Actors

Montgomery was born Poppy Petal Emma Elizabeth Deveraux Donahue in Sydney, Australia, to Nicola (Montgomery), a market researcher and executive, and Phil Donahue, a restaurateur. She was raised in Sydney. Since the age of 12, Poppy had a near obsession with cultural icon Marilyn Monroe.

Her parents had named each of their five daughters after a flower and, after a time, the name "Poppy Petal" attracted so much derision from fellow students that she left school at the age of 14. At 16, she left home to travel abroad and, at 18, she traveled to America.

In Los Angeles, penniless and with a copy of "How to Make it in Hollywood", Poppy adopted her mother's maiden name as a stage name and made daily contact with Julia Roberts's agent who told her he did not handle unknowns but arranged for her to be signed with another agent.

After various minor roles, Montgomery got several breaks in 1996. She had guest appearances on TV series NYPD Blue (1993) and Party of Five (1994), she got a regular part in the TV series Relativity (1996), and she won a starring role in the TV movie The Cold Equations (1996). Her career has been on an upward climb ever since.

In 2001, Montgomery won the dream role of her lifetime. CBS was looking to create a TV mini-series based on author Joyce Carol Oates' novelization of the life of Marilyn Monroe (the series was titled Blonde (2001)). Poppy's greatest wish was fulfilled when she got cast as her childhood idol. When she told her family that she'd won the role, Poppy's mother blithely commented "Well, you've been rehearsing for it your whole life". Her portrayal won critical acclaim.

In 2002, Montgomery joined the original cast of the soon-to-be-successful TV series Without a Trace (2002). She has a lead role portraying FBI agent Samantha Spade. Montgomery shared the cast's 2004 SAG Award nomination for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series.

Roselyn Milagros Sánchez Rodríguez is a Puerto Rican singer-songwriter, dancer, model, actress, producer, and writer. On television, she is best known for her roles as Elena Delgado on the CBS police procedural Without a Trace (2005-09), as Carmen Luna on the Lifetime comedy-drama Devious Maids (2013-16), and as Elena Roarke on the new Fantasy Island (2021-present). In film, Sánchez has appeared in Rush Hour 2 (2001), Boat Trip (2002), The Game Plan (2007), and Act of Valor (2012).

Laura Marano started acting in the theatre when she was five years old. She has done numerous plays at the Agoura Children's Theatre, and continued her acting in many national commercials.

She stared on the Disney show, Austin & Ally (2011), where she is playing the title character, "Ally Dawson".

She guest-starred in television shows such as Heroes (2006), Childrens Hospital (2008), Flashforward (2009), True Jackson, VP (2008), Ghost Whisperer (2005), Little Monk (2009), Medical Investigation (2004), Huff (2004) and Joan of Arcadia (2003).

Her first film, produced by George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh, was called The Jacket (2005). She starred with Oscar-winning actor, Adrien Brody. She has worked on Judd Apatow's film, Superbad (2007) and starred in the short film, Goldfish (2007).

Laura has done many voice-over jobs including the commercially successful animated films, Finding Nemo (2003) and Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006). She has recurring roles on the Nickelodeon shows, The X's (2005) and Ni Hao, Kai-Lan (2007).

Also, she has had recurring roles on the hit television shows Without a Trace (2002), playing "Kate", the daughter of Emmy Award-winning actor, Anthony LaPaglia, Showtime's Dexter (2006) and on Comedy Central's critically acclaimed, The Sarah Silverman Program. (2007).

Laura did enjoy that her classmates at school could actually see her on the hit show, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (2007). She was a series regular during her 5th grade year in elementary school. She worked as a series regular on Back to You (2007), with Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, playing their daughter.

Laura enjoys school, soccer, piano, hip-hop, tap dancing and singing. She loves to write songs and has written over a hundred songs. She has an older sister, Vanessa Marano, and a dog named "Velvet". Her favorite thing to do is to read books and plays. She just finished William Shakespeare's, "King Lear", and loves the "Harry Potter" series. She loves to travel and has been to Europe three times. Laura lives with her parents and her sister in the Los Angeles area and attends a private school. Laura Marano is best friends with Ross Lynch; they keep in touch with each other regularly as best friends do.

Vanessa Marano started acting in the theater when she was seven years old, performing in numerous plays at A.C.T. in Agoura Hills, California. She began her professional career with several national commercials.

