Trivia: One of the crop of obscenely attractive young stars to pop up during the late 1990s, Josh Hartnett has the kind of strong-jawed, puppy-eyed looks that make him equally suited for both movie stardom and Tommy Hilfiger ads. Hartnett was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on July 21, 1978. Following his high school graduation, he attended New York's SUNY-Purchase, but his time there ended after he was offered a role on the short-lived TV series Cracker. He also did a number of TV commercials and plays, and in 1998 he got his screen break with the plum role of Jamie Lee Curtis' son in Halloween: H20. Although the film received poor reviews, it did moderately well at the box office, and that same year Hartnett's profile further increased when he starred in The Faculty. One of a number of films to exploit the current trend in teen horror movies, it featured Hartnett fighting off alien teachers alongside the likes of fellow up-and-comers Elijah Wood and Shawn Hatosy. Although the film didn't do as well as expected, thanks in part to the fact that the teen horror craze was beginning to lose steam, it in no way interfered with the increasing number of opportunities available to the young actor.Hartnett could subsequently be seen in a number of diverse films; among his projects in 2000 alone, he played an Iago-like character in O, the teen re-telling of Othello; the son of Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton in the comedy-drama Town and Country; and the paramour of the eldest of the ill-fated Lisbon sisters in Sofia Coppola's adaptation of The Virgin Suicides. His pattern of starring in films with steadily-increasing budgets reached its apex in 2001 when Hartnett appeared in director Michael Bay's World War II action drama Pearl Harbor, playing Danny, a young soldier who falls in love with his best friend's main squeeze amid the chaos of the titular conflict. Later that same year Hartnett would fight a whole new war in Ridley Scott's Oscar-winning war drama Black Hawk Down, and shortly after swearing off sex for 40 Days and 40 Nights and hitting the street beat with Harrison Ford in the coolly-received buddy cop comedy Hollywood Homicide, the handsome heartthrob would make public his desire to shift his attentions away from blockbuster territory in order to focus his talents on smaller films of increased quality - even if it did mean a leaner paycheck. Though subsequent rumors of his potential involvement with the long-in-development Superman film would seem to betray this sentiment, lower-profile roles in such independent-minded efforts as Sin City and Mozart and the Whale ultimately served to underscore the maturing actor's sincerity. Of course Hartnett wasn't averse to appearing in the occasional mainstream effort, with roles in Wicker Park and Lucky Number Sleven serving to occupy a curious cinematic middle ground between the indie and blockbuster mindsets.By the time Hartnett took a prominent role in Brian De Palma's 2006 true crime drama The Black Dahlia, it appeared as if the actor's willingness to challenge himself onscreen had finally begun to pay off. A dark look at the Hollywood underbelly based on author James Ellroy's best-selling novel, The Black Dahlia preceded an introspective turn as an emerging sports writer who befriends a former boxing champ many had thought dead in Resurrecting the Champ, and a highly challenging role as legendary jazz trumpeter Chet Baker in director Bruce Beresford's The Prince of Cool. Hartnett plays a former police officer who agrees to investigate the disappearance of the son of a wealthy businessman in I Come With Rain (2008), and joined the cast of the highly stylized fantasy drama Bunraku (2010). The actor played a supporting role in the critically acclaimed independent drama Stuck Between Stations in 2011.In 2014, Hartnett returned to his TV roots in the horror drama series Penny Dreadful.

Trivia: Shannyn Sossamon's story could inspire thousands of wannabe actresses to buy a few turntables: casting director Francine Maisler discovered the 20-year-old actress spinning records at a posh Hollywood party and cast the Angelina Jolie lookalike in A Knight's Tale, which Sony hoped would be a huge summer hit. While A Knight's Tale performed somewhat respectably at the box office, it failed to set the world on fire. But it did establish Sossaman and co-star Heath Ledger as up-and-coming young actors. The Hawaii-born and Nevada-raised Sossaman moved to Los Angeles when she was 15 to study dance, which she considers a lifelong passion. She and a friend were DJing Gwyneth and Jack Paltrow's joint birthday party when Maisler noticed her, contacting her soon after the party about auditioning for the movie. Sossaman next appeared in 40 Days and 40 Nights alongside Josh Hartnett, another actor who saw his star rise in 2001 thanks to a summer blockbuster. She followed that up with the Bret Easton Ellis adaptation The Rules of Attraction. She continued to work steadily in a variety of projects including Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Wristcutters: A Love Story, One Missed Call, and Road to Nowhere.

