A gregarious actor with a smile that lights up the screen, Cuba Gooding, Jr. experienced the highs and lows of show business growing up as the son of his famous singer father. As he explained to the Los Angeles Times on January 5, 1997: "We lived in a big house and had chauffeurs, we'd go backstage at the concerts and then in the fifth grade . . . bang! Rock bottom." When his parents divorced, he moved with his mother, brother and sister out of the limelight and began facing financial hardships, which included stretches of being evicted and living in a car, as well as time on the welfare rolls. While the family was staying in a cheap motel in suburban Orange County, Gooding befriended future personal assistant Shawn Suttles and production company partner Derek Broes, and the three perfected their breakdancing moves, christening themselves the Majestic Vision Breakdancers.

 While still in his twenties, the likeable and low-key Casey Affleck, who enjoyed a slow and steady rise as an actor, saw the show business mechanics from the inside out while watching his older brother Ben Affleck gain meteoric Hollywood success – as well as the inevitable and subsequently vicious backlash. Still, the younger Affleck saw himself on another path, eschewing studio-produced Frankenstein projects in favor of eclectic character parts. The promise of his early work in “To Die For” (1995) and “Good Will Hunting” (1997) did eventually lead him to the blockbuster types like “Ocean’s Eleven” (2001) and its star-packed sequels. While nestled comfortably into one of Hollywood’s most entertaining ensembles, Affleck still found a way to comfortably transform in a variety of projects, creating a witty, quirky onscreen persona along the way.

 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).

Tall, dark and photogenic, Benicio Del Toro spent several years in less than memorable supporting roles before his breakthrough as the mumbling Fred Fenster, the most erratic of the conspirators, in Bryan Singer's "The Usual Suspects" (1995). After that award-winning turn, the actor seemed on his way to a sterling career, although not all of efforts have met with box-office success.

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.

BIOGRAPHY

From Hollywood wild-child to Academy Award winner to respected U.N. Goodwill Ambassador, actress Angelina Jolie underwent a series of metamorphic transformations over the course of her career. An exceedingly beautiful, strikingly talented performer, Jolie broke on to the scene in the mid-1990s, quickly gaining a reputation for both her on-screen work as well as her outrageous off-camera antics.