Trivia: As the son of comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara Ben Stiller's decision to establish himself as a comic writer and actor surprised almost no one.Born in New York City on November 30, 1965, Stiller began to shoot his own comic films from the age of ten. After high-school graduation, Stiller attended UCLA and landed bit parts in several features, notably the Steven Spielberg-directed, Tom Stoppard and Menno Meyjes-scripted, late 1987 opus Empire of the Sun.Meanwhile, Stiller continued to turn out comedy shorts, including the 30-minute Elvis Stories (1989), a spoof of obsessive Elvis fans featuring an already-established John Cusack. One of Stiller's shorts, a Tom Cruise parody called The Hustler of Money, won him a spot as a writer and player on Saturday Night Live in 1989. His stint on the show was short-lived, but led to his own eponymous series, The Ben Stiller Show, first on MTV (1990) and later on Fox (1992-1993). The program failed to draw a substantial audience, and folded within a couple of months on each network, but Stiller netted an Emmy for comedy writing in 1993.The following year, Stiller debuted as a feature film director with the twentysomething angst romcom Reality Bites (1994), in which he also starred alongside Winona Ryder and a memorably grungy Ethan Hawke. The film was a relative critical and commercial success and scored with Gen-Xers; unfortunately, Stiller's next directorial effort, 1996's The Cable Guy failed to register with critics and audiences. After a small part as nursing-home orderly Hal in the Adam Sandler comedy Happy Gilmore (1996), Stiller rebounded with a starring role in David O. Russell's Flirting With Disaster (1996). The relatively positive reception afforded to that comedy helped to balance out the relative failure of Stiller's other film that year, If Lucy Fell. It was not until two years later, however, that Stiller truly stepped into the limelight. Thanks to starring roles in three wildly, wickedly different films, he emerged as an actor of versatility, equally adept at playing sensitive nice guys and malevolent hellraisers. In the smash gross-out comedy There's Something About Mary (1998), Stiller appeared as the former type, making comic history for outrageous sight gags that involved misplaced bodily fluids and mangled genitalia. That same summer, Stiller did time as a gleefully adulterous theatrical instructor in Neil LaBute's jet-black evisceration of contemporary sexual mores, Your Friends and Neighbors. Finally, Stiller starred in the intensely graphic and disturbing addiction drama Permanent Midnight, earning critical acclaim for his portrayal of writer-cum-heroin addict Jerry Stahl -- a personal friend of the Stiller family from Stahl's days scripting the TV series ALF. Now fully capable of holding his own in Hollywood, with the license to prove it, Stiller starred alongside William H. Macy, Paul Reubens, Hank Azaria, and pal Janeane Garofalo in the fantasy comedy Mystery Men (1999) as the leader of a group of unconventional superheroes. Stiller also landed a supporting role in The Suburbans, a comedy about the former members of a defunct new wave band. The following year, Stiller starred as a rabbi smitten with the same woman as his best friend, a Catholic priest (Edward Norton), in the well-received romantic comedy Keeping the Faith (2000), which Norton also co-produced and directed. Stiller found his widest audience up to that point, however, with the Jay Roach-directed madcap comedy Meet the Parents. As the tale of a nutty father-in-law to be (Robert De Niro) who wreaks unchecked havoc on his daughter's intended (Stiller) via covert CIA operations and incessant interrogation, this disastrously humorous tale of electrical interference gone wild scored with ticket-buyers and qualified as the top box-office draw during the holiday season of 2000.In the autumn of 2001, Stiller brought one of his most popular MTV Video Music Awards incarnations to the big screen in the outrageously silly male-model comedy Zoolander, in which he successfully teamed with (real-life friend) Owen Wilson to carry stupidity to new heights.In 2001 Stiller once again teamed with Wes Anderson collaborator Wilson for the widely praised comedy drama The Royal Tenenbaums. Cast as the estranged son of eccentric parents who returns home, Stiller infused his unmistakable comic touch with an affecting sense of drama that found him holding his ground opposite such dramatic heavies as Gene Hackman and Anjelica Huston. Though his work in 2002 offered little more than a few cameo performances and some vocal contributions to various animated children's shows, the busy comedic actor returned to the big screen for the 2003 comedy Duplex, directed by Danny DeVito. Though the film pairs Stiller and Hollywood bombshell Drew Barrymore as a couple willing to go to horrific extremes to land the much-desired eponymous living space, reviews were unkind and the comedy died a quick death at the box office. Stiller's next film -- the romantic comedy Along Came Polly -- fared considerably better on a fiscal level, but suffered from an implausible premise.Spring 2004 promised a rebound when the electrifying duo of Stiller and Owen Wilson returned to the big screen with director Todd Phillips' celluloid recycling job Starsky & Hutch. Though Stiller and Wilson seemed the ideal pair for such a conceptually rich re-imagining of 1970s television, and the film boasted wonderful villainous turns by rapper Snoop Dogg and Vince Vaughn, reviews were once again lackluster and the film struggled to find an audience. Yet Starsky & Hutch did actually reap a profit, which (in a business sense) placed it miles ahead of Stiller's next film. Released a mere two months after Starsky & Hutch, the Barry Levinson comedy Envy sports a wacky premise; it explores the comic rivalry that erupts between two longtime friends and neighbors when one invents a product that makes dog excrement disappear. It also boasts a marvelous cast, replete with Stiller, the maniacal Jack Black, and the brilliant Christopher Walken. But for whatever reason (speculated by some as the film's inability to exploit the invention at the story's center) the film's sense of humor failed to catch fire and Envy died a quick box-office death. Stiller fared better with the ribald, anarchic summer 2004 comedy Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, starring himself, Vince Vaughn, and Rip Torn. For the following two years, Stiller once again contented himself largely with bit parts (2004's Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy, 2006's Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny) until the Christmas 2006 release A Night at the Museum. In this effects-heavy fantasy, adapted from the popular children's book by Milan Trenc, Stiller plays Larry Daley, the new night watchman at New York City's Museum of Natural History, who discovers that the exhibits all spring to life after hours, from a giant skeletal Tyrannosaurus Rex to a waxen Teddy Roosevelt -- and seem content to hold Larry hostage. The effort split critical opinion, but shot up to become one of the top three box-office draws during the holiday season of 2006.Meanwhile, Stiller signed on to team with the Farrelly brothers for The Heartbreak Kid (2007), a remake of the 1972 Elaine May comedy of the same title; he also produced Blades of Glory, a comedy with Will Ferrell and Jon Heder as rival figure-skating champions vying with one another for Olympic gold. He wrote, directed and starred in the hit comedy Tropic Thunder (2008) as a moronic Hollywood actor toplining a war film, voiced Alex in the same year's animated picture Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, and in 2009, reprised his Larry Daley role for Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. Stiller's emphasis on sequels then continued with 2010's Little Fockers and 2012's Madagascar 3. In 2013, Stiller picked up the role originally made famous by Danny Kaye, as the lead in the remake The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which Stiller also directed and produced. The following year, he appeared in the next film in the Night at the Museum series, Secret of the Tomb.

