Trivia: One of Hollywood's few celebrators of the "Southern bad boy" image, country musician turned actor-screenwriter-director Billy Bob Thornton consistently engenders a reputation -- via chosen onscreen parts and fervent tabloid reports of his allegedly wild off-camera life -- as an iconoclastic American hellraiser with lightning in his veins. But appearances can deceive, for Thornton also reveals depth and complexity as one Hollywood's most articulate interviewees, graced with intelligent, sensitive observations, cultural allusions, and poignant reflections on his experiences as a thespian and film artist. Moreover, this acute insight evidences itself equally in Thornton's craftsmanship as a screenwriter and director. Though his behind-the-camera projects have become increasingly rare over time, his few directorial outings evince surprising control, refinement, insight, and taste. Born in Hot Springs, AR, on August 4, 1955, Thornton grew up dirt poor in the nearby backwoods community of Alpine. Despite his father's gainful employment as a history teacher, Thornton was forced to live with his parents and grandparents in a house without electricity or indoor plumbing. After high-school graduation, Thornton landed a steady job and got married; neither the job nor the marriage lasted, as Thornton divorced two years later and returned to college to study psychology; however, that didn't last, either -- he decided that his heart lay in rock & roll, and tried and failed to make it in New York. So Thornton returned to his job for awhile until he and Epperson renewed their dedication to a music career. Eventually, he would travel to California to write screenplays. It was a difficult time for Thornton who, in addition to living in poverty, also suffered a near-fatal heart attack. Thornton eventually turned to acting, making his screen debut in the straight-to-video Hunter's Blood in 1987. Subsequent roles in many forgettable movies followed (including Troma's Chopper Chicks in Zombietown), as did an appearance on the Burt Reynolds sitcom Evening Shade; the actor simultaneously weathered several marriages through the '80s and '90s, to Toni Lawrence, Cynda Williams, and Pietra Dawn Cherniak. Then, in 1990, Thornton caught the attention of critics when he wrote and appeared in Carl Franklin's critically acclaimed directorial debut, One False Move (1991). A dark crime drama set in a small Arkansas town, the film provided a suitable antecedent to Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade, a 1993 short that Thornton scripted. The George Hickenlooper-directed piece stars Thornton as Karl Childers, a mentally retarded, soft-spoken man, institutionalized for murder, who delivers a reflective monologue to a reporter (Molly Ringwald) just prior to his release from the psychiatric institution where he resides. (Thornton allegedly invented the Childers character years prior, while shaving and talking to himself in the mirror.) The effort won a number of positive notices and Thornton subsequently appeared in Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man in 1995 and (with Epperson), co-authored the screenplay for A Family Thing (1996), a gentle Southern drama starring Robert Duvall as a Caucasian man who discovers that he is half black.After years of relative obscurity as an actor and screenwriter, Thornton made a great cultural impact with the low-budget, independent drama Sling Blade. A feature-length expansion of the Hickenlooper short, and a sequel of sorts to that work, the picture finds Karl Childers returning to the outside world for the first occasion in decades, and attempting to begin a new, quiet life in a small Southern town. In the story, Karl befriends a local woman, her little boy, and a gay storekeeper (John Ritter), and finds lodging and steady income, but runs headfirst into Doyle Hargraves (Dwight Yoakam), a psychotically abusive lout who turns life for the mother and son into a waking nightmare. Bit by bit, Karl's old demons awaken and he feels himself being drawn back into the sphere of retributive violence. When Sling Blade premiered during the late 1996 holiday season, it swept away the hearts of audiences and critics worldwide and heralded the arrival of a major new talent. Journalists waxed rhapsodic in their praise. For Thornton's work on the film, he won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, as well as a Best Actor Oscar