows You're Alone (1979). Shortly afterward he moved to Los Angeles and landed a co-starring role in the TV sitcom Bosom Buddies; he also worked occasionally in other TV series such as Taxi and Family Ties, as well as in the TV movie Mazes and Monsters. Hanks finally became prominent when he starred opposite Daryl Hannah in the Disney comedy Splash!, which became the sleeper hit of 1984. Audiences were drawn to the lanky, curly headed actor's amiable, laid-back style and keen sense of comic timing. He went on to appear in a string of mostly unsuccessful comedies before starring in Big (1988), in which he gave a delightful performance as a child in a grown man's body. His 1990 film Bonfire of the Vanities was one of the biggest bombs of the year, but audiences seemed to forgive his lapse. In 1992, Hanks' star again rose when he played the outwardly disgusting, inwardly warm-hearted coach in Penny Marshall's A League of Their Own. This led to a starring role in the smash hit romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle (1993).Although a fine comedic actor, Hanks earned critical respect and an even wider audience when he played a tormented AIDS-afflicted homosexual lawyer in the drama Philadelphia (1993) and won that year's Oscar for Best Actor. In 1994 he won again for his convincing portrait of the slow-witted but phenomenally lucky Forrest Gump, and his success continued with the smash space epic Apollo 13 (1995). In 1996, Hanks tried his hand at screenwriting, directing, and starring in a feature: That Thing You Do!, an upbeat tale of a one-hit wonder group and their manager. The film was not particularly successful, unlike Hanks' next directing endeavor, the TV miniseries From Earth to the Moon. The series was nominated for and won a slew of awards, including a series of Emmys. The success of this project was outdone by Hanks' next, Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (1998). Ryan won vast critical acclaim and was nominated for 11 Oscars, including a Best Actor nomination for Hanks. The film won five, including a Best Director Oscar for Spielberg, but lost Best Picture to Shakespeare in Love, a slight that was to become the subject of controversy. No controversy surrounded Hanks' following film, Nora Ephron's You've Got Mail (1998), a romantic comedy that paired Hanks with his Sleepless co-star Meg Ryan. Although the film got mixed reviews, it was popular with filmgoers, and thus provided Hanks with another success to add to his resumé. Even more success came soon after when Hanks took home the 2000 Golden Globes' Best Actor in a drama award for his portrayal of a shipwrecked FedEx systems engineer who learns the virtues of wasted time in Robert Zemeckis' Cast Away. Though absent from the silver screen in 2001, Hanks remained in the public eye with a role in the acclaimed HBO mini-series Band of Brothers as well as appearing in September 11 television special America: A Tribute to Heroes and the documentary Rescued From the Closet. Next teaming with American Beauty director Sam Mendes for the adaptation of Max Allan Collins graphic novel The Road to Perdition (subsequently inspired by the Japanese manga Lone Wolf and Cub, the nice-guy star took a rare anti-hero role as a hitman (albiet an honorable and fairly respectable hitman) on the lam with his son (Tyler Hoechlin) after his son witnesses a murder. That same year, Hanks collaborated with director Spielberg again, starring opposite Leonardo Dicaprio in the hit crime-comedy Catch Me if You Can.For the next two years, Hanks was essentially absent from movie screens, but in 2004 he emerged with three new projects: The Coen Brothers' The Lady Killers, yet another Spielberg helmed film, The Terminal, and The Polar Express, a family picture from Forrest Gump and Castaway director Robert Zemeckis. 2006 was a very active year for Hanks starting with an appearance at the Oscar telecast that talented lip-readers will remember for quite some time. In addition to helping produce the HBO Series Big Love, he scored a major international success by reteaming with director Ron Howard for the big-screen adaptation of {Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code, which was such a success that he signed on for the sequel in 2009, Angels and Demons. His Playtone production company would have a hand in the animated feature The Ant Bully in 2008, and that same year he filmed The Great Buck Howard co-starring his son Colin Hanks. He also signed on to co-star with Julia Roberts in two different films: Mike Nichols' Charlie Wilson's War in 2008 and the romcom Larry Crowne in 2011. Later that same year, Hanks would make dramatic waves in the post-9/11 drama Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture.Ranked by Empire Magazine as 17th out of "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" in October 1997, Hanks is married to actress Rita Wilson, with whom he appeared in Volunteers (1985). The couple have two children in addition to Hanks' other two from his previous marriage.