Marano is most recognized for her roles as "April Nardini", the daughter of "Luke", in the highly popular show, Gilmore Girls (2000) and for the role of "Francesca", the daughter of the Emmy Award-winning Lisa Kudrow, in the HBO original series, The Comeback (2005). Recently, she starred in Scoundrels (2010), playing the scheming, school-skipping daughter of Virginia Madsen. She has had recurring roles in shows including Dexter (2006), Without a Trace (2002), Trust Me (2009) and The Young and the Restless (1973). Her guest-starring credits include Parenthood (2010), Medium (2005), Ghost Whisperer (2005), Past Life (2010), Six Feet Under (2001), Malcolm in the Middle (2000) and Grounded for Life (2001).

She starred as a young girl who becomes a quadriplegic in the critically acclaimed television movie, The Brooke Ellison Story (2004), directed by Christopher Reeve.

Marano's first film was the animated hit, Finding Nemo (2003), followed by the independent films, Easy (2003), The Clique (2008), Stopping Power (2000), Dear Lemon Lima (2009) and, most recently, The Secret Lives of Dorks (2013).

Vanessa is working with Lucy Liu on a miniseries, playing the troubled foster teenager, "Imogene 'Immy' Hicks" in Marry Me (2010).

Vanessa speaks Italian and is enrolled in her sophomore year in college.

Talia Balsam was born in New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress and director, known for Mad Men (2007), Divorce (2016) and No Strings Attached (2011). She has been married to John Slattery since 30 December 1998. They have one child. She was previously married to George Clooney.

Lola Glaudini is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Elle Greenaway on CBS's Criminal Minds and for her role as Deborah Ciccerone-Waldrup on HBO's The Sopranos. Glaudini was born in Manhattan, New York. Her father, Robert Glaudini, is a playwright of Italian descent, and in whose play The Poison Tree she appeared at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.

Jennifer Love Hewitt was born in Waco, Texas, to Patricia Mae (Shipp), a speech-language pathologist, and Herbert Daniel Hewitt, a medical technician. She has English, Italian, French, Scottish, and German ancestry. She got her first name from her older brother Todd Daniel Hewitt (b. November 8, 1970), who picked the name after a little blonde girl on whom he'd had a crush. Her mother selected Jennifer's middle name, Love (which she goes by offstage), from her best college friend. Her parents separated when she was six months old and her mother raised her in Killeen, Texas.

Hewitt made her official performing debut at age 3 when she sang at a livestock show. At age 5, she was taking tap, jazz, and ballet lessons, which led to her joining the Texas Show Team, who toured the Soviet Union and Europe. When she was 10 her family moved to Los Angeles with encouragement from talent scouts, while Todd stayed behind to finish high school in Texas Jennifer quickly found commercial work and a role on Disney's Kids Incorporated (1984) in 1989. She went through a series of television flops before finally hitting it big on Party of Five (1994) in 1995.

Meredith Leigh Monroe was born in Houston, Texas, and was raised in Hinsdale, Illinois. Before acting, Meredith appeared on packaging for such products like a Conair hair crimper and was on five book covers in the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys series. She made her TV debut in 1996 with a commercial for Tylenol Sinus. Her appearance as Tracey Daiken on ABC's Dangerous Minds (1996) secured her first role in a television series. Her exposure resulted in her landing the part of Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder in Beyond the Prairie II: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder Continues (2002). Although the completed project was not released until 2002, Meredith was not absent from television screens for long, playing the part of troubled teenager Andie McPhee in 1998 on the WB's Dawson's Creek (1998) for three seasons (Episodes 201 to 407). Although Meredith left the show in 2000, when her character left to spend a year in Italy before attending Harvard University on early acceptance; her character was so well-received that she returned later in the season to film the graduation episode (Episode 422). Since her departure, Meredith has enjoyed success in film (ABC'S The One (2003) and a small appearance in Minority Report (2002)), and has now landed a major part in ABC's TV series, Married to the Kellys (2003), where she co-stars with Road Trip (2000) star, Breckin Meyer.

Rachel Emily Nichols was born in Augusta, Maine, the daughter of Alison and James Nichols, a schoolteacher. She has English, French Canadian, German, Irish, Italian and Scottish ancestry. She attended and graduated from Cony High School in Augusta, where she competed in the high jump. She attended Columbia University in New York City, where she eventually graduated with a double major in mathematics and economics. She began modeling, launching a successful career with work for such high-profile companies as Guess?, Abercrombie & Fitch and L'Oréal.

