Career: After several TV roles, Hanks made the transition to movies and became one of the biggest stars of the past three decades. His breakthrough came in 1984's Splash, and was followed by hit after hit, including Bachelor Party and Dragnet. When he took the lead in Oscar-nominated Big in 1988, he transformed a simple comedy into something much more powerful, before truly proving his acting credentials with an Oscar-winning turn as an Aids-afflicted laweyer in Philadeplhia. He gave terrific turns in romantic comedies like Sleepless in Seattle, then another Oscar followed for Forrest Gump. Many expected him to garner a third for Saving Private Ryan. He has been a successful director of several projects and helped bring iconic TV projects like Band of Brothers to the screen. Recent hits include The Da Vinci Code and its follow-up, and the Toy Story films.

Career: A string of other projects followed, including TV series China Beach, and the movies Blue Steel, Flight of the Intruder, Guilty By Suspicion, Point Break and Passenger 57. By the early 1990s, Sizemore was inundated with film roles, including True Romance, Striking Distance, Wyatt Earp and Natural Born Killers. He was typecast as either macho cops in Strange Days and The Relic or gruff soldiers in Saving Private Ryan, Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down. In recent years he's rarely been out of work, featuring in TV shows such as Robbery, Homicide Division, Dr Vegas, CSI: Miami, Southland, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Hawaii Five-O. He always has a number of projects in the pipeline.

Career: Damon dropped out of Harvard to concentrate on acting. He struggled to get roles and made his film debut in 1988's Mystic Pizza. Playing a troubled soldier in 1996's Courage Under Fire got him noticed. A year later, Good Will Hunting, based on a story by Damon and Affleck, became a major success and won them Best Screenplay Oscars. Since then, Damon has appeared in several hits, including Saving Private Ryan, Dogma, The Talented Mr Ripley, Stuck On You, The Departed, True Grit, Invictus and the Ocean's Eleven and Bourne franchises. He is now among the world's most bankable stars.

Career: Diesel found getting acting jobs difficult until his mother gave him a book about making low-budget films. That led him to write, direct and star in short film Multi-Facial in 1994, which was well-received at the Cannes Film Festival. His first feature film, Strays, wasn't as well appraised, but Steven Spielberg was impressed enough to cast him in Saving Private Ryan. Diesel went on to voice The Iron Giant before tackling his first lead role in 2000's modest sci-fi hit Pitch Black. That made casting directors take notice, and he has since appeared in such blockbusters as The Fast and the Furious and xXx, as well as their sequels. Other films include The Pacifier, Find Me Guilty and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Career: After numerous small TV and film roles, including parts in acclaimed dramas The Onion Field and Body Heat, Danson's big break came in 1982 when he was cast as retired baseball player and barkeeper Sam Malone in US sitcom Cheers. The show ran for more than a decade, and during that time, Danson received nine Emmy nominations, winning twice, and two Golden Globes. He went on to star in the successful sitcom Becker, which ran for six years. He's also starred in a number of films, including Three Men and a Baby and its sequel, Made in America, Saving Private Ryan and a highly acclaimed adaptation of Gulliver's Travels. More recent TV work includes roles in Damages, Bored to Death, and CSI.

Career: For a number of years, his acting career has been made up of recurring and guest roles on a number of TV shows, including My Two Dads, Married with Children, The Wonder Years, Friends (as Phoebe's brother, Frank), Chicago Hope, Walker, Texas Ranger and My Name Is Earl. His film credits include Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004), Public Enemies (2009) and Avatar (2009). Recently, he starred in short-lived American sitcom Dads.

Career: Spielberg's 1971 thriller Duel paved the way for feature film The Sugarland Express, a modest hit. In 1975, Jaws started a long run of successes, including the Indiana Jones films, ET, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan. He also co-founded studio Dreamworks SKG, which has backed various hits, including Shrek, American Beauty and Gladiator. Spielberg's recent films include The Terminal, Munich and War of the Worlds. He has also worked as the producer on a string of hit films, including The Goonies, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the Back to the Future trilogy, the Transformers trilogy, and True Grit. His recent work includes The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, War Horse and Lincoln. He won an Oscar for Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List and an honorary award in 1987.