Trivia: Widely considered one of the leading British actors of his generation, Ian McKellen has had a rich and varied career encompassing the stage, screen, and television. A renowned stage actor in his native Britain for decades, McKellen was not familiar to most American audiences until the '90s, when he began popping up in a number of well-received films. One of these, Gods and Monsters, elevated the actor into the international spotlight when he earned an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Frankenstein director James Whale.Born May 25, 1939, in the northern English mill town of Burnley, McKellen was the son of a civil engineer. Encouraged by his parents, he developed an early fascination with the theatre. This interest continued when his family moved to the mining town of Wigan, where McKellen began acting in school plays. At the age of 13, he performed in his first Shakespeare play, as Malvolio in a production of Twelfth Night. He gained an additional appreciation for Shakespeare during his summer vacations, when he attended camp in Stratford-upon-Avon and spent the evenings watching the likes of Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, John Gielgud, and Paul Robeson give life to the playwright's work.Shakespeare played a continuing role in McKellen's life when he went to Cambridge University, where he was offered a place to study English at Saint Catherine's College. This offer was withdrawn two years later, when McKellen's involvement in theatre almost completely eclipsed his studies. His work in student theatre proved invaluable, however, allowing him to work with Derek Jacobi, David Frost, and Trevor Nunn, with whom he would go on to form a lasting professional relationship. McKellen's acting pursuits were also important for another reason: as he would later explain to numerous interviewers, the theatre introduced him to other gay men, something that eased his acceptance of his own homosexuality. McKellen's identity as a gay man would prove almost as defining a characteristic of his public persona as his identity as an actor: a vocal activist, he became one of a handful of openly gay knights when he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1991.After leaving Cambridge in 1961, McKellen began his professional career at Coventry's Belgrave Theatre, where he acted in a production of A Man for All Seasons. Three years later, he was living in London and working steadily on the stage. He acted in countless productions, a number of which he also directed, and co-founded the progressive Actors' Company in 1972. He earned a score of awards and honors for his work and in 1979 was made a Commander of the British Empire. Two years later, he won international theatrical acclaim with his Tony Award-winning portrayal of Salieri in the Broadway production of Amadeus.McKellen made his film debut in 1969 with a small role in The Promise, the same year that he caused a sensation on the stage with his portrayal of Edward II, which required him to kiss another man. It was not until 20 years later that McKellen became recognizable to international film audiences with his starring role as John Profumo in Michael Caton-Jones's Scandal (1989). Somewhat ironically, a year before gaining fame for playing one of the most infamously heterosexual public figures of the 20th century, McKellen came out to the public as a gay man during a BBC radio program. In 1993, he became recognizable to American television audiences playing gay men in And the Band Played On and Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, two acclaimed TV miniseries; McKellen earned an Emmy nomination for his work in the former. In 1996, he earned another Emmy nomination for his supporting role in Rasputin.That same year, the actor gained more visibility on the big screen, appearing in Six Degrees of Separation and The Ballad of Little Jo. He continued to turn in strong performances in such films as Cold Comfort Form (1995) and Jack and Sarah (1995), and he earned particular acclaim for his titular performance in Richard Loncraine's 1996 Richard III, for which he also adapted the screenplay. Following subsequent turns in Bent (1997) and Apt Pupil (1998), McKellen starred in Bill Condon's Gods and Monsters, giving a stunning portrayal of James Whale during the director's last days. His performance won a score of international accolades, including Best Actor Oscar and Golden Globe nominations and Best Actor honors from the National Board of Review.After appearing alongside future Harry Potter Daniel Radcliffe in a TV production of David Copperfield in 1999, McKellen stepped into the shoes of the diabolical Magneto in director Bryan Singer's popular comic-book action adventure, X-Men. McKellen stuck with fantasy for his next role as well, this time on a grand scale with his Oscar nominated role as Gandalf the Grey in director Peter Jackson's long-anticipated Lord of the Rings trilogy. Following the massively successful franchise, McKellen would appear in the subsuquent prequel, The Hobbit, as well as films like The Academy and The Da Vinci Code.