nomination. The 1996 triumph of Sling Blade brought Thornton a whirlwind of opportunities. He followed his success with a key supporting role in Robert Duvall's The Apostle (1998) as a hardened racist, a turn in Primary Colors (1998) as a James Carville-like campaign manager with a penchant for exhibitionism, and a role in Armageddon as NASA's executive director. Also in 1998, he received another Best Actor nomination for his work in Sam Raimi's A Simple Plan, the story of two brothers (Thornton and Bill Paxton) who descend into the depths of distrust and paranoia after stumbling upon four million dollars in the woods; it allowed Thornton to plumb the darker areas of the backwoods psyche as only he could do so well. The following year, Thornton starred in Mike Newell's Pushing Tin (1999), a comedy about two dueling air traffic controllers (Thornton and John Cusack). He also returned to his duties behind the camera, directing, writing, and starring in Daddy and Them, a comedy drama about the ups and downs of an eccentric Alabama family. In addition to Daddy and Them, Thornton signed on to act in a number of projects during 2000, including Wakin' Up in Reno, a romantic comedy about two white-trash couples; and South of Heaven, West of Hell, an ensemble Western that marked the directorial debut of country singer Dwight Yoakam. Thornton then delivered a pair of impressive dramatic performances in the first year of the new millennium. Agreeing to appear in Joel and Ethan Coen's neo noir The Man Who Wasn't There without so much as looking at the script (Thornton immediately accepted the role based on his creative respect for the Coens), the gangly actor earned a Golden Globe nomination for his turn as a barber who gets in over his head while attempting to execute a seemingly simple blackmail scheme. Subsequently cast alongside Bruce Willis in Barry Levinson's summer 2001 crime comedy Bandits, that film fared only marginally better than Thornton's sophomore directorial effort Daddy and Them.Thornton's performance in the redemption-themed drama Monster's Ball more than redeemed him in the eyes of the public and press. In that picture, Thornton offers a sensitive portrayal of a conflicted soul who attempts to come to terms with his love for an African-American woman in the face of his racist father's hateful teachings. After once again chasing redemption in the Sundance premiere Levity, Thornton joined the Coen brothers for the disappointing romantic comedy Intolerable Cruelty. In December of that same year, Thornton appeared in a role that only the gutsiest actors would take: the title character in Terry Zwigoff's (jet) black comedy, Bad Santa. Though gleefully, deliberately offensive, the picture never sacrifices its sharp sense of humor or its acid insight, and (perhaps as a result) became a massive runaway hit -- the definitive sleeper of 2003. At about the same time, Thornton cameoed as a slimy, philandering U.S. president who attempts to thwart the amorous conquest of Hugh Grant's prime minister, in the British romantic comedy Love Actually (2003).In 2004, Thornton essayed the role of Davy Crockett in the historical action-epic The Alamo (2004). He was instrumental in bringing Bad Santa scribes John Requa and Glenn Ficarra on board for exhaustive rewrites of Richard Linklater's Bad News Bears remake (2005). Thornton then starred in director Todd Phillips' remake of Robert Hamer's 1960 comedy School for Scoundrels, which debuted in September 2006. Despite some scattered exceptions, the film received mostly negative reviews. Not long after, Thornton essayed the title role in the spectacular drama The Astronaut Farmer, issued in February 2007. This film cast the actor as Charlie Farmer, a retired NASA astronaut-cum-farmer who raises the ire of government authorities by building a spacecraft in his barn. Subsequent roles included a sadistic gym teacher in Mr. Woodcock (2007), an issue-ridden Hollywood studio head in The Informers (2008), and a manure salesman in The Smell of Success (2009). Not long after, Thornton announced his return to directing with the eagerly-anticipated drama Jayne Mansfield's Car. In 2011 he voiced Jack, of Jack and Kill fame, in the hit animated film Puss In Boots. In 2014, Thornton took a lead role in the massively popular TV series Fargo, nabbing an Emmy nomination in the process. Later in the year, he had a supporting role in the film The Judge.

