Actors/Actresses

When it comes to movies, everyone always seems to have just that one actor or actress that they practically pledge allegiance to. Well, I have a lot of favorite actors and actresses. Here's a few:

Jet Li

• DOB: April 26, 1963, Beijing, China
• Birth name: Li Lian Jie
• Height: 5'6 1/4''
• Mini Bio:
• Started at the Beijing wushu academy at age 8, won 5 gold medals in the Chinese championships
• Spouse:
• Nina Li-Chi: Sept. 19, 1999-present, 2 children
• Qiuyan Huang: 1987-1990, 2 daughters
• http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001472/bio
• Won Chinese national championship in wushu martial arts when he was 11. His prize was going to Washington D.C. to meet President Nixon
• Did the motion-capture fight scenes and voice overs for the character Kit Yun in Rise to Honor
• On December 26, 2004, Li and his 4 year old daughter were on vacation in the Maldives when a tsunami came ashore. They were in the lobby of their hotel when it came ashore so he picked up his daughter and ran for higher ground but a piece of furniture struck his foot, breaking it
• Bruised his ribs while fighting with Anthony Anderson in Romeo Must Die(2000)

Chow Yun-fat

• DOB: May 18, 1955, Lamma Island, Hong Kong
• Birth name: Chow Yun-fat
• Nickname: Fat Tsai, Fat Korr(big brother)
• Height: 6'1''
• http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000334/bio
• Trademark: often seen with a toothpick in his mouth, usually his movies with John Woo, can be seen in movies with twin guns(2 Beretta .92s) and dark shades on during a gunfight
• Trivia
• Before going to a movie set each day, he goes to the nearest market and buys fresh fruit
• Unusually tall by Chinese standards, is often a head taller than most of his Chinese co-stars, male or female
• Tri-lingual, speaks Mandarin, Cantonese, English
• Enjoys photography, his elder sister is a photographer
• Attempted suicide over the break up after 5 year relationship with TV star Idy Chan

B.D. Wong

• DOB: October 24, 1960, San Francisco, California
• Birth name: Bradley Darryl Wong
• Height: 5'5''
• Trivia
• Left handed
• http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000703/bio
• On May 28, 2000, him and partner Richie Jackson welcomed son Jackson Foo Wong
• Is openly gay. I never knew this, but I still like him, I still think he's the sexiest one on SVU!!!

Eddie Murphy

• DOB: April 3, 1961, Brooklyn, New York
• Birth name: Edward Regan Murphy
• Nickname: Ed, Murph
• Height: 5'9''
• Trademark: his laugh, in movies plays multiple characters at once
• Trivia
• Cast by Saturday Night Live in 1980 when he was only 19 years old
• http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000552/bio
• Attended Nassau Community College before beginning acting
• Was inspired by Richard Pryor to do comedy.  Went on to direct Pryor in Harlem Nights(1989)
• Paid in full the funeral for comedian Redd Foxx
• Dated Halle Berry

Denzel Washington

• DOB: December 28, 1954, Mount Vernon, New York
• Birth name: Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. 
• Nickname: D
• Height: 6'
• http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000243/bio
• Trademark: often plays military men and law enforcement officers
• Trivia
• Spokesperson for the Boys and Girls Club of America
• Thought about becoming a doctor by studying Biology, then Political Science then Journalism/Drama in college
• 1st African-American to win 2 Academy Awards
• In 1996, chosen as People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive
• For his role in Philadelphia, he hung around with 2 lawyers about to become celebrities themselves- Johnny Cochran and Carl Douglas
• For his role in Courage Under Fire, he trained at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin California. He listened to tapes from Desert Storm, participated in battle games, excelled on operating the M1A1 tank and 120 mm gun
• For his role in The Pelican Brief, he went on the beat with Washington Post reporters
• Was the original choice for the 1998 movie Blade. But instead the role went to Wesley Snipes

Sylvester Stallone

• DOB: July 6, 1946, Hells Kitchen, New York City, New York
• Birth name: Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone
• Height: 5'9 1/2
• Nickname: Sly, The Italian Stallion, Michael(as a teen)
• Trademark:  deep voice, mumbling
• Trivia
• Oil paints in his spare time, considers Leonardo Da Vinci his hero
• Birth complications, caused by forceps, caused the paralysis of his lower left side of his face, resulting in slurred speech
• At 15, voted Most Likely to End Up in the Electric Chair
• Dislikes his first name, prefers Sly
• Attended University of Miami on an athletic scholarship
• Italian American ( no duh, Captain Obvious, lol)
• Was 23 years old when he got his 1st starring role in the movie Party At Kitty and Stud's, a 1970s porn movie, in almost every scene he appears nude
• His 2 trademark movies are the Rambo and Rocky movies
• At birth, the doctor's forceps accidentally severed a nerve in his cheek, leaving him with a droopy mouth
• Lives in Beverly Hills, California
• http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000230/bio

