Career: During the 1990s, Carell taught an improvisational comedy class, wrote for The Dana Carvey Show and was one of the correspondents on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He impressed critics with supporting roles in Bruce Almighty (2003) and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004). In 2005, he co-wrote and starred in The 40 Year Old Virgin, which thrust him into the mainstream. He also shone in Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and helped turn the US version of British sitcom The Office into a big success. Since then he's starred in the likes of Date Night (2010), Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011), Hope Springs (2012) and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013). He left The Office in 2011 to concentrate on movies.

Career: Henson has had recurring roles on a number of TV shows, including The Division, Boston Legal and Person of Interest. Her film credits include Four Brothers (2005), Talk to Me (2007), Date Night (2010), The Karate Kid (2010), Larry Crowne (2011) and the Think Like a Man movies. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). She has a lead role in musical drama TV series Empire.

Career: On his arrival in the US, Van Damme didn't speak English, but claims he learnt the language by watching The Flintstones. He struggled to land parts at first, taking numerous odd jobs to make ends meet. Chuck Norris gave him a role in Missing in Action (1984) but several forgettable movies followed until he got his big break playing a villain in 1988's No Retreat, No Surrender. His good looks and amazing martial arts skills then led to leading roles in such films as Kickboxer (1989), Double Impact (1991), Universal Soldier (1992), Hard Target (1993), Timecop (1994) and Street Fighter (1995). He then went on to star in a number of poorly received movies. More recently, he voiced a character in Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) and played the aptly titled Jean Vilain in The Expendables 2 (2012).

Career: Yeoh came to prominence in the West thanks to 007 epic Tomorrow Never Dies. She went on to star in Ang Lee's Oscar winning martial arts drama Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (for which she was Bafta nominated), Memoirs of a Geisha, and also played an astronaut in Danny Boyle's sci-fi thriller Sunshine. Other big screen offerings include The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Babylon AD and she will be heard in 2011 in the Kung Fu Panda 2. She has also worked as a jury member at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival and is a supporter of Save China's Tigers project.

Career: Lundgren made the move into acting and had a bit part in the 007 adventure A View to a Kill in 1985, but it was Rocky IV the same year that made him a household name. Lundgren also played He-Man in the movie Masters of the Universe (1987) and was the first actor to play Marvel comics hero The Punisher on the big screen in 1989