Trivia: A woman whose combination of talent, tenacity, and beauty has made her one of Hollywood's busiest actors, Halle Berry has enjoyed a level of success that has come from years of hard work and her share of career pitfalls. Berry's interest in show business came courtesy of her participation in a number of beauty pageants throughout her teens, including the 1986 Miss U.S.A. Pageant. A native of Cleveland, OH, where she was born to an African-American father and white mother on August 14, 1968, Berry was raised by her mother, a psychiatric nurse, following her parents' divorce. At the age of 17, she appeared in the spotlight for the first time as the winner of the Miss Teen All-American Pageant, and subsequently became a model. Berry won her first professional acting gig on the TV series Living Dolls, and then appeared on Knots Landing before winning her first big-screen role in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever. It was on the set of the film that she first earned her reputation for her full commitment to acting, reportedly refusing to bathe for weeks in preparation for her portrayal of a crack addict.Following her film debut, Berry was cast opposite Eddie Murphy in Boomerang (1992) as the comedian's love interest; not only did she hold her own against Murphy, but the same year she did acclaimed work in the title role of the Alex Haley miniseries Queen, playing a young woman struggling against the brutal conditions of slavery.After a comedic turn as sultry secretary Sharon Stone in the 1994 live-action version of The Flintstones, Berry returned to more serious fare with her role in the adoption drama Losing Isaiah (1995). Starring opposite Jessica Lange as a former crack addict battling to win custody of her child, who as a baby was adopted by an affluent white couple, Berry earned a mixed reception from critics, some of whom noted that her scenes with Lange highlighted Berry's own shortcomings.However, critical opinion of the actress' work was overwhelmingly favorable in 1998, when she starred as a street smart young woman who comes to the aid of a bumbling politician in Warren Beatty's Bullworth. The following year, Berry won even greater acclaim -- and an Emmy and Golden Globe -- for her turn as tragic screen siren Dorothy Dandridge in the made-for-cable Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. Unfortunately, any acclaim Berry enjoyed was overshadowed by her widely publicized brush with the law in February of 2000, when she allegedly ran a red light, slammed into another car, and then left the scene of the accident. The actress, who suffered a gash to her forehead (the driver of the other car sustained a broken wrist), was booked in a misdemeanor court in early April of that year.Fortunately for Berry, her subsequent onscreen work removed the spotlight from her legal troubles; that same year, she starred as Storm in Bryan Singer's hugely successful adaptation of The X-Men. The film was a box office hit, but her next popcorn flick, the thriller Swordfish, which touted itself as the first movie to feature Berry baring her breasts, had a less impressive reception.Berry again bared more than her character's inner turmoil in Monster's Ball (2001), a romantic drama directed by Marc Forster that starred the actress as a woman who becomes involved with an ex-prison-guard (Billy Bob Thornton) who oversaw the prison execution of her husband (Sean Combs). Berry earned wide critical praise for her work in the film, as well as Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for Best Actress. And though she may have lost out to Sissy Spacek in the Golden Globes, her night at the Oscars found Berry the favored performer as took home a statue for Best Actress. A momentous footnote in Academy Award history, Berry's win marked the first time an African American had been bestowed that particular honor.Although her turn in the James Bond flick Die Another Day was so successful that talk began of a spin-off film, Berry's first true post-Oscar vehicle Gothika proved to be unpopular with both critics and moviegoers. Luckily, 2003 wasn't a total loss for her though as X2: X-Men United was a box-office smash and was regarded by many to be superior to its predecessor. Sticking with comic-books as source-material, Berry could be seen in Catwoman the following Summer. The film was the biggest flop of her career, panned by audiences and critics, and earning the actress a coveted Razzie for her terrible performance. She won back a great deal of respect, however, by starring in the made for TV adaptation of the Zora Neale Hurston novel Their Eyes Were Watching God the next year. She followed this moving performance with a return to her X-Men comrades for X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006, then signed on to star alongside a decidedly creepy Bruce Willis in the suspense thriller Perfect Stranger (2007), directed by James Foley.As the 2010's unfolded, Berry continued to enjoy top-tier status as one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, taking on roles in films like Things We Lost in the Fire, Dark Tide, Cloud Atlas, and The Call. In 2014, she reprised her role of Storm yet again in X-Men: Days of Future Past and took the lead role in her own TV series, Extant, which lasted for two seasons.

