Career: Early roles came in Dallas, Growing Pains, Head Of The Class and several TV movies. Pitt's big break was playing young stud JD in Thelma And Louise. Hits include True Romance, Se7en, Interview With The Vampire, Snatch, Fight Club, Ocean's Eleven and Spy Game. Keen to stretch himself, he turned down a role in Apollo 13 to make Twelve Monkeys, for which he received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. Since then his films include Mr & Mrs Smith, two sequels to Ocean's Eleven, Babel, Burn After Reading and The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford. He received an Oscar nomination for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button in 2008. His recent work includes Inglourious Basterds, Moneyball, World War Z, 12 Years a Slave and Fury.

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: Gandolfini's early film outings included roles in True Romance (1993), Get Shorty (1995) and She's So Lovely (1997), but his breakthrough came on the small screen in 1999 when he began playing gangster boss Tony in HBO's acclaimed TV series The Sopranos. He won three Emmys, two Screen Actors Guild awards, and a Golden Globe for the role. High-profile movie offers followed and he went on to star in The Mexican (2001), The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), The Last Castle (2001), In the Loop (2009), The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009), Zero Dark Thirty (2012), Enough Said (2013) and The Drop (2014). He died on June 19, 2013, during a holiday in Italy.

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: Stage roles followed with Captain Hook and Mr Darling, Peter Pan and a revival of Guys and Dolls. His film debut came in The Ref (1994). He made guest appearances in a number of TV shows before his big break in 1997 when he began playing Dr Emil Skoda in Law & Order. He also played a villain in six seasons of crime drama OZ. His movie credits include scene-stealing performances in The Gift (2000), The Mexican (2001) and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, where he played newspaper mogul J Jonah Jameson. He was a main character in TV crime drama The Closer, which ran from 2005 until 2012. His other movie credits include Juno (2007), Burn After Reading (2008), Up in the Air (2009) and I Love You, Man (2009). He has also voiced a number of characters in TV shows, films and video games.

Career: Verbinski followed up the success of Mouse Hunt with action comedy The Mexican (2001) and horror film remake The Ring (2002), which grossed more than $200million worldwide. His big break came in 2003 when he directed Johnny Depp in the hugely popular Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. It grossed more than $650million worldwide. His next film, The Weather Man (2005), was his first box-office failure. He bounced back by directing two Pirates of the Caribbean sequels. The animated comedy western Rango followed in 2011 and box-office disaster The Lone Ranger arrived in 2013.