Trivia: With classic, square-jawed good looks, Australian actor Guy Pearce brings to mind the leading men of Hollywood's Golden Age; however, the actor is a thoroughly modern one, using his talents to play characters ranging from flamboyant drag queens to straight-arrow Los Angeles policemen. Pearce was born October 5, 1967, in Cambridgeshire, England. His father, who was a member of the Royal Air Force, moved his family to Australia when Pearce was three. Following the elder Pearce's tragic death in a plane crash, Pearce's mother decided to keep her family in Australia when young Pearce was eight, and it was there that he grew up. Interested in acting from a young age, he wrote to various members of the Australian television industry requesting a screen test when he was 17. His efforts proved worthwhile, as he was invited to audition for a new soap called Neighbours. Pearce won a significant part on the show and was part of it from 1986 to 1990. Following his stint on Neighbours, Pearce found other work in television and made his screen debut in the 1992 film Hunting. He acted in a few more small films and in My Forgotten Man, a 1993 TV biopic of Errol Flynn, before coming to the attention of film audiences everywhere in the 1994 sleeper hit The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. As the flamboyant and often infuriating Adam/Felicia, Pearce gave a performance that was both over the top and immensely satisfying. The role gave him the international exposure he had previously lacked and led to his casting in Curtis Hanson's 1997 adaptation of James Ellroy's L.A. Confidential. The film was an all-around success and drew raves for Pearce and his co-stars, who included Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito, Kim Basinger (who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance) and fellow Australian Russell Crowe.After the success of L.A. Confidential, Pearce went on to make the independent A Slipping Down Life, which premiered at Sundance in 1999. He followed that with the highly original but fatally unmarketable Ravenous (1999), Antonia Bird's tale of chaos and cannibalism which cast Pearce alongside the likes of David Arquette and Robert Carlyle. Though his role in the following year's military drama Rules of Engagement would offer a commendable performance by the rising star, it was another film that same year that would cement his status as one of the most challenging and unpredictable performers of his generation. Cast as a vengeance seeking, tattoo-covered widower whose inability to form new memories hinders his frantic search for his wife's killer, Pearce's unforgettable performance in the backwards-structured thriller Memento drove what would ultimately become one of the biggest sleepers in box office history. Pearce was now officially hot property on the Hollywood scene, and producers wasted no time in booking him for as many upcoming blockbusters as they could. A memorable performance as the villain in The Count of Monte Cristo found Pearce traveling back in time for his next film, and his subsequent role in The Time Machine would find him blasting so far into the future that mankind had reverted to the days of prehistoric times. A trip to the land down under found Pearce next appearing as a hapless bank robber in the critically panned crime effort The Hard Word, and the popular actor would remain in Australia for the elliptical drama Till Human Voices Wake Us (2002). In 2004, Pearce played a lion hunter in the family-oriented epic Two Brothers.Yet despite his increasing prominence as an international movie star, Pearce continued to display a flair for unusual, often demanding roles that would send lesser actors running. His performance as an outlaw tasked with killing his own brother in John Hillcoat's The Proposition earned Pearce a well-deserved AFI nomination for Best Lead Actor in 2005 (an honor he would share with his co-star Ray Winstone, though the award ultimately went to Hugo Weaving for Little Fish), and on the heels of an appearance as Andy Warhol in George Hickenlooper's Factory Girl he could be seen as famed magician Harry Houdini in Gillian Armstrong's Death Defying Acts -- a role which found a second AFI award slipping though his fingers. Though Pearce's turn as a military man in 2008's The Hurt Locker found him in fine form, it was Jeremy Renner who stole the show in Katherine Bigelow's multiple Oscar-winner and, curiously enough, the actor's next AFI nomination would come from his appearance in the Adam Sandler fantasy/comedy Bedtime Stories. A brief reunion with Hillcoat in The Road preceded a grim turn as a grieving father in the harrowing 2009 true crime drama In Her Skin, and in 2010 Pearce lost yet another AFI award to a talented co-star when Joel Edgarton took home the Best Supporting Actor award for his memorable performance in Animal Kingdom (which found Pearce cast in the role of an honest cop reaching out to a troubled youth). As if to balance out all of the awards disappointment in recent years, Pearce nabbed an Emmy for his performance opposite Kate Winslet in the made-for-cable drama Mildred Pierce following a brief appearance as KIng Edward VIII in the Oscar-winning historical drama The King's Speech, with additional roles in Don't Be Afraid of the Dark and Lockout proving that respected actors can still have a bit of fun on the big screen from time to time. Meanwhile, after an almost unrecognizable appearance in Ridley Scott's quasi-Alien prequel Prometheus, Pearce prepared to team up with his frequent collaborator Hillcoat once again, this time as a special agent determined to get his piece of the bootlegging pie in Lawless, which also starred Tom Hardy and Shia LeBeouf. He played the main antagonist, Aldrich Killian, in Iron Man 3, and earned an AACTA nomination for Best Lead Actor for his work in the dystopian film The Rover (2014).

