Michelle Clunie

CURRENT GIG: A ground-breaking role on Queer as Folk, Showtime's controversial drama surveying gay and lesbian lives and lifestyles in Pittsburgh, Pa. Her playing of Melanie, one of the series' two lead lesbian characters, is like everything else on the show: frank, gritty and a pulls-no-punches portrayal for viewers. Neither is it cookie-cutter or a haven for stereotypes. Clunie's character always shows, often in surprising ways, the price to pay—deserved or not—for pursuing life's course as she does.

BIG BREAK: Appearing in The Usual Suspects, the Oscar-winning example of modern film noir. Stage was her favorite medium prior to Suspects, with a resume that includes performances in Antigone and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.