Mira Sorvino
Mira Katherine Sorvino was born on September 28, 1967 in Manhattan. She is the daughter of Lorraine Davis, an actress turned drama therapist, and veteran character actor Paul Sorvino. Her father's family were Italian immigrants. The young Sorvino was intelligent, an avid reader and an exceptional scholar. Her father discouraged her from becoming an actor, as he knew how the industry often chews up young stars. She attended Harvard, majoring in Chinese, graduating magna cum laude in 1989, largely on the strength of her thesis, a Hoopes Prize-winning thesis on racial conflict in China, written and researched during the year spent in Beijing, which helped her fluency in Mandarin Chinese.
However, she showed interest in a career in acting from an early age, and moved to New York City to try her hand in the City's film industry, waitressing, auditioning and working at the Tribeca production company of Robert De Niro. She succeeded in getting a little television work in the early 1990s, but got her first film job in the independent gangster movie Amongst Friends, on which she worked her way up the ladder behind the camera to eventually associate produce the film, and, more importantly, was eventually cast as the female lead. The indie production was well-received, and Sorvino's performance attracted enough buzz to get her cast in two more movies, one a more prominent indie, Whit Stillman's Barcelona, the other her first Hollywood feature, Robert Redford's Quiz Show, where her skillful performances brought her yet more attention.
An exceptionally poised and articulate young woman, she may have seemed inappropriate to play a crazy hooker, but Woody Allen took the chance, and her magnificent performance as the female lead in his Mighty Aphrodite proved her range as a performer and earned her an Oscar (at the tender age of 29) for Best Supporting Actress. Since winning the Oscar, Sorvino has continued to take a wide range of roles, including another stretch as Marilyn Monroe in Norma Jean & Marilyn, co-starring with another very intelligent and skilled young actress, Ashley Judd. Forays into action and horror, such as Guillermo del Toro's Mimic and Antoine Fuqua's The Replacement Killers show that Sorvino is not above being playful in the film roles she chooses.
However, what forever cemented her role in popular culture was her performance as charmingly silly California beach girl Romy White in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, in which she and co-star Lisa Kudrow utter one hilarious absurdity after another.
Mira Sorvino married Christopher Backus on June 11, 2004, and the couple have four children.
Cary Elwes
Cary Elwes was born in Westminster, London, England, the third son of interior designer/shipping heiress Tessa Georgina Kennedy and the late portrait painter Bede Evelyn Dominick Elwes. He is the brother of producer/agent Cassian Elwes and artist Damian Elwes. He was raised in London and attended Harrow. After graduating from Harrow, he moved to the US and studied drama at Sarah Lawrence College. He left school after two years to begin his film career. Cary is well respected by colleagues and fans alike and considered by many to be one of the finest actors working today. He is interested in history and says, "It's deliberate that a lot of my films have been period pieces". He is politically active for causes he believes in, such as protecting the environment and helping Native American people.
CHRISTOPHER BACKUS
Christopher Backus has built a diverse resume in film in television, most recently seen as Jasper in Deliverance Creek, Nicholas Sparks’ event movie for Lifetime. Backus made his television debut in NBC's Will & Grace, followed by landing roles in prominent television shows like Sons of Anarchy, The O.C., ABC’s Life on Mars, FX's hit series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, NBC's The Mentalist, TNT's Perception, and NBC's two-part miniseries The Last Templar. He also appeared in films such as Redline starring Eddie Griffin and 3 Days Gone directed by Scott McCullough. Most recently he has starred in Hard Breakers, Ezna Sands' Theo, Nancy Savoca's Union Square, Yellow Rock, Elevator written by Marc Rosenberg, and most recently played Marlene Dietrich in the indie film My Fair Lidy.
Backus married actress Mira Sorvino on July 2, 2004 in Capri, Italy. They have four children together: Mattea, Johnny, Holden and Lucia.
Katherine McNamara
Katherine McNamara is an accomplished actress, singer, dancer, songwriter, and an avid student. Although now more focused on film and television, McNamara began her career on Broadway at the age of 13 as "Fredrika Armfeldt" in A Little Night Music, starring opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury. She was fortunate to continue as "Fredrika" with the second ALNM Broadway cast of Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch as well. Her other theater roles include "Esther Jane" in the pre-Broadway world premiere of A Christmas Story: the Musical as well as To Kill a Mockingbird, The Crucible, Inherit the Wind, Annie, The Secret Garden, and Galileo. She has also been cast in a number of Equity readings, including PAN, which was created by the In the Heights creative team.
