Trivia: Giving new meaning to the term America's Sweetheart, Sandra Bullock won over scores of filmgoers and critics with her wholesome, exuberant portrayals of ordinary women in extraordinary circumstances. Since her breakthrough role as Speed's unwitting heroine, Bullock has enjoyed the type of popularity that was in the past reserved for actresses along the lines of Mary Pickford or Shirley Temple.Born in Washington, D.C., on July 26, 1964, Bullock was the elder daughter of a vocal coach dad and an opera singer mom. Touring through Europe with her mother, Bullock was given her first taste of show business while still a child. Back in the States, she attended high school in Virginia and was a popular cheerleader, whose classmates dubbed her the person Most Likely to Brighten Your Day. After a stint at East Carolina University, Bullock took her sunny nature to New York, where she began concentrating on an acting career. After tending bar and studying her craft with dramatician Sanford Meisner, she got her start with a number of stage productions. It was for one of these productions, the off-Broadway No Time Flat, that Bullock received a rave review for her portrayal of a Southern belle, the strength of which was enough to land her an agent. Television work followed, with a small role in the 1989 Bionic Showdown: The Six-Million-Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman and, after her migration to Los Angeles, Melanie Griffith's role in the short-lived television version of Working Girl. Miraculously surviving the widespread career fallout that surrounded her first starring film role in Love Potion No. 9 (1992), the actress went on the following year to star in the similarly ill-fated The Thing Called Love. However, things began to look up the same year when the struggling actress became the last-minute replacement for Lori Petty in the Sylvester Stallone action flick Demolition Man. Though her role was essentially limited to intermittent saliva exchanges with Stallone, her performance won the attention of the film's producer, Joel Silver, who in turn recommended her to Jan de Bont. De Bont, then in the process of casting his upcoming bus-with-a-bomb action film, chose the struggling actress for the part of Annie, the film's reluctant heroine. In casting Bullock against Keanu Reeves, de Bont reportedly came up against considerable resistance from studio executives, who wanted someone blonde and buxom for the part. The director persevered and, in 1994, Bullock took her place in movie history as part of Speed, one of the most successful action films ever made. The film propelled the actress to stardom, surprising no one more than Bullock herself, who later remarked, "never in a million years did I think a bus movie would open every door I ever possibly wanted open."Doors now wide open, Bullock next starred in the 1995 romantic comedy While You Were Sleeping. The film was a critical and commercial hit, and the actress followed it up with a screen adaptation of John Grisham's A Time to Kill, co-starring Ashley Judd and Matthew McConaughey. The success of that film was the last that Bullock would enjoy for a while, as she then entered something of a sophomore slump with disappointments such as In Love and War (1996), Two If By Sea (1996), and, perhaps most excruciating, Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997). Fortunately for Bullock, her audiences seemed to be inclined to forgive and forget, and she had a modest rebound with the following year's Hope Floats, which also happened to be the first project of the production company she founded, Fortis Films. The same year, Bullock also starred in another romantic comedy, Practical Magic, opposite Nicole Kidman. The film provided another modest success for Bullock, who, back in the saddle again, proceeded to do yet another romantic comedy, this time starring with Ben Affleck in Forces of Nature (1999). Although the film proved to be a critical and commercial disappointment, Bullock was back on the radar with a number of projects in 2000, including the critically disembowelled comedy Gun Shy and 28 Days, a comedy that starred the actress as a newspaper columnist forced to enter rehab after her drinking problem assumes uncontrollable proportions. Following her role in Miss Congeniality (2000) as an FBI agent forced to go undercover in the Miss U.S.A. beauty pagent in order to prevent a bombing, Bullock faced off against a more low-key menace in the thriller Murder By Numbers (2002) before returning to lighthearted drama with Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (also 2002). Her status as the reigning queen of the chick flick permanantly established, Bullock next teamed with Hugh Grant for the amiable romantic comedy Two Weeks Notice before taking a two year furlough from the big screen - during which time she would assume the duty of executive producer for the George Lopez show in addition to turning in the occasional guest appearance. In 2005, Bullock found herself at the center of Oscar talk when she essayed the role of the racist wife of a prominant district attorney in Paul Haggis' critically acclaimed drama Crash. An unflinching look at racism in the multicultural melting pot of Los Angeles, Crash defied expectations to take home best editing, best screenplay, and best motion picture at the 77th Annual Academy Awards. That same year, a return to her role as bumbling undercover FBI agent Gracie Heart in Miss Congeniality 2 found Bullock returning to familiar lighthearted territory, although the sequel performed far more poorly than the first film. With her role as a lovelorn doctor who discovers a curious rift in time in 2006's romantic fantasy The Lake House (a remake of the 2000 South Korean film Siworae), the actress marked a graceful return to swooning, romantic pictures, not to mention a reteaming with her Speed man Keanu Reeves. Determined to remain firmly planted in serious acting, Bullock singed on to play author Harper Lee in the movie Infamous which, because of its unfortunate timing, was swallowed by comparisons to the film Capote, and went largely unnoticed. Undaunted, Bullock singed on for the supernatural thriller Premonition, about a woman who experiences shifts in the events of the universe and must use the visions to prevent her husband's death.2009 turned out to be one of the popular actresses most memorable years. In addition to producing and playing the lead in the smash hit romantic comedy The Proposal, Bullock earned the best reviews of her career as a protective mother helping raise a struggling high-school football player in The Blind Side. For her work in that movie, Bullock won the Golden Globe and the Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actress, not to mention the Oscar for Best Leading Actress. Fresh off her win, Bullock next took on another dramatic film, the post-9/11 drama Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. She starred in 2013's Gravity, opposite George Clooney, earning herself a second Oscar nomination. In 2015, she starred in, and produced, Our Brand Is Crisis.

