Debra Messing

Playing Grace Adler on the NBC comedy "Will & Grace" made Debra Messing a star.

The actress got her start in theater, gaining recognition for her pre-Broadway workshop of Tony Kushner's groundbreaking play "Angels in America: Perestroika." She would later star off-Broadway in John Patrick Shanley's "Four Dogs and a Bone" and in the two-woman production of Donald Margulies' "Collected Stories."

Before she landed the plum gig on "Will & Grace," Messing starred in the comedy "Ned & Stacey" opposite Thomas Haden Church ("Sideways"). She guest-starred on other hit series, including "Seinfeld" and crime drama "NYPD Blue." She received her third Emmy nomination this year for playing Grace Adler.