Julie Bowen
The "Modern Family" matriarch got her start acting for a much smaller audience — her family and friends when she put on plays in her back yard. She majored in Italian Renaissance studies at Brown University while maintaining a busy slate of school productions as well. After studying abroad for a year and becoming fluent in Italian, she took a role in an indie film called "Five Spot Jewel" and in 1993 did two TV projects. They were forgettable, but gave her the confidence to head west and more television followed immediately ("Acapulco H.E.A.T.," "Runaway Daughters," "Party Of Five"). She then
