Trivia: An actress whose eyes seem able to peer directly into the souls of audience members, Kimberly Elise has garnered notable critical acclaim for her roles in such features as Beloved and The Ditchdigger's Daughters. Though many actresses might have been intimidated at the prospect of portraying a character from the Toni Morrison novel that is often cited as one of the most important works in American literary history, Beloved, Elise's ability to channel her characters gave her all of the confidence and strength needed to truly bring the character to life and hold her own opposite such formidable talents as Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover. For as far back as Elise can remember, she wanted to become an actress, and she even wrote a letter to the local newspaper's "Fix-It" column at the age of ten asking for information on how to achieve her goal. Elise had already been doing stage work before the fateful letter was penned, so it was obvious to all who knew her that she was ready and capable to put in the effort needed to become a true star. Elise began acting in Minneapolis professionally around the age of 20, and though she studied communications at the University of Minnesota, the prospect of becoming an actress full-time was always at the forefront of her intentions. Her dreams became a reality when a short film she had directed served as her entrance into the American Film Institute, and the experience of moving to Los Angeles and studying at the prestigious and fiercely competitive school gave Elise all the confidence needed to make a name for herself in Hollywood. Shortly after making her debut in the television series In the House, Elise made the leap to feature films as a down-on-her-luck young mother who participates in a robbery in Set It Off. Though Elise did make quite an impression with her feature debut, the film was only a moderate success, and it wasn't until receiving critical acclaim and a Cable Ace award that her career truly took off. Her remarkable performance in Beloved followed shortly thereafter. In 2000, Elise stepped into the lead for the made-for-television feature The Loretta Claiborne Story, playing the mentally and physically disabled athlete who made a name for herself by overcoming tremendous odds and becoming a competitor in the Special Olympics. The film provided an excellent showcase for the versatile young actress, with roles in Bait and Bojangles quickly following. By the time she appeared in John Q as a financially strained mother whose husband's insurance won't cover their son's heart transplant, Elise had been singled out by many critics to be one of Hollywood's brightest young stars, and her strong performance in the film opposite Denzel Washington only helped to strengthen that sentiment. In 2004, Elise would once again appear with Washington -- an actor for whom she has publicly voiced great admiration -- in the cautiously anticipated but warmly received remake The Manchurian Candidate. She worked with Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker in The Great Debaters, a 2007 drama following the temperamental debate coach of a small town college, and co-starred with Bernie Mac and Terrence Howard in the inspirational drama Pride the same year. In 2010 she took a starring role in the film adaptation of the Obie Award-winning play For Colored Girls.

Trivia: Bearing talent and good looks in equal measure, African American actor Omar Epps first became visible to audiences and critics alike with his 1992 film debut in Ernest R. Dickerson's urban drama Juice. Epps shone in his role as one of a group of four Harlem friends trying to make good, with the praise he earned for his work paving the way for steady industry employment.Born Omar Hashim Epps in Brooklyn, New York, on July 23, 1973, Epps was raised by his mother, an elementary school principal. He nurtured his interest in acting at both the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and the New York High School for the Performing Arts. After his breakthrough in Juice, Epps ran the risk of being typecast, playing athletes in a series of films. However, his performances were consistently solid, and he earned particular acclaim for his portrayal of a young man attending college on an athletic scholarship in John Singleton's Higher Learning (1995). Around this same time, Epps also excelled in a brief recurring role as an emotionally stressed intern on E.R.; he would later identify that role as the one that made it possible for audiences to finally put a name to his face.After some memorable roles in Scream 2, In Too Deep, and Love & Basketball, Epps entered the 2000's strong. He would appear in various films over the coming years, like Perfume, Big Trouble, and Against the Ropes. Epps would also find tremendous success on the small sceen, with a starring role on the massively popular medical drama House M.D.