Trivia: The son of a Spanish waiter and an Italian housekeeper, Molina was born in London on May 24, 1953. Educated at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he began his career as one half of a street-corner comedy team but then turned to acting. While most thesps start at the bottom and ascend the ladder, Molina is an anomaly: he began at the top of the heap, first earning professional credibility (and his pedigree) as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and debuting cinematically in no less than Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), as the devious South American guide who leaves Harrison Ford for dead in an ancient temple before meeting his own end, courtesy of a particularly nasty booby trap. His subsequent resume for the rest of that decade reads like a "best of 1980s International Film": supporting roles in Mike Leigh's Meantime (1981), Peter Yates's Eleni (1985) , Richard Donner's Ladyhawke (1985),Chris Bernard's Letter to Brezhnev and Dusan Makavejev's Manifesto (1989), to name only a few. His contribution to Chris Bernard's gently underplayed, low-budget comedy Brezhnev (1985) (which, like Raiders, takes advantage of his slightly dark, Mediterranean complexion) is particularly a standout. He plays a Russian sailor who picks up Margi Clarke's Liverpool blue-collar worker Teresa King during leave, and whose only comprehensible line gives the film its biggest laugh: "Leeverpool. Bittles... Ahhhhh." Molina would spend the next several years appearing in a number of films, like An Education, as well as a number of TV projects like Harry's Law, Law & Order: L.A., and Roger & Val Have Just Got In.But Molina's most impressive contribution to cinema came in 1986, when he joined two fellow Brits, director Stephen Frears and actor Gary Oldman - and turned everyone's head in the process - in Prick Up Your Ears. That film, adapted from eccentric playwright Joe Orton's autobiography, casts Molina as Kenneth Halliwell, Orton's homosexual lover and eventual murderer, opposite Oldman. Practically unrecognizable as the bald, severely unhinged Halliwell, Molina is at once terrifying and pathetic, and gleaned a number of positive notices for his performance, though, for some odd reason, it was criminally overlooked at awards ceremonies and failed to earn Molina any acting laurels. A few years later, Molina joined the cast of Not Without My Daughter (1990). In this true-life account (adapted from Betty Mahmoody's memoir), he plays Moody, a Persian husband who takes his American wife (Sally Field) and daughter to Iran under the guise of "vacation," and virtually imprisons them, forcing her to plot escape. The role (and film) gleaned some controversy for its portrayal of Islam, but (the bearded) Molina glistened with dark, brooding intensity characteristic of the actor's finest work. Molina offered more sympathetic portrayals in such films as Mike Newell's Enchanted April (1992), Species (1995), and Mira Nair's The Perez Family (1995), as a Cuban immigrant struggling to make a new life for himself in Miami. In Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights, Molina evoked a deranged playboy precariously teetering on the edge of insanity - a role that further evinced boundless courage. 1999's ridiculous Dudley-do-Right, however (in which Molina) played the villain), didn't serve him as well; neither he, nor Brendan Fraser, nor Sarah Jessica Parker managed to rise above the silly script. Far more impressive (albeit smaller in scope) was the actor's sophomore collaboration with Anderson, that year's Magnolia, in a fleeting role as Solomon Solomon, the owner of the electronics shop where William H. Macy's Donnie Smith works. During 1999 and thereafter, Molina attempted to break into television sitcoms (1999's Ladies Man, 2002's Bram and Alice), but none of these efforts panned out. He continued to garner positive notices during this period, however, for his roles in such films as 2000's Chocolat and 2002's Frida. Molina earned a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination (finally!) in the latter, for his portrayal of chronically unfaithful painter Diego Rivera. In 