The darkly handsome Billy Crudup (pronounced CREWD-up) quickly established himself as a rising star soon after graduating with an MFA from New York University in 1994. The Long Island native made his Broadway debut as the Byronic tutor in Tom Stoppard's acclaimed "Arcadia" in 1995 and returned to the New York stage the following year to star opposite Mary-Louise Parker in a revival of William Inge's "Bus Stop". For the former, the intense actor earned numerous accolades including the Theatre World and Clarence Derwent awards for most promising newcomer.

It was unclear which fact was more extraordinary about Anna Paquin – that she won an Academy Award at age 11 for her performance in “The Piano” (1993), or that after the win, she had no plans to continue acting.