Career: Pine's first professional job came in an episode of ER. Other small TV roles followed before The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement turned him into a teen heart-throb in 2004. Made-for-TV films, drama series and big-screen outings followed, but the only one of note was 2006's Smokin' Aces - until the chance to play Kirk in JJ Abrams' Star Trek reboot came his way. It immediately fired him onto Hollywood's A-list. Since then, he has starred in Unstoppable, This Means War, Star Trek Into Darkness and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.

Career: Quinto made his TV debut in short-lived series The Others. He also guest starred on CSI, Touched by an Angel, Charmed, Six Feet Under, Lizzie McGuire, and LA Dragnet. By 2003, he landed the role of Adam Kaufman in 24, and three years later featured in Tori Spelling's sitcom So NoTORIous. The same year he joined the cast of Heroes as the murderous Sylar. He made a huge success of playing the young Spock in the 2009 Star Trek movie and its 2013 sequel, Star Trek: Into Darkness. More recently, he has starred on the small screen in American Horror Story.

Career: After making his breakthrough as a comedian on Australian TV, Bana came to the attention of global audiences playing the lead role in Chopper, a biography of notorious Australian underworld figure Mark Read. Hollywood movies such as Black Hawk Down, Hulk and Troy followed. He had a lead role in 2005's Munich, alongside Daniel Craig and Geoffrey Rush, and directed by Steven Spielberg. With his stardom now assured, Bana continues to work in major US and Australian productions, including The Time Travellers' Wife, Star Trek, The Other Boleyn Girl and Kath and Kim.

Career: In 1995, Saldana began acting with the FACES theatre group in Brooklyn. She also performed with the New York Youth Theater and it was her appearance in a production of Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat that led to her being recruited by a talent agency. She used her dance training in her first film role, playing a ballet dancer in Center Stage (2000). Roles followed in Crossroads (2002), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), and The Terminal (2004), but she didn't become widely known until she starred in the hugely popular Avatar (2009). In the same year, she appeared in Star Trek. More recently, Saldana has been cast in Death at a Funeral (2010) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013).

Career: Pegg quickly gained a fanbase and performed his acclaimed one-man show at major venues in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. His first TV appearance was in 1995's Six Pairs of Pants, followed by Saturday Live and a two-year stint in ITV sitcom Faith in the Future. Other early projects include Big Train and Is It Bill Bailey? He co-wrote cult, award-winning sitcom Spaced with friend Jessica Stevenson. He has since reinforced his standing as one of Britain's leading performers with appearances in Band of Brothers, 24 Hour Party People (2002), Shaun of the Dead (2004), Mission: Impossible III (2006) and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), Hot Fuzz (2007), Run Fatboy Run (2007), Star Trek (2009) and its sequel Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), Paul (2011) and The World's End (2013).

Career: After small roles in two little-seen films, Nimoy landed the lead in the 1952 movie Kid Monk Baroni. He appeared briefly in cult classic Them! before spending two years in the US Army. When he returned to acting, he supplemented his income with odd jobs. His big break came in 1965 when Gene Roddenberry offered him the part of Mr Spock in the TV series Star Trek. When the show ended, he starred in the TV series Mission: Impossible and various long-forgotten movies and TV shows. From 1979 onwards, he returned to play Mr Spock in various projects and turned to directing, making Three Men and a Baby in 1987. He died on February 27, 2015, at the age of 83.

Career: During his senior year at college, he teamed up with Jill Mazursky to write a feature film treatment that became the basis for Taking Care of Business (1990). He wrote the screenplays for Regarding Henry (1991) and Forever Young (1992) before working with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay on 1998 box office hit Armageddon. In the same year, he co-created the TV series Felicity, which ran for four seasons. He went on to create Alias and co-create Lost. He made his feature film directorial debut in 2006 with Mission: Impossible III. Other projects include producing Cloverfield (2008), directing Star Trek (2009), co-creating TV series Fringe and writing and directing Super 8 (2011). He directed Star Trek sequel Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) and he is directing Star Wars Episode VII, which is due to be released in cinemas in the summer of 2015.