Career: De Niro made a handful of films in the 1960s and early 1970s, but it wasn't until 1973's Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets (his first collaboration with Martin Scorsese) that his career took off. He received an Oscar for The Godfather Part II a year later and was nominated Academy Awards for Taxi Driver and The Deer Hunter, and took home his second Oscar for Raging Bull. The King of Comedy, Once Upon A Time in America, Brazil, The Mission, Angel Heart and The Untouchables followed. Over the past few decades, De Niro has made crowd pleasers such as Cape Fear, Casino, Heat, Meet the Parents and Analyze This, as well as directing A Bronx Tale and The Good Shepherd. He gave a fabulous comic performance in the fantasy movie Stardust, before starring alongside fellow big-screen icon Al Pacino in cop thriller Righteous Kill. His more recent films have included Silver Linings Playbook and The Family.

Career: Jones landed an agent and a role in a Broadway production of A Patriot for Me just 10 days after graduating from Harvard in 1969. A year later he made his film debut in Love Story, based on Erich Segal's novel of the same name. Segal claimed he based the lead character of Oliver (played by Ryan O'Neal) on Jones and Gore. Jones then spent four years in soap opera One Life to Live. The film Coal Miner's Daughter made critics sit up and notice him in 1980. Acclaimed performances in Lonesome Dove, The Fugitive, JFK and Men in Black followed. Other well-received projects include No Country for Old Men, In the Valley of Elah (for which he received an Oscar nomination), Lincolm and The Homesman.

Career: Freeman's first credited big-screen appearance was in 1971's Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow?, before he landed a regular role on children's show The Electric Company. In the mid-1980s, Freeman started getting more prominent roles in movies. Among his biggest hits have been Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption, Se7en, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Glory, Amistad, Deep Impact and Bruce Almighty. He is also an in-demand voice-over artist, lending his dulcet tones to sci-fi blockbuster War of the Worlds and the Oscar-winning documentary March of the Penguins. Freeman received an Academy Award of his own for his supporting role in Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby. A prolific actor, he has more recently appeared in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy and always has several films in pre-production.

Career: Braff appeared on the New York stage in Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Twelfth Night. He played the son of Woody Allen and Diane Keaton in Manhattan Murder Mystery. He also appeared in little-known productions such as Getting to Know You, Blue Moon and Endsville before landing the role of JD in long-running sitcom Scrubs in 2001. Away from acting he has written and directed award-winning short films, as well as directing commercials and public service announcements. His first feature-length film as actor/writer/director, Garden State, was well-received in 2004. Since then, he has starred in The Last Kiss, The Pursuit of Happyness, The Ex, and The High Cost of Living. He toured the UK in 2012 in self-penned play All New People.

Career: Hirsch made his film debut in The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002). He went on to star in The Emperor's Club (2002), The Girl Next Door (2004), Imaginary Heroes (2004) and Lords of Dogtown (2005). He lost 40 pounds for his role in Into the Wild (2007). More recently, he has starred in Speed Racer (2008), Milk (2008), Taking Woodstock (2009), The Darkest House (2011), Savages (2012) and 2013 miniseries Bonnie and Clyde.