Trivia: Hailed as the prime successor to Garth Brooks in the new millennium -- both for his rousing, Southern-fried honky tonk tunes and his laid-back countrypolitan ballads -- country and western performer Tim McGraw shot to fame on the basis of his sophomore recording, the 1994 Curb release Not a Moment Too Soon, which sold over five million copies and heralded the arrival of a major new superstar. Each additional album confirmed this status, and McGraw peaked critically and commercially with the 2004 Live Like You Were Dying. He gained additional acclaim from his high-profile marriage to Southern belle Faith Hill, also a chart-topping country singer; the two often headlined concerts and tackled interviews together. Coincident with Dying's release, McGraw opted to branch out from music videos into dramatic turns. He was particularly effective as an obnoxious, abusive, narrow-minded father in the Billy Bob Thornton-headlined sports drama Friday Night Lights (2004), and as a loving, supporting dad in the 2006 family-oriented drama Flicka (2006). McGraw would find continual opportunities to branch into acting in the years to come, appearing in movies like The Kingdom, Four Christmases, The Blind Side, and Country Song.

Trivia: Moved to Augusta, Georgia from The Bronx after elementary school.Made his feature film debut playing Q in the 2008 film Be Kind Rewind.At the end of the audition for his role in 2009's The Blind Side, he offered the director his security services should they be needed for the film, unsure if his audition had been successful.Participated in the Taco Bell Legends and Celebrities Softball Game during the 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.Founded the Quinton Aaron Foundation whose aim is to end bullying and provide a safe learning environment for children of all ages.

Trivia: Began acting in Atlanta in the early 1980s. Made film debut (as a state trooper) in 1989's Driving Miss Daisy; other film credits include Apollo 13, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Blind Side. Shared the 2001 live-action short Oscar for The Accountant with his late wife, Lisa Blount, the comedy's executive producer; and his costar and producing partner, Walton Goggins. McKinnon also wrote and directed. Was a regular on the first season of HBO's Deadwood (2004). His 2004 indie drama Chrystal (starring Blount and Billy Bob Thornton) was nominated for a Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize. Was nominated for a 2009 Independent Spirit supporting-actor award for That Evening Sun. (He also produced the drama, along with Goggins.)

Trivia: Moved to the United States from her native England at age 5 following her parents' split. Has done journalistic work for a variety of media outlets, including Nickelodeon and Teen Vogue. Enjoys traveling and while in school often visited places she learned about to further her education. Designed accessories, including ballet flats named after her grandmother, in support of a charity providing low-cost counseling in 2008. Made her film debut in the 2009 movie The Blind Side, playing the daughter of Sandra Bullock's character. Attended the same high school as Beverly Hills 90210 star Tori Spelling, and went on to guest star on the 90210 reboot.

