Trivia: A veteran of television, Collins Pennie began his career with a stint on As the World Turns and also guest-starred on shows like CSI: Miami and Without a Trace. He launched his big-screen career in the late 2000s with small supporting roles, including parts in Ryan Fleck's drug-laced inner-city drama Half Nelson (2006) and Nelson McCormick's slasher outing remake Prom Night (2008). In 2009, he was cast as Malik in the remake of the musical Fame.

Trivia: A screen performer from his early twenties, Columbus Short began his career as a movie actor with somewhat conventional roles in youth-oriented films, such as the 2006 releases Save the Last Dance 2 and Accepted. He worked his way into more serious and substantial material in the years to follow, however -- beginning with the role of Darius on Aaron Sorkin's critically praised but short-lived showbiz drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006-2007). Short received critical kudos and added attention for his contribution to the family-oriented ensemble comedy This Christmas, playing an African-American man who arrives at his family's home to celebrate the Yuletide holiday -- without telling them that he has married a Caucasian woman. Additional assignments included the lead role in Quarantine (2008), directors John E. Dowdle and Drew Dowdle's remake of the Spanish horror film [REC]; and -- on a nostalgic note -- an evocation of blues maestro "Little Walter" Jacobs in director Darnell Martin's ambitious homage to the blues in 1950s Chicago, Cadillac Records (2008). His career continued with Armored, the remake of Death at a Funeral, The Losers and The Girl Is In Trouble. In 2012 he was cast in the TV series Scandal.

Trivia: Performed Michael Jackson's "Thriller" with Wade Robinson on The Wade Robinson Project in 2003. Took second place on Star Search in 2003. Was first runner-up on the fourth season of So You Think You Can Dance. Was the first dancer endorsed by Gatorade. Serves on the Board of Directors for the Dizzy Feet Foundation.

Trivia: Actor, singer, and voice actor Keith David has spent much of his career on the stage, but also frequently works in feature films and on television. A native of New York City, David first performed as a child, singing in the All Borough Chorus and later attended the prestigious High School of Performing Arts. Shortly after graduating from Juilliard, where he studied voice and theater, David landed a role in a production of Coriolanus at Joseph Papp's Public Theater. He starred opposite Christopher Walken. David made his Broadway debut in Albee's The Lady From Dubuque (1980) and, two years later, had his first film role in John Carpenter's The Thing. He would not appear in another feature film until he played King in Oliver Stone's Platoon (1986). In between, David alternated between stage and television work. He appeared in five films in 1988, including Clint Eastwood's Bird, where he gave a memorable performance as jazz sax player Buster Franklin. In 1992, David showed his considerable skill as a singer and dancer and won a Tony nomination for starring in the musical Jelly's Last Jam, opposite Gregory Hines. David's film career really picked up in the mid-'90s, with roles ranging from a gunslinger in Sam Raimi's The Quick and the Dead to a New York cop in Spike Lee's Clockers to an amputee who owns a pool parlor in Dead Presidents (all 1995). In 1998, David had a brief but memorable role as Cameron Diaz's boisterous stepfather in the Farrelly brother's zany Something About Mary. In one of the film's funniest scenes, David tries to help Diaz's prom date, Ben Stiller, extricate himself from an embarrassingly sticky situation. He is also well known to animation fans for his voice work in, among other projects, Disney's Gargoyles, HBO's Spawn, and the English-dubbed version of the Japanese-animated film Princess Mononoke. In 2000 he appeared in Requiem for a Dream, Pitch Black, and Where the Heart Is, as well as providing the narration of Ken Burns documentary on the history of jazz. He continued to work steadily in a variety of projects including Barbershop, 29 Palms, Agent Cody Banks, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and the 2005 Oscar winner for Best Picture, Crash. He also found work in Transporter 2, The Oh in Ohio, Meet Monica Velour, Lottery Ticket, and the 2010 remake of Death at a Funeral.

Trivia: African-American actor Pooch Hall began his career on a noble and dignified note, by landing one of his first significant acting assignments in the critically acclaimed miniseries Miracle's Boys -- under the aegis of revered directors Spike Lee, Ernest Dickerson, LeVar Burton, Bill Duke, and Neema Barnette. In Boys, Hall starred as the eldest of three orphaned brothers, Ty'ree, who sacrifices an MIT scholarship in order to look after his siblings, remaining in Harlem and working in a publishing-house mail room. The work received positive notices and scored favorable ratings for Hall when it premiered on The N network in 2005, and marked an auspicious beginning for the actor. He then opted to portray football hero Derwin Davis (the boyfriend of med student Melanie Barnett [Tia Mowry] in the weekly series The Game) and, also in 2006, signed for a supporting role in the blood-soaked comic fright-fest Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror. The next year, Hall contributed a minor role to the romantic comedy Blind Dating. In 2011 he joined the cast of the comedy drama Jumping the Broom.