Trivia: Well-reputed for his "extreme" cinematic personifications in multiple genres, the American character player Peter Boyle doubtless made his onscreen personas doubly intense by pulling directly from his own personal journey to the top -- a wild, unlikely, and occasionally tortuous trek that found Boyle aggressively defining and redefining himself, and struggling constantly with a number of inner demons. Born October 18, 1935, in the hamlet of Northtown, PA, Boyle graduated from La Salle College and joined the Christian Brothers monastic order, under the name "Brother Francis." He prayed endlessly and earnestly until he developed callouses on his knees, but could never quite adjust to the monastic life, which he later declared "unnatural," with its impositions of fasting and celibacy. Dissatisfied, Boyle dropped out and headed for the Navy, but his brief enlistment ended in a nervous breakdown. With no other options in sight that piqued his interest, Boyle opted to pack his bags and head for New York City, where he worked toward making it as an actor. It made perfect sense that Boyle -- with his distinctively stocky frame, bald pate, oversized ears, and bulbous nose -- would fit the bill as a character actor -- more ideally, in fact, than any of his contemporaries on the American screen. He trained under the best of the best -- the legendary dramatic coach Uta Hagen -- while working at any and every odd job he could find. Boyle soon joined a touring production of Neil Simon's Odd Couple (as Oscar Madison) and moved to Chicago, where he signed on with the sketch comedy troupe The Second City -- then in its infancy. Around 1968, Haskell Wexler -- one of the most politically radical mainstream filmmakers in all of Los Angeles (a bona fide revolutionary) -- decided to shoot his groundbreaking epic Medium Cool in the Windy City, and for a pivotal and notorious sequence, mixed documentary and fictional elements by sending the members of his cast (Verna Bloom and others) "right into the fray" of the 1968 Democratic National Convention riots. Boyle happened to still be living in Chicago at the time of the tumult, which dovetailed rather neatly with Wexler's production and brought Boyle one of his first credited Hollywood roles -- that of the Gun Clinic Manager in the film. Unfortunately (and typically), Paramount cowed when faced with the final cut of the film -- terrified that it could incite riots among its youthful audience -- and withheld its distribution for a year. In the interim, Boyle landed the role that would help him "break through" to the American public -- the lead in neophyte writer-director John G. Avildsen's harrowing vigilante drama Joe (1970). The film casts Boyle as a skin-crawling redneck and bigot who wheedles an Arrow-collared businessman (Dennis Patrick) into helping him undertake an onslaught of death against the American counterculture. This sleeper hit received only fair reviews from critics (and has dated terribly), and Boyle reputedly was paid only 3,000 dollars for his contribution. But even those who detested the film lavished praise onto the actor's work -- in 1970, Variety called the picture "flawed" but described Boyle as "stunningly effective." Film historians continue to exalt the performance to this day. Innumerable roles followed for Boyle throughout the '70s, many in a similar vein -- from that of Dillon, the slimy underworld "friend" who betrays career criminal Robert Mitchum by handing him over to death's jaws in Peter Yates' finely-wrought gangster drama The Friends of Eddie Coyle, to that of Wizard, a veteran cabbie with a terrifying degree of "seen it all, done it all" jadedness, in Martin Scorsese's masterful neo-noir meditation on urban psychosis, Taxi Driver (1976), to Andy Mast, a sleazy private dick, in Paul Schrader's Hardcore (1979). In 1974, however, Boyle broke free from his pattern of creepy typecasting and temporarily turned a new leaf. He unveiled a deft comic flair by playing the lead in Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks' daffy spoof of old Universal horror pictures. The film's two comic highlights have Boyle and Gene Wilder (as the grandson of Dr. Victor Frankenstein) soft-shoeing to "Puttin' on the Ritz," and Boyle and Gene Hackman (as a hapless, bearded blind man) farcically sending up the gothic cabin scene from Mary Shelley's novel in a riotous pas de deux. Boyle's subsequent forays into big-screen comedy proved decidedly less successful on all fronts, however. He played Carl Lazlo, Esquire, the solicitor of Bill Murray's Hunter S. Thompson, in producer/director Art Linson's Where the Buffalo Roam, the pirate Moon in Mel Damski's dreadful swashbuckling spoof Yellowbeard (1983), and Jack McDermott, a Jesus-obsessed escaped mental patient with delusions of healing, in Howard Zieff's The Dream Team (1989) -- all of which received lukewarm critical reactions and flopped with ticket-buyers. (Though it went undocumented as such, the Zieff role appeared to pull heavy influence from Boyle's monastic experience). A more finely tuned and impressive comic role arrived in 1992, when Boyle teamed with Andrew Bergman for an outrageous bit part in Bergman's madcap farce Honeymoon in Vegas. As Chief Orman, a moronic Hawaiian Indian who bears more than a passing resemblance to Marlon Brando, Boyle delighted viewers, and caught the attention of critics. Many read the role as less of an homage than a dig at Brando, who had viciously insulted one of Bergman's movies in the press. For many viewers, this ingenious sequence made the entire film worthwhile. On the whole, the actor continued to fare best with big-screen