Trivia: An actress whose piercing, pale blue eyes could give even Meg Foster a run for her money, Emily Deschanel has come quite a long way since being listed as one of Interview magazine's "Six Actors to Watch" back in 2001. The firstborn daughter of Oscar-winning cinematographer Caleb Deschanel and actress Mary Jo Weir (their second was starlet Zooey), Emily received her B.F.A. in theater from Boston University before launching her career on the stage and screen. Early roles in It's a Shame About Ray and Rose Red found the rising starlet gradually gaining her footing before the cameras, and as her confidence as an actress increased, so did her screen time. By the time Deschanel appeared in such features as Cold Mountain and The Alamo, viewers were already beginning to pick up on her talent, while she could also still be seen acting on-stage, frequently appearing in plays for the Interact Theatre Company. In 2003, Deschanel appeared in minor capacity as a receptionist in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2, with her role in Ghost House Pictures' 2004 frightener Boogeyman serving to prove that she was much more than just another pretty face.As the 2000's rolled on, Deschanel would prove to be an even bigger force on the small screen, playing forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan, partner of FBI agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz), on the popular Fox crime drama series Bones.

Trivia: Look up the words "handsome" and "brooding" in any dictionary and chances are you'll have a pretty good description of actor David Boreanaz. Tall, dark, and possessing the sort of alluring charisma that suggests an Abercrombie and Fitch model from the dark side, Boreanaz flourished on the small screen in the early 2000s when his Buffy the Vampire Slayer role was spun off into the supernatural-flavored series Angel.Born in Buffalo, NY, and raised in Philadelphia, Boreanaz was inspired at age seven to pursue a career in acting after witnessing the legendary Yul Brynner's performance in The King and I. In the years that followed, the aspiring actor would strive to keep the dream alive, and when it came time for higher education, Boreanaz opted to study his craft at Ithaca College in New York. The allure of a life in films soon drew Boreanaz to Los Angeles, although it wouldn't take him long to realize that struggling actors were a dime a dozen in sunny California. Dreams of his name in lights soon gave way to realities such as earning a living by parking cars and handing out towels at a sports club -- and uncredited parts in such films as Aspen Extreme and Best of the Best 2 (both 1993) certainly weren't paying the rent. A one-time role on Married...With Children as daughter Kelly's (Christina Applegate) motorcycle-riding boyfriend gained the struggling actor modest exposure -- and his luck would soon change in the most unexpected (though somewhat typical by Hollywood standards) way. While Boreanaz was walking his dog in Hollywood, a manager was taken by his captivating intensity, and a subsequent introduction to casting agent Marcia Shulman almost immediately ensured his landing the role of the vampire Angel on the soon-to-be-hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Two years after the premiere of Buffy, Boreanaz's character proved popular enough to earn his own eponymously titled spin-off series, and the show proved a solid hit for the WB until it was inexplicably canceled in mid-2004. Of course, by this point, Boreanaz could rest fairly easy thanks to roles in such features as Valentine (2001) and I'm With Lucy (2002). Fans who couldn't get enough of the actor's dark side could look forward to his role as the villainous Luc Crash in The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2004).Soon however, Boreanaz found another compelling small-screen role, playing Special Agent Seeley Booth on the hit detective series Bones.

Trivia: A Boston native whose early work included stints with the Dallas Theater Center and New York's Mint Theater Company, actor T.J. Thyne studied his craft with theaters throughout the United States and British Columbia before receiving his B.F.A. in acting from the USC School of Theater. Numerous television roles were quick to follow after Thyne hit the audition circuit with unusual ferocity, and by the year 2000, Thyne had racked up nearly 50 small-screen credits thanks to appearances on such shows as Home Improvement, Party of Five, Walker, Texas Ranger, and Just Shoot Me. In 2002, Thyne founded the Los Angeles-based Theater Junkies Productions with the aim of producing for both stage and screen; their popular short film Validation subsequently screened at film festivals across the country. Memorable supporting roles in such high-profile features as Erin Brockovich Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Ghost World, How High, and Something's Got to Give made Thyne an increasingly familiar face to movie fans, though it was the actor's casting as bug expert Dr. Jack Hodgins in the hit Fox forensics drama Bones that would transform him into a bona fide television star. Thyne has also done frequent commercial work, with his role as a Shania Twain-singing Chevy truck passenger proving a particularly memorable television spot.

