William Lee Scott

A charismatic blue-eyed blond with a rough-hewn handsomeness and confident swagger that made him a perfect choice for rebellious "bad boy" roles, William Lee Scott proved more than just a one-note performer, capably handling parts from his sympathetic turn as the reckless but sincere Randy in "The Opposite of Sex" (1998) to the easily-led and disturbingly violent Will in "Black and White" (2000). After being discovered while working as a waiter in NYC and encouraged to put his magnetic good looks to use as a performer, the previously uninterested Scott hooked up with an acting coach and an agent. Soon he was a working actor and won the Best Actor Award from Columbia University in 1995 for his turn in the student film "'Tis the Season." In 1996, he marked his television debut with a regular role on The WB's high school-set sitcom "The Steve Harvey Show," playing a street tough in a classroom headed by an entertainer-turned-teacher played by the titular actor-comedian. While acting on the series, he took two 1997 guest roles on episodes of the grittier, short-lived ABC dramas "Gun" and "Cracker." That same year he appeared as the liberated eldest son of a troubled rural family in ABC's "Oprah Winfrey Presents: Before Women Had Wings," the inaugural TV-movie produced by the superstar talk show host.