dramatic roles throughout the '80s and '90s. Highlights include his role as Detective Jimmy Ryan in Wim Wenders' film noir Hammett (1982); Commander Cornelius Vanderbilt, the assistant of South-American explorer William Walker, in Alex Cox's 1987 biopic Walker; and Captain Green in Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1992). In 1996, Boyle transitioned to the small screen for a permanent role as Frank Barone, the father of comedian Ray Romano's Ray Barone, on the hit CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. The series brought the actor his broadest popularity and exposure, especially among younger viewers -- a popularity not only attested to by the program's seemingly endless syndicated appearance on local stations and cable affiliates such as TBS, but by its initial series run -- it lasted nine seasons. Tragically, Peter Boyle died of multiple myeloma and heart disease almost exactly one year after Raymond took its final network bow, and shortly after his appearance in the holiday film The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause. He passed away in New York's Presbyterian Hospital, on December 12, 2006, only two months after his seventy-first birthday. Alongside his film and television work, Boyle occasionally acted on Broadway, off-Broadway, and repertory stages, in such productions as Carl Reiner's The Roast (1980), Sam Shepard's True West (1982), and Joe Pintauro's Snow Orchid (1982). Boyle met journalist Laraine Alderman in the early '70s, while she was interviewing Mel Brooks for Rolling Stone. They wed in 1977, with former Beatle John Lennon as Boyle's best man; the marriage lasted until Peter's death. The Boyles had two daughters, Lucy and Amy, both of whom outlived their father.

Trivia: Already something of an established actor in his native Australia, Heath Ledger first came to the attention of American audiences in 1999 with his winning turn in the teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You, playing the rebellious Patrick Verona in the update of The Taming of the Shrew.Born in Perth, Western Australia on April 4, 1979, Ledger first became interested in acting while attending the all-boys Guilford Grammar School. He began his career performing onstage with the Guildford Theatre Company and was soon appearing in substantial roles on Australian television shows. The 1996 series Sweat featured him as a gay cyclist, while the following year's Roar cast him as a medieval Celtic prince--and also won him the beginnings of a fan base. After moving across the Pacific to Los Angeles, Ledger landed his lead role in 10 Things I Hate About You opposite Julia Stiles in 1999. The movie proved to be a summer hit, and it succeeded in introducing Ledger to a legion of new fans. That same year, he starred in Two Hands, an Australian action comedy that cast him as a Sydney teenager who finds himself in debt to an underworld kingpin, played by Bryan Brown. The film premiered at that year's Sundance Film Festival. Following a prominent role in Roland Emmerich's The Patriot (2000), Ledger brought Excalibur sensibilities into the new millenium with A Knight's Tale (2001). With its tradition shattering blend of modern slang and music balanced with the classic tale of jousting mayhem, A Knight's Tale served as an exciting star vehicle for the popular young actor. The young actor also garnered a fair amount of praise for his supporting role as a deeply depressed prison employee in the Oscar-winning film Monsters Ball (2001). Though the film did not fare well critically or otherwise, Ledger nonetheless proved himself a versatile actor in The Four Feathers (2002), in which he starred as a cowardly officer-in-training who resigns from the British Army shortly before being shipped off to Sudan. In the same vein, though The Order (2003) was shunned by critics, Ledger was praised for his intense performance as a tortured, knowledge-seeking priest. Australia's Ned Kelly (2003) featured a then 24-year-old Heath in the title role of sixteen-year-old outlaw Ned Kelly, and placed him among a skilled cast including Six Feet Under star and fellow Australian Rachel Griffiths, the Oscar-winning Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, and Naomi Watts. In 2005, Ledger captivated Hollywood with his sensitive turn as Ennis Del Mar in the gay-themed modern western Brokeback Mountain. Impressing audiences with his portrayal of the soft-spoken and tortured character struggling with his love for fellow cowboy Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal), he went on to garner multiple awards for the role, including Best Actor wins from numerous film critics associations, as well as a coveted Oscar nomination.Ledger was busy in 2005 following Brokeback, with lead roles in the period films Casanova and The Brothers Grimm, as well as a turn as a heroin-addicted husband in Candy. His own engagement to Brokeback costar Michelle Williams made headlines and produced a daughter in late 2005, though the two ended their relationship the following year. Ledger had completed his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight (due out in July 2008) and was filming Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus when he was found dead in a New York City apartment building on January 22, 2008. It turned out that his final performance would be the most celebrated of his career. His turn as Gotham City's most deranged criminal helped make The Dark Knight one of the biggest box office hits in movie history, and earned him posthumous nominations for Best Supporting Actor from both the Screen Actors Guild and the Academy.