Jackie Chan

• DOB: April 7, 1954, Victoria Peak, Hong Kong, China
• Birth name: Kong-sang Chan
• Nickname: Y'uen Lo, Sing Lung, Pao Pao(Chinese for cannonball)
• Height: 5'8 1/2''
• http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000329/bio
• Mini Bio
• Attended the China Drama Academy at age 6
• Trained vigorously in dance, traditional martial arts and music
• Spouse: Feng-Jiao Lin: December 1, 1982-present, 1 child
• Trademark: uses every day items as props in movies(i.e. chairs, table legs, ladders, lamps, etc), like to give the 'thumbs up', mostly does his own stunts, at the end of his films has outtakes of failed stunts, always plays the good guy except in Rumble in Hong Kong, always stars in movies where he is tortured or forced to undergo extreme physical training(i.e. teacher or master as punishment)
• Trivia
•  Kong-sang means born in Hong Kong
• Has a son, Jaycee Chan, with wife Feng-Jiao Lin
• Has a permanent hole in his head from an accident
• In 1976, underwent a surgery to re-shape his eyelids to give them a more Western appearance. The last movie with the 'old' Chan with his very handsome almond shaped eyes is Shao Lin mu ren xiang(1976)
• In the 1998 movie Mulan, he sings the song I'll Make a Man Out of You all in Chinese
• Says the most painful injury he received was when Bruce Lee accidentally hit him with a nunchuku during the making of the 1973 movie Enter the Dragon
• Can speak Mandarin, English, Cantonese, and Korean
• Says that if he didn't become an actor, he'd be a police officer
• His name Jackie came  from construction workers in Canberra Australia who couldn't pronounce his real name
• Was supposed to play Sato in the 1989 movie Black Rain, but declined as it didn't fit his good guy image. Instead the role went to Russell Wong

Lucy Liu

• DOB: December 2, 1968, Queens, New York
• Birth name: Lucy Alexis Liu
• Height: 5'3''
• Mini Bio
• Born to Chinese immigrants in New York
• She was once only given 'ethnic roles' and wants to move beyond doing Asian-American roles and experience
• http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005154/bio
• Graduated from University of Michigan with a degree in Chinese language and culture
• Trivia
• At home, her family spoke Mandarin Chinese. So she did not learn English until age 5
• Was the 1st Asian-American to host Saturday Night Live
• One of her previous jobs was an aerobics instructor
• Practices rock climbing, skiing and horseback riding
• Auditioned for Shanghai Knights, but lost out to Fann Wong
• Fluent in Italian, English, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, and a little Japanese
• Lives in New York with her brother Alex Liu and his wife
• Speaks 6 languages

Mariska Hargitay

• DOB: January 23, 1964, Santa Monica California
• Birth name: Mariska Magdolna Hargitay
• Height: 5'7''
• Spouse: Peter Hermann: August 28, 2004-present, 2 kids
• Trivia
• Speaks Hungarian, English, French and Italian
• http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002127/bio
• Daughter of Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay
• Has a zig zag scar down the side of her head from the 1967 crash that killed her mother
• Has a charity called the Joyful Heart Foundation that helps victims of rape

Kate Winslet

• DOB: October 5, 1975, Reading, Berkshire, England
• Birth name: Kate Elizabeth Winslet
• Nickname: Corset, English Rose
• Height: 5'6''
• Trivia
• http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000701/bio
• Prefers to wear boots rather than ordinary shoes
• Born in the same year and on the same day as actress Parminder Nagra
• Lives in New York City, but owns a house in Glouchestershire, England

Marisa Tomei

• DOB: December 4, 1964, Brooklyn, New York
• Height: 5'4''
• Trademark
• Usually plays a character in a damaged relationship or emotionally damaged life
• Her smile
• Sidekick roles
• Plays independent women with a carefree appearance but complex and difficult life
• Trivia
• Attended Boston University
• On her right foot, has the Egyptian Eye of Ra tattoo for protection
• Of Italian descent
• Has dual citizenship to the US and to Italy
• Godmother of Zoe Kravitz, the daughter of actress Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz
• http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000673/bio

Queen Latifah

• DOB: March 18, 1970, Newark, New Jersey
• Birth name: Dana Elaine Owens
• Nickname: Hip-Hop's First Lady
• Height: 5'10''
• Trivia
• http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001451/bio
• First female rapper to be nominated for an Academy Award
• Got her nickname Latifah in her teens. It means delicate and sensitive, and she got it from a cousin
• Is of both African-American and Native American descent