Trivia: Best known to small-screen devotees as sales representative Jim Halpert, the eternally patient, undeclared admirer of Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) on Greg Daniels' hit NBC sitcom/mockumentary The Office, Massachusetts native John Krasinski graduated from Rhode Island's Brown University in 2001 as an honors playwright, but quickly segued into acting. Within three years launched himself into films, predominantly with bit roles and supporting parts, but consistently echoing the promise that he would soon find himself among number-one box-office draws and Tinseltown heartthrobs. By 2006, in fact, People Magazine featured Krasinski in its "Sexiest Men" issue, a testament to the actor's rapidly growing recognition in the eyes of the public.Born October 20, 1979, Krasinski grew up and attended high school in Newton, an affluent western suburb of Boston. After receiving his degree from Brown, Krasinski studied at the National Theater Institute. 2004 marked the actor's "breakthrough year," with fleeting appearances in no less than four A-list productions. That year, he had bit parts as Ben in the American Zoetrope film Kinsey, a biopic of sex researcher Alfred Kinsey, directed by Bill Condon and starring Liam Neeson; Bob Flynn in Matt Mulhern's finely wrought (and underappreciated) alcoholism drama Duane Hopwood starring David Schwimmer; Messenger #3 in Tim Story's urban comedy Taxi, with Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon; and the British CG-animated fantasy Doogal (aka, The Magic Roundabout), which didn't find U.S. release until early 2006. The first two of these films were widely lauded sleepers, the last two critically despised (though they failed to hurt Krasinski's career, given the low profile of his involvement).The Office followed in 2005. Adapted by Daniels from a hit 2001 British series of the same title, the program -- a ratings bonanza on NBC -- stars Daily Show vet Steve Carell as Michael Scott, the tactless, vain, pushy, and loudmouthed (yet well-meaning) director of the Dunder-Mifflin paper company. While Carell's off-the-wall antics spiked the series with a never-ending source of hilarity, the gradually developing relationship between Krasinski's Jim and Fischer's Pam (two straight roles) brought the series weight and solicited interest from those viewers seeking deeper and more meaningful character development. Perhaps sensing this, Daniels opted to stretch their courtship at a snail's pace over the course of several seasons. Krasinski would appear in several movies even as The Office's success continued on the small screen, like Jarhead, The Holiday, For Your Consideration, License to Wed, Leatherheads, Away We Go, and Big Miracle. In 2015, he appeared in Cameron Crowe's Aloha and acted as executive producer on the highly-successful TV series Lip Sync Battle.

