Career: Within five years of his big-screen debut, Cruise was one of the hottest actors of his generation, having starred in the likes of Risky Business and Top Gun. The likes of Rain Man, The Color of Money, Interview with the Vampire and Days of Thunder followed. He has also turned his hand to producing and made the smart move of taking a share of several of his film's profits, making him one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood. Recent hits include Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Jack Reacher, Oblivion and Edge of Tomorrow. He has been Oscar-nominated three times, for his performances in Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire and Magnolia, but has yet to win. His next major film is Mission: Impossible 5.

Career: After making the decision to get into acting in 1956, Hackman joined the Pasadena Playhouse in California (where incidentally, he struck up a friendship with Dustin Hoffman). After performances in several off-Broadway plays, Hackman's first movie was Lilith alongside Warren Beatty, who then cast him in his breakthrough film, Bonnie and Clyde. Hackman was soon in demand, showcasing his talents in everything from comedy (in Young Frankenstein) to villainy (as Lex Luthor in Superman). He's also won two Oscars - Best Actor for The French Connection, and Best Supporting Actor for Unforgiven. He retired from acting in 2004 to concentrate on writing novels.

Career: Tripplehorn made her TV drama debut in The Perfect Tribute, and a year later was snapped up for steamy blockbuster Basic Instinct. She was soon hired for Tom Cruise drama The Firm and Kevin Costner's expensive fantasy, Waterworld. She also featured in acclaimed comedy drama Sliding Doors, Hugh Grant vehicle Mickey Blue Eyes and arthouse movie Timecode. Other projects have included Steal This Movie, Paranoid, Relative Values, Frasier and The Moguls. Tripplehorn achieved critical acclaim in stage productions of Three Sisters, Tis Pity She's a Whore and The Big Funk. She played Barb Henrickson in US TV drama Big Love. More recently, she has starred in New Girl and Criminal Minds.

Career: Hunter had one line in her film debut, 1981's The Burning, but quickly began gaining bigger parts. She took the lead in Coen brothers' film Raising Arizona in 1987. It proved her worth as a comedy actress, and she went on to appear in Broadcast News. Other notable projects include Always, The Piano (for which she won a Best Actress Oscar), The Firm, and Emmy-winning TV movie The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheer-Leading Murdering Mom. More recently, she gained plaudits for O Brother, Where Art Thou and Thirteen, provided a voice for animated adventure The Incredibles and made her West End debut in The Bog of Cats in 2004. More recently, she has starred in the TV series Saving Grace and the miniseries Top of the Lake.

Career: He initially worked as a house-painter to make ends meet, but acting jobs soon started flooding in, mainly in theatre and TV. He bagged his first leading movie role in the cult film Knightriders in 1981, but it was his performance as John Glenn in the acclaimed The Right Stuff that marked him out as a rising star. In 1995, another fact-based drama about astronauts, Apollo 13, earned him his first Oscar nod. He's been nominated three more times for The Truman Show, Pollock (which he also directed) and The Hours. His other notable films include The Abyss, The Rock, Nixon, A Beautiful Mind, A History of Violence and Man on a Ledge.

Career: Pollack found work in the 1960s directing episodes of TV series such as The Fugitive and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. His film-directing debut was The Slender Thread (1965), which starred Sidney Poitier and Anne Bancroft. Pollack went on to become a hugely successful director. He won two Academy Awards for Out of Africa (1986) for Best Picture and Best Director. His other directing credits include They Shoot Horses, Don't They (1969), Three Days of the Condor (1975), Tootsie (1982), The Firm (1993) and Sabrina (1995). Pollack also had a number of acting roles and appeared in such films as Tootsie (1982), The Player (1992), Eyes Wide Shut (1999) and Michael Clayton (2007). He also made guest appearances on the TV series The Sopranos and Entourage. He died of stomach cancer on May 26, 2008 at the age of 73.