The Cast: Bruce Payne

BRUCE PAYNE (Cooper) first came to the public's attention as the violent, silk-smooth terrorist pitted against airline security expert Wesley Snipes in Warner Bros.' 1992 action thriller "Passenger 57." Although that role marked an important upturn in Payne's career and celebrity, it was simply another, albeit significant, motion picture credit for the English actor, who made his film debut in "Privates on Parade" with John Cleese in 1983. Payne was raised and theatrically trained in England. There he appeared both on stage and in critically acclaimed television productions, including a starring role in the BBC's biography of "Oscar Wilde," as well as "Smart Money," "The Bell Run," "Miss Marple" and others. After "Privates on Parade," he had roles in the 1984 release "Oxford Blues," in "Nemesis" (with Joan Hickson as Miss Marple), in Mel Brooks' madcap comedy "Solarbabies," and in Julien Temple's stylish film "Absolute Beginners," all released in 1986. Payne has also appeared on American television, notably in Latino director Luis Valdez' epic production of "The Cisco Kid" for Turner Network Television.

In 1989 he had a key supporting role in the Denzel Washington-starrer "For Queen and Country"; in 1990 in "Silence Like Glass"; and in 1991 in "Pyrates" and Blake Edwards' "Switch," starring Perry King, Ellen Barkin and Jimmy Smits. Most recently he starred in the feature films "Nightwatch" and "Necronomicon," as well as the HBO feature "Full Eclipse."

YANCY BUTLER (Avedon) continues to redefine the traditional roles of women in films, playing, what she terms "an ass-kicker." The description should come as no surprise to filmgoers who have seen Ms. Butler in Hong Kong action-meister John Woo's hugely successful 1993 film "Hard Target," starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Lance Henriksen -- or in John Badham's equally auspicious 1994 action drama "Drop Zone," starring with Wesley Snipes and Gary Busey. She had appeared earlier in the 1992 mafia drama "The Hit List," starring James Coburn and Jeff Fahey. She is currently the star of TNT's smash hit "Witchblade."

What is surprising is how tenderly Butler speaks of her macho screen colleagues: "Jean-Claude is the most sensitive and considerate actor I've ever worked with. He possesses a kind of European gallantry" -- and "John Woo is such a gentle man. He's almost a choreographer, moving his actors through the film as if they were dancers."

Prior to making the transition from television into feature films -- a lead she attributes much to her considerable physical abilities -- Butler starred as a regular on NBC's series "South Beach" as well as on that network's "Mann & Machine" where she played -- appropriately -- a robot with physical strength far beyond that of mortal women.

Ms. Butler, besides studying to further hone her acting talent, maintains the peak physical condition required by her film roles by working out regularly.

The Cast: Salvator Xuereb

SALVATOR XUEREB (Lazarus) knew he wanted to become an actor when he first saw "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." But he kept it a secret until he was 18.

Studying business at New York University, Xuereb was planning to follow in the footsteps of his successful father when he realized that a career as a businessman just wasn't in him. What was in him was a dream called acting, and he dropped out of school to pursue it...and found he had a solid talent for it.

He made his television acting debut in an episode of Fox Television's series "Alien Nation." Hired to play one of the visitors from another planet, he admittedly didn't know what the show was about.

"I had no idea I'd be getting one of those 'coneheads' with all the weird effects makeup. Here I was, sitting in this nasty little back-alley street in Hollywood with a bunch of other 'coneheads.' I thought it was cool, really great," he laughs. Xuereb admits that unlike his mother and older brother, he was never a fan of science fiction -- until he saw Ridley Scott's "Bladerunner," after which he took a different view.

More recently, Xuereb appeared in a key role in the Sundance Film Festival hit "Lewis and Clark and George." In 1994, he appeared in both "Killing Zoe" and in Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers."

The actor's role in "Ravager" -- that of a young hustler with a pocketful of identities who becomes trapped in a hellish wasteland after his sub-orbital transport rocket crash-lands -- represents Xuereb's most important role to date. The portrayal of Lazarus is one which he firmly believes can only be a career asset.

The Cast: Robin Sachs

ROBIN SACHS (Dr. Shephard) is another British actor who has become best known to the American television audience as a result of KCET's (public broadcasting in Los Angeles) generous introduction of BBC classic productions in which he has starred.

Sachs, who is probably best recognized as the title star of the BBC series "Life Without George," has also starred in such BBC classics as "Upstairs, Downstairs," "Brideshead Revisited," and "Rumpole of Old Bailey," among many others. Most recently he appeared in Steven Spielberg's "The Lost World: Jurassic Park," "Galaxy Quest," "Megalodon," and "Northfork."

All of this isn't to suggest that the actor can't be recognized from his roles on American television, including "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Sachs is capable of turning off his English accent at will for key roles on shows such as "Murder She Wrote," "Jake and the Fatman" and "Dynasty." (He even conjured up an extraterrestrial dialect once for a guest-starring role on the syndicated smash "Babylon 5.")