Trivia: Michaela Conlin knew she wanted to be an actress from the tender age of six, and from the time she appeared in her first play that same year, there was no turning back from her future on the stage and screen.A native of Allentown, PA, who honed her skills in community and regional theater before studying acting at New York City's Tisch School of the Arts, Conlin earned her B.F.A. while simultaneously appearing in productions at the Playwrights Horizons Theater School and the Atlantic Theater Company. Later, she would travel to Amsterdam to take part in the Experimental Theater Wing's International Training Program. While Conlin's first screen role after graduation was grounded firmly in reality (she was chosen to appear in a documentary film detailing the lives of young actors in New York City), it was only after moving to Los Angeles that her career truly began to catch on. Roles in MDs, JAG, and The D.A. quickly helped to establish Conlin as a rising small-screen talent, and in 2005 she signed on to play Angela Montenegro in the Fox forensic crime drama Bones. She made her first post-Bones jump to the big screen playing a detective in the legal thriller The Lincoln Lawyer.

Trivia: Canadian-born Tamara Taylor first caught the eyes of fans with a recurring role on the '90s series Party of Five. She would make numerous appearances on various shows over the coming years, but Taylor's next big break came in 2006, with a starring role on the crime series Bones playing Dr. Camille Saroyan.

Trivia: Many know Illinois native John Francis Daley for his memorable role as high school freshman Sam Weir on the cult hit series Freaks and Geeks. An actor from the age of nine, Daley appeared in the touring production of the Broadway musical Who's Tommy? before branching into screen acting. He would go on to appear in films like Waiting and on the series Kitchen Confidential, later scoring another leading role on the popular crime show Bones, playing psychologist Lance Swees. He turned his talents to work done behind the camera, co-writing the script for the hit 2011 comedy Horrible Bosses.

Trivia: Though his early career seemed to hold the promise of major stardom for actor Ryan O'Neal, matters didn't pan out and he has become more famous for his long-term live-in relationship with 1970s poster girl-turned-movie star-of-the-week actress Farrah Fawcett than any of his '80s and '90s films. Still, O'Neal is an appealing actor and his clean-cut good looks and reddish- blond hair give him an exuberant boyishness that belies his age. His first major role was that of Rodney Harrington on the television soap opera Peyton Place (1964-1969). O'Neal is the son of screenwriter Charles O'Neal and actress Patricia Callaghan O'Neal. A California native, he spent much of his childhood living abroad. As a young man, O'Neal sometimes got into trouble and at one point served a 51-day jail sentence for assault and battery after getting into a fight at a New Year's party. Before becoming an actor, O'Neal was a lifeguard and an amateur boxer who was a one-time Golden Gloves contender. In film and television, O'Neal started out as a stunt man on Tales of the Vikings, a German television series. His parents were working on the same show. Upon his return to the States, O'Neal continued finding work in small parts on television shows, getting his first regular acting job on the Western Empire (1962). Following the demise of Peyton Place, O'Neal made his feature debut in The Big Bounce (1969), but did not get his big break until he was chosen from 300 auditioners to play Oliver Barrett opposite Ally McGraw in Arthur Hiller's maudlin adaptation of Erich Seagal's best-seller Love Story- (1970). The film was a smash hit and landed O'Neal an Oscar nomination. Two more starring roles followed this success but it was not until he played an uptight professor who finds himself beleaguered by a free-spirited, love-struck Barbra Streisand in Peter Bogdanovich's What's Up Doc? (1972) that he rivaled the success of Love Story. It has been in light, romantic fare such as this that O'Neal has excelled. His next popular role was that of an exasperated con man in Paper Moon, the charming comedy that netted his co-star and real-life daughter, Tatum O'Neal, an Oscar. O'Neal then played the title role in Stanley Kubrick's slow-paced epic Barry Lyndon (1975). By the late '70s, O'Neal's career had gone into decline and he had begun appearing in such dismal outings as Oliver's Story (the 1978 sequel to his first big hit) and The Main Event (1979) which reteamed him with Streisand. The '80s were even tougher for O'Neal, even though he appeared regularly onscreen. In 1989, O'Neal turned up in the wrenching made-for-TV-movie Small Sacrifices, which starred his lover Fawcett. Two years later, he and Fawcett starred in the short-lived television sitcom Good Sports. He followed that up with a part in the body-switch comedy Chances Are. In the nineties he appeared in the showbiz satire Burn Hollywood Burn, and the quirky detective tale Zero Effect. As the 21st century began he could be seen opposite Al Pacino in People I Know, and in the 2003 comedy Malibu's Most Wanted. After seven years away from screen, he appeared in 2012's Slumber Party Slaughter. Before hooking up with Farrah in the early '80s, O'Neal was married to actresses to Joanna Moore and Leigh Taylor-Young. His children from those marriages, Tatum and Griffin O'Neal, are both actors as is his brother Kevin O'Neal.