Trivia: The granddaughter of John Barrymore and grandniece of Ethel Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore, Drew Barrymore was born in Culver City, California on February 22, 1975. From there, she didn't waste much time getting in front of the cameras, making her first commercial at nine months and her first television movie, Suddenly Love, at the age of two. Two years later, she made her film debut, appearing as William Hurt's daughter in Altered States (1980). At the advanced age of seven, Barrymore became a true celebrity, thanks to her role as the cherubic Gertie in Steven Spielberg's E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. The huge success of that 1982 film endeared Barrymore to millions of audience members, but following leads in two more films, Irreconcilable Differences and Firestarter (both 1984), the young actress began to succumb to a destructive lifestyle defined by drugs, alcohol, and too much partying. A child expected to behave like an adult, Barrymore began drinking at the age of nine and started taking drugs a short while later.Unsurprisingly, observers began writing Barrymore off as just another failed child star when she was barely into her teens. She made a string of (largely forgettable) movies, many of which only reinforced her image as a has-been. However, in the middle of her teen years, Barrymore entered rehab, cleaned herself up, and wrote an autobiography, Little Girl Lost, which detailed her travails with drugs and alcohol. In the early 1990s, she entered another phase in her career, gaining notoriety for playing a series of vampy, trampy trailer-park Lolitas. In this capacity, she turned in memorable performances in Poison Ivy (1992), the 1993 made-for-TV The Amy Fisher Story, and Batman Forever (1995), all of which featured her pouting seductively and showing more thigh than all the Rockettes combined. Barrymore's on-screen antics were ably complemented by the off-screen reputation she was forming at the time: first she could be seen posing nude with then-boyfriend Jamie Walters on the cover of Interview magazine, then modeling for a series of racy Guess ads, flashing David Letterman during an appearance on The Late Show as a "birthday present" to the host, and finally posing nude for Playboy in 1995.In 1996, Barrymore's image underwent an abrupt and effective transformation from slut to sweetheart. With a brief but memorable role in Wes Craven's Scream and a lead in Woody Allen's Everyone Says I Love You that featured her as a Kelly Girl for the '90s, Barrymore's career received an adrenaline shot to the heart. She began working steadily again, and she reshaped her offscreen persona into that of a delightful and sweet-natured girl trying to mend her ways. This new image was supported by her screen work, much of which featured her as a chaste heroine. Her starring role as the "real" Cinderella in Ever After (1998) was a good example, and it had the added advantage of turning out to be a fairly solid hit. Barrymore's other major 1998 film, The Wedding Singer, was another hit, further enhancing her reputation as America's new sweetheart. The following year, the actress all but put the final nail in the coffin of her wild-child reputation of years past, starring as the nerdy, lovelorn twenty-something reporter who bears the titular condition of Never Been Kissed. That movie not only marked a notable transition in Barrymore's reputation, but an advancement in her cinematic career as well. Expanding her role from actress to producer, Barrymore would continue starring in and producing such efforts as Charlie's Angels (2000), Donnie Darko (2001).Though some may have suspected that her millennial transition from sweetheart to skull-cracker in Charlie's Angels may have signaled a shift towards more action oriented roles -- and despite her return to the role in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) -- Barrymore once again charmed audiences with another emotional comedy, Riding in Cars With Boys in 2001, while Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) found Drew in the role of long-suffering girlfriend alongside Sam Rockwell's unlikely CIA operative. Though the film did not fare particularly well critically or otherwise, Barrymore took a nonetheless interesting turn as an apple-pie wife turned sinister in 2003's Duplex, and held her own against scene-chomper Ben Stiller. Barrymore teamed up with fellow Stiller-flick alumni Owen Wilson for 2004's Date School, and once again played Adam Sandler's sugar sweet girlfriend in director Peter Segal's romantic comedy Fifty-First Dates.2005 brought yet another openly fluffy romantic comedy with Fever Pitch, in which she played the straight-girl against Red Sox super-fan Jimmy Fallon, but she soon changed gears, signing on to appear in Lucky You, a gambling drama by Curtis Hanson. She was soon back to romcom terretory, with Music and Lyrics and He's Just Not That Into You, but also took on an extremly meaty character role in the 2009 HBO film Grey Gardens, in which she mimiced the particular speech and mannerisms of infamous shut-in "Little Edie" and met with major critical acclaim. Around this same time, Barrymore took on her first directorial effort, helming the modest, young-adult movie Whip It, which critics deemed a solid debut. Barrymore then took on a starring role alongside sometime boyfriend Justin Long in the 2010 comedy Going the Distance, before signing on to play an environmental activist in the feel-good period movie Big Miracle. She then took a career break in order to focus on her growing family before re-teaming with Adam Sandler in 2014 for the romcom Blended.