Rachel moved into acting, snagging a role on the HBO situation comedy Sex and the City (1998) with her very first audition. She made her film debut as Jessica Matthews in the prequel Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003). Success continued with roles in such projects as The Amityville Horror (2005), The Inside (2005), Alias (2001), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), Criminal Minds (2005) (a recurring role as FBI Agent Ashley Seaver) and Conan the Barbarian (2011). She played the lead role of police officer Kiera Cameron on the science fiction series Continuum (2012).

Aubrey Christina Plaza is an American actress, producer, and comedian who rose to prominence playing April Ludgate on Parks and Recreation (2009). After appearing in supporting roles in several films, she had her first leading role in the 2012 science fiction comedy Safety Not Guaranteed (2012).

Plaza began acting in theater and performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. She made her film debut in Mystery Team (2009) and had supporting roles in the films Funny People (2009) and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010). Also known for her work in independent projects, she has starred in various films and television series, including Life After Beth (2014), Ned Rifle (2014)], Legion (2017), The Little Hours (2017), Ingrid Goes West (2017), Happiest Season (2020), Black Bear (2020), Emily the Criminal (2022), as well as The White Lotus (2021), for which she received an Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award nomination. Plaza is also a film and television producer.

Kathryn Bridget Moynahan is an American actress and model from New York. She is known for playing Dr. Susan Calvin in I, Robot (2004), Erin Reagan in Blue Bloods (2010), John Wick (2014), John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017), Serendipity (2001), The Sum of All Fears (2002), and Coyote Ugly (2000), and many others. She has a son from Tom Brady, the former quarterback of the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Actress Sami Gayle stars as "Nicky Reagan-Boyle" on CBS' cop drama Blue Bloods.

Gayle began her acting career as Baby June in the off-Broadway production of "Gypsy," starring Patti LuPone. She then reprised her role when the production transferred to Broadway shortly thereafter. Gayle later co-starred in the off-Broadway plays "Oohrah!" at the Atlantic Theatre Company and MCC Theatre's "Family Week," under the direction of Academy-Award winner Jonathan Demme. She was featured in the 2007 Broadway production of "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical."

Gayle's breakthrough role in film came in 2012 when she co-starred as a young prostitute opposite Adrien Brody, in director Tony Kaye's DETACHMENT. Also that year,she starred opposite Nicolas Cage and Josh Lucas in Millennium Films' STOLEN.

In February 2014, Gayle starred in the film adaptation of VAMPIRE ACADEMY for The Weinstein Company. She played "Mia Rinaldi," nemesis to the film's Rose and Lissa. In April 2014, she appeared opposite Kristen Wiig and Guy Pierce in the indie, HATESHIP LOVESHIP, which premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. Later in the year, Gayle will be seen with Robin Wright in THE CONGRESS, which had its world premiere at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

Abigail Hawk was born on 18 April 1982 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She is an actress and director, known for Blue Bloods (2010), Distemper (2020) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999). She has been married to Bryan Spies since 25 April 2009. They have two children.

Born in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, Amy Carlson spent most of her early life in the Chicago area. But when Amy was in junior high, she and her family also lived in the Middle East where her parents, Bob and Barb, taught at the American School. Amy has three siblings, sisters Betsy and Lori and brother Joe. Amy has backpacked all over Europe with her family and on her own. Because her parents were teachers, they were able to spend every summer together traveling and camping all over the United States. In fact, they have camped in every state except Alaska. Amy also went to Rwanda after the war in 1994 to aid relief efforts. Early on, Amy showed artistic talent acting in school productions and winning contests for writing. In high school, she was a promising athlete who placed in the first ever 3200 meter relay in Illinois girls track. In college, after an injury, she returned to the theater with many roles on stage starting with Lanford Wilson's "Fifth of July" and directing Wallace Shawn's "Aunt Dan and Lemon". Amy attended Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, where she graduated cum laude with a B.A. in East Asian history and a concentration in Theater. She moved to Chicago afterward and studied Improv at the Improv Olympic and acting at The Actor's Center. A contract job on the now defunct soap opera Another World (1964) moved her to NYC soon after graduation. She has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in the category of "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Daytime Drama Series". Her most memorable roles have been of strong women playing Alex Taylor in Third Watch (1999), Maggie Pistone in Falcone (2000), Katie Owen alongside Tom Berenger in Peacemakers (2003) and Linda Reagan in Blue Bloods. Carlson resides in New York City with husband Syd Butler, bassist of Les Savy Fav, where she also works in the independent music business as part-owner of the independent label "Frenchkiss Records". Amy continues to write as well as seek out diverse and unique roles in the film industry.

