Picture Gallery 3!- Cleo, Deb, Dave

From NBC.com:

Michael Michele

Dr. Cleo Finch

In her role as a doctor on "ER," Michael Michele portrays a contemporary woman who tries to balance a demanding professional life with personal responsibilities away from her gritty workplace where death is never far away.

"It's very important to me to always make my characters capable of making choices in their personal and professional lives," says Michele. "Playing these kinds of characters also raises the bar and makes you a better actor. ‘ER' is a fast-paced series with a large ensemble cast, and there's no time for even a hiccup. You have to be ready to walk on the set and do your job right away."

Michele joined the regular cast of "ER" in 1999 as a second-year (now third-year) resident in emergency medicine and pediatrics. "I would say the two operative words to describe her are independent and assertive," says the actress.

Michele has also appeared in many films including "The Sixth Man," alongside Marlon Wayans, the urban drama "New Jack City," opposite Wesley Snipes, and the Shooting Gallery's independent film "The Substitute 2," with Treat Williams and B.D. Wong. Prior to joining the cast of "ER," she played Detective Rene Sheppard on "Homicide: Life on the Street." She was also a regular on the series "Central Park West," playing the role of Nikki, the savvy SoHo art gallery owner, and she had a recurring role as corporate lawyer Sandy Gill on "New York Undercover" for two seasons.

A devoted mentor, Michele has been actively volunteering her time to work with underprivileged children since she was 15. In addition, she mentors and advises various youngsters in New York and the Midwest.

An accomplished athlete, Michele played competitive basketball for the top-ranked women's high school basketball team in Indiana, making her a local celebrity in a state where basketball and "Hoosier hysteria" are the favorite pastimes. Besides her passion for roundball, she enjoys running ("It's my form of therapy"), listening to contemporary and classical jazz and reading (particularly biographies of financial titans).

Michele resides in New York when not filming "ER." Her birthday is August 30.

From NBC.com:

Ming-Na

Dr. Jing-Mei (Deb) Chen

Ming-Na returns to "ER" as the competitive Jing-Mei (Deb) Chen, now a third-year resident. The actress first won attention with her critically acclaimed performance as June in Wayne Wang's feature film "The Joy Luck Club," based on Amy Tan's best-selling novel.

Born in Macau, China, Ming-Na and her family immigrated to New York City when she was 4. There she learned English and discovered that acting was a great way to be accepted by her new peers when she performed in a third-grade Easter play. Having moved to Pittsburgh when she was 9, Ming-Na later graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University with high honors and a bachelor of fine arts degree in theater. Her family remains in Pittsburgh, where they run a successful Chinese restaurant.

Upon returning to New York, Ming-Na performed off-Broadway, where she was discovered and then cast on "As the World Turns," in the first contract role for an Asian actor in daytime television. She also worked on the New York stage with Tony Award winner Lanford Wilson in "Redwood Curtain," became a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre, and produced many plays. Her other theater credits include working with Tony Award winners Mel Shapiro and James Lapine in David Mamet's "Speed-the-Plow" at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre, and starring in the world premiere of Lapine's "Luck, Pluck & Virtue" at the renowned La Jolla Playhouse.

Through her work, Ming-Na has traveled extensively. After completing "The Joy Luck Club" in Shanghai, she toured with her mother throughout China and her entire family for the first time. "It was one of the most beautiful, intense experiences in my life," she says. "It was very similar to my last scene in the film. It's funny how life and art can sometimes intertwine so intimately." She has also traveled to Paris, Brussels, Hong Kong, Manila, Mexico and Vancouver. Ming-Na worked in Thailand and Australia on the film "Streetfighter," in which she played the female lead, Chun-Li, opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme and the late Raul Julia.

In 1995, Ming-Na was cast as Trudy in NBC's comedy "The Single Guy." Three years ago, she provided the title voice for Disney's animated feature film "Mulan," where she won the inagural Annie Award for best lead vocal performance in a feature length film. She also co-starred opposite Wesley Snipes in "One Night Stand," director Mike Figgis' followup to "Leaving Las Vegas."

A few years ago, Ming-Na was included on People magazine's list of the 50 Most Beautiful People and was recently named as one of the 100 most influential Asian-Americans of the past decade by "A" magazine.

Ming-Na is currently working as the lead voice of ‘Aki' in "Final Fantasy," a CGI-animated feature film that will be released next year. Ming-Na currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband, actor/writer Eric Michael Zee. Her birthday is November 20.

From NBC.com:

Erik Palladino

Dr. Dave Malucci

Erik Palladino decided to become an actor after the indelible impression made on him by the Oscar-winning "Raging Bull" and NBC's "Saturday Night Live," which put him on a path far different from then many of his hardened running mates in Yonkers, New York.

Palladino, who was born and raised in blue-collar Yonkers, now co-stars as a gregarious and up-front second-year resident in the emergency room. "Two years ago, I was on the lowest-rated series (‘DiResta') in the history of prime-time network TV," he says. "Now, I'm on the highest-rated. It's almost surreal."

The youngest of three brothers, Palladino's father owns a heating contractor business in the Bronx that involves most of the family (his mother is a schoolteacher). At 14, he began performing with the Children's Repertory Company from nearby New Rochelle, and even appeared with the troupe off-Broadway. He attended the same all-boys high school as Alan Alda (a recurring guest star on "ER" last season) but remained aloof from acting, ever mindful of his wisecracking friends' disdain for it. However, he became a full-time theater arts student when he auditioned for and was accepted at Marymount Manhattan College – an all-women's campus except for its theater program – where he later received his bachelor of arts degree.

While Palladino credits acting for "turning my life around in college," he later opted to play in No Happy Faces, an alternative rock band, for four years. Eventually, he worked his way back to his studied craft when he became a series regular in Comedy Central's "Short-Attention Span Theatre." In 1996, he even became a veejay on MTV while still performing in his band.

Perhaps Palladino's big career break came when he simply decided to cut his long hair. The next week, he was cast as a series regular in the comedy "Love and Marriage," followed quickly by gigs as a recurring regular on "Murphy Brown" and last year's comedy "DiResta.". His request to exit the series was honored, and he was cast on the last day of his series commitment in the hit feature film "U-571" as an American sailor in World War II opposite Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton and Harvey Keitel. His other features include "Can't Hardly Wait" and the independents "This Space Between Us," "The Week That Girl Died" and "Roadkill." He also guest-starred on "Party of Five." Palladino recently completed production of the film "Finder's Fee," opposite James Earl Jones.

Palladino enjoys his offbeat character who's not above bending the rules to save a patient. "He's really an adrenaline junkie," he says. "He enjoys people's quirks and likes to mess with them to get a reaction. He's tough, strong-willed and a straight-shooter."

In his leisure time, Palladino prefers to box (while also participating in other sports), write and hang out with his mixed-breed mutt. In addition, he remains a loyal New York Yankees fan. His birthday is May 10.