Trivia: For some actors, success just seems to come naturally. In the case of talented stage and screen beauty Kristen Bell, it wasn't so much a matter of if she was going to be a star after realizing her dream during an early performance as a banana in Raggedy Ann and Andy at the tender age of 12 -- but when she would finally make the big time. Paralyzed with stage fright as she waited for her cue off-stage, Bell was offered a word of encouragement by her supportive mother that would ultimately give her the drive to realize her life's calling. A native of Detroit whose early stage experiences eventually led her to study at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Bell saw early success when she was chosen to portray Becky Thatcher in a Broadway production of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Realizing that she had what it took to find success onscreen as well as on-stage, Bell was soon packing her bags for Los Angeles and landing small supporting roles in such features as Polish Wedding and Pootie Tang. In 2003, Bell impressed television viewers with a solid performance in the made-for-television dramas The King and Queen of Moonlight Bay and Gracie's Choice. She next appeared in David Mamet's 2004 thriller Spartan, before landing the lead as a sort-of new-millennium Nancy Drew on UPN's Veronica Mars. If the show's ravenous cult following wasn't enough to make young Bell a household name, even after its much mourned cancellation in 2007, her subsequent performance in the awesomely successful comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall cinched it for her. Bell would go on to play a recurring role on the landmark TV series Heroes, before appearing in a number of comedies over the next few years, like Fanboys, Couples Retreat, and When in Rome. Bell would even appear in slightly less prestigious movies, like Burlesque and Scream 4, but remained one of the most in-demand young actresses in Hollywood, especially in the realm of comedy. She would play a memorable role on Don Cheadle's comedy series House of Lies, and co-produced and starred in an action-oriented romcom with Bradley Cooper called Hit and Run (which was written and co-directed by Bell's real-life love, Dax Shepard).In 2013, Bell and Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas launched a Kickstater campaign to raise funds for a Veronica Mars movie. The campaign proved to be wildly successful, raising more than was needed to fund the film, which was released in 2014. Bell also voiced Anna in the Disney film Frozen, which significantly raised her profile, and showcased her singing voice, holding her own opposite Broadway heavyweight Idina Menzel.

Trivia: American actor Dermot Mulroney is decidedly in tune with the 1990s: his film characters are often eccentric, unpredictable, and total strangers to personal hygiene. Curiously, when called upon to appear as a scruffy street kid in Where the Day Takes You (1992), Mulroney seemed a bit too squeaky-clean. An alumnus of Northwestern University, he first made moviegoers' acquaintance in 1988 with Sunset and as part of the Brat Pack western Young Guns. In the acclaimed Longtime Companion (1990), Mulroney played a collar-and-tie type who was still essentially an outsider due to the character's homosexuality and vulnerability to AIDS. Much of Mulroney's subsequent work has gone largely unseen, including the dismal Bad Girls (1994).

Trivia: An accomplished playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor, former classics major Tim Blake Nelson is perhaps most familiar to the movie audience as the hilariously dim Delmar in Joel and Ethan Coen's goofy Oscar-nominated comedy O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000).Born in Oklahoma, Nelson attended college at Brown University where he became a Latinist in the classics department. Opting for the arts over academia, Nelson headed to New York after college, studying acting at Juilliard and embarking on an Obie Award-winning career as a stage writer. After making his film debut in Nora Ephron's freshman directorial effort This Is My Life (1992), Nelson occasionally appeared in films throughout the 1990s, playing small roles in Hal Hartley's Amateur (1994), the Al Pacino/Johnny Depp mob drama Donnie Brasco (1997), and Terrence Malick's radiant anti-war anti-epic The Thin Red Line (1998). Along with film acting, Nelson turned to filmmaking with the screen adaptation of his play Eye of God (1997), a somber rural drama about a woman's marriage to a pious ex-con with a violent past, which earned positive notice at the Sundance Film Festival. Because of his ability to handle difficult questions of violence and create an ominous mood out of the everyday, Nelson was asked to helm the modernized, teen version of Shakespeare's Othello, retitled O (2001). Shot in 1999, O languished on the shelf in the wake of a series of high school shootings, deemed an inappropriate release because of its violent denouement. In the meantime, Nelson's friend Joel Coen offered him one of the starring roles in O Brother, Where Art Thou?. As comfortable playing rural comedy as directing rural drama, Nelson shined as the dimmest of a trio of hare-brained fugitives in the Coen brothers' shaggy-dog 1930s Southern Odyssey. After his successful stint with the Coens' light-hearted movie, Nelson returned squarely to downbeat material, directing the screen adaptation of his play The Grey Zone (2001). A drama about the only armed revolt at Auschwitz, The Grey Zone was already hitting the film-festival circuit when Lionsgate removed O from its Miramax purgatory, releasing it in August 2001. Impressing some critics with its central performances and evocative Southern Gothic atmosphere (if not always with all aspects of the adaptation), O confirmed Nelson's ability to translate his concern with the complex motivations for (and fall out from) violence to the film medium. Back to being an actor for hire, Nelson scored a summer 2002 hat trick with roles in one glossy big studio blockbuster and two well-regarded independent releases. In Steven Spielberg's Minority Report (2002), Nelson stood out (albeit a bit too much for some critical tastes) as the oddball, organ-playing guardian of the imprisoned "pre"-killers captured by Precrime hotshot Tom Cruise. Refraining from such theatrical eccentricity, Nelson garnered more positive reviews for his turn as a shy technician charged with servicing house arrestee Robin Tunney's ankle bracelet in the singular indie romance Cherish (2002), and as John C. Reilly's doltish, stoner best friend and co-worker in Miguel Arteta's dark comedy The Good Girl (2002). Nelson's roles proliferated through the first years of the new millennium -- he averaged around six to eight A-list features per year, the number doubtless heightened by Nelson's status as a character actor and his resultant tendency to gravitate to bit parts in lieu of leading roles. For the first several years after The Good Girl, Nelson's roles included, among others: Dr. Jonathan Jacobo, the "pterodactyl ghost" in Raja Gosnell's Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004); Danny Dalton, a representative of the oil company Killen, in Stephen Gaghan's muckraking drama Syriana (2005); and Tom Loyless, the supervisor of a polio treatment center revitalized by F.D.R., in Joseph Sargent's superior telemovie Warm Springs (2005). Nelson then appeared as Curly Branitt, an entrepreneur determined to build a pancake house and expel the resident animals at the location, in the Jimmy Buffett-produced, family-oriented comedy Hoot (2006). He plays Kevin Munchak in Michael Polish's drama The Astronaut Farmer (2006), starring Billy Bob Thornton, Virginia Madsen, and Bruce Dern; and The North Beach Killer in Finn Taylor's fiendish black comedy The Darwin Awards (2007). He had a major supporting turn in 2008's The Incredible Hulk, and in 2010 he wrote directed and acted in Leaves of Grass. He appeared in the 2011 teaching drama Detachment, and in 2012 he landed a major part in the inspirational drama Big Miracle and appeared in Steven Spielberg's long-planned biopic Lincoln.Nelson is married to the actress Lisa Benavides; they reside in Southern California.