Trivia: Worked as a DJ at a local soul radio station during high school and at his campus radio station while attending college at North Carolina A&T State University. Was president of the Student Government Association during college. Flew from Florida to New York to audition for 106 & Park then drove a car to Atlanta to audition again the next day after feeling disappointed with his first performance. Wrote The Wealth of My Mother's Wisdom: The Lessons That Made My Life Rich, which was published in 2013. Moderated the 2015 Champions of Change panel at the White House, an event to promote college completion at historically black colleges. Is co-founder of Jenkins Entertainment Group, a hosting and consulting company. Was a Centennial Ambassador for the National Park Service's Find Your Park campaign in honor of the 100th anniversary. Is a passionate philanthropist, having been a mentor for Steve Harvey's Disney Dreamers Academy, a spokesperson for Ronald McDonald's House Charities Future Achievers Scholarship Campaign and a supporter of the Boys and Girls Club of Newark, New Jersey.

Trivia: Was the first African American cheerleader at her high school. Worked as a waitress in New York City before beginning career as a model at 17 and appearing in commercials and educational films. Co-founded and performed with R&B/hip hop duo Twise with Marcella "Precise" Brailsford; contributed the track "Paint the World (America's Theme)" to the One Life, Many Voices for Hurricane Relief CD to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina. First regular TV work came in 2004 when she was named co-host of Best Friend's Date on the N Network. Big break came in 2005 when she was cast as Layla Williamson on One Life to Live. Made big screen debut in 2010's Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming. Made the leap into producing with the 2016 movie Southside With You, in which she plays a young Michelle Obama.

Trivia: While she appeared in several notable features in the 1980s and 1990s, TV was the star-making venue for Jasmine Guy. A multi-talented performer, Boston-born Guy began her career as a dancer for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. She moved to acting and television, however, with a part in the TV film At Mother's Request (1987) and a starring role as snooty co-ed beauty Whitley in The Cosby Show spin-off A Different World (1987-1993). During the show's six season run, Guy also made her feature film debut in Spike Lee's politically charged college comedy/musical School Daze (1988) and co-starred in Eddie Murphy's ill-fated Harlem Nights (1989). Guy further revealed her range in TV movies Runaway (1989), A Killer Among Us (1990), and Stompin' at the Savoy (1992). After A Different World ended in 1993, Guy continued to be a regular TV presence with numerous guest star roles throughout the 1990s, particularly on Melrose Place and NYPD Blue. Guy also returned to the stage as a musical theater actress in touring companies of Grease and Chicago, played a major role in the feature thriller Kla$h (1995), and made a brief appearance as one of Stephen Rea's former female protégées in the 1999 Sundance Film Festival prizewinner Guinevere. She continued to act in projects such as the made-for-TV remake of Carrie, and enjoyed a run on the short-lived Dead Like Me - both of those projects written by Bryan Fuller. She appeared in the 2010 sequel Stomp the Yard: Homecoming, and the 2012 adoption/abortion drama October Baby.

Trivia: Best known for his pranks calls which started on his radio show on KBFB in Dallas, Texas, United States. Made a deal in 2008 to take his radio show nationwide. Has released several humerous songs including "Roll Tide" and "We Miss Robert".

Trivia: A native of Flint, MI, who played in the NFL for seven years before segueing into film, athlete-turned-actor Terry Crews made his television debut on the small-screen sports entertainment show Battle Dome and has since moved on to appear in films by such disparate directors as David Lynch, Mike Judge, and David Ayer.During high school, Crews studied at Interlochen Art Academy, and he continued on to Western Michigan University for college; it was during his freshman year that he first took to the gridiron, and after making an impression as a Mid-American Conference defensive end, he solidified his reputation as a star player by leading his team to the Mid-American Conference championship in 1988. Crews married longtime wife Rebecca the day before his 21st birthday, and later went on to have an impressive professional football career while playing for the L.A. Rams, the San Diego Chargers, and the Washington Redskins. Though he had originally intended to become a special-effects artist, Crews gradually became aware of the power of his onscreen charisma when he accepted a role in the short-lived television series Battle Dome in 1999. Despite the fact that only a few episodes of the seires ever made it to the airwaves, the experience left Crews convinced that he had found his calling.Few lifelong actors could even dream of landing roles in such major motion pictures as The 6th Day, Training Day, and Friday After Next so early in their careers, but that's precisely what Crews did, and he has never looked back since. The actor's hulking frame made him an ideal candidate for intimidating onscreen figures, and his disarming sense of humor has found him developing a distinct comic persona in such films as Starsky & Hutch, Soul Plane, White Chicks, and The Longest Yard while also winning over viewers on the small screen with his role as Chris Rock's father on Everybody Hates Chris. As a supporting player, Crews consistently impresses, with his little-seen role as former professional wrestler-turned-President of the United States in Beavis and Butt-Head creator Judge's Idiocracy (2006) offering a telling example of how far he is willing to go to get a laugh. That same year, Crews showed his impressive range by making a brief appearance in surrealist specialist Lynch's Inland Empire, with comic roles in Norbit, Who's Your Caddy?, and Balls of Fury following in short order.2008 proved a busy year for Crews. In addition to his continued work on Everybody Hates Chris, he co-starred in the police drama Street Kings, as well as director Peter Segal's revamp of the classic comedy series Get Smart. Crews played a member of a motley gang of mercenaries in 2010's action blockbuster The Expendables (he reprised this role for the film's sequel in 2012).