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: A distinguished actor of the stage and screen, Danny Glover is known for his work in both Hollywood blockbusters and serious dramatic films. Towering and quietly forceful, Glover lends gravity and complexity to the diverse characters he has portrayed throughout his lengthy career.A native of San Francisco, where he was born July 22, 1947, Glover attended San Francisco State and received his dramatic training at the American Conservatory Theatre's Black Actors' Workshop. He made his film debut in Escape from Alcatraz (1979). In the early '80s, Glover made his name portraying characters ranging from the sympathetic in Places in the Heart (1984) to the menacing in Witness (1985) and The Color Purple (1984). He reached box-office-gold status with the three Lethal Weapon flicks produced between 1987 and 1992, playing the conservative, family-man partner of "loose cannon" L.A. cop Mel Gibson. Glover carried over his fiddle-and-bow relationship with Gibson into his off-screen life, and also contributed an amusing cameo (complete with his Lethal Weapon catch-phrase "I'm gettin' too old for this!") in Maverick (1994). In 1998, Glover again reprised his role for the blockbuster-proportioned Lethal Weapon 4, and that same year gave a stirring performance in the little-seen Beloved.In the following years Glover would walk the line between Hollywood heavyweight and serious-minded independent actor with a skill most actors could only dream of, with an affectinate role in Wes Anderson's 2001 comedy drama The Royal Tenenbaums and a surprising turn toward horror in Saw serving well to balance out lesser-seen but equally powerful turns in Boseman and Lena, 3 A.M., and Lars von Trier's Manderlay. The same year that Glover retreated into the woods as a haunted Vietnam veteran in the low-key drama Missing in America, he would turn in a series of guest appearances on the long-running television medical drama E.R. Despite a filmography that seemed populated with an abundance of decidedly serious dramas in the years following the millennial turnover, Glover did cut loose in 2006 when he took a role as Tim Allen's boss in The Shaggy Dog and stepped into the studio to offer vocal performances in the animated kid flicks The Adventures of Brer Rabbit and Barnyard. On television, Glover played the title role in Mandela (1987), cowpoke Joshua Deets in the 1989 miniseries Lonesome Dove, legendary railroad man John Henry in a 1988 installment of Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales, and the mercurial leading character in the 1989 "American Playhouse" revival of A Raisin in the Sun. For his role in Freedom Song as a caring father struggling to raise his young son in 1960s-era Mississippi, Glover was nominated for an Emmy award and took home an Image award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series, or Dramatic Special. Glover played a proprietor of a struggling blues club in John Sayles' musical drama Honeydripper in 2007, and went on to participate in The Garden (2008), a documentary about a produce garden developed in the aftermath of the L.A. riots. He continued to tackle complex social issues as an executive producer for Trouble the Water, a 2008 documentary following the struggles of New Orleans residents in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and as an associate producer for The Time That Remains (2009), a poignant series of short stories about Palestinians in Israel. Glover also worked as an associate producer for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, an avante-gard fantasy drama that received the Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

Trivia: The multi-talented Romany Malco's first break in the entertainment industry came when his rap group, College Boyz, had a hit song titled "Victim of the Ghetto." With the encouragement of the multi-faceted John Leguizamo, Malco tried his hand at acting. In a relatively short period of time, he scored a main role on Level 9, and landed the title role in the made-for-TV biopic Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story. He reached a much wider audience as Jay, one of the co-workers/friends of The 40-Year-Old Virgin. His supporting role as Conrad Shepard on Showtime's satirical sitcom Weeds earned him more strong notices. He continued working in comedy with a supporting turn in Baby Mama starring former Saturday Night Live anchorwomen Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. He would also continue to find success on the small screen, with shows like No Ordinary Family and The Good Wife.

Trivia: The career of funny girl Mo'Nique began in her early twenties, when she took to the improv comedy stage on a dare from her brother. The impulsive decision met with success, and she began to pursue a career in standup comedy, eventually performing on such renowned shows as Def Comedy Jam, Showtime at the Apollo, and Snaps. Mo'Nique's big break came in 1999, when she landed her own sitcom, starring on UPN's The Parkers as a single mom attending college alongside her daughter. She was 32 years old, and the days when she was working at the phone company in her hometown of Baltimore were about to seem very far away. The critical and commercial success of The Parkers led to a slew of awards and movie roles, including Two Can Play That Game, Baby Boy, Half Past Dead, Shadowboxer, Domino, and Soul Plane. Despite having her pick of scripted roles, Mo'Nique was still itching to get back to her standup roots. She joined Adele Givens, Sommore, and Laura Hayes for a hugely successful comedy tour called The Queens of Comedy, which was captured on film and released by Paramount Home Entertainment and the Showtime network in 2002. Never shying away from her status as a full-figured woman, Mo'Nique has used her notoriety and her famously sarcastic wit in order to advocate for voluptuous women everywhere. Her funny and empowering book Skinny Women Are Evil became a best-seller in 2003, and she soon afterward began working with the Oxygen network on a beauty pageant for full-figured women called F.A.T. Chance -- an acronym for "fabulous and thick." She also starred in the movie Phat Girlz in 2006, playing a struggling fashion designer looking for love and success in a world of "hot bodies." Later that same year, the large-and-in-charge star could be seen onscreen with the Broken Lizard comedy troupe in the alcohol-chugging chuckler Beerfest. In 2009, she began hosting her own talk show on BET, The Mo'Nique Show.It was Mo'Nique's harrowing turn as an abusive mother in Precious, however, that made people aware of the full range of her talents. Her blistering portrayal won her the Best Supporting Actress award from a great many critics groups, the Screen Actors Guild, and the Hollywood Foreign Press. She went on to win the Oscar in that category as well.