Trivia: The son of a prominent archaeologist/museum director, American actor Ted Danson grew up near the Navajo reservation in Arizona. He played basketball while at Kent School Connecticut, and then moved on to Stanford University. It was in the process of getting acquainted with an aspiring actress at Stanford that Danson found himself attending his first audition-- and by years' end had transferred to the drama department at Carnegie Tech. Marking time in non-speaking roles, Danson left the stage for the more lucrative world of TV commercials, some of which have been well-circulated on videotape since Danson has become famous. Danson's first steady TV work was as a slimy villain on the NBC soap opera Somerset. Shortly afterward, the actor attained his first film role, as a murdered cop, in The Onion Field (1978). After seeing Danson in the movie Body Heat (1981) and in an episode of the TV series Taxi, producer Glen Charles cast the actor as Sam Malone, ex-sports star and full-time barkeeper and womanizer, on the long-running, well-loved sitcom Cheers He won Emmys for the 1989-90 and 1992-93 seasons. Frequently making attempts at film stardom during the 11-season run of Cheers, Danson finally struck gold in Three Men and a Baby (1987) and its sequel Three Men and a Little Lady (1990). Danson's most recent work includes the 1996 starring role in the TV miniseries Gulliver's Travels and a co-starring role, opposite his new wife Mary Steenburgen, in the television sit-com Ink (also 1996). In 1998 Danson began a six-year run on another successful sitcom portraying the lead character on Becker, playing a caustic grump who couldn't have been further from Sam Malone's effortless charm. He continued to work steadily on the big screen as well scoring appearances in Saving Private Ryan and Mumford. He made sporadic appearances on Larry David's award-winning Curb Your Enthusiasm, and earned strong reviews for his dramatic work on the first season of the TV show Damages. He followed that up with a co-starring role on the HBO series Bored to Death, which lasted three seasons. In 2012 he could be seen in the inspirational animal movie Big Miracle.

