Career: Sandler made his acting debut in The Cosby Show in 1987, but didn't become a star until he was signed by Saturday Night Live (SNL) in 1990. He became one of its most popular performers during a five-year stint on the programme. During that period, he also made the movies Coneheads (1993), Mixed Nuts (1994) and Airheads (1994). His big-screen career really took off when he left SNL. Since then, he's starred in such hits as The Wedding Singer (1998), The Waterboy (1998), Big Daddy (1999), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), 50 First Dates (2004), Funny People (2009), Grown Ups (2010) and its 2013 sequel, Jack and Jill (2011), Blended (2014) and The Cobbler (2014). He is also the founder of the Happy Madison production company.

Career: For the next few years, Walken appeared in musical productions. After 1966's Barefoot in Athens, small roles in The Anderson Tapes and Annie Hall followed. His big break came in 1978 when he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for The Deer Hunter. He's been in demand ever since. Other films include A View to a Kill, Batman Returns, True Romance, Pulp Fiction and Catch Me If You Can. He continues to be an in-demand character actor, excelling in both comedy and serious drama. Dancing in Fat Boy Slim video Weapon of Choice introduced him to a new generation of fans. More recent work includes Wedding Crashers, Man of the Year, Hairspray and Seven Psychopaths.

Career: Beckinsale continued to act in films such as Much Ado About Nothing and The Prince of Jutland while studying for her degree, but eventually dropped out of university to concentrate on her career. Shortly afterwards, she starred in British productions Cold Comfort Farm, Emma and Shooting Fish, before moving to Hollywood to make The Last Days of Disco and Brokedown Palace. Although those films were critically well received, it was the 2001 movie Pearl Harbor that made her a star in the US. Since then, she's appeared in Underworld and its sequels, Van Helsing, Serendipity, Vacancy, Click, Aviator and Total Recall.

Career: Hasselhoff originally intended to concentrate on musical theatre, until he landed a regular role in long-running soap The Young and the Restless. However, it was cult series Knight Rider that made him a star in 1982. Various little-seen TV shows and movies followed, until Baywatch became a global hit in 1989. He's also had success as a singer in Europe, appeared on Broadway and in the West End, and in the films Dodgeball and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. He returned to TV in 2006 as a judge on America's Got Talent. Since then he's returned briefly to The Young and the Restless, took part in Dancing with the Stars, appeared in panto and had a short stint as a judge on Britain's Got Talent.

Career: Winkler's first major film role was in The Lord's of Flatbush in 1974. He played a member of a Brooklyn gang. Immediately after that, he was cast in a new ABC comedy series set in the 1950s called Happy Days. He was given the role of high school dropout and greaser Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli. The character became an icon and the undisputed star of the show. He remained on the series until its cancellation in 1984. Afterwards, he produced and directed several TV shows and movies, most notably MacGyver and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. In the mid-1990s he was able to re-establish himself with a younger generation of moviegoers, appearing in popular offerings Scream and The Waterboy. He made his pantomime debut at the New Wimbledon Theatre, London, in 2006, playing Captain Hook in Peter Pan.

Career: Kavner won her first notable role on popular comedy series Rhoda as Brenda Morgenstern in 1974 and stayed on until it finished four years later, winning an Emmy award for her performance. She then moved on to guest stints on The Tracey Ullman Show, in which a number of animated shorts were to be included. Producers were looking for voices for the cartoons and enlisted the actress. This just happened to turn into The Simpsons, which proved a runaway success. Despite voicing Marge since 1988 (and reportedly earning more than $400,000 per episode), Kavner has fitted in several film roles over the years, including her first starring role in This Is My Life from 1992.

Career: At the age of nine, Sean made his acting debut opposite his mother in TV movie Please Don't Hit Me Mom. Other early roles include The Goonies, Like Father Like Son and The War of the Roses. More mature parts came in the 1990s in Memphis Belle, Bulworth and Courage Under Fire, but didn't become a famous name until The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was released in 2001; he starred in the trilogy's second and third films too. He's worked almost non-stop since; his CV includes 50 First Dates, 24, Click, Forever Strong and The Witches of Oz. He's also in demand for voiceover work and has branched out into directing.

Career: Largely specialising in comedic roles, Coolidge has made a name for herself with scene-stealing guest appearances. Her TV credits include guest spots on Frasier, According to Jim, Sex and the City, Friends, Joey, Nip/Tuck and The Closer. She became known to a wider global audience in 1999 when she played Stifler's mom in American Pie. She reprised her role in the later American Pie movies. Her other movie credits include Legally Blonde (2001) and its sequel, A Cinderella Story (2004), Click (2006), Date Movie (2006) and Austenland (2013). Since 2012, she has had a recurring role on the sitcom 2 Broke Girls.