Actors

Denzel Washington directs and stars in the new film The Great Debaters, inspired by the true story of Wiley College's winning debate team of the early 1930s. The film also stars Forest Whitaker.

Say "Christopher Plummer," and some people automatically think of The Sound of Music, in which he played the Baron von Trapp.

But that's just one of about 100 films Plummer has been in; recent highlights from his big-screen career include Syriana, The Insider, A Beautiful Mind, and Inside Man. He's also had long stage career, won two Tony Awards, and performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Gone Baby Gone, a new film based on the Dennis Lehane novel, stars actor Casey Affleck as a blue-collar private investigator drawn into a child-abduction case. The film is directed by Affleck's movie-star brother, Ben Affleck.

Casey Affleck has also appeared in the American Pie films, Ocean's 11 and its sequels, and Good Will Hunting.

By the end of The 40 Year Old Virgin, the title character had lost his virginity — and actor Steve Carell had become a star.

The actor, who was a correspondent on Comedy Central's The Daily Show for several years, has gone on to films including Little Miss Sunshine and Evan Almighty, and next summer he'll star as hapless secret agent Maxwell Smart in a Hollywood adaptation of the vintage TV series Get Smart. And of course he's got a central role on NBC's The Office.

In Reservation Road Mark Ruffalo plays a divorced lawyer who accidentally kills a child and then speeds away. Based on a novel by the same name, the film is directed by Terry George (Hotel Rwanda). Ruffalo has appeared in Zodiac, 13 Going on 30 and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Actor Anthony Anderson stars as traumatized cop Martin Boulet in the new Fox TV series K-Ville.

The drama is set in post-Katrina New Orleans; it's gotten critical acclaim and high ratings.

The series, from NYPD Blue writer Jonathan Lisco, is filmed on location in the Big Easy. It airs Mondays at 9 p.m.

Actor Peter Fonda is probably best known for his role in the cult-classic road movie Easy Rider. His recent roles include one in the film 3:10 to Yuma, a 2007 remake of the 1957 Western of the same name, which was itself based on the 1953 Elmore Leonard short story. The movie also stars Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. Fonda, the son of actor Henry Fonda, is also the author of the memoir Don't Tell Dad.

In his new film, Resurrecting the Champ, actor Samuel L. Jackson plays a homeless, broken-down former heavyweight contender. The movie is directed by Rob Lurie and set to open Aug. 24. Jackson's other films include Black Snake Moan, Pulp Fiction, Jungle Fever, Coach Carter, Freedomland and Unbreakable. He studied dramatic arts at Atlanta's Morehouse College, and after he graduated he originated two August Wilson roles — Boy Willie in The Piano Lesson and Wolf in Two Trains Running — at the Yale Repertory Theatre.

Paul Rudd, who co-starred in Knocked Up and The 40 Year Old Virgin, produced and stars in the new independent film The Ten — a series of irreverent vignettes that reinterpret the Ten Commandments for a modern audience.

Rudd also stars in the upcoming movie I Could Never Be Your Woman, with Michelle Pfeiffer. His other films include Clueless, Anchorman and The Cider House Rules, and he's been seen on TV's Friends and Reno 911!.

Director Brad Bird and actor Patton Oswalt talk about their film Ratatouille.

The new picture, from digital-animation powerhouse Pixar, opens nationwide tomorrow; it's a comedy about a foodie rat who becomes a chef in a top Paris kitchen.

Bird previously directed and wrote The Incredibles and The Iron Giant.

Oswalt, who provides the voice of the leading rat, Remy, is a writer and stand-up comedian. He's also something of a serious foodie himself — which is in part why Bird wanted him to play his furry hero.