Trivia: Thanks in large part to the independent film movement of the late '80s, the boyishly handsome James LeGros went from being an underrated bit player in Hollywood schlock to a well-respected character actor. A Minnesota native, LeGros found steady work when he migrated to Los Angeles after college in the early '80s, popping up as a guest star in such TV series as Knight Rider, and in Danny DeVito's directorial debut, the made-for-cable satire The Ratings Game (a.k.a. The Mogul). Sci-fi made up the bulk of LeGros' early feature-film roles, including the dreadful post-apocalyptic teen flop Solarbabies (1986) and the thriller sequel Phantasm II (1988).It was director Gus Van Sant who afforded LeGros the opportunity to show his skills with a meaty supporting role in 1989's much-acclaimed Drugstore Cowboy. As part of a quartet of drifters stealing their way across the Pacific Northwest, the actor held his own against the iconic Matt Dillon as well as newcomer Heather Graham. More challenging parts followed in the early '90s, including the psychological drama The Rapture (1991), Cameron Crowe's ensemble romantic comedy Singles (1992), and a pair of firearm-obsessed indies, Guncrazy and My New Gun (also 1992). Pairing with director Todd Haynes for his 1995 sophomore feature Safe, LeGros garnered more acclaim as a confidante/romantic interest for the mysteriously ailing character played by Julianne Moore. That same year, he hilariously sent up a narcissistic Hollywood actor -- not-so-secretly based on Brad Pitt -- in director Tom DiCillo's satire on the perils of indie filmmaking, Living in Oblivion.As the millennium drew to a close, LeGros would re-team with Moore in the ensemble dramedy The Myth of Fingerprints (1997), playing an eccentric New England townie who has a crush on Moore's icy, cosmopolitan yuppie. With the film, LeGros began a long-standing collaboration with the film's writer-director -- and Moore's real-life beau -- Bart Freundlich, who would go on to cast LeGros in his subsequent films, including the road movie World Traveler (2001), the family film Catch That Kid (2003), and the screwball relationship comedy Trust the Man (2006).In the intervening years, LeGros made a successful return to the medium that gave him his first break: television. He was exposed to perhaps his widest audience to date in 1998 on the venerable medical drama ER, and then on the popular series Ally McBeal, in 2000 and 2001. A starring role on Showtime's gritty, controversial terrorist drama Sleeper Cell followed in 2005.

Trivia: Though best known for his work as radio station bigwig Jimmy James on the television series NewsRadio, Stephen Root is one of the busier character actors at work today, and a familiar face to television and movie audiences. Born in Sarasota, FL, on November 17, 1951, Root received a degree in acting and broadcasting from the University of Florida, and after graduating passed an audition to join the touring company of the National Shakespeare Company. After three years with the NSC, Root settled in New York City, where he began working in off-Broadway theater, making his debut in a revival of Journey's End. His first Broadway role, in So Long on Lonely Street, was a bust at the box office, but the 1987 revival of All My Sons was a big hit which generated plenty of enthusiastic press for Root. 1988 saw Root making his motion-picture debut in the George Romero horror opus Monkey Shines, and over the next several years Root worked steadily in feature films, episodic television, and made-for-TV movies, scoring recurring roles on L.A. Law, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Blossom; guest spots on Northern Exposure, Murphy Brown, and Quantum Leap; supporting parts in Ghost, Dave, and Robocop 3; and an acclaimed turn in A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story, as well as its sequel, Her Final Fury: Betty Broderick, The Last Chapter. In 1993, Root was cast as R.O. on the television series Harts of the West; the show only lasted a season, but his next role on a series would last a bit longer; cast as Jimmy on the sitcom NewsRadio in 1995, Root would last with the show for five seasons, until the show was canceled after a disappointing final season following the death of co-star Phil Hartman. During hiatus from NewsRadio and after the series ended, Root continued his busy schedule, making memorable appearances in feature films (including Office Space and O Brother, Where Art Thou?) and guesting on other shows. Root also began doing voice work, speaking for Buck Strickland and Bill Dauterive on the animated series King of the Hill and the Sheriff on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.Root's small-screen voice-work would soon lead to his involvement in two popular big-screen animated features. In 2002's Ice Age, audiences could hear him along with Cedric the Entertainer as a pair of Rhinos. And the next year, Root lent his pipes to the blockbuster underwater adventure Finding Nemo. While his voice became more familiar to moviegoers, Root continued to become more of a presence in live-action films as well. Turning in no less than four supporting performances in high-profile films, Root spent 2004 reteaming with the Coen brothers for The Ladykillers, showing up in a prominent role in Kevin Smith's Jersey Girl, and costarring in the broad comedies Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Mad Money, and Leatherheads.He remained one of the most respected and in-demand character actors of his generation appearing in a variety of projects including Mad Money, The Soloist, Everything Must Go, Red State, Cedar Rapids, and J. Edgar. He also provided numerous voices for the Oscar-winning animated feature Rango.