Trivia: Naomi Watts had already been a working actress for over a decade when she earned notice as a promising newcomer in David Lynch's Cannes Film Festival prizewinner Mulholland Drive (2001).Born September 28th, 1968, Watts began acting in her teens, landing her first film role in For Love Alone (1986). Watts subsequently appeared with future Hollywood headliners Nicole Kidman and Thandie Newton in John Duigan's disarming teen romance Flirting (1991). Watts's next film with Duigan, Wide Sargasso Sea (1992), was not so well received. After her first taste of Hollywood with Joe Dante's schlock movie homage Matinee (1992), Watts nabbed a starring role as Jimmy Smits's disturbed student in George Miller's little seen courtroom drama Gross Misconduct (1993). Watts then starred as Jet Girl to Lori Petty's Tank Girl (1995), but the science fiction fantasy suffered an ignominious box office fate. After a series of TV movies and thrillers, including Sleepwalkers (1997) and Children of the Corn IV (1996), Watts appeared in Marshall Herskovitz's high-toned Venetian courtesan costumer Dangerous Beauty (1998) and successful TV docudrama The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer (1999). Watts's breakthrough finally arrived when David Lynch cast her in his ABC pilot Mulholland Drive. Though ABC canceled the project in 1999 after Lynch turned in a typically mood-drenched work, StudioCanal financed its transformation into a feature that debuted to acclaim at Cannes in 2001. A Los Angeles dreamscape akin to Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive featured Watts as the blonde half of a female duo caught in a mystery of shifting identities. Drawing attention for her not-for-network TV love scene with co-star Laura Harring, Watts also earned praise as a rising "new" actress.Though ignored for an Oscar nomination, Watts's tour-de-force dual performance earned her numerous accolades and critics' awards, igniting her career. Working steadily in the wake of Mulholland Drive, Watts scored a box-office as well as critical success a year later with The Ring (2002), the Hollywood remake of the Japanese horror blockbuster. Starring Watts as an intrepid reporter investigating the origins of a lethal videotape, The Ring overcame studio doubts to become a sleeper hit, solidifying Watts's new star status. Watts subsequently donned period dress for the Showtime western The Outsider (2002), and to co-star alongside fellow Aussie Heath Ledger in The Kelly Gang (2003). Balancing her genre work with potentially headier fare guided by notable directors, Watts also appeared with Kate Hudson, Glenn Close and Stockard Channing in the Merchant-Ivory romantic comedy Le Divorce (2003), and won a leading role opposite formidable actors Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro in Alejandro González Iñárritu's 21 Grams (2003).In 2004, Watts worked opposite Mark Ruffalo for the independent film We Don't Live Here Anymore, and reteamed with Sean Penn for The Assassination of Richard Nixon. She landed the starring role of Ann Darrow in director Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong (2006), and starred in the 2006 remake of The Painted Veil. Watts was praised for her work as a British midwife who accidentally gets involved in the Russian mafia in director David Cronenberg's psychological thriller Eastern Promises. Watts starred along with Clive Owen in 2009's The International, for which she played the part of an assistant district attorney who participates in a plan to rob a bank, and co-starred alongside Samuel L. Jackson, Annette Benning, and Kerry Washington for the drama Mother and Child. Watts was later cast in Dream House (2011), a thriller starring Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz, and worked with Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2011 biopic J. Edgar. In 2012 she played the mother of a family trapped in a catastrophic storm in The Impossible, garnering a Best Actress nomination for her work in the film.