Trivia: Though he proved adept at drama (evident via his straight-faced evocation of a young Bill Murray in the 2002 telemovie It's Always Something: The Gilda Radner Story), actor Mather Zickel specialized in comedic portrayals in madcap, off-the-wall material. Projects included the zany Christopher Walken farce Balls of Fury (2007), the raunchy religious spoof-sex comedy The Ten (2007), and Jonathan Demme's ensemble drama Rachel Getting Married (2008). Zickel is perhaps best known, however, for his ongoing portrayal of Carter on the pitch-black Internet-based soap opera spoof Horrible People.

Trivia: Actor Eugene Byrd debuted as a teen star in the early '90s, with contributions to episodes of The Cosby Show and Law & Order, then spent the following decades alternating between occasionally intelligent, offbeat features (Dead Man [1995], 8 Mile [2002]) and more conventional programmers (Piñata: Survival Island [2002], Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid [2004]). Circa 2006, Byrd took on a supporting role in Alison Eastwood's psychological drama Rails and Ties (2007).

Trivia: With her role as a memorably over-caffeinated college freshman on television's critically praised Undeclared, youthful actress Carla Gallo has endeared herself to former campus dorm-rats nationwide. And though her actual age may betray the naïve nature of those making the leap from the high school hallways to the college campus, Gallo has succeeded in making her television alter ego believable, in part by drawing on the vivid recollections of her college career. Born in Brooklyn, NY, Gallo attended the LaGuardia School of Performing Arts before setting her sights on Cornell University. Like her television counterpart, Gallo dabbled in numerous potential careers before pursuing a career as an actress, though the lure of the theater was too magnetic to resist and the formerly undeclared student graduated a few short years later with a Theater Arts degree. Being nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her feature debut in 1994's Spanking the Monkey proved to be a good start for the fledgling thespian, and though it would be five more years until her next feature role, Gallo would next appear in The 24-Hour Woman in 1999. With small-screen appearances in both E.R. and Law & Order priming her for her work on Undeclared, the actress approached the series on a positive note after hitting it off early on with series creator Judd Apatow. As someone who encouraged improvisation, Apatow often drew on Gallo's previous college experiences to make the character more multidimensional and believable. Thinking back to the frantic all-night cram sessions of her college days, Gallo recalled a session in which her synapses fired on overdrive due to an oversaturation of caffeine. Apatow encouraged her to expand on such recollections (recollections that often found their way into the show), which were a key factor in his aspiration to create a realistic portrayal of the college experience, warts and all.

Trivia: Performed at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for two years while attending college. Made his movie debut in Dodgeball. Made his directorial debut in 2005 with the movie Spiral, which he also co-wrote and starred in. Won the celebrity dunk contest at the 2009 NBA All-Star Game. Is an ambassador for Operation Smile.

Trivia: Awarded a Grammy for Best New Artist in 1984, the inimitable Cyndi Lauper has also accumulated a sufficient amount of screen and TV credits. Other than brief cameos in WWF videos during her bizarre wrestling-crossover phase, Lauper's first feature-film venture was in 1985, singing the theme song for The Goonies. She would appear on several other soundtracks throughout the decade (including singing the theme song for Pee-Wee's Playhouse), but her acting debut was in the star vehicle Vibes (1988), which didn't do too well at the box office. Her next leading role was in another flop, Off and Running (1990), where she met her husband, actor David Thornton. She had a small role in the family comedy Life With Mikey in 1993, as well as contributing to the musical score. While she continued to put out albums, she made a few guest appearances on TV shows. In 1995, she won an Emmy award for her role as Marianne on the sitcom Mad About You. It wasn't until her role as Sally in the independent film The Opportunists in 2000 that she got some critical acclaim for her acting performance in a film. She would follow this with a handful of selective appearances on screen over the coming years, playing cameo roles on shows like That's So Raven, and in films like National Lampoon's Dirty Movie.