Trivia: Initially rising to fame thanks to his skillful rhymes and savvy business skills, rapper-turned-actor Sean Combs surprised audiences who may have doubted his dramatic abilities by turning in a moving and unforgettable appearance as a death-row inmate whose wife seeks solace in the arms of the man who executed him in Marc Foster's acclaimed 2001 drama Monster's Ball. Though subsequent roles in the 2003 musical comedy Death of a Dynasty and the 2004 made-for-television drama Love in Vain give testament that Combs' Hollywood aspirations are still very much in tact, he continues to hold on to his status as one of hip-hop's most powerful players thanks to a series of hit albums and collaborations, as well as a successful clothing line which bears his namesake. Born to a working class couple in Harlem, NY, the murder of Combs' father when the future superstar was a mere two years old prompted his mother to relocate to Mount Vernon to provide a safer environment for young Sean and his sister, Keisha. Combs' skills for paying the bills was evident early on when the entrepreneurial youngster landed a paper route at 12, and not long after that the aspiring businessman was receiving his higher education at the esteemed Howard University. An internship at Uptown Entertainment found Combs' connections expanding and real-world experience growing, with Combs achieving the status of director of A&R for the company by the age of just nineteen. In the years that followed, Combs would not only shape the careers of such popular artists as Mary J. Blige and Jodeci, but also build a successful career as a recording artist himself with such albums as his debut No Way Out and the follow-up Forever. Combs' performance in Monster's Ball opposite Halle Berry may have been the first feature performance that brought him widespread recognition in film, though to that point, the multifaceted rapper had made numerous cameos and personal appearances on multiple talk shows and awards programs.Although he maintained a successful music career, he also wanted to make it as an actor. To that end, he appeared in the sequel to Carlito's Way and earned positive reviews for his work in a 2008 version of A Raisin in the Sun. In 2010 he had an excellent supporting turn in the comedy Get Him to the Greek and spoofed himself in I'm Still Here. He also executive produced the high-school football documentary Undefeated which won the Oscar for best Documentary Feature.

Trivia: Mos Def may seem, to the casual observer, like a rare example of a musician successfully transitioning into acting, but in truth, his acclaimed music career did not take off until long after he'd cemented himself as a working actor. Nonetheless, the man has built both his music and film careers on a foundation of integrity, earning him critical praise and audience approval for both. His contributions to the underground hip-hop scene started with the 1996 single "Universal Magnetic," a rare example of introspection in a genre dominated by blustering and callousness. Def's film debut, however, came almost ten years before, when he appeared in the 1988 TV movie God Bless the Child at the age of 15. Then going by his birth name, Dante Terrell Smith, Mos Def landed appearances on shows like Here and Now, The Cosby Mysteries, Brooklyn South, Spin City, and NYPD Blue. The spots sustained his career throughout the '90s, as did his roles in feature films like Bamboozled and MTV's Carmen: A Hip Hopera. Slowly but steadily becoming a recognizable face in acting, Mos Def continued to take parts in high-quality films, even if this meant a lower profile for himself as an actor. His supporting roles in Monster's Ball, Brown Sugar, The Italian Job, and The Woodsman, however, garnered him attention on talent alone. In 2004, he co-starred in the HBO movie Something the Lord Made with Alan Rickman and was honored with an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie, along with Rickman. By the time Def appeared in 2005's Golden Globe award-winning HBO miniseries Lackawanna Blues alongside Terrence Howard and S. Epatha Merkerson, he was a recognized and sought-after face in film. Def soon afterward donned a British accent for a leading role in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, giving audiences a taste of his comedic skills -- which were also on display in his recurring role on the hit Comedy Central series Chappelle's Show, as well as Michel Gondry's retro comedy Be Kind, Rewind -- which found the actor playing a hapless video store clerk opposite Jack Black. Increasingly versatile, Def was just as effective as a key witness hoping to avoid assassination in Richard Donner's 16 Blocks as he was as legendary rock & roller Chuck Berry in 2008's Cadillac Records. Back on the small screen, Def's recurring role as the haunted Brother Sam on Showtime's Dexter found the actor earning even more critical praise in 2011.