Trivia: Often described as a dead ringer for Jerry Seinfeld with Kramer hair, Paulo Costanzo made his mark as a movie actor in teen comedies in the early 2000s. Native Canadian Costanzo began performing in high school, starring in his school's production of West Side Story. Further cutting his thespian teeth in Toronto theater, Costanzo subsequently moved to TV roles after high school. Along with such lighter TV movies as The Don's Analyst (1997) and My Date With the President's Daughter (1998), Costanzo played a Jewish teen hiding from the Germans during World War II in Rescuers: Stories of Courage (1997). Adding science fiction to the mix, Costanzo also became a regular on the TV series Animorphs (1998) and Psi Factor (1999).Costanzo got his major movie break when he was cast as a stoner friend who comes along for the titular expedition in the outrageous comedy hit Road Trip (2000). Continuing to act in high-profile youth-oriented movie projects, Costanzo next played the Pussycats' loyal road manager in the screen adaptation of Josie and the Pussycats (2001). Despite its hyped release and attempts to send up itself and teen-consumer culture, however, Josie and the Pussycats failed to catch on with the target audience. Costanzo had relatively better box-office luck with the romantic comedy 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002). As Josh Hartnett's roommate, Costanzo was on hand to provide humorous commentary regarding Hartnett's quest to abstain from sex for the eponymous time span. In 2004 Costanzo joined the cast of the Friends spin-off Joey,playing none other than Joey's nephew Michael, and three years after that show went off the air he returned to prime-time with a featured role in Royal Pains, which told the tale of a talented doctor who divided his time between makign house calls in the Hamptons, and caring for less-fortunate locals without health care.

Trivia: Since his impressive debut in Nick Gomez's gritty, independent drama Laws of Gravity, leading actor Adam Trese has become a respected player in American independent cinema. He has been acting since early childhood; he made his professional debut with a bit part in a production of Othello in New York's 1979 Shakespeare Festival. The production starred Raul Julia and Christopher Walken. Trese is a graduate of State University of New York at Purchase, where his classmates included actress Parker Posey. He has also attended the competitive Actors Training Program. The darkly handsome Trese next appeared opposite Christine Lahti in a Lifetime cable network film, The Good Fight, a fact-based drama about a married couple who take on a tobacco company. He showed a facility for comedy in Alan Taylor's Palookaville (1995). He reteamed with Gomez to play a vengeful convict in Illtown (1996). In addition to his feature film work, Trese has also occasionally appeared on television shows, such as Law & Order, N.Y.P.D. Blue (on which he had a recurring role as Kim Delaney's younger brother), and on an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street directed by Gomez.

Trivia: Began acting in grade school, after she was cast as an understudy in a play and had to fill in when the lead actor became ill. Modeled in Japan for three years. Made her acting debut in the 1995 made-for-TV movie drama A Family Divided. Took up horseback riding in 2010; entered a Burbank, CA, horse show where she placed third in the competition. Involved with animal protection organizations including JIMI'S ANGELS and Best Friends Animal Society; created Fluffball, an animal fundraiser event, to provide monetary support for the groups.

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.

Trivia: A Brooklyn native, the model-turned-actor Glenn Fitzgerald began his career by doing print ads for such brands as Calvin Klein, then segued into dramatic work in the mid-'90s. Fitzgerald debuted on film with Lisa Krueger's finely wrought Sundance Festival drama Manny & Lo (1996), but his sophomore effort, David O. Russell's Gen-X comedy Flirting With Disaster, marked his watershed moment. The actor's neat comic turn in that film as Lily Tomlin and Alan Alda's acid-pushing son finally made audiences sit up and take notice and virtually established Fitzgerald's career. As a result, he spent the following decade among the casts of the hottest independent and studio-driven American films. These included Ang Lee's The Ice Storm (as the young man at a "key drop" party who attracts the attention of adulterous housewife Sigourney Weaver), The Sixth Sense (1999), 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002), and Igby Goes Down (2002). Fitzgerald made a particularly strong impression in the satire Series 7: The Contenders (2001), as the participant of a twisted reality television show who harbors an extreme desire to end his life. On the small screen, Fitzgerald occasionally worked as a guest actor, appearing on such series as Six Feet Under and Law & Order. In 2007, he scored a regular prime-time role on the soapy drama Dirty Sexy Money, playing Episcopalian priest Brian Darling, a member of the incredibly wealthy Darling clan, who lives a less than holy life, including fathering a secret illegitimate child.