Trivia: Though born far from the city, deep in the Heart of Dixie, actress Kim Dickens got an ambitious start to her career in film and television as a student at Vanderbilt University, where she made her stage debut in a student production of David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago.Born in Huntsville, AL, Dickens spent much of her active high school career involved with such activities as varsity softball and tennis, the National Honor Society, and receiving such honors as Senior Class Favorite before graduating in 1983. Later earning her B.A. in communication from Vanderbilt University, Dickens also studied at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute, is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and is a member of the Open Stage theater company.Making her feature debut in 1995, with the bumbling crime comedy Palookaville, Dickens spent the next few years acting in such made-for-television movies as Crimes of Passion: Voice From the Grave (1996), before returning to the big screen with Palookaville cohort Vincent Gallo, in Kiefer Sutherland's Truth or Consequences, NM and the 1998 update of Charles Dickens' classic Great Expectations. Bringing in the new millennium with roles in such thrillers as The Hollow Man and The Gift, Dickens took a turn back to the small screen in 2001, for a role in the ambitious but short-lived series Big Apple. The resilient actress bounced back to the big screen again, later that year, with Last Call. Over the coming years, Dickens would appear in a number of films, like House of Sand and Fog, Thank You for Smoking, and Red, as well as TV series like Deadwood, Lost, Friday Night Lights, and Treme.

Trivia: Started her acting career as an actress at a young age participating in Easter and Christmas pageants.Was part of the choir when she was young.Performed her first solo perfomance while she was a teenager, and also in several churches.Earned a scholarship to study in music and theater in Lambuth University and pursue her career as a professional actress.Made her debut as an actress in Broadway shortly after graduating college.

Trivia: Actress Kathy Bates has been involved in the arts in one way or another since graduating from Southern Methodist University. Among the Memphis native's earliest jobs were a stint as a singing waitress in a Catskill resort and a sojourn as a gift shop cashier in New York's Museum of Modern Art. Bates was type-cast in character roles early on, which assured her a lot more work than the thousands of faceless ingenues in the business. Her film debut occurred with 1971's Taking Off, and she made her off-Broadway debut five years later in Vanities.For a long while, Bates made her name on the stage, only to see her roles go to other actresses in the plays' subsequent film adaptations. In 1983, she was nominated for a Tony award for her stage appearance as a garrulous would-be suicide in 'Night, Mother, a role played on screen by Sissy Spacek. She also appeared as Lenny McGrath in Beth Henley's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Crimes of the Heart, a role played on screen by Diane Keaton. And in 1987, playwright Terrence McNally wrote a part specifically tailored to Bates' talents: the much-abused waitress Frankie in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, a role which won her an Obie award, and, following a familiar pattern, was played on screen by Michelle Pfeiffer.Bates finally got to star in a movie herself in 1990. And what a starring role it was: in Misery, she portrayed the psychotic "Number One Fan" of romance writer Paul Sheldon (James Caan), a searing performance which earned the actress an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. Appropriately enough, Hollywood screenwriters subsequently began making more room for Bates in their scripts. She worked steadily throughout the rest of the decade in films of greatly varying quality. Particular highlights included Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), A Prelude to a Kiss (1992), Dolores Claiborne (1995), Titanic (1997), and Primary Colors (1998), the latter of which featured Bates giving an Oscar and Golden Globe nominated performance as a political muckraker. Following her firey, foul-mouthed performance in that thinly veilied political biopic, Bates added a new credential to her resume, that of director. Initially taking the helm for the made-for-cable feature Dash and Lilly, Bates would subsequently direct episodes of the quirky HBO drama series Six Feet Under, simultaniously taking minor film roles before returning to more substantial roles with the CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame entry My Sister's Keeper. Roles in Love Liza and Dragonfly (both 2002) were soon to follow, and with her turn as an extroverted mother who catches the attention of Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt Bates would recieve her third Oscar nomination.She directed a number of episodes of the HBO series Six Feet Under before joining the cast in season 3 as Bettina. The next year she portrayed Queen Victoria in the big-budget remake of Around the World in 80 Days. She directed he feature Ambulance Girl in 2005. She continued to act steadily in a variety of projects including Failure to Launch, P.S. I Love You, Fred Claus, Bee Movie, and Revolutionary Road. She provided expert support for Sandra Bulock as the younger actress was winning an Oscar in The Blind Side, and Bates joined the cast of The Office in 2009. She was part of the large ensemble in 2010'ss Valentine's Day, and in 2011 starred as Gertrude Stein in Woody Allen's Oscar winning Midnight in Paris. That same year she launched her own network Drama series Harry's Law.

Trivia: Grew up in Atlanta, Georgia.Moved to Los Angeles in 1991.Had a one-woman-show called Sorry to Keep You Waiting.Worked as a Development Assistant for Lifetime Television's Original Movies Department.Moved back to New York City in 1997 to work for A&E Television's Biography.Author of the 2007 cookbook You Want Me To Bring A Dish? published by Lulu Press.