Trivia: After one year in college as an art major Cassidy dropped out and got married, but the marriage didn't last. She moved to San Francisco and worked successfully as a model; she also appeared briefly in two films shot there, Bullitt (1968) and Fools (1970), then went four years without another screen role, meanwhile finding some work in TV commercials. Her first significant screen appearance was in a small role in the San Francisco police drama The Laughing Policeman (1974), which led to work in two more films that year; in the second of these, Bank Shot (1974), she got her first prominent billing. Cassidy had many unmemorable roles over the next few years, finally making an impression in a successful film with Blade Runner (1982); after that she got better roles in better films, but has yet to become a widely known screen actress.

Trivia: Upon earning his BA at Bucknell University, Ralph Waite embarked upon no fewer than three careers before deciding upon acting. First, Waite was a social case worker in New York's Westchester County, a job he quit after running into the stone walls of indifference and bureaucracies. Then, after spending three years at the Yale School of Divinity, he was a practicing Presbyterian minister; this, too fell by the wayside due to Waite's unwillingness to conform to church protocol and his disenchantment over the perceived hypocrisy of his fellow clerics. Finally, he worked as a religious editor for the publishing firm of Harper & Row. This job might have panned out, but Waite, separated from his wife and suffering an identity crisis, felt the need to "prove himself" by entering a tougher, more competitive field. Thus, at the age of 30, Waite began taking acting lessons. His professional debut in the off-Broadway production The Balcony proved so disastrous that it is little wonder he chooses to regard his 1965 Broadway bow in Hogan's Goat as the true beginning of his career. After an excellent showing as Jack Nicholson's impotent brother in Five Easy Pieces (1971) the offers began pouring in. In 1972, Waite was cast as John Walton in the immensely popular TV series The Waltons. During the nine-season run of that ratings bonanza, Waite helped form the Los Angeles Actors' Theatre. He also was prominently featured in the blockbuster miniseries Roots (1977), and wrote and directed (but did not star in) the 1980 film On the Money. His post-Walton credits included the TV series Mississippi, the film Cliffhanger (1993) and TV movies Crash and Burn and Sin and Redemption. Towards the end of his career, he had a recurring role on Day of Our Lives as Father Matt, and played the father of two leading men on two long-running series - Gibbs on NCIS and Booth on Bones. Waite died in 2014 at age 85.

Trivia: Was born in Virginia but moved to Houston, TX, with his family before he began school. As a youngster, considered becoming an animator. Before finding success in showbiz, worked as a caterer, nanny, telemarketer and food expeditor on the Sunset strip, among other things. Was still waiting tables while appearing on Six Feet Under in a recurring role. After making appearances on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia as an actor, he wrote and submitted a script, eventually earning the position of producer-writer.

Trivia: Starred in Julia Cho's off-Broadway production The Piano Teacher at the Vineyard Theatre in New York City in 2007. Has appeared alongside Kiefer Sutherland in both 24 and Touch. Became a regular cast member on Bones after actor John Francis Daley's departure from the show.

Trivia: Is the youngest of five children. First stage role was in Arthur Miller's Danger: Memory. Discovered by a TV casting director at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where he was playing Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew. Starred on the short-lived Fox series American Embassy and had recurring roles on the crime dramas Bones and Women's Murder Club. Lent his voice to the animated movie Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010) and the video games Army of Two: The 40th Day and Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. Is an avid reader and chess player.

Trivia: Born in Hackettstown, NJ, but raised in Springfield, OR, actor Eric Millegan cut his teeth on the boards in a Eugene Opera production of Amahl and the Night Visitors back in 1981 and never looked back. Later, after appearing in such subsequent Eugene Opera productions as La Boheme and Madame Butterfly, the rising stage star set out to try his luck on the New York stage and landed a role in the Broadway revival of Jesus Christ Superstar. While it was on the stage that the Interlochen Arts Camp alumnus and University of Michigan graduate received the lion's share of his acting experience, by the early 2000s he was looking to branch out and began appearing on screens both large and small. Early television roles on 100 Centre Street, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Curb Your Enthusiasm found his popularity growing at an impressive rate, with parts in the films On_Line and The Phobic serving well to establish his indie film credibility. In 2005 Millegan joined the cast of Fox television's forensics crime series Bones as geeky grad assistant Zack Addy.

