Kevin Spacey

Spacey's Oscar-winning performance as a disaffected suburban husband in American Beauty cemented his reputation as one of Hollywood's most flexible actors. (The film was named Best Picture and also won Best Director honors for Sam Mendes.) It was Spacey's second Academy Award; his first came for playing wily con artist 'Verbal' Kint in the gangster mystery The Usual Suspects (1995, with Benicio Del Toro). Handsome but not movie-star hunky, Spacey is known for his versatility and his serious theatrical skills: he won a 1991 Tony for Neil Simon's Lost In Yonkers and in 2003 was introduced as the new artistic director of London's venerable Old Vic Theater. His other film roles include Hollywood-happy detective Jack Vincennes in 1997's L.A. Confidential (with Kim Basinger) and the nasty serial killer John Doe in Seven (1995, with Brad Pitt).

Extra credit: Spacey made his directorial debut with the offbeat 1996 crime drama Albino Alligator... Spacey attended Chatsworth High School with actors Val Kilmer and Mare Winningham... His co-star in American Beauty was Annette Bening... Spacey is the founder of TriggerStreet.com, an online script and film review cooperative for aspiring filmmakers.