Trivia: Lost his mother to HIV/AIDS while he was still in high school. Wrote a play in high school based on Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech for a city-wide contest in Atlanta; earned second-place honors. Attended college on academic and athletic scholarships. Played defensive back and later running back on the University of Georgia football team. Prior to breaking into film and television, wrote and performed a one-man stage show, IronE...Resurrected. Performed as Homer the Brave, the mascot for the Atlanta Braves baseball team, from 1997 to 2006. Also briefly worked as Thrash, the mascot for the Atlanta Thrashers ice-hockey team. Changed his name to IronE in 2000, to use as an icebreaker while trying to launch his showbiz career.

Trivia: Was a running back on his high-school football team. Originally wanted to study medicine until he saw the film Glory, which inspired him to pursue a career in acting. Played the role of Lovborg in Ellie Heyman's stage production of Hedda Gobler. In 2011, played the roles of Elegba and Marcus in Company One's trilogy The Brother/Sister Plays for which he won the Elliot Norton Award from the Boston Theater Critics Association for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Small/Fringe Theater. Performed the role of Mr. Antrobus in a stage production of Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth in 2013. Introduced Forest Whitaker when he was honored at Boston University as a Martin Luther King Fellow in 2013.

Trivia: Character actor Afemo Omilami built a career out of portraying gritty, urban types in Hollywood features, often with an aggressive edge, such as taxi drivers, longshoremen, barkeeps, drill sergeants, and angry spouses. Omilami debuted onscreen in the late '70s and evolved into an increasingly common screen presence as the years passed. The dozens of projects in which he appeared include the Tom Hanks-Shelley Long disaster comedy The Money Pit (1986), the Sydney Pollack-directed legal thriller The Firm (1993), Best Picture winner Forrest Gump (1994) (as a screaming drill sergeant), and the Ray Charles biopic Ray (2004). In 2007, Omilami joined the cast of director Deborah Kampmeier's rape-themed period drama Hounddog.

Trivia: Began singing in public at the age of 13 when she joined her church's choir. Was a cheerleader in high school. Made her film debut in The Color Purple (1985), in which she performed a solo rendition of "God Is Tryin' to Tell You Something." Entered college intending to become a doctor, majoring in biology and minoring in chemistry. Shortly after graduation, however, she decided to pursue a career in show business. Lived in Okinawa, Japan, from 1995 to 2001 with her then-husband, who was in the Marines. During their stay, she carved out a successful singing career in the area and appeared in two Japanese TV commercials. Performed at Atlanta's Sambuca Jazz Café every week from 2002 until it closed in December 2010. Volunteers with BookPALS, which promotes literacy to young children through storytelling activities.

Trivia: Coached Notre Dame football to nine straight New Year's Day bowl games, highlighted by an undefeated national-championship season in 1988. Told the story of the season in The Fighting Spirit, one of several New York Times best-sellers written by Holtz. Guided six different schools to college-football bowl games, an NCAA record. Spent his last season as an assistant coach with Ohio State in 1968, winning a national championship on Woody Hayes' staff. Left college for the 1976 season, coaching the New York Jets to a 3-10 record before returning to campus life as Arkansas head coach. Won college football's Coach of the Year award (renamed the Bear Bryant Award in 1986) in 1977 and 1988 and has become a highly sought-after speaker for his folksy wit and wisdom on life and football. Devotes time to helping children with speech impediments, an affliction he dealt with himself before working for CBS and ESPN as an analyst. In 2003, Columbia, SC, renamed its winter homeless shelter after Lou and his wife Beth, in recognition of their contributions. Ended his coaching career after 2004 season with South Carolina. Briefly considered a run for Congress in Florida in 2009.

Trivia: Hails from a family of Croatian ancestry. Served as Bill Belichick's defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns from 1991 to 1994. Co-founded Nick's Kid's Foundation – a non-profit organization which serves Alabama and the Southeast – with his wife Terry in 1998. Led the Michigan State Spartans to a 10-2 win-loss record in 1999, its best since the 1965 NCAA season. Led the LSU Tigers to victory in the 2001 Sugar Bowl, its first in 33 years. Made a cameo appearance in the movie The Blind Side in 2009. Was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. Won his sixth national title – tied for most in the Poll Era with Bear Bryant – in 2018.