Trivia: Originally went to college to become a teacher and tutored elementary students throughout high school and college. Married with two children. Crossed paths with Tony Soprano as a compulsive gambler in the pilot episode of The Sopranos. Made his Broadway debut in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, opposite Eddie Izzard, in 2003. Originally read for the role of Johnston Green for Jericho.

Trivia: Born February 12, 1963, John Michael Higgins is a character player who evinced a flair for comedic portrayals of middle-aged types, actor John Michael Higgins jump-started his career with a dead-on evocation of David Letterman in the made-for-cable comedy The Late Shift -- a picture about the cutthroat war between Letterman and Jay Leno to be crowned "King of Late Night Talk." Higgins followed this auspicious and covetable assignment with small roles in Barry Levinson's scathing political satire Wag the Dog (1997) and a guest appearance as one of Elaine's issue-ridden boyfriends on Seinfeld, but made his most substantial impression as an occasional character on Ally McBeal -- that of Steven Milter, an attorney who doubled as a psychoanalyst of Ally's. Beginning with Best in Show (2000), Higgins enjoyed a multi-film run on the big screen with Christopher Guest and his regular mockumentary collaborators that also included the farces A Mighty Wind (2003) and For Your Consideration (2006). He also had a recurring role as an attorney Wayne Jarvis on the critically acclaimed sitcom Arrested Development and supplied the voice of Mentok the Mindtaker for the animated comedy series Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. Back on the big screen, Higgins essayed two A-list supporting roles in 2007, in the Steve Carell-headlined farce Evan Almighty and the holiday-themedFred Claus starring Vince Vaughn. Higgins joined Vaughn again in Couples Retreat (2009), a romantic comedy following a group of couples who arrive on a tropical island only to find out they are required to participate in couples therapy in order to stay. He appeared on the FX television series Wilford in 2011, and joined the cast of the sitcom Happily Divorced, in which he co-stars with Fran Drescher (his real life ex-wife) as a man who amicably ended his marriage after coming to terms with his homosexuality. After working with Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz in the moderately successful comedy Bad Teacher in 2011, the actor played a small role in the 2012 adventure drama Big Miracle, which follows the plight of a journalist and volunteer who go to extreme lengths to save a beached whale.

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: Comedian Rob Riggle earned his chops in the theater and film program at the University of Kansas. Also, perhaps surprisingly, the successful comic cut his teeth in the military, joining the Marines in 1990 and eventually earning the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. Riggle would go on to forge a creative partnership with fellow comedian Rob Huebel, working together in the sketch comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade, projects for VH1, and more. Riggle would go on to be a featured player on Saturday Night Live, and become an extremely popular member of the staff on The Daily Show, in addition to appearing in movies like The Hangover, Step Brothers, Talladega Nights, and Pushing Tom.

Trivia: Is a founding member of New York improv group the Swarm; has also performed improv with the Upright Citizens Brigade. Has done voice work for Robert Smigel's TV Funhouse cartoons that aired on Saturday Night Live. Among the impressions he performed on MADtv were Carrot Top, Bill Maher, Dick Cheney and Pat Sajak.

Trivia: Grew up in a Malayali family.Auditioned for Life of Pi (2012) as a request from his brother who was also auditioning for the role of Pi.Had no acting experience prior to auditioning for Life of Pi (2012).Was elected from a group of 3,000 other young men to play the lead role in Life of Pi (2012).Studied a Mass Communication course at New York University.