Trivia: Lithe, blonde Monet Mazur toiled in bit-part obscurity for several years before capturing attention with a role in Ted Demme's cocaine biopic Blow (2001). Named for her dad's favorite painter, Mazur grew up in Malibu familiar with the entertainment world through her record industry father and model mother. While still in her teens, Mazur began acting professionally with a bit role in the popular movie sequel Addams Family Values (1993), and a part on the TV daytime drama Days of Our Lives. Mazur moved to nighttime TV drama with a guest appearance on Fox's orphan tearjerker Party of Five in 1995. Mazur also played her first movie lead that same year in the schlock horror movie Raging Angels (1995), tellingly directed by Alan Smithee. Returning to higher profile projects, Mazur had one line as a "Mod Girl" in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), appeared in the ill-fated film version of The Mod Squad (1999), and played a TV reporter in the superhero spoof Mystery Men (1999). Mazur also continued to guest star on TV, including episodes of the WB's Jack and Jill in 1999. Mazur finally earned a spate of "actress on the verge of stardom" articles when she was cast in a meatier role as one of Johnny Depp's stoner cohorts in Blow (2001). Though Blow was not a major hit, Mazur continued to register on the movie radar with a dramatic turn as Jennifer Lopez's abused sister-in-law in the mystical romance Angel Eyes (2001), and a starring role as a seductive con artist in the independent crime drama The Learning Curve (2001). Returning to lighter work, Mazur subsequently played a sexy dot-com employee intent on breaking Josh Hartnett's vow of abstinence in the romantic comedy 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002).

Trivia: Studied art in college and opened a gallery.While in college, tried acting as a hobby and it soon became her passion.Nearly missed her audition for the role of Riese in the series Riese because her dog chipped his tooth and she had to take him to the vet.Did her own stunts and fighting in Riese.Best known for 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002), Final Destination (2000) and Chaos Theory (2008).

Trivia: Studied mixed martial arts. Is fluent in French. Won a 2002 Leo Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Dramatic Series for her work on Da Vinci's Inquest. Founded her own production company, Drama Queen Productions.

Trivia: Best known for his role as Big Pete on Nickelodeon's The Adventures of Pete & Pete, actor Michael C. Maronna's career began with that very role. Originating as a series of one-minute shorts, the quirky vignettes about two brothers with the same name soon turned into a series of half-hour specials before becoming a regular series in 1993. Maronna's resumé also included a role as one of the many McCallister siblings in 1990's Home Alone, but following Pete & Pete's three-season run, he took a break to attend college, earning his degree in filmmaking from Purchase College of the State University of New York. Maronna reappeared in 1999 in a series of smart, humorous ads for the brokerage firm Ameritrade, in which he played a punky, slacker employee named Stewart, who shows his boss how to use the Internet with over-caffeinated bombast. He even appeared with President Clinton in a parody of the ad for a comedy reel about Clinton's last days in office that was shown at the 2000 White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Maronna then got back into movies, appearing in a number of comedies like Slackers and 40 Days and 40 Nights.