Sachs' versatility in playing practically any type role should come as no surprise to those who have seen the actor perform on the London stage; Shakespearean-trained actors seem to have a way of handling virtually any assignment they are handed. Perhaps that was why Sachs wasn't even slightly intimidated by a guest-starring role on "Baywatch": "I just brought lots of sunscreen, " he says dryly. "As you know, we English don't tan well."

The Cast: David Stratton

DAVID STRATTON (Cade) enjoys acting roles which require a huge amount of physical exertion. This is probably good, because as a series regular on "Lightning Force," he found himself running all over the hills of western Canada as part of an elite team of commandos.

"I like to sweat when I act," Stratton explains. "Hard physical exertion gets the juices flowing. For me, it creates a kind of natural realism in a portrayal."

Stratton gets his opportunity for physical action in "Ravager" -- portraying an angry young man trapped inside a crashed aircraft with a crewman who has been exposed to a deadly biological warfare agent.

Stratton made his acting debut at age eight in the horror film "House of Blood." When the picture opened, an uncle had to sneak him into the theatre to see it, an experience which he admits gave him nightmares for weeks.

But that experience served as part of young actor's preparation for his future career -- one that would later involve guest-starring on CBS Television's vampire-detective series "Forever Knight," and in the TV series version of Wes Craven's "Friday the 13th." Amidst such gore, there were several non-monster roles: he starred weekly in the "Valley of the Dolls" series and apepared on "Murder She Wrote," "Local Heroes" and "My Secret Identity."

For Stratton, those parts led to minor roles in feature films, including Jonathan Kaplan's acclaimed but violent 1979 production "Over the Edge," which marked Matt Dillon's film debut. The picture did little for Stratton's career: Due to its gang-related content, it was shelved for theatrical release (though it's now available on video.). He also had a role in the Marlon Brando-Matthew Broderick-starrer "The Freshman," released in 1995. His performance in that film brought him to the attention of Miramax, resulting in his being cast for a leading role in the quirky, black comedy "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead."

The Cast: Stanley Kamel

STANLEY KAMEL ('Clean) is best recognized as Dr. Graham Lester, the mind-controlling psychiatrist in Steven Bochco's ground-breaking television series "Murder One." He warmed up for that role guest-starring as Jerome Oziel, the real-life psychiatrist of the accused murderers in the television movie, "Honor Thy Father and Mother: The Story of the Menendez Brothers."

Kamel began his career on the off-Broadway stage, studying under the famed acting coach Sanford Meisner. He immediately jumped to Hollywood when he was cast in the starring role of Eric Peters in "Days of Our Lives."

Roles on "Beverly Hills 90210," "L.A. Law," "Melrose Place" and "Cagney and Lacey" followed, fealding to such feature films as "Making Love" (1982), "Corvette Summer" (1978), and "Star 80," Bob Fosse's acclaimed 1983 bio-pic of the life and untimely death of Playmate of the Year Dorothy Stratton.

Kamel continues to appear in starring roles on television and the wide screen, periodically taking time out to appear on stage. He recently appeared with Alexis Smith in the Broadway run of "Platinum."

The Cast: Juliet Landau

JULIET LANDAU (Sarra), born and raised in Southern California, is the daughter of esteemed actress Barbara Bain and Academy Award-winner Martin Landau.

Raised in a family atmosphere steeped in the performing arts, she trained as both an actress and a classical ballerina, performing with the prestigious Southern California Ballet and Los Angeles Dance companies, ultimately choreographing her own dance works.

After guest-starring in a number of television productions, she made her film debut in Stephen Frears' savagely funny, often shocking 1990 black comedy "The Grifters," portraying Anjelica Huston's character, Lily, as a young girl.

The actress got the first opportunity to work with her father when both appeared in "Ed Wood," Tim Burton's affectionate 1994 tribute to Hollywood's acknowledged worst filmmaker. Martin portrayed the legendary Bela Lugosi, a role for which he received a long overdue Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category in 1995. With typical professionalism, Ms. Landau threw herself into her role as a B-movie actress -- researching not only the real life person she portrayed, but tracking down every piece of film she could find from the period to examine how B-movie actresses of the '50s walked, sipped a highball and smoked a cigarette.

In "Ravager," she portrays a beautiful "Spare" -- a triumph of 21st century medicine specifically created to provide human organs and other body parts to those in need. She admits being attracted to the role because of the character. "I'd been playing so many sophisticated types recently that I jumped at the chance to play a character who's discovering everything for the first time."

She shrugs off the subject of whether its easier or more difficult for the daughter of two celebrated actors to succeed in the film business. "All I can say is that it's a joy to be able to talk to my parents about the work I do and have them understand what I'm talking about, have them relate as equals."

Currently, Landau is starring in the hit WB TV series "Buffy The Vampire Slayer."