Casper Van Dien

Though often relegated to small screen movies or straight-to-video releases, actor Casper Van Dien had a breakout performance as the star of director Paul Verhoeven's surprise hit sci-fi action thriller "Starship Troopers" (1997). Previous to that, Van Dien appeared in a recurring capacity on "Beverly Hills, 90210" (Fox, 1990-2000) before landing his first prominent feature role in "Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus" (1995). He essayed a solid leading performance in "James Dean: Race with Destiny" (1997), which when coupled with his "Starship Troopers" role cemented him as a rising star to watch. Unfortunately, most Van Dien watchers were disappointed with his string of subsequent B-movie projects like "Tarzan and the Lost City" (1998), "Modern Vampires" (1999) and "Shark Attack" (HBO, 1999). Following a supporting role in the studio release, "Sleepy Hollow" (1999), Van Dien again returned to the shadows with below-the-radar fare and even tried to recapture old glory in the straight-to-DVD release "Starship Troopers 3: Marauder" (2008). Despite numerous disappointments following his promising breakthrough, Van Dien nonetheless remained a performer worthy of his fans' affection.