Jon Bon Jovi (Frank Hopper)
International superstar Jon Bon Jovi’s film career started in 1990 when he contributed several songs to the soundtrack for Young Guns II, including the Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe winning song, "Blaze of Glory". He also got his first taste of movie making by appearing in a cameo appearance as a gunfighter killed within minutes of the beginning of the film. A second sabbatical from the band followed in 1995.
After years fielding offers and speculation about his acting interests, Bon Jovi made his feature acting debut in Moonlight and Valentino as the house painter who turns the heads of Whoopi Goldberg, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kathleen Turner and, in particular, Elizabeth Perkins. Proving he was more than just a rock star cashing in on his looks and fame, he delivered a solid supporting performance. Director John Duigan tapped him for the complicated role of The Leading Man in 1996, in which he plays a seductively mercenary actor who is willing to do anything to further his career. He followed with a turn as an alcoholic bartender who falls for Annabella Sciorra in Little City.
In 1998, Bon Jovi garnered praise for his work as the handyman boyfriend of waitress Lauren Holly in Edward Burns' No Looking Back. Later that same year, he appeared opposite Billy Bob Thornton, Hank Azaria, and Ryan Phillippe in the comedy thriller, Homegrown. He was featured in the ensemble cast of the WWII submarine drama U-571. Bon Jovi also appeared as the alcoholic father of Haley Joel Osment and ex-husband of Helen Hunt in Pay It Forward. He had a supporting role in John Carpenter presents Vampires: Los Muertos. Bon Jovi also had a recurring starring role as Ally’s love interest on the hit Fox television series Ally McBeal. After Ally McBeal ended in 2002, Bon Jovi returned to the big screen appearing in the horror film Cry Wolf.
Estella Warren (Jessica)
Canadian import Estella Warren began modeling at age seventeen, after earning three national championships as a synchronized swimmer. A top model who has appeared on the pages of nearly every fashion magazine, Warren was discovered when a Polaroid of her taken at a high school fashion show generated interest with New York agents. Leaving behind the swimming and a possible spot in the Olympic games, Warren headed to NYC to pursue a modeling career. She soon landed career-making campaigns with Perry Ellis and Chanel, appearing in print.
In 2001, she made her big screen debut in the fashion industry-set Perfume, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Her first mainstream break came with the Renny Harlin car race action flick Driven, playing Sophia, the beauty who drives two competitors (Til Schweiger and Kip Pardue) to distraction. That summer, she was featured in Tim Burton's revisit to Planet of the Apes as a scantily-clad fighter in the human rebellion force. In 2003, additional supporting roles in the dramatic romantic comedy The Cooler, the romantic thriller Tangled and the action comedy, Kangaroo Jack would give her further opportunities to prove her skills.
David Faustino (Carl Buckinowski)
From a show business family--his father is a costumer, his siblings have acted as well-- David Faustino began his career at three months of age playing Lily Tomlin's child on one of her TV specials. As early as 1979, he was acting on an episode of Little House on the Prairie. In 1982, he played Ann-Margaret's son in the feature film I Ought to Be in Pictures and, the following year, he was Michael Douglas' son in The Star Chamber.
Faustino first began working on a regular TV series in 1985, playing Victor Garber's son on I Had Three Wives, a short-lived CBS summer effort. Two years later, he landed on Married...With Children, the first Fox network series to succeed, which ran for eleven seasons. A twist on the family sitcom, it featured the Bundy’s, a rather vulgar and bawdy nuclear group of four. Faustino played “Bud Bundy”, the would-be loose and licentious son.
Faustino has also appeared in a few TV-movies. He starred in the 1986 Disney Sunday Movie Mr. Boogedy and its 1987 sequel, as well as the Disney Channel's Perfect Harmony, which focused on racism at a prep school. In 1992, Faustino was the high school student befriended by a 25-year old Kadeem Hardison who had returned to school to learn to read in Words Up!, a CBS Schoolbreak Special. In 2001, Faustino appeared in MacArthur Park, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival, and the comedy, Killer Bud.
Faustino has made appearances on several television shows such as, Entourage, The Help, The Bernie Mac Show, and Unhappily Ever After. David Faustino is most recognized as the character “Bud Bundy” on the long running Fox hit television series Married… with Children.
Curtis Armstrong (Janitor)
Curtis Armstrong made his film debut in 1983 as Tom Cruise's arrogant pal in Risky Business, and the following year created the role of "Booger" in the unexpectedly popular comedy Revenge of the Nerds. He went on to re-create "Booger" in Revenge of the Nerds II and the TV sequels Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation and Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love. Thus far, "Booger" has proven to be Armstrong's most lasting film image.