Trivia: A native of Mount Vernon, NY (born Jerry Brooks -- hence the initials), standup comic, comedy writer, and actor J.B. Smoove began his career as a dancer in an hip-hop ensemble, performing as J. Smoove. The performer transitioned to schtick early on and cut his chops in Manhattan-area clubs, then landed a few small roles in Hollywood features (including the 2001 Pootie Tang and the 2002 Mr. Deeds), before striking gold on Saturday Night Live as both a sketch writer and a sketch participant. Smoove culled greatest attention, however, for his recurring role during season six of Curb Your Enthusiasm; he played the über-confident, street-smart Leon Black, a member of an African-American family adopted by Larry David and his wife after their residence is decimated by a hurricane. Smoove later acknowledged that the popularity of the role "set fire" to his career and led to roles on the sitcoms Everybody Hates Chris and 'Til Death.

Trivia: A graduate of the Tisch School for the Performing Arts as well as a published poet, Nicole Ari Parker began acting in small-stage productions in Harlem before landing her film debut in The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (1995). She would go on to appear in other independent features, such as The End of Violence, Boogie Nights, and 200 Cigarettes. She also began working in television, starring in a Rosie Perez-produced episode of Subway Stories and getting a reoccurring role on The Cosby Show. In 2001, she gained two NAACP Image award nominations: one for her work in the feature film Remember the Titans, and the other for her role as the lawyer Teri on the Showtime original series Soul Food. Parker would go on to play another lawyer a year later in the romantic comedy Brown Sugar, with Taye Diggs. In the years to come, Parker would find ongoing success with movies like Black Dynamite and Pastor Brown and tje TV series The Deep End.

Trivia: Gabrielle Union had planned on attending law school, but began acting after the modeling agency she interned with as a college junior asked to represent her. She then won a series of small roles in television and film, including Love and Basketball, 10 Things I Hate About You (both 1999), and a part on the short-lived series City of Angels (2000). But her career really took off after her breakthrough portrayal of a sassy cheerleading captain from Compton in the late-summer surprise hit Bring It On (2000).It's ironic that cheerleading would be the activity that helped launch Union's star. The Omaha, NE, native was born October 29, 1973, and spent much of her youth playing sports, from soccer to basketball to track. She attended high school in Nebraska, where she was an all-star point guard, and, after graduating, moved to Los Angeles to attend school at U.C.L.A.After graduating with honors, Union chose to forego law school, stay in L.A., and concentrate on her acting career, which took off after her sparring with cheerleading rival Kirsten Dunst in Bring It On. After that film's release, Union won a substantial role in The Brothers and was slated to appear with an all-star cast in Welcome to Collinwood, as well as in Oscar-winner Stephen Gaghan's directorial debut Abandon. Her future film line up looking ever more impressive, Union took her biggest role to date as the acerbic titular character in the comedy Deliver Us from Eva, and continue to perform in films including Cradle 2 the Grave and Bad Boys II.In 2012, Union took on a supporting role in the comedy Think Like a Man, an adaptation of author and comedian Steve Harvey's self-help book of the same name.

Trivia: Became interested in acting at the age of 5 after his sister booked a lead role in a TV commercial. First acting job was in an Oscar Meyer commercial. Moved to Los Angeles with his family in 2003 in hopes of furthering his acting career. Graduated high school at the age of 15 as class salutatorian. Member of the Alpha Gamma Sigma honor society. Studied culinary arts in college. Appeared in small roles in Without a Trace in 2005 and Hannah Montana in 2007.

Trivia: A soul singer of great power and sensitivity, best known for singing with the Pips, Gladys Knight has also appeared (in small roles) as an actress in two feature films, Pipe Dreams (1976) and Twenty Bucks (1993).

Trivia: Started his career as a print journalist for the Winston-Salem Journal. Became a Philadelphia 76ers columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1994. Launched his television career as a host on CNN/SI in 1999. Played the role of a television reporter on General Hospital in its February 2, 2007 episode. Became the permanent host of ESPN's First Take on April 30, 2012. Signed a multi-year deal with ESPN in 2014 which pays him $3 million annually.