Trivia: As both an actor and producer, Griffin Dunne was among the most notable figures in contemporary independent filmmaking. Born June 8, 1955, in New York City, he is the son of novelist Dominick Dunne and the nephew of author and screenwriter John Gregory Dunne. Dominique, his younger sister, was also an actress, appearing in the hit movie Poltergeist before her violent 1982 murder. Trained by Uta Hagen at the Neighborhood Playhouse, Dunne made his film debut in 1975's The Other Side of the Mountain, which he followed with work on-stage and in television. Small roles in the 1979 feature Chilly Scenes of Winter and 1981's The Fan marked his next film appearances, but the first of his roles to garner significant notice was in 1981's cult-classic An American Werewolf in London. With John Sayles' 1982 film Baby, It's You, Dunne made his debut as a producer, a venture he furthered by establishing his own company, Double Play Productions.After 1983's Cold Feet, Dunne co-produced and starred in Martin Scorsese's 1985 comedy After Hours, perhaps his best-known performance. His leading role in 1987's Me and Him, on the other hand, was arguably the most infamous turn of his career, as he portrayed an architect whose penis begins to speak. A role opposite Madonna in the disastrous 1987 comedy Who's That Girl? further dimmed Dunne's star, and after appearing in Luc Besson's 1988 epic Le Grand Bleu he spent the next two years away from the screen, instead producing work including the acclaimed Running on Empty. Supporting turns in 1991's My Girl and Once Around proved to foreshadow Dunne's move away from leading roles throughout the decade, and apart from starring in 1995's Search and Destroy the majority of his film appearances (including the acclaimed Quiz Show and I Like It Like That) were smaller character parts. Continuing his work behind the camera, in 1997 Dunne made his directorial debut with the hit romantic comedy Addicted to Love. He would go on to direct more romantic comedies, like Practical Magic and The Accidental Husband. Over the next several years, Dunne would also appear on many successful TV shows, like Trust Me and House of Lies,

Trivia: The daughter of director Stephen Gyllenhaal (Waterland [1992]) and screenwriter Naomi Foner (Running on Empty [1988]), and the sister of hot young Hollywood heartthrob Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko [2001], The Good Girl [2002], Moonlight Mile [2002]), Maggie Gyllenhaal seems to have all the makings of a successful young starlet with her Tinseltown background and curiously unique beauty. Born in November 16th, 1977, Gyllenhaal got some early screen breaks thanks to roles in such Stephen Gyllenhaal films as Waterland (1992) and Homegrown (1998). Soon graduating from Columbia University with an English degree, pretty Gyllenhaal continued to refine her acting skills on the stages of New York and London theaters in such productions as The Tempest and The Butterfly Project. Her ascent into the collective film conscience continued with a humorous turn in director John Waters' anarchic Cecil B. Demented and alongside younger brother Jake in the surreal teen fantasy Donnie Darko (2001). Soon gaining more prominent roles alongside such hot Hollywood actors as Drew Barrymore (Riding in Cars With Boys [2001]) and Josh Hartnett (40 Days and 40 Nights [2002]), Gyllenhaal would turn up later in 2002 in eccentric director Spike Jonze's sophomore effort, Adaptation. Her supporting roles offering but a glimpse into her engagingly offbeat talent, Gyllenhaal truly came into her own with her breakthrough performance as a mentally unstable secretary in director Steven Shainberg's 2002 dark comedy Secretary. Cast opposite former '80s wonder boy James Spader, Gyllenhaal displayed a careful balance of unshielded vulnerability and mild sadomasochism as the film's troubled lead. Nominated for numerous awards including a Golden Globe and Independent Spirit for Best Actress, Secretary found the disarming actress branded the "it" girl to watch for in the coming years. While subsequent supporting performances in such films as Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Casa de Los Babys, and Mona Lisa Smile may not have offered fans the large dose of Gyllenhall that they sought after Secretary, audiences could see her in a starring role opposite John C. Reilly in the 2004 George Clooney/Steven Soderbergh-produced remake Criminal. Gyllenhaal kept up her status as an independent film icon in 2005 with major parts in The Great New Wonderful and earning praise for her work in Don Roos' Happy Endings where she got to show off her vocal talents performing a selection of Billy Joel songs. 2006 would be a very busy year for the actress. She co-starred in Oliver Stone's 9/11 film World Trade Center, gave an award winning performance as a drug addict in SherryBaby, played opposite Will Ferrell in the comedy Stranger Than Fiction, and lent her voice to the Steven Spielberg produced animated film Monster House. That same year she announced that she was expecting her first child with her longtime boyfriend actor Peter Sarsgaard. In 2008, Gyllenhaal appeared in the record-breaking box-office smash sequel The Dark Knight, taking over the role played by Katie Holmes in Batman Begins. She followed that up in 2009 with a hilarious supporting turn in Away We Go as an overly-involved mother. But it was her appearance that same year in the low-key drama Crazy Heart opposite Jeff Bridges that earned her some of the best reviews of her career as well as a Best Supporting Actress nominations from the Academy.