His other appearances include the teen comedies Better Off Dead with John Cusack and Bad Medicine. He also played a radio operator in Hot Shots: Part Deux, Country Jake in The Adventures of Huck Finn and starred in Big Bully. Armstrong continued to rack up numerous film credits, in comedies honoring his iconic 80’s films such as National Lampoon’s Van Wilder and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, and in dramas; the actor was particularly enjoyable in his turn as music mogul Ahmet Ertegun in the Academy Award winning Ray Charles biopic Ray.
Joining the cast in the second season, Moonlighting was Armstrong's television debut. He has also made guest appearances on the series Grand and Murphy Brown. Armstrong had recurring roles on Felicity, Ed, and One on One. More recently, Armstrong could be seen on the Emmy winning show, Grey’s Anatomy, Crossing Jordan, Las Vegas, and Joan of Arcadia. He also provides the voice of “Snot” on the animated series, American Dad.
Nora Dunn (Leona)
Nora Dunn made a niche for herself playing funny, smart-mouthed character roles on TV and the big screen. By 1981, she was working as a stand-up comic. She moved East in 1985 when she was cast in Saturday Night Live. Her five-year stint on the venerable sketch comedy show was relatively uneventful with her only memorable characters being obtuse talk show host “Pat Stevens” and one-half of the Vegas-style Sweeney Sisters act.
By the time of her SNL departure, Dunn had made a few other inroads in television, making guest appearances on such shows as Get a Life and Civil Wars and appearing on a handful of comedy specials. 1993 marked the beginning of a three-year run on the NBC drama Sisters. Dunn played TV producer “Norma Lear”, who left her husband, came out as a lesbian and had an artificially inseminated pregnancy.
Dunn debuted as a bitchy office worker opposite Melanie Griffith in Mike Nichols' Working Girl, followed by a small role in the comedy How I Got Into College. A change of pace came with Miami Blues (1990), wherein Dunn was a Hispanic policewoman partnered with Fred Ward.
In 1993, Dunn once again played the bitchy foil to dumb blonde Griffith in Born Yesterday, followed by I Love Trouble with Nick Nolte and Julia Roberts. Dunn continued to work steadily, although the quality and success of her projects was uneven at best: she appeared in Warren Beatty's political satire Bulworth in 1998; the family film Air Bud 2: Golden Receiver in 1998; and the broad beauty pageant farce Drop Dead Gorgeous in 1999.
She landed a plumb role as a battlefield newswoman in director David O. Russell's sublime action-comedy Three Kings. After a string of low-profile turns, Dunn scored another highly visible part in the zany Jim Carrey comedy Bruce Almighty and in the thriller drama with John Cusack and Gene Hackman, Runaway Jury. In 2004, Dunn had a small role as a judge in the romantic comedy Laws of Attraction, which starred Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore.
Cary Elwes (Norman Brown)
Born into a family of painters, Cary Elwes left England to attend Sarah Lawrence College in New York. After gaining stage experience in off-Broadway plays, he returned to England and made his film debut in 1984 in Another Country. Elwes costarred in the historical drama Lady Jane in 1985. He made his first big impression playing for laughs as the farm boy “Westley” in the 1987 hit The Princess Bride.
Since then, Elwes has portrayed Matthew Broderick's gallant second-in command in 1989, the American Civil War epic drama Glory; as Tom Cruise's racing competitor in Days of Thunder; as the absurdly ego-ridden fighter pilot in Hot Shots!; and the helpless fiancé of ill-fated Lucy (Sadie Frost) in Bram Stokers Dracula. In 1993, he co-starred in The Crush opposite Alicia Silverstone as well as playing the convincing-and authentically British hero Robin Hood in Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Since the mid-nineties, Elwes has appeared in several films, notably Twister; Liar, Liar; Kiss the Girls; Saw and Ella Enchanted.
In addition to film, Elwes also made guest appearances on The X Files; Seinfeld; and The Outer Limits. Most recently, he starred in the CBS miniseries Pope John Paul II, playing the younger Karol Wojtyla.
Pat Kilbane (Elvis)
Pat Kilbane first started testing his comedic skills in 1990, in Seinfeld where he played, not surprisingly, Bizzoro Kramer. He also made guest appearances on Spin City and Arli$$. From there, he landed roles in the TV classic "MAD TV", where he played his most memorable character as the "Deputy" in "Dolomite in Space". Kilbane left MAD TV in 1997, after 3 years on the show. In 2001, Kilbane landed small roles in such films as Monkeybone with Brendan Fraser and Evolution.
Dot-Marie Jones (Wendy)
Dot-Marie was featured in The 13th Warrior, Patch Adams and Boondock Saints, appearing with Antonio Banderas, Robin Williams and William Dafoe. She has also co-starred on various television shows including Lizzie McGuire, My Wife and Kids, Chicago Hope, Cybil, Dharma & Greg, Married… with Children, and Roseanne. Measuring 6'-4", Jones is the 15-time world and 6-time national arm-wrestling champion.