Trivia: Daughter of Australian actor Barry Otto and graduate of the prestigious NIDA theatrical school (which spawned such down-under luminaries as Mel Gibson and Judy Davis), Miranda Otto's role as Eowyn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy had the four-time AFA nominated actress excited and overwhelmed. Likening the experience to being in The Wizard of Oz, Otto speculated that the trilogy will withstand the test of time, endearing itself to generations to come as a timeless fantasy for all ages.Gaining critical recognition for roles in such films as The Girl Who Came Late (1991) and Gillian Anderson's Last Days of Chez Nous, Otto made her feature debut in Emma's War (1986). Otto's portrayal of a daughter who is blind to the crippling tolls that World War II has taken on her fragile mother led the actress to roles in many critically acclaimed but little-seen films. After a decade of powerful roles in Australian films, Otto gained Hollywood recognition in the late '90s with roles in Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line (1998) and as the mysterious neighbor in Robert Zemeckis' supernatural thriller What Lies Beneath (2000). In addition to her appearance in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Otto's other 2001 films include the offbeat comedy Human Nature, scripted by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich). Her role as an affectionate French lab assistant proving without question that her comic skills were indeed as intact as her dramatic skills, it wasn't long before the offers were rolling in and Otto was deemed the new "it" girl. Next turning up in the barely-released thriller Hypnotic (aka Doctor Sleep), Otto gained positive notice for her supporting role despite the fact that the film went largely unseen. Both that film and the subsequent indie-drama Julie Walking Home (2002) proved a perfect low-key balance to the grandiose second chapter in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. A bleak tale of a mother's desperate and unyielding last ditch attempts to save her cancer-stircken son when mainstream medicine fails him, Julie Walking Home ultimately proved too melodramatic for many though Otto was frequently singled out for praise by critics for her powerful and moving performance. In 2003 Otto re-teamed with Human Nature star Rhys Ifans for the quirky comedy Danny Deckchair. The tale of a man who, desperate to escape his mundane day-to-day reality, takes to the sky by means of some large helium balloons and a sturdy deck chair, Donny Deckchair once again found the genre hopping Otto utilizing her comic abilities to charming effect as a parking cop who becomes the eponymous character's love interest.In the years to follow, Otto would find no shortage of varied and interesting roles, enjoying TV success with shows like Cashmere Mafia and the mini-series The Starter Wife, as well as in movies like In Her Skin and Blessed.

Trivia: Studied with the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin as a child. Got an agent at 15 in order to get into acting full-time. Left school while studying for her final exams in 2003 to star in a six-week tour of the Druid Theatre's production of Sive. Dropped out of university after three weeks to pursue acting. Nominated for the Leonardo's Horse Award for Best Female Acting Performance at the Milan International Film Festival in 2011 for her role in I Am You.