Trivia: Chinese-Canadian actor Terry Chen first achieved international recognition at the dawn of the millennium, when he appeared in two very different A-listers: Romeo Must Die, an avant-garde, martial-arts-saturated take on Romeo and Juliet (starring ill-fated pop diva Aaliyah and DMX); and Almost Famous, Cameron Crowe's nostalgic coming-of-ager about the early experience of a rock journalist-cum-roadie. Despite occasional dips into more conventional material -- a Dean Koontz telemovie, the glamorized spy film Ballistic (2002) -- Chen remained generally selective about Hollywood parts. He was memorable as a Merc Pilot in The Chronicles of Riddick, as Chin in the futuristic Will Smith sci-fi film I, Robot (2004), and as Tom Lone in War (2007), an action-filled tale about an FBI agent enmeshed in a battle between rival Asian gangs. Over the coming years, Chen would remain active on screen, appearing in movies like The A-Team and on series like Combat Hospital.

Trivia: The son of an Austrian father and Swedish mother, Boston-born actor Barry Newman received a liberal education ranging from Latin to Hebrew to music. Graduating from Brandeis University with an anthropology degree, Newman decided upon becoming an actor when he chanced to wander into a class conducted by Actors Studio mentor Lee Strasberg. He was busy if not famously so on stage and in Manhattan-based TV (notably the daytime drama Edge of Night). His first film was the gangster potboiler Pretty Boy Floyd (1960), his breakthrough picture was The Lawyer (1969). Newman made an excellent impression in the role of a cocky gonzo attorney, a character reprised in the 1974 TV movie Night Games. This in turn led to the TV series Petrocelli, starring Newman as a compassionate big-city lawyer living and working in Tucson, Arizona. After Petrocelli was cancelled in 1974, Barry Newman showed up on stage, in several made-for-TV movies, and in the Aaron Spelling "jiggle" series Nightingales (1989).

Trivia: Well-trained in the exacting school of improvisational comedy, Mary Gross was a regular on Saturday Night Live from 1981 to 1985. Her later series-TV credits include the roles of Abigail McIntyre Kellogg in The People Next Door (1989-90) and Phoebe in the 1992 Billy Connolly vehicle Billy. Mary Gross has made many a welcome comic visit to such big-screen fare as Troop Beverly Hills (1988) and The Santa Clause (1994). Actress Mary Gross is the sister of actor Michael Gross, with whom she appeared in the 1988 film Big Business.

Trivia: Though Canadian actor Dylan Neal lists a number of earlier credits on his resumé, he didn't truly gain substantial recognition among American audiences prior to winning a brief role on the prime-time soap opera Dawson's Creak, opposite James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, and Michelle Williams. As Doug Witter, the older brother of Pacey (Jackson), Neal brought a level of finesse and complexity to his role that paved the way for additional work in other television series and films. Neal received second billing as the protégé of martial arts hero Chuck Norris in the direct-to-video action thriller The President's Man (2000), then acted under the aegis of horror legend Sean S. Cunningham (Friday the 13th) in the 2001 XCU: Extreme Close Up. Following a small supporting role in the Josh Hartnett sex comedy 40 Days and 40 Nights, Neal scored his broadest exposure to date on the sci-fi horror series Blood Ties, which premiered in early 2007. On that program, he played Mike Celluci, the ex-boyfriend of private eye Vicki Nelson (Christina Cox), who grows immediately jealous when the latter strikes up a romance with a centuries-old vampire (Kyle Schmid).

Trivia: Following her 1994 debut role as figure skater Oksana Baiul in the telemovie A Promise Kept: The Oksana Baiul Story, actress Monica Keena began to specialize in onscreen portrayals of wayward, vixenish young women. Parts that fell into this category included a lead turn in helmer Mo Ogrodnik's cloying, overbaked take of burgeoning female sexuality, Ripe (1996), and a recurring role on season two of Dawson's Creek (1998-1999) as teenage seductress Abby Morgan. As time rolled on, however, Keena broadened her focus and her emphasis into a diverse array of characterizations. Uniquely, in addition to appearing in low-medium budgeted indie films, she maintained a steady diet of roles in A-list Hollywood productions, including While You Were Sleeping (1995), The Devil's Advocate (1997), Orange County (2002), and Freddy vs. Jason (2003). She also played Kristen on the HBO seriocomedy Entourage and made repeat appearances as Bonnie on Grey's Anatomy. In 2007, Keena landed supporting roles in two promising direct-to-video features: the crime saga Loaded and the workplace comedy Corporate Affairs.