Trivia: Wide-eyed actress Amanda Seyfried is best known to audiences for her hilarious performance as slow-witted but popular Karen Smith in the 2004 film Mean Girls. The former child model had graduated from high school the year before, though throughout her secondary education Seyfried had been acting on the popular soaps As the World Turns and All My Children, and by the time Mean Girls producers cast her for her big break, she was an experienced performer. She followed up the film's success with a role on the popular series Veronica Mars, playing the title character's murdered best friend in a series of "Laura Palmer-esque" flashbacks. She also took a role on the popular and controversial series Big Love before signing on to star in the big-screen adaptation of the popular Broadway play Mamma Mia!, a musical about a bride-to-be searching for her real father, set to the tunes of the popular Swedish disco group ABBA. She stretched her range with the 2009 erotic drama Chloe, and starred opposite Channing Tatum in the Nicholas Sparks adaptation Dear John the next year. In 2011 she was the lead in Red Riding Hood, and played opposite Justin Timberlake in the sci-fi film In Time.

Trivia: A character actor who caught audience's attention with the role of Adam on the landmark HBO series Girls, Adam Driver was an enlisted Marine before he ever became a professional actor. Inspired to join the military following 9/11, Driver was deployed to Iraq before an injury earned him a medical discharge. He would go on to study drama at Julliard, and appeared in Broadway and off-Broaday productions before his big break on Girls. He would subsuquently become a well known name and face, appearing in feature films as well, like Frances Ha and J. Edgar.