Trivia: Taught at the Netherlands Institute for 4 years. Has also taught at the Royal Conservatory of Performing Arts at The Hague. Worked as a theatre artist before turning to movies. In the early 1980s, performed with a group of stand-up comedians called the Bhaya Mama Group. In 1999, his portrayal of Othello in Othello - a Play in Black and White directed by Roysten Abel was termed as the best piece of Shakespearean acting by the newspaper The Scotsman. Received worldwide recognition for his role as the protagonist's father in Ang Lee's movie Life of Pi (2012).

Trivia: Despite his unorthodox visage, Gérard Depardieu has made a profound mark on the acting world, earning a recognition as one of Europe's most accomplished performers and appealing leading men. Perhaps a contributor to his consistently intense performances, Depardieu's childhood was one of extreme poverty. At twelve years old, he dropped out of school and hitchhiked across Europe on an informal tour funded primarily by the profits of stolen cars and assorted black-market products. Depardieu would likely have continued in his juvenile delinquency were it not for a friend who was attending drama school in Paris. Intrigued, Depardieu enrolled at the Theatre National Populaire, where he studied his trade alongside future co-stars Patrick Dewaere and Miou-Miou. In 1965, the young actor made his debut in a French short film by the name of Le Beatnik et le Minet, and began making regular appearances on French television shows. By the mid-'70s, Depardieu had co-starred in 11 French films, though he wouldn't enjoy widespread success until his role of a nihilistic but lovable petty criminal in director Bertrand Blier's Going Places (1974). Not long afterward, Depardieu could be found holding his own against acclaimed French actress Isabelle Adjani in Barocco and portraying a passionate Communist organizer in 1900 (both 1976). In 1978, Depardieu re-teamed with Blier for the Oscar-winning Get Out Your Handkerchiefs, and he went on to win France's prestigious César award for his performance as a resistance fighter in The Last Metro (1980). After his portrayal of a 16th century peasant in The Return of Martin Guerre (1982), Depardieu played the title role in Danton, and he stepped behind the camera as co-director for 1984's Le Tartuffe.The 1990s were equally successful for Depardieu, particularly in the case of director Jean-Paul Rappeneau's 1990 version of Cyrano de Bergerac, for which Depardieu earned an Oscar nomination. He made his foray into American film in 1990's Green Card opposite Andie MacDowell . Though the bulk of his success still stemmed from French films (All the Mornings of the World [1991], Germinal [1993], A Pure Formality [1994], and Colonel Chabert [1994], to name a few) Depardieu nonetheless achieved moderate recognition in the American film market. Despite the failures of Ridley Scott's 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) and Steve Miner's English remake of My Father the Hero, Depardieu was praised for his performances in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1996), Nick Cassavetes' She's So Lovely (1997), and Randall Wallace's The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), with Gabriel Byrne, John Malkovich, Jeremy Irons, and Leonardo DiCaprio.Over the following years, Depardieu maintained his prowess in film. In addition to critically acclaimed performances in The Closet (2001), CQ (2001), City of Ghosts (2002), and Nathalie... (2003), Depardieu began work with internationally recognized French director Alain Chabat for RRRrrr! in 2004. Additional appearances throughout 2005 and 2006 included the title role in Boudu (2005), Alain in Quand j'étais chanteur (2006), and Chef Didier in Last Holiday. Depardieu made his directorial debut with 2000's The Bridge.Depardieu has become somewhat notorious for his stormy offscreen life. He made a concerted effort to cut back on his alcohol consumption following a heart attack and an emergency quintuple bypass operation, in 2000. In 2003, he officially cut off contact with his son, Guillaume Depardieu when the young man threatened him with a gun and received a suspended prison sentence. On another note, the elder Depardieu was involved in both a plane collision and two motorcycle accidents as well (in 1998 and 2003), and officials attributed at least one of the incidents to abnormally high alcohol levels in the actor's bloodstream. In 2005, Depardieu allegedly scandalized European viewers when he crassly (and drunkenly) insulted a fellow guest on a French talk show for comments that the woman made about the cookbook he had authored. The aforementioned cookbook was no one-hit wonder for Depardieu. A highly-regarded gourmand and gifted enologist, he opened the Parisian restaurant La Fontaine Gaillon, on the second arrondissement, along with Buffet froid co-star Carole Bouquet in fall 2003. In October 2005, Depardieu publicly announced his intention to retire from screen acting, following his starring role in Michou d'Auber (2007). Retirement was not to be, however, as he went on to appear in over a dozen projects since that film including Bellamy, Potiche, and 2012's Life of Pi.