2004, the actor traveled to megaplexes again, as the infamous Doc Oc in the critically-acclaimed box-office smash Spider-Man 2, and although ostensibly a defiantly commercial piece of Hollywood fluff, the film performed well on all fronts - critically and commercially. Considered by some to be the greatest example of the superhero genre ever produced, no small amount of the rave reviews given to the film were directed at Molina for his spot-on portrayal of the maniacal comic-book villain; The Los Angeles Times's Kenneth Turan rhapsodized, "As played by Alfred Molina with both computer-generated and puppeteer assistance, Doc Ock grabs this film with his quartet of sinisterly serpentine mechanical arms and refuses to let go."That same year (albeit in a much different cinematic arena and catering to a much different audience --- such is the magic of Molina's versatility), the actor played opposite John Leguizamo as Victor Hugo Puente, a sensationalism-hungry news anchor willing to do almost anything for ratings, in Sebastian Cordero's well-received psychological thriller Crónicas. Molina highlighted the cast of no less than six features throughout 2005 and 2006, but his highest-profile film from this period was Ron Howard's The Da Vinci Code, in which he plays the obese Bishop Aringarosa This May '06 release (adapted from Dan Brown's bestseller) sharply divided critics (most found it average). That same year, Molina contributed to two films by major directors: Kenneth Branagh drew on his background as a trained RSC member by casting Molina as Touchstone in his screen adaptation of Shakespeare's comedy of errors As You Like It, and he receives second billing (after Richard Gere) in Lasse Hallstrom's docudrama The Hoax. The picture tells the early-1970s story of Clifford Irving's (Gere) attempt to write and market a phony autobiography of Howard Hughes, with the assistance of right-hand man Richard Susskind (Molina). Molina married British actress Jill Gascoine (Northern Exposure, BASEketball) in 1985, who is sixteen years his senior. They have two sons.

Trivia: An actor since the age of 14, Berlin-born Jürgen Prochnow was firmly established on stage and TV when he was featured in his first film, Zoff, in 1971. Prochnow has been able to harness his well-modulated voice, versatile facial features, and athletic frame to portray both the most admirable of heroes and the most despicable of villains. It was for his portrayal of a character in the former category that the actor achieved international fame. He appeared as the stern but humanistic submarine commander in the 1981 Oscar-winning Das Boot. In the latter category, Prochnow all but entreated hisses and tossed tomatoes with his portrayal of the sadistic South African secret police captain in 1989's A Dry White Season. Prochnow's career has subsequently had its fair share of highs and lows, with his appearances in such high profile projects as The English Patient (1996), Air Force One (1997), and The Replacement Killers (1998) helping to sustain him as a fixture in international cinema. Over the coming decades, Prochnow would remain an active force on screen, appearing in a host of German projects, as well as projects like The Da Vinci Code and Beerfest, and the TV series 24.

Trivia: Born October 3, 1981, in Florida, Seth Gabel started making regular one-off television appearances in 2002, with guest-starring roles on episodes of Sex and the City, The Lyon's Den, The Closer, and CSI. He earned a recurring role in 2004 on the popular cable series Nip/Tuck as Adrian Moore. In 2006, he became Opie's son-in-law when he married Bryce Dallas Howard. His new father-in-law, Ron Howard, cast Gabel in The Da Vinci Code, giving him the widest exposure he had received up to that time. In the fall of the next year, he began a regular role on the soapy family drama Dirty Sexy Money as Jeremy, the youngest son in the enormously wealthy Darling clan, who, along with his twin sister, Juliet (Samaire Armstrong), was taking "spoiled rich" to a whole new level. Though the series was cancelled after just two seasons, he responded with parts in Jonah Hex and the comedy Take Me Home Tonight.