Trivia: Moved to Guadalajara, Mexico at the age of 2, but spent most of his childhood living in Maryland. Became interested in acting at the age of 5 after performing in a stage production, Carnival. Moved to Los Angeles in June 2010 to pursue his acting career. Enjoys geocaching as a hobby.

Trivia: An actor whose tall, rangy build and boyish good looks have made him a natural for comic roles, Diedrich Bader was born in Alexandria, VA, on Christmas Eve 1966; his father, William Bader, was Chief of Staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during the Carter administration, and his mother, Gretta Bader, was a sculptor of note. When Bader was two, he and his family moved to Paris, France, where the boy was exposed to a steady diet of classic American comedies; young Bader was especially fond of Charlie Chaplin, and appeared on-stage for the first time at the age of four, imitating the Little Tramp at a revival theater during an unexpected intermission after a rare Chaplin film jammed in the projector. Bader and his family returned to the United States in time for him to enter high school, and he later attended the North Carolina School for the Arts. While vacationing in Santa Fe, NM, during spring break, Bader met a casting agent who lined up an audition for a small role in a television pilot. Bader ended up winning the leading role instead, and while the pilot never sold, it did prompt Bader to relocate to Los Angeles and begin pursuing an acting career full-time. He began landing guest spots on episodic television shows, including Cheers, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. In 1993, Bader was cast as the Searcher on the television series Danger Theater, a short-lived spoof of action-adventure programs. Penelope Spheeris, who directed the Danger Theater episodes, remembered Bader when casting for her film The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), based on the popular sitcom of the '60s and '70s. Bader won the role of cheerful but slow-witted Jethro Bodine, and his performance was one of the comic highlights of the film. The movie significantly raised Bader's visibility, and in 1995 he was cast as the logically challenged Oswald on The Drew Carey Show. Bader's success on The Drew Carey Show led to notable supporting roles in motion pictures, such as Office Space and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back; he also began doing voice work for a number of animated television projects, including Pepper Ann, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, and Kim Possible. In his private life, Bader married actress Dulcy Rogers in 1998. As his run on The Drew Carey Show continued, he also appeared regularly in feature film such as The Country Bears, Napoleon Dynamite, Eurotrip, and Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous, as well as animated films like Ice Age and Bolt. In 2010 he landed a recurring role on the short-lived NBC sitcom Outsourced.

Trivia: From her memorable role in the made-for-television Alice in Wonderland (1999) to feature roles in Waterworld (1995) and Andre (1994), Tina Majorino has made a lasting impression in television and film with her youthful glow. Born Albertina Marie Majorino in Westlake, CA, in 1985, Majorino began her career as an actress in a series of television commercials. Soon making her formal television debut alongside future Oscar winner Hilary Swank in Camp Wilder, the busy young actress would soon have three substantial film roles -- in movies that opened within three months of one another -- at the tender age of ten. Following the triple threat of When a Man Loves a Woman, Corrina, Corrina, and Andre (all 1994), Majorino was soon back in the saddle with Waterworld and gearing up for an even busier year in 1997. With three made-for-television features and a big-screen effort in the same year, it was hard for the 12-year-old black belt to practice Tang Soo Do, much less pursue any other outside interests. Following her role in the lavish television production of Alice in Wonderland in 1999, it came as no surprise that Majorino sought a little time out of the limelight, though audiences could rest assured that she would return in good time.

Trivia: During the early 2000s, actor Scoot McNairy quickly came to specialize in portrayals of colorful and individualistic young men with a slightly rebellious edge. McNairy began during the early to mid-2000s, with bit parts in films including Wonderland (2003), Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005), and Art School Confidential (2006). He took his first bow as a producer with 2007's In Search of a Midnight Kiss, in which he also starred. That indie romantic comedy concerns a young man (McNairy) all washed up on New Year's Eve -- until an impulsive ad on Craigslist leads him to the great love of his life (Sara Simmonds) and an extraordinary night on the town.