Trivia: Named after the title character in Francis Beaumont's The Knight of the Burning Pestle, played by his father Timothy Spall in a 1981 Royal Shakespeare Company production, and then by himself in a 2005 revival. Encouraged by his father to join the National Youth Theatre at age 15. At 19, unhappy with the "fat boy" parts he was being offered, began dieting and exercising and eventually lost nearly 80 pounds. Bared it all for his first leading role in 2006's The Chatterley Affair. Acted opposite his real-life dad, playing father and son, in a 2007 British television adaptation of E. M. Forster's A Room With a View. Worked out for his role in the romantic comedy I Give It a Year, saying he wanted to look convincing enough for co-star Rose Byrne to conceivably fancy him.

Trivia: An earthy strawberry blonde who has skirted typical leading lady roles to build a respectable career out of commendable supporting performances, talented Kathy Baker has time and again proven her cinematic worth with indispensable turns in such films as Edward Scissorhands (1990) and The Cider House Rules (1999). A native of Midland, TX, who received a degree in French from the University of California at Berkley, Baker studied briefly at the California Institute of Arts before abandoning her further education to reside in Paris for a number of years. After returning stateside to make a name for herself on stage and screen, Baker found 1983 to be a pivotal year for her career when she won an Obie for her role in Sam Shepard's Fool for Love and made a lasting impression in director Philip Kaufman's space program drama The Right Stuff. Subsequent roles as a prostitute in Street Smart (1987) and a recovering alcoholic and victim of domestic abuse in Clean and Sober (1988) proved a testament to Baker's considerable onscreen skills; her performance in Street Smart earned her Best Supporting Actress awards from the Boston Society of Film Critics and the National Society of Film Critics as well as an Independent Spirits awards nomination.Baker was increasingly prevalent in quirky dramas throughout the 1990s, but it was her work on the small screen that earned Baker the majority of her recognition in that decade. Her winning performance as a small-town doctor and family woman proved a key component in the success of the small-screen drama Picket Fences during the show's 1992-1996 run, and though she would focus her attention on the series, Baker still made time to appear in such theatrical releases as Mad Dog and Glory (1993) and To Gillian in Her 37th Birthday (1996). Frequently alternating between high-profile releases and independent efforts, no matter what the quality of the films, Baker's performances were consistently solid. The new millennium once again found Baker scoring a hit with her role in the popular television comedy drama Boston Public, and though she only served a two-season stint on the series, she soon returned to television work with Murphy's Dozen on 2003. Her role as an overbearing mother tackled the issue of teenage pregnancy to surprising effect in the 2002 made-for-television effort Too Young to Be a Dad. Following a supporting performance in Robert Duvall's Assassination Tango (also 2002), Baker could be spotted in director Anthony Minghella's eagerly anticipated Civil War romance Cold Mountain (2003).

Trivia: Fair-haired teen model cum versatile actress Vinessa Shaw has made her mark playing everything from sexy siren to innocent angel, though her breakthrough role came as a mixture of both with her turn as a sympathetic prostitute in director Stanley Kubrick's final film, Eyes Wide Shut (1999).Born in California in July of 1976, Shaw began her career in show business early in childhood, though her big break came with her casting in the 1992 Rodney Dangerfield comedy Ladybugs. Soon appearing in such efforts as Hocus Pocus the following year and in the television series Fallen Angels and McKenna shortly after, Shaw made a memorable appearance in the girl-tames-wild horse-coming-of-age story Coyote Summer before her affable prostitute loaned Tom Cruise's character a little understanding in Eyes Wide Shut. Shaw took on a large role in the made-for-television miniseries The '70s in 2000 and made an appearance in Saturday Night Live alumni Chris Kattan's comedy Corky Romano in 2001.