Career: After attending Georgia State University, Julia moved to New York to begin her career. She also did some modelling. Her first role was in Blood Red, alongside her brother, in 1986, although it wasn't released for three years. Mystic Pizza was her first notable project in 1988, and a year later she received her first Oscar nomination for Steel Magnolias. Pretty Woman made her a massive star. Hits since then include Flatliners, Sleeping with the Enemy, My Best Friend's Wedding, Notting Hill and Ocean's Eleven. She won an Oscar for Erin Brockovich, becoming Hollywood's highest paid actress in the process.

Career: Gere gained a place with the prestigious Provincetown Players at Cape Cod. He then had a spell in New York and played the lead in a 1973 West End production of Grease. Back in the US, he was sacked from his first film, The Lords of Flatbush, which forced him to become more focused. He became a major star thanks to roles in such movies as Looking for Mr Goodbar, Days of Heaven, Yanks, American Gigolo, An Officer and a Gentleman, Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride and a big-screen version of the hit musical Chicago. Since 1978 he has been interested in Buddhism and being an active humanitarian.

Career: Cusack got a number of small roles in films while she was studying but her big break came when she appeared in the TV series Saturday Night Live for one season. After that, she appeared on Broadcast News (1987) and Working Girl (1988). For the latter, she was Oscar-nominated for Best Supporting Actress. She then went on to appear in such films as Addams Family Values (1993) and Grosse Pointe Blank (1997). Cusack got her second Oscar nomination, as well as a Golden Globe nomination, for her appearance in In & Out (1997). She has become well known to family audiences for being the voice of Jessie in the Toy Story films. Between 2011 and 2015 she appeared in the US version of the TV series Shameless as Sheila Jackson. Since then, her acting roles have included TV show A Series of Unfortunate Events and the film Snatched (2017).

Career: Despite having a regular role in TV series 1st & Ten in 1989, it took Meloni more than a decade to become a household name in the US. Before achieving fame, he made appearances in NYPD Blue, Brooklyn South, The Fanelli Boys, Junior, Twelve Monkeys and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. His big break came in 1997 when he took a role in TV series Oz. His character, a vicious killer with a heart, was one of the most fascinating in the award-winning series. That led to parts in Runaway Bride and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit; he quit the latter in 2011 and says he has no plans to return. He's also appeared in movies Carlo's Wake, Wet Hot American Summer, That Brief Moment, Harold & Kumar Get the Munchies, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, and Nights in Rodanthe. He also spent a season playing the vampire Roman in True Blood.