Trivia: One of the most famous film personalities to hail from the South Pacific, New Zealand-bred actor Sam Neill possesses the kind of reassuring handsomeness and soft-spoken strength that have made him an ideal leading man. Born Nigel Neill to a military family in Omagh, Northern Ireland, Neill relocated to New Zealand in 1953 at the age of six. There he picked up the nickname that would become his stage name, and attended both the University of Canterbury and the University of Victoria before beginning his acting career. Neill labored as a director/editor/screenwriter for the New Zealand National Film Unit for several years; he made his first movie in 1975 and scored his first significant film success four years later as the romantic lead opposite Judy Davis in director Gillian Armstrong's My Brilliant Career. Shortly thereafter, Neill was brought to England under the sponsorship of star James Mason (who undoubtedly recognized the marked similarity between his acting style and Neill's). The actor's subsequent movie work included two memorable collaborations with actress Meryl Streep and director Fred Schepisi: Plenty (1985) and A Cry in the Dark (1988). Neill's British TV credits were highlighted by his starring role in the unorthodox espionage drama Reilly: Ace of Spies (1983), for which he won the British television BAFTA Best Actor award. He also began working on American films during the '80s, including the 1981 Omen sequel The Final Conflict (in which he demonstrated a considerable breadth of range as Satan's son Damien) and the 1987 TV miniseries Amerika. Neill also kept busy with projects down under, with perhaps his most memorable film being Dead Calm (1989), a masterfully crafted thriller that starred the actor as Nicole Kidman's husband.Neill truly came to international prominence during the '90s (as evidenced by his guest spot as a cat burglar on an episode of The Simpsons). He experienced a bumper-crop year in 1993, portraying the raptor-fearing Dr. Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg's blockbuster Jurassic Park, before returning to New Zealand to portray Holly Hunter's taciturn, unexpectedly violent husband in The Piano (1993). He was also honored with the Order of the British Empire that same year. Neill continued to work on a wealth of diverse international projects throughout the rest of the decade, notably John Duigan's Sirens (1994), which cast him as a '30s bohemian artist; the Australian satire Children of the Revolution (1996), reuniting him with Judy Davis; Revengers' Comedies (1997), which cast him as a suicidal businessman; the acclaimed miniseries Merlin (1998), in which he played the titular wizard; Robert Redford's The Horse Whisperer (1998), as the husband of Kristin Scott Thomas (the two had previously co-starred in Revengers' Comedies); and Bicentennial Man (1999), which featured the actor as the head of a family who purchases an uncannily human robot played by Robin Williams.Though Neill was notably absent from the 1997 sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park, the second sequel in the series, 2001's Jurassic Park III, found the stalwart actor once again fleeing ornery dinosaurs on a tropical island and living to tell the tale. A turn as Victor Komarovsky in the made-for-TV remake of Doctor Zhivago quickly followed, and over thecourse of the next decade Neill would alternate frequently between television (Triangle, Merlin's Apprentice) and film (Wimbledon, Dayberakers), while still managing to land the occasional meaty role in projects like The Tudors (2007) and Dean Spanley (2008). In 2011, Neill brought an impressive air of menace to the ecological thriller The Hunter with his turn as an outwardly benevolent Aussie with a dark secret, and the following year he returned to television as a federal agent on the trail of convicts who mysteriously vanished without a trace in Alcatraz. In addition to acting and managing a New Zealand winery, Neill directed an acclaimed 1995 documentary about the New Zealand film industry, Cinema of Unease: A Personal Journey by Sam Neill.

Trivia: Australian actor Khan Chittenden is best known to American audiences for his lead in Cherie Nowlan's hit indie comedy Introducing the Dwights, a smash hit at Sundance 2007 that was also issued under the title Clubland. The actor played Tim Dwight, the product of an extremely dysfunctional family, who must contend with an ongoing battle of wills between the great love of his life and his obscenity-happy comedian mother. Prior to this effort, Chittenden also appeared in Aussie director Sandra Sciberras' haunting psychological drama The Caterpillar Wish.

Trivia: This Australian leading man has been onscreen from 1974.

Trivia: Is the youngest of six children. Has never had an acting lesson. Used a voice coach help her change her New Zealand accent to an Australian one when she migrated in 1985. Worked as a model before landing the role of Julie Davis in the children's TV series Zoo Family. Breakout role was as Guinea Malone in TV miniseries Come in Spinner in 1990. The character of Dr Jane Halifax in Halifax f.p, which she played from 1994 to 2002, was created especially for her. Moved from her farm in Tasmania to live in Sydney for her role in TV drama Packed to the Rafters. Long-time ambassador for World Vision.

Trivia: Lead actor, onscreen from the '80s.

Trivia: Was the face for Ford Fiesta and Bupa's Find a Healthier You campaign.Attended Street Actors Studio (Chubbuck Scene Study, Script Analysis, Voice and Movement).In 2015, attended Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York (Chekhov Intensive).Is a trained singer, took singing lessons for two years with Norma Knight.A qualified Naturopath.

Trivia: Started dancing at the age of 3. Moved from South Africa to Australia when she was 7. Was the winner of Australian Dance Idol in 2005. Trained in New York City with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. While in New York, she participated in a print ad for Nike. For the Australian TV series Dance Academy, she and her castmates participated in a six-week ballet boot camp before each season. Involved in the charity Soi Dog, which saves stray and abused canines.