Career: After sending off audition tapes for pilot TV shows, one of them helped her land the role of Joey Potter in Dawson's Creek. That series became one of the biggest hits of the 1990s. She also appeared in the movies Disturbing Behaviour, Go and Wonder Boys. Recent projects include The Gift, Phone Booth, Pieces of April, The Singing Detective, First Daughter and Batman Begins. In 2011, she played Jackie Kennedy in TV miniseries The Kennedys.

Career: Jackson begged his mother to send him for auditions from an early age. She eventually relented in the hope he'd be put off by the experience. Instead, he landed a role in a commercial for British Columbia tourism. His first movie was Crooked Hearts in 1991. A year later he starred in The Mighty Ducks, and went on to appear in the film's first two sequels. Dawson's Creek made him a star in 1998. Since then he's featured in Urban Legend, Cruel Intentions, The Skulls, and had a cameo role in Ocean's Eleven. He starred in Fringe between 2008 and 2013.

Career: At 15, Williams became emancipated from her parents so that she could avoid America's child labour laws. She also moved to Los Angeles, and her big break came when she landed the role of Jen Lindley in teen drama Dawson's Creek. The popular series ran for six seasons, clocking up 128 episodes. During her time on the teen drama, she also starred on the big screen in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), Dick (1999) and Prozac Nation (2001). She went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for Brokeback Mountain (2005); while filming she fell in love with co-star Heath Ledger, with whom she had a daughter. They had separated by the time of his death in 2008. Williams has received two further Academy Award nominations for Blue Valentine (2010) and My Week with Marilyn (2011). Her other film credits have included The Station Agen (2003), Synecdoche, New York (2008), Shutter Island (2010), Take This Waltz (2011) and Oz the Great and Powerful (2013).