Trivia: Attended several Broadway shows while growing up in New Jersey, and this inspired her to start taking acting classes.Adopted the mantra "Work hard" as she honed her acting skills and took on challenging roles in productions in high school, such as the M.C. in Cabaret.Made her feature film debut in Bryan Wizemann's experimental feature Sense in 1998.Performed on Broadway from October 2009 to January 2010, playing Mrs. Daldry in Sarah Ruhl's play In The Next Room at the Lyceum Theatre.Made her professional directing debut with productions of the Lizzie Vieh's The Loneliest Number in 2018.

Trivia: Best known as one of the punk/rap group Beastie Boys, Adam Horovitz also occasionally appears in films. Though he and fellow group mates had appeared in films as the Beastie Boys, Horovitz did not make his solo acting debut until he was cast as a mentally disturbed teen under psychiatrist Donald Sutherland's care in Lost Angels (1989). He would go on to appear in a handful of short films.

Trivia: Supporting and occasional leading actor Charles Grodin built a successful career playing low-key, uptight, and frequently wholesome comic roles, with occasional turns as an arch-villain. Whereas many funnymen have been popular for their ability to overreact and mug their way around everyday obstacles, Grodin belonged, from the beginning, to the Bob Newhart school of wry comedy that values understatement and subtlety. Grodin learned to act under the guidance of Lee Strasberg and Uta Hagen before making his 1962 Broadway debut opposite Anthony Quinn in Tchin Tchin. Two years later, Grodin made his first film appearance in Joseph Adler's Sex and the College Girl. Though offered the leading role in The Graduate (1967), Grodin refused, thereby providing a lucky break for Dustin Hoffman. In 1968, he played a small but memorable role as a naive obstetrician in Rosemary's Baby, and then tackled another villainous role as heartless navigator Aarfy Aardvark in Mike Nichols's Catch-22. Grodin got his big break when director and Nichols's former comedy partner Elaine May, who had been a longtime friend and mentor of the young actor, cast him in the lead of the Neil Simon-scripted The Heartbreak Kid (1972), in which he played a salesman who falls in love with Cybill Shepherd during his honeymoon. Though Steven Spielberg wanted him to play the role of shark expert Matt Hooper in Jaws (1974), Grodin preferred to direct the play Thieves on Broadway instead. In 1977, Grodin signed for the leading role in the film version. He also added spice as the villain in Warren Beatty and Buck Henry's remake of Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), Heaven Can Wait (1978). Since then, Grodin continued as a supporting actor in such films as The Woman in Red (1984) and The Couch Trip (1987). After receiving rave reviews starring opposite Robert De Niro in the 1988 hit comedy Midnight Run, Grodin's career began to slow down. He played the long-suffering patriarch in the first two Beethoven films and turned in a memorable performance in 1993's Dave, but by 1995 Grodin had decided to switch gears, opting to host a talk show. After The Charles Grodin Show ran for several years on CNBC, Grodin later took a gig doing Andy Rooney-esque commentary on CBS's 60 Minutes II.

Trivia: Something of an old standby -- a stalwart -- whenever Hollywood needed to call on an Asian-American character actor during the '70s, '80s, '90s, and 2000s, James Saito made countless guest appearances on such blockbuster programs as M*A*S*H, The Fall Guy, and The A-Team, often without even so much as a character name. (The M*A*S*H appearances list him only as "South Korean" or "Korean Soldier.") From the early '80s onward, Saito's resumé started to incorporate a number of feature films; per the experiences of most character players, these pictures varied substantially in quality -- from the depths of Hot Dog... The Movie! (1983) to the heights of Buckaroo Banzai (1984) and Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995). In 2007, Saito landed one of his first regular series roles, as Dr. Chen on the spiritual drama Eli Stone.