Career: Fox debuted as a professional actor at the age of 15 in the sitcom Leo and Me. At 18, he moved to Los Angeles and took several bit parts, eventually making his mark in the sitcom Family Ties. Despite the show's heavy schedule, he found time to star in films, including the first of the Back to the Future trilogy, Teen Wolf, The Secret of My Success, and Bright Lights, Big City. In 1989, the series came to an end, giving Michael time to devote to his movie career, but he returned to TV in 1996 for Spin City and has guest starred in Scrubs. Despite ill health caused by Parkinson's disease, he has continued to work, most notably providing the voice for Stuart Little and featuring on TV in Boston Legal, Rescue Me and The Good Wife.

Career: Landed bit parts in The Way We Were and The Choirboys. However, it was 1979 drama The Onion Field that brought him to the attention of many critics. High-profile projects including Videodrome, Once Upon a Time in America and Salvador followed, and the latter earned him an Academy Award nomination. Woods then proved he had a gift for comedy in 1991 offering The Hard Way, and gave stunning performances in Casino, Nixon and Contact. More recently, he has appeared in Shark, Coma and Ray Donovan.

Career: Ricci made her film debut in 1990's Mermaids and has rarely been out of work since. After starring in 1993's Addams Family Values, she became disillusioned with her education and began attending The Professional Children's School - one of her classmates was Macaulay Culkin. She made the transition from child star to respected actress with 1997's The Ice Storm. Movies since include Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Opposite of Sex, Sleepy Hollow, and Monster. She also produced the films Prozac Nation and Pumpkin, and appeared in a memorable Grey's Anatomy two-episode storyline in 2006. Her recent projects include Penelope, Speed Racer, New York, I Love You and short-lived period drama Pan Am.

Career: LL Cool J released his first single, I Need a Beat, in 1984 and his first album, Radio, in 1985. He also started his acting career in 1985, with a cameo in the film Krush Groove. The next year, he had another cameo in Wildcats (1986) but then took the time out from acting to concentrate on music. His biggest selling album, Bigger and Deffer was released in 1987 and he went on to have a highly successful career in hip hop. Eventually, he returned to acting, beginning with a starring role in the film Out-of-Sync (1995). He then got a part in TV sitcom In the House until 1999. LL Cool J was planning to retire from music in 1998 and just concentrate on acting but instead he decided to keep working in both fields. Since then, he has appeared in such films as Deep Blue Sea (1999), S.W.A.T. (2003) and Last Holiday (2006). Since 2009 he has starred in the TV series NCIS: Los Angeles as Sam Hanna. In the meantime, he has released a number of albums on Def Jam and is considered to be one of the most successful rappers of all time.

Career: Director Spike Lee gave Lindo's career a boost by casting him as the manic-depressive numbers boss Archie in Malcolm X in 1992. Lindo went on to appear as patriarch Woody Carmichael in Lee's semi-autobiographical comedy Crooklyn two years later. He landed major supporting roles in Get Shorty, Clockers and Feeling Minnesota. In 1997, he played an angel opposite Holly Hunter in Danny Boyle's offbeat romantic fantasy A Life Less Ordinary and another mobster with a heart in Romeo Must Die. Other hits include Heist, The Cider House Rules, Gone in 60 Seconds and Domino. He also featured in American crime drama The Chicago Code, which ran for one season in 2011. He continues to perform on stage on both sides of the Atlantic.