"I will never do a sitcom. Never. You hear that universe?”That's what Josh Radnor said to himself after some early rejections in Los Angeles. Little did he know that a few years later, he'd star in How I Met Your Mother, one of the most succe

142. Mae Whitman

Apr 19th, 2018 1h

Mae Whitman started her career in tears. As a two-year-old, Mae accompanied her mother, a successful voice actress, to one of her auditions which was cut short when Mae burst into the room crying. The casting folks were sold and said, “Hey, she

141. Zach Woods

Apr 12th, 2018 1h 4m

We all know that adolescence is rife with tumultuous changes, puberty, pimples and braces, but those are also our formative years, and our artistic identities begin to take shape. And no one I know took more of a left turn, post-orthodontist, t

138. Bill Hader

Mar 22nd, 2018 1h 1m

As a high school kid growing up in Oklahoma, Bill Hader received a progress report from his French teacher that had remarkable foresight: “Bill is very funny in class. He’ll probably be on Saturday Night Live one day. He has a 37% in class thou

137. Andie MacDowell

Mar 15th, 2018 1h 2m

When Andie MacDowell was a curious and wide-eyed 8-year-old, a trip to the university theater with her mother planted a seed. The adults on stage were playing make believe, her most favorite game in the world, and she was mesmerized. Add a penc

136. Jason Katims

Mar 8th, 2018 1h 4m

Jason Katims, like many kids growing up on the east coast in the early 80’s, wanted to be Bruce Springsteen. But with some encouragement from an English teacher, Jason discovered that he was a born storyteller, if not quite not born to run. So

135. Taylor Kitsch

Mar 1st, 2018 1h 2m

Taylor Kitsch has come a long way from cleaning the toilets on Buntzen Lake in British Colombia, and if it weren't for a knee injury that ended his dream of becoming a professional hockey player, he might never have graced our screens as the be

134. Common

Feb 22nd, 2018 59m 22s

Common is a man who is anything but, and he’s been evolving as an artist since the start of his three-decade-and-counting career when he was a young musician rapping about his love for hip-hop. These days, in addition to being a Grammy-winning

133. Danai Gurira

Feb 15th, 2018 1h 3m

The talented and worldly Danai Gurira has been bridging the gap between disparate worlds ever since her family moved from Grinnell, IA to Africa when she was a toddler. In school, the self-described Zimerican (Zimbabwean-American) was the “Afri

132. Jenna Fischer

Feb 8th, 2018 1h 8m

As Pam Beesly on The Office, Jenna Fischer worked her way into the homes and hearts of Americans for nine seasons. As herself, Jenna charmed her way into the hearts and minds of the entire staff here at Off Camera with her endearing humility an

131. Diane Kruger

Feb 1st, 2018 59m 23s

Diane Kruger is the prototypical international actor. She's trilingual and has a career that spans across the globe—from France to Germany to the United States. In America, she's known for roles such as Helen of Troy in the the big-budget, star

130. Pete Holmes

Jan 25th, 2018 58m 48s

You may know Pete Holmes as the creator, writer, and star of the Judd Apatow-produced HBO series Crashing—the semi-autobiographical series about an aspiring standup comedian whose life turns upside-down when he discovers his wife cheating on hi

129. Neil Patrick Harris

Dec 18th, 2017 1h 6m

Step right up to the Neil Patrick Harris Show! He acts! He sings! He dances! He writes! He hosts! He magics! But the showman behind the curtain is… pretty much the guy you’ll meet here. And that’s okay – now. In the public eye since age 15 and

128. John Doe

Dec 14th, 2017 1h 4m

To many, John Doe and his L.A. band X represented music and fans that were scary and unknowable. To others, punk was poetry set to a visceral sound that connected way beyond words. Before we talk to one of the most influential poets of the punk

127. Octavia Spencer

Dec 7th, 2017 1h 5m

If you have debilitating stage fright and dyslexia, good luck becoming an actor or a writer. Octavia Spencer had both, and became both, and luck was not involved. What was: A strong work ethic (thanks, mom), a love of mysteries (thanks, Ms. Bra

126. Sam Rockwell

Nov 29th, 2017 1h 5m

Sam Rockwell will tell you it’s not good enough to be good in a movie, and it’s not good enough to be good in a good movie. You’ve got to be good in a good movie that people see. After years of being good in good movies that enjoyed most of the

125. Jeff Daniels

Nov 23rd, 2017 1h 3m

It’s been said that seeing ourselves clearly is the project of a lifetime. Coming from Michigan might be a shortcut. Jeff Daniels grew up in a small town playing basketball. Now he lives in a small town, playing guitar. In between, he played ro

124. Pamela Adlon

Nov 15th, 2017 1h 2m

FX’s brilliant Better Things premiered just over a year ago, but Pamela Adlon’s been writing it for the last 20. She hoarded her experiences as an actor (hirings, firings, countless pilot seasons), and a single mom (three kids, untold fights, g

123. Michael Connelly

Nov 9th, 2017 58m 42s

It was a dark and stormy night… Okay, so it was a dark and sticky-floored movie theater, but the story’s just as good. It’s where Michael Connelly first saw The Long Goodbye, and where he first fell in love – with Raymond Chandler, Phillip Marl

122. Emmy Rossum

Nov 1st, 2017 58m 3s

Emmy Rossum has come a long way from singing for hot dogs at the local butcher shop. Of course her voice made her famous at 18 in The Phantom of the Opera, and she could’ve played Princess of the High E for years to come. But her decision to st

121. Rebecca Hall

Oct 25th, 2017 1h 4m

Night after night, a five-year-old Rebecca Hall witnessed her mother losing her s**t, ripping off her clothes and wailing operatically while holding a severed head. What could’ve been a scarring experience instead underscored the beauty of comm

120. Willem Dafoe

Oct 19th, 2017 58m 44s

Willem Dafoe is an actor who often seems a million miles from Hollywood, no matter where he is. It’s apparent in the roles he’s chosen, and how he’s chosen to play them. He’ll take Tanzania or a desolate Florida motel strip over a sound stage a

119. Chadwick Boseman

Oct 11th, 2017 1h 3m

When Chadwick Boseman got the call about Marshall, he was worried. Where’s the hard part, he wondered? The screaming muscles, bone-deep exhaustion and verbal abuse he endured to play Jackie Robinson (42), Vontae Mack (Draft Day) and James Brown

118. Nick Kroll

Oct 4th, 2017 58m 1s

Any number of things can fuel success. There’s talent and ambition, the usual suspects. But don’t discount fear, insecurity or being a wise ass, either. Check all of the above for Nick Kroll, but also add the belief that a career you love can’t