Marisa attended an all-girl private school in East Los Angeles. Her career started when a Polaroid picture of the 13-year-old girl made its way into the hands of a Los Angeles modeling agency. By the age of 15, Marisa began to work as a print model and as a commercial actress. It wasn't long before demand became global, offering her opportunities to work in Singapore, Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong and Italy.

Despite her success in modeling, it was acting classes that helped Marisa overcome her life-long shyness. After several guest appearances on Days of our Lives and The Bold and the Beautiful, Ramirez finally got her big break in July 2000, when she was cast in the contract role of supermodel Gia Campbell on General Hospital. She left this role in December 2002 to star in the short-lived ABC drama, Miracles. During her time on GH, she was nominated for ALMA and NAACP Awards.

In April 2006, she joined the cast of The Young and the Restless as Jabot Cosmetics public relations consultant Carmen Mesta for five months. The character of Carmen was killed off. Ramirez briefly returned to the show in early 2007 as Carmen's cousin, Ines Vargas. Shortly after, she moved to Colombia to film the FOX summer series Mental, opposite Chris Vance and Annabella Sciorra.

In 2011, she was a series regular on Lifetime's "Against the Wall," playing Detective Lina Flores. Despite respectable ratings, the series was not renewed for a second season. Immediately prior to landing that role, Ramirez starred as Melitta on "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena" which filmed in New Zealand.

Vanessa Ray Liptak is an American actress. She is known for her role on Pretty Little Liars as Charlotte Drake; and also for her roles as Jenny on the legal drama series Suits, Teri Ciccone on the soap opera As the World Turns, Officer Eddie Janko-Reagan on long-running family-police drama Blue Bloods, and Maggie "Rocker" Sheldon on White Collar.

Jennifer Esposito was born in Brooklyn, New York. She launched her career with an appearance on Law & Order (1990) in 1996, and went on to play the character of "Stacey Paterno" in 36 episodes on the hit TV series Spin City (1996), starring alongside Michael J. Fox.

Her first major film was Spike Lee's Summer of Sam (1999). Other famous film credits include the Academy Award-winning film Crash (2004) and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998).

Racine Russell is an actress and writer, known for Blue Bloods (2010), The Blacklist: Redemption (2017) and The Following (2013).

Gina Bellman was born on 10 July 1966 in Auckland, New Zealand. She is an actress and producer, known for Leverage (2008), Coupling (2000) and Jekyll (2007). She has been married to Zaab Sethna since September 2013. They have one child. She was previously married to Lucho Brieva.

Beth Jean Riesgraf is an American actress. She is known for her portrayal of Parker on the TNT television series Leverage (2008-2012) and the revival Leverage: Redemption which streams on IMDb TV. Originally from Belle Plaine, Minnesota, Riesgraf graduated from Cimarron-Memorial High School in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1996.

Daniela was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Portuguese-born parents, Catarina Korn- an audiologist, and Carlos Ruah, an otolaryngologist, both of Jewish heritage. She lived in the US until she was five and speaks Portuguese and English fluently. Daniela attended St. Julian's School in Portugal where she grew up, landing her first acting role at the age of 16. She kept working while finishing high school and at the age of 18, she moved to England to do a B.A. in Performing Arts at the London Metropolitan University. In 2007, she moved to New York to study at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. Shortly after, Daniela was cast as Special Agent Kensi Blye on the CBS hit show NCIS Los Angeles, airing for 14 seasons, on which she also began directing.

Bar Paly was born in Nizhniy Tagil, USSR, before relocating to Tel Aviv, Israel with her family when she was seven. In her early twenties she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her passion for acting. Bar is best known for her recurring role as Special Agent Anna Kolcheck on NCIS: LA, and her hilarious turn as Sorina Luminita in Michael Bay's Pain & Gain. She became a U.S. citizen in 2016.

Pauley Perrette is known to millions around the world as Abby Sciuto, the brilliant but offbeat forensic scientist on CBS's NCIS (2003). Her additional credits include appearances on such shows as Almost Famous (2000), The Ring (2002), 24 (2001), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000), Murder One (1995), The Drew Carey Show (1995), Jesse (1998), Time of Your Life (1999), Philly (2001), Special Unit 2 (2001), Haunted (2002) and many independent films, commercials, and music videos.

