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: Irons made his TV debut in 1971 in the series The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes and landed several other roles throughout the decade, including in the children's series Play Away. But it was in the 1980s he became widely recognised, thanks to the movie The French Lieutenant's Woman and TV tour de force Brideshead Revisited. These made him a sought after leading man and he went on to appear in productions such as Dead Ringers, Damage, Lolita, Die Hard with a Vengeance and Reversal of Fortune, for which he won an Oscar. He also lent his voice to The Lion King and has trodden the boards on Broadway, starred with his son Samuel in Danny the Champion of the World, and had a major role in The Borgias.

Career: Lunghi started out on stage, but made her TV debut in a 1968 episode of the BBC's classic Sherlock Holmes series. She's worked steadily ever since on the small and big screens, cropping up in the likes of Edward & Mrs Simpson, Excalibur, Tales of the Unexpected, The Monocled Mutineer, The Mission, and Ellis Island. However, it was popular footballing drama The Manageress which made her a major TV star in 1989. Since then, Lunghi has appeared in the likes of The Buccaneers, A Question of Guilt, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Jack and Sarah, EastEnders, Cutting It, Midsomer Murders and Casualty 1906. She was a Strictly Come Dancing contestant in 2008.

Career: During his long and prolific career, Pickup has made guest appearances in the likes of Crown Court, Matlock, Bergerac, Boon, Lovejoy, Silent Witness, Casualty, The Bill, Hustle, and New Tricks. He had recurring roles in Wagner, Moving, Fortunes of War, The Rector's Wife, Ivanhoe, and Holby City. His film credits include The Day of the Jackal (1973), The Thirty-Nine Steps (1978), Nijinsky (1980), Never Say Never Again (1983), The Mission (1986), The Fourth Protocol (1987), Lolita (1997), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) and its 2015 sequel. Pickup is also an established stage actor with roles in a number of productions, including Three Sisters, Amy's View, and Waiting for Godot.

Career: Neeson's professional debut was on stage in The Risen People. He was spotted in a play at Dublin's Abbey Theatre by director John Boorman, who cast him in movie Excalibur in 1981. He made a name for himself in Krull, A Woman of Substance, Ellis Island and The Mission. Other leading roles came in Suspect, The Dead Pool and The Big Man. However, he didn't become a major star until Schindler's List in 1993. Since then he's featured in Star Wars: Episode One - The Phantom Menace, Gangs of New York, Love Actually, Kinsey and the brilliant action film Taken. He was also seen in the big-screen version of The A Team and has several blockbusters in the pipeline.