A slender blonde actress with good looks better described as striking than pretty, Chloe Sevigny was generating buzz in her adopted New York home even before the independent film world showcased her onscreen allure. Sevigny emerged from her tony Darien, Connecticut background with both the grace of privilege and the awkwardness of an outsider, a duality that shaped her beguiling persona and added dimension to her screen presence.

 Striking Canadian import Carrie-Anne Moss, a dark-haired, alabaster skinned beauty, journeyed to Europe to pursue a modeling career, but instead landed on American television, fulfilling a lifelong goal of working as a professional actress. Despite always wanting to be an actress, nothing prepared Moss for becoming a cultural icon when she landed the career-defining role of Trinity, the cool, leather-clad, sunglasses-wearing heroine from the futuristic sci-fi phenomenon, “The Matrix” (1999). So great was the film’s impact on the cultural zeitgeist that Moss become more unrecognizable withoutsunglasses than with. Labeled by media and geek fandom as an action chick—a term she wholeheartedly embraced—Moss was wise in not letting the role define her career and instead balanced her resume with more feminine roles in low-budget indies.

 A raffish performer whose relaxed style and working-class persona made him an indelible favorite during his star-making turn on the quirky detective series, “Moonlighting” (ABC, 1985-89), actor Bruce Willis used his cocky charm and insatiable will to become one of the biggest movie stars in the world. A surprisingly versatile performer, Willis hit his peak as an action hero during the late 1980s and early 1990s, especially as the star of the behemoth hit “Die Hard” (1988).

All actors want to be rock stars and all rock stars want to be actors!

Sir Ben Kingsley STOMPS into the shoes of Minor Threat's Ian MacKaye from Mean Magazine on Vimeo.

Exuding an air of gravitas in whatever role he played, Academy-Award winner Sir Ben Kingsley made a specialty of playing historical characters, ranging from Dmitri Shostakovich in "Testimony (1987) to mobster Meyer Lansky in "Bugsy" (1991). His most acclaimed performance, however, was in Sir Richard Attenborough’s epic biopic “Gandhi” (1984), in which he played the title role of one of the 20th Century’s most revered and influential figures.