Born in New Orleans, Pauley was raised in Alabama, Georgia, and all over the South. She was an undergrad honor student in sociology, psychology, and criminal science. She began her master's degree in criminal science at Georgia State University before moving to New York City. She worked as a bartender while pursuing an acting career.

In addition to being a talented actress, Pauley is also a director, producer, published writer, poet, photographer, spoken-word artist, and singer/songwriter. A passionate and dedicated advocate for civil rights, she is directing and producing a documentary about U.S. civil rights attorney and author Mark Lane. An ardent social and civil activist, Pauley is involved in many charitable organizations that work on behalf of animal rescue, civil rights, and LGBT rights. She is on the board of Project Angel Food and supports Habitat for Humanity, NoH8, PATH (People Assisting the Homeless), EQCA (Equality California), AIDS Walk LA, the Humane Society, AIDS Task Force, NOH8 Campaign, Los Angeles Zoo, Hope Gardens, Union Rescue Mission, DonorsChoose.org, APLA (AIDS Project Los Angeles), the Amanda Foundation, the American Red Cross, Out of the Closet, Top Cops, 5p21 (AIDS clinic), Strike Out AIDS, Petfinder.com, Hollywood Homeless Lunch, Campaign for Care, and Save the Children. Pauley is also an active congregant of the social and civilly active Hollywood United Methodist Church.

Her dedication to independent film has resulted in her winning, among other accolades, Best Actress in the Beverly Hills Films Festival 2010 for To Comfort You (2009). Being placed on several IT lists, including those of Entertainment Weekly and LA Weekly, she also was singled out as the only woman in the top 10 of the Q rankings, and tied with Tom Hanks and Morgan Freeman at #1 as the most favorable celebrities. In the E-Poll survey, she ranked #4 most liked celebrity.

Pauley was recently honored by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul as Community Advocate of the Year, by the Union Rescue Mission with the Heart for Service Award, by the Desert AIDS Project as Next Generation Advocate, and by the Union Rescue Mission for her social media efforts that saved Hope Gardens (a homeless shelter for women and children). She is finishing recording her new album with her band, Stop Making Friends, performing songs that she wrote and sings. She is also the former lead singer of the all-girl rock band Lo-Ball. She recently collaborated with new artist B. Taylor on his single, "Fire in Your Eyes," and soon will be heard on the Run-D.M.C. single "Attention Please."

Pauley has been a frequent entertaining guest on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2005), Late Show with David Letterman (1993), Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (2009), and many other entertainment and talk shows.

Cote de Pablo was born in Santiago, Chile, but was raised in Miami, Florida. She attended Arvida Middle School in Miami and then Carnegie Mellon University. She graduated in 2000 after studying music theater. Whilst at Carnegie Mellon she appeared in several theater productions, including "Indiscretions," "The Fantasticks," "The House of Bernarda Alba," "And The World Goes 'Round," "A Little Night Music," and "Cloud Techtonics." Her first television job was co-hosting the 1994 show Control (2000), alongside Entertainment Tonight (1981) host Carlos Ponce.

In 2001, Cote appeared on the New York City Public Theater stage in the Shakespearean play "Measure for Measure," then moved on to roles on the small screen such as Gina in the ABC series The Education of Max Bickford (2001), acting alongside Academy Award-winners Richard Dreyfuss and Marcia Gay Harden, Golden Globe winner Regina Taylor, veteran actress Helen Shaver, and Katee Sackhoff. She also had roles in The $treet (2000) and When I Grow Up (1990). In 2004, she starred in the short-lived Fox series The Jury (2004), playing Marguerite Cisneros.

In 2005, she played Dolores Fuentes in the stage musical "The Mambo Kings" and later was cast as Mossad officer Ziva David in the hit series NCIS (2003), alongside Mark Harmon, Michael Weatherly, Pauley Perrette, David McCallum, Sean Murray, Lauren Holly, Rocky Carroll, and Brian Dietzen.

As of 2008, she was living in Los Angeles.

Emily Wickersham was born on April 26, 1984 in Kansas, USA as Emily Kaiser Wickersham. She is an actress, known for Gone (2012), I Am Number Four (2011), Remember Me (2010) and NCIS. She was married to musician and domestic violence lawyer Blake Hanley from November 23, 2010 until December 2018.