Michelle Monaghan

Michelle Monaghan

Actress

Michelle Lynn Monaghan was born on March 23, 1976, in Winthrop, Iowa. She is the youngest of three children and the only daughter of Sharon (Hamel), who ran a day care center, and Robert L. Monaghan, a factory worker and farmer. She is of mostly Irish and German descent. After graduating from high school in Iowa, she studied journalism for three years at Chicago's Columbia College. In order to pay for college, she took a job as a model. In 1999, she quit college and moved to New York to work full-time as a fashion model. She traveled the world doing stints on the runways in Milan, Singapore, Tokyo, and Hong Kong, and also appeared in a number of magazines and catalogs. In 2000, she made her TV debut in two episodes of Young Americans (2000), then appeared in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999). She made her big screen debut with a small role of Henrietta in Perfume (2001). Monaghan shot to fame in 2002 when she co-starred as Kimberly Woods for one season on the TV series Boston Public (2000). After appearances in several supporting roles, she starred opposite Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer in the black comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005). Later in 2005, Monaghan was filming in China, Italy, and the United States on Mission: Impossible III (2006), as the female lead opposite Tom Cruise. In August of 2005, in Sydney, Australia, she married her long-time sweetheart, Peter White, a New York based graphic designer, whom she met at a Manhattan party five years earlier.

Zoe Saldaña

Zoe Saldaña

Director | Writer | Actress

“... I will say is that my Avatar (2009) character, Neytiri, has been the most challenging of my entire career - physically, mentally and spiritually. It's the first time I played a non-human, I had to learn a different language, and it was hard to part with her at the end. No matter how intense other characters have been, I've only been in their skins for at most four months - never a year and a half.” Zoe Saldana is an American actress who found her greatest success performing in science-fiction and superhero movies. Saldana’s acting career began with small roles in television and film. She appeared in TV shows like Law & Order and films such as Center Stage (2000), where she played a ballet dancer, and Crossroads (2002), where she had a supporting role alongside Britney Spears. Her early work in films like Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) and The Terminal (2004) helped establish her as a rising star in Hollywood. Her major success came in 2009 when she starred as Neytiri in James Cameron's epic sci-fi film, Avatar. Her performance in the film, which became the highest-grossing film of all time, was widely praised. The film's groundbreaking visual effects and her role as a key character in the story were significant factors in her rise to fame. She also played Gamora, a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, in this Marvel Cinematic Universe film. The role was well-received, and she reprised it in subsequent Marvel films, including Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). She participated in the rebooted Star Trek series, starting with the 2009 film directed by J.J. Abrams. Her role in the franchise further solidified her status as a leading actress in major film series. Saldana starred as Cataleya Restrepo in Colombiana (2011), a skilled assassin seeking revenge for her parents' murder. The film highlighted her action-hero capabilities. She will continue her role as Neytiri in the upcoming sequels to Avatar, directed by James Cameron. The sequels are anticipated to further explore the world of Pandora.

Alan Ritchson

Alan Ritchson

Director | Actor | Writer

Alan Ritchson has carved a space for himself on both the large and small screens since he made the trek from a small town in Florida to Los Angeles. Alan Michael Ritchson was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota, to Vickie (Harrell), a high school teacher, and David Ritchson, a U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sergeant. He is of Czech, English, and German descent. Frequently relocating as the middle son of a military family, Alan learned to adapt and entertain in order to build friendships in new and unfamiliar environments. Certainly this has been a key ingredient in his success so far in the industry. Alan's early credits include portraying Aquaman in the long running series Smallville. This marked the first portrayal of the superhero in an officially licensed live-action production. Ritchson has also taken on grittier leading man roles in the independent film market with the modern-day western "Rex" and the dramatic love story of "Steam" alongside Ally Sheedy. In contrast, he also made quite a comedic impression with his love-to-hate-him character of Thad Castle on the football comedy Blue Mountain State. He parlayed his comedic skills to work with Rebel Wilson in her CBS pilot Super Fun Night. In addition to his acting repertoire, Alan also writes, produces and is a singer/songwriter. Most recently Alan can be seen as the District 1 victor, Gloss, in Catching Fire; the second installment of the hugely successful Hunger Games franchise. He also portrayed the cool-but-crude Raphael in the Michael Bay produced reboot of TMNT.