McNamara's love for acting stretches beyond the stage, with credits in television and film productions. She landed the coveted lead role of "Clare Fray" in ABC Family's new series Shadowhunters based off the hugely popular young adult novels, The Mortal Instruments. She made her big screen debut in the Warner Brothers Picture New Year's Eve. In addition, McNamara starred as "Becky Thatcher" in the remake of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn alongside Joel Courtney and Jake T. Austin. Television credits include Glee, Law and Order: SVU, Drop Dead Diva, 30 Rock, Late Night with David Letterman, Good Morning America, and PBS's Sondheim: The Birthday Concert.
McNamara can also be seen in the bullying film Contest with Kenton Duty. She starred in Disney Channel's Girl vs. Monster and has recurring roles on Jessie as Bryn Breitbart and on Kickin' It as the mean girl from Swathmore Academy, "Claire". She filmed a Disney pilot Madison High where she portrayed "Cherri O'Keefe", resident fashionista and creator of Madison High's popular gossip blog.
McNamara balances acting with her dedication to education. At the age of 14, she graduated with honors from high school, and at 17, graduated with honors from Drexel University's Le Bow School of Business online program with her Bachelor's degree in Business. She plans to continue her education and is currently looking at MBA programs.
McNamara is also a member of the Actors Equity Young Performers Committee, SAG-AFTRA's Young Performers Committee, a reader for the Blank Theater's New Play Development Reading Committee, an ambassador for Stomp Out Bullying and The Lollipop Theater Network, a Girl Scout, and a volunteer for the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. Katherine has a passion for all forms of dance including ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, waltz and hula. She also plays the guitar and piano and enjoys singing and songwriting. She resides in Los Angeles, California and her hometown is Kansas City, Missouri.
LISAGAY HAMILTON
LisaGay Hamilton started acting as a child and played Flip Wilson in a 3rd grade performance. During junior high, she started traveling by train to Manhattan for private acting lessons and acted in summer drama camps. Her principal interest initially was to act in Shakepearean drama. She earned her degree from theatre from New York University and followed it up with a second BFA from Julliard. In 1993, she got her first break at the New York Shakespearean festival playing Isabella opposite Kevin Kline in Measure for Measure. She was later turned down to play the role of Hester Prynne in a production of The Scarlet Letter because of race. Upset, she wrote a letter to 'The Village Voice' to protest legal racism. The play's playwright, Phyllis Nagy, responded with a criticism of her acting, which obviously made things worse. She went on to have a successful career in theater. In 1995-96, her portrayal of a South African singer in Athol Fugard's Valley Song garnered an Obie Award and the Clarence Derwent Award. More recently, Hamilton earned critical acclaim, her second Obie, and a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for her role as Suzanne Alexander in Adrienne Kennedy's, The Ohio State Murders. Besides appearing in over two dozen films, Hamilton directed the documentary film Beah: A Black Woman Speaks in 2003. This film, about pioneering black actress Beah Richards, dealt with Hamilton seeking out Richards, an African-American actress who had broken ground making inroads for black actresses.
Melora Walters
Melora Walters was born on October 21, 1960 in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. She is known for her work on The Butterfly Effect, Magnolia, and Dead Poets Society. She has been married to Alex Vendler since June 21, 2008.
BUCK TAYLOR
Buck Taylor was born on May 13, 1938 in Hollywood, California as Walter Clarence Taylor III. He is best known for his work on Gunsmoke, Tombstone, Cowboys & Aliens, and The Mist. Taylor has earned several Western awards over the years. He received "The Wrangler" award in 1972 and was inducted into the National Cowboy Western Heritage Musuem as a trustee. He received the National Festival of the West's "Cowboy Spirit Award" in 1998 and has a plaque on the Walk of Western Stars in Santa Clarita, California. Taylor studied art on a scholarship while in college and was often seen sketching during film and TV breaks. He is an accomplished western artist who enjoys exploring America's "Old West" and delving into typical everyday cowboy scenes of hitching horses or setting up camp. He specializes in watercolor. He and current wife Goldie Ann Maudlin live on a ranch north of Fort Worth, Texas. They met in 1995 at a world quarter-horse show, where his paintings were being exhibited, and married after a three-month courtship.
SHANE CALLAHAN