If there’s something that distinguishes a new wave of German-born acting talent, it’s the risks these performers will take in the name of their art. Consider Thomas Kretschmann giving sympathy to a Nazi officer in The Pianist, Til Schweiger taking to the skies as The Red Baron, or Michael Fassbender wasting away to nothing as IRA martyr Bobby Sands in Hunger. But few Teutonic travails for the sake of cinema can match Benno Furmann’s latest adventure in his native land, as he puts all of his nerves, muscle, and emotion into one of most astonishing, and true mountaineering tales in anyone’s language.

For someone whose plate is so full, Mireille Enos appears firmly grounded and composed as she good-naturedly discusses a career that took off in the New York theater, landed on a hit HBO series, and recently has come full circle back to the stage. “I feel so spoiled,” says the refreshingly natural, auburn-haired beauty, glowing as only the focused artist can glow, “to be working on the projects I am working on and with the people I am working with.

How could my life be better?”

When it comes to a seeming wave of Scottish actors who are invading America with their roguish charm and sword-swinging biceps, there’s no foot soldier whose landing might be more deserved, or long in the coming than Kevin McKidd’s. Hailing from Elgin, Moray, Scotland, McKidd got his start in youth theater before making a detour into studying engineering at Edinburgh. But like all charismatic actors who seemed destined for a seemingly incongruous career path, it wasn’t long before acting pulled McKidd back in. His early theater work with Robert Carlyle’s Rain Dog Theater Company portended McKidd’s iconic film debut, standing alongside Carlyle as Tommy, one of the endearing drug-addled miscreants of that paean to Scottish bad behavior known as Trainspotting.

Lucy Lawless is a very different kind of beautiful. Her power is front and center, with her broad smile and straight talk cutting to the chase and giving the distinct impression that she doesn’t suffer fools. The sultry star has earned a singular place in the public eye as an image of strength, whose characters focus a piercing fire toward such ends as kindness, justice, and vicious retribution. As Lucretia, the fair lady of the house of Batiatus on the Starz original series, “Spartacus: Blood and Sand,” Lawless stops at nothing to regain the former wealth of her husband’s ludus, where gladiators are trained to kill and die in the arena. Set in ancient Rome, “Spartacus” sees Lawless’s seductive matriarch use everyone within reach to ingratiate herself and her husband, Lentulus Batiatus (John Hannah), with those of higher station. Her performance is a sly study in greed, betrayal, and ruthless pursuit of socio-financial ascension.

And on the morning of the last day of post-production, shortly before the sound mix and color correction is locked for the Warner Bros. post-apocalyptic Biblical epic, The Book of Eli, Allen Hughes, one of the film’s directors, calls this writer and asks, “Is this some kind of fuckin’ joke?”

When New York hipster band, The Bravery, came onto the scene in 2005 they were part of a synth-heavy wave of rock bands with an ’80s sound, think The Killers and Franz Ferdinand. But they’ve managed to stay true to their original sound and not lose their identity. The Bravery’s impressive self-titled debut made them an instant buzz band. The group, singer/bassist Sam Endicott, guitarist Michael Zakarin, keyboardist John Conway, bassist Mike ‘Dirt’ Hindert and drummer Anthony Burulcich, made a splash in the UK first, then won over U.S. audiences.

These days, all that glitters is Ke$ha. With her smash hit, "TiK ToK," landing the number- one spot on Billboard’s Hot 100, the global pop superstar singer-songwriter likely has Lady Gaga shaking in her 10-inch Alexander McQueen stilettos. Ke$ha’s debut album, Animal, which was produced by Dr. Luke, is fierce, and loaded with pump-up-the-volume beats and clever lyrics that are destined to become some of the best one-line zingers to hit the pop-culture landscape.

Musician Christian McBride has an intriguing way of seeing things, which surfaces when he talks about his instrument, the bass, and his devotion, jazz. “Playing bass is the exact same thing as being in offensive alignment in pro football,” he tells us. “In jazz, the focus tends to be on the vocalist or the horn player. Usually, the rhythm section is relegated as the support cast; we are the back-up guys. In football, the focus is placed on the quarterback, or the running back, or the wide receiver — those are your vocalists, saxophone, and trumpet