MARK WAHLBERG (Bobby Mercer) most recently starred in the critically acclaimed existential comedy “I © Huckabees.” In 2003, he led a stellar cast in Paramount’s heist movie “The Italian Job.” He has enjoyed playing diverse characters for visionary filmmakers in both mainstream box-office hits and eclectic independent films. He’s worked with such prestigious directors as David O. Russell, Wolfgang Peterson, Tim Burton, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Jonathan Demme.

Wahlberg’s remarkable film career began with Penny Marshall’s “Renaissance Man” and “The Basketball Diaries,” followed by a star turn opposite Reese Witherspoon in “Fear.” His breakout performance in “Boogie Nights” launched him into the public consciousness and he headlined “Three Kings” and “The Perfect Storm” with George Clooney. He then starred in “Rock Star,” “Planet of the Apes,” and “The Truth About Charlie.”

Wahlberg is currently filming “The Departed” for director Martin Scorsese. Following that, he’ll begin production on Disney’s “Invincible,” playing real-life football hero Vince Papale.

TYRESE GIBSON (Angel Mercer) was born and raised in Watts, California, a section of South Central Los Angeles. Gibson discovered a love of music at an early age and released his self-titled debut album at 19. In January 2000, he received an American Music Award for Favorite New R&B Artist. In addition to his musical talents, Gibson has found success in the acting and modeling worlds, having appeared in several television series and commercials, including an exclusive contract with Guess?

Gibson took his career to the next level when he made his feature film debut as the star of “Baby Boy,” directed by John Singleton. He has also starred in “Flight of the Phoenix” and Singleton’s “2 Fast 2 Furious.” He will next be seen in “Annapolis.”

Gibson released his third album, J Records’ “I Wanna Go There,” in December of 2002. His dynamic, upbeat hits have appeared on the “Blue Streak” and “Best Man” soundtracks, and his debut album reached platinum status. His sophomore album, RCA’s “2000 Watts,” was released in May 2001.

On television, Gibson has made guest starring appearances on the series “Moesha” and “Martin.”

Tyrese launched the 2000 Watts Foundation, which is building a community center in Watts, the L.A. neighborhood where he grew up.

ANDRÉ BENJAMIN (Jeremiah Mercer) is best known for his work as half of the world-renowned, pioneering, Grammy Award-winning duo, OutKast. Their album “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” sold over ten million copies, propelled by Benjamin’s number one single, “Hey Ya!” For their distinguished body of work spanning over a decade, OutKast has received multiple Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year for “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” in 2004.

Fueled by his artistic passion, Benjamin now has turned his attention to other creative outlets and is making an indelible mark on the film and television world. He has lent his voice to the anime feature “Whasango” and will soon do the same for Paramount’s upcoming live-action/CG feature, “Charlotte’s Web.” Benjamin was most recently seen co-starring with John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn, and Cedric the Entertainer in “Be Cool,” the sequel to the smash hit comedy, “Get Shorty.” He has wrapped “Revolver,” a Guy Ritchie film in which he stars with Jason Statham, Vincent Pastore, and Harvey Keitel. This film follows on the heels of shooting “My Life in Idlewild,” a musical set in the prohibition-era South in which Benjamin stars and for which he co-created the story and co-wrote the soundtrack with his OutKast partner, Big Boi. He also appeared on an episode of the critically acclaimed F/X dramatic series, “The Shield.”

Benjamin is also an accomplished painter and clothing designer, further solidifying his role as a true multi-media artist and entrepreneur. Among his many accolades, Benjamin has been named the World’s Best Dressed Man by Esquire Magazine.

GARRETT HEDLUND (Jack Mercer) made an auspicious motion picture debut as part of the all-star cast of Wolfgang Peterson’s “Troy.” Hedlund, who portrayed Patroclus, Achilles’ teenage cousin who aspires to become a warrior, co-starred opposite Brad Pitt. His next feature was Peter Berg’s “Friday Night Lights,” which chronicled the 1988 season of the Permian High School Panthers of Odessa, Texas, as the team fights for a state championship. Hedlund starred as tailback Don Billingsley, co-starring with Billy Bob Thornton.

Just 18 when he debuted in Peterson’s epic film, Hedlund was born in Northern Minnesota and spent his high school years in Scottsdale, Arizona. He began taking private acting classes while in high school and took a unique approach to his pursuit of the craft by reading screenplays on older films, watching those films on video, then pretending he was auditioning for one of the roles in the film. He also spent countless hours reading the Hollywood trade papers at his local bookstore, and calling agents in Hollywood. He graduated from high school a semester early and immediately packed his bags and headed to Hollywood.

TERRENCE HOWARD (Lt. Green) was recently crowned the new “Indie Film King” by Entertainment Weekly, after his strong lead performance in the John Singleton production “Hustle & Flow,” scheduled to be released summer 2005.

Recently he was seen delivering a stellar performance alongside Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, and Thandie Newton in the Lions Gate film “Crash.”

Keeping a powerful presence on the small screen as well, Howard was seen in early 2005 delivering a stellar performance in the critically acclaimed HBO film “Lackawanna Blues” based on Tony Award winning Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s autobiographical play, directed by George C. Wolfe.

Recently, Howard completed work on the HBO/Outkast project currently titled “My Life in Idlewild.” Currently, he is filming Jim Sheridan’s new film, “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” starring rap artist 50 Cent.

Howard’s love for acting came naturally, through summers spent with his grandmother, New York stage actress Minnie Gentry. He later began his acting career on “The Cosby Show” after being discovered on a New York City street by a casting director.

Howard then quickly broke onto the big screen with his riveting performance in “Mr. Holland’s Opus.” Howard’s most memorable performances to date are of scene-stealing characters such as Cowboy in the Hughes Brothers film “Dead Presidents” and as Quentin in Malcolm D. Lee’s film “The Best Man.” The latter earning him a NAACP Image Award, Independent Spirit Award nomination and a Chicago Film Critics Award nomination.

A self-taught musician Howard plays both the piano and the guitar. He displayed his musical talents opposite Academy Award®-winner Jamie Foxx in 2004’s breakout film “Ray,” for which both actors received SAG nominations. A promising songwriter, Howard’s lyrics are soon to be acquired by some of today’s biggest artists.

His filmography also includes “Biker Boyz,” alongside Lawrence Fishburne, “Hart’s War,” opposite Bruce Willis and Collin Farrell, “Big Momma’s House,” “Glitter,” and “Angel Eyes,” with Jennifer Lopez.

JOSH CHARLES (Detective Fowler) was most recently seen on the big screen in “S.W.A.T.,” co-starring with Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell, as well as the independent feature “Seeing Other People,” with Jay Mohr and Lauren Graham. On stage, he was most recently seen in New York for the U.S. premiere of Neil Labute’s “The Distance from Here,” for which he and his fellow cast members received the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance.

A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Charles made his feature debut in John Waters’ satirical cult favorite, “Hairspray.” He went on to land the coveted role of Knox Overstreet in Peter Weir’s “Dead Poets Society” opposite Robin Williams and Ethan Hawke. Next came Mike Binder’s “Crossing the Bridge,” as well as a starring role opposite Lara Flynn Boyle and Stephen Baldwin in Andy Fleming’s “Threesome.” In Bryan Gordon’s romantic comedy “Pie in the Sky,” a favorite at the Telluride and Sundance Film Festivals, he co-starred with Anne Heche and John Goodman. Some other film credits include “Things To Do In Denver When You’re Dead,” “The Grave,” and “Little City.”

On television, Charles starred for two seasons as anchor Dan Rydell, opposite Peter Krause, on the critically acclaimed series “Sports Night.” He also co-starred with Alan Arkin in the telefilm “Cooperstown,” and as slain civil rights worker Andrew Goodman in the Emmy Award-winning “Murder in Mississippi,” with Tom Hulce. He co-starred opposite Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino in the HBO biopic “Norma Jean and Marilyn” and most recently was seen in Ernest Dickerson’s “Our America” for Showtime.

SOFIA VERGARA (Sofi) was last seen starring in the comedy “Soul Plane,” alongside Tom Arnold and Snoop Dogg, and in “Lords of Dogtown.” She also starred in the comedy feature “Chasing Papi.” Vergara made her Hollywood feature debut in Barry Sonnenfeld’s comedy, “Big Trouble,” starring Tim Allen and Rene Russo, a role she landed after the director saw her captivating and humorous appearance at the American Comedy Awards. She went on to appear opposite Scott Speedman and James Marsden in Anthony Piccirillo’s independent film, “The 24th Day.” On the small screen, she was recently seen starring on an episode of the hit series, “My Wife & Kids.”

One of the most loved personalities of the Latino world and a star on Hispanic television, Vergara has graced the covers of over 100 international magazines and hosted dozens of top Hispanic events. Her Hispanic television credits include “Fuera de Serie” (“Out of This World”) on Univision, and her own top-rated primetime one-hour weekly show “A que no te atreves” (“I Dare You”). When she became host of “La Bomba,” a syndicated music and interview TV show, she caused a ratings explosion.

In 1999, Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú awarded Vergara with the Hispanic Woman of the Year Award, commending her leadership skills and her representing the qualities Latina women have to offer to the world. In 2001, she created Peace and Hope for the Children of Columbia, a charity foundation that has helped thousands of children in her country, and has donated a new cancer pavilion for children in her native Barranquilla. In 2002, she was awarded the Woman of Hope Award by the City of Hope as one of the outstanding role models for future generations.

Born in the Forest Gate section of London to Nigerian parents, CHIWETEL EJIOFOR (Victor Sweet) started acting in school plays at the age of 13. He earned a scholarship to the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Arts before making his feature film debut in 1997 in Steven Spielberg’s “Amistad.” Ejiofor would follow this performance with roles in Stephen Frears’ critically acclaimed “Dirty Pretty Things” (for which he was many critics’ pick for Best Actor), “Love Actually,” and Spike Lee’s “She Hate Me.”

His upcoming films include the sci-fi movie “Serenity” from Joss Whedon, “Red Dust” with Hilary Swank, and “Slow Burn” with Ray Liotta, and the independent film “The Kinky Boot Factory” with director Julian Jarrold.

Ejiofor was voted Outstanding Newcomer at the London Evening Standard Awards in 2000 for his performance in “Blue/Orange,” a play about a mental patient who claims to be the son of an exiled African dictator. He was also awarded the Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer at the 2000 London Critics Circle Theatre Awards (Drama) for the performance. In 2001, he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in “Blue/Orange” at the Royal National Theatre. In 2003, he was nominated for Best Actor by the Washington Area Film Critics Association and won a British Independent Film Award for Best Performance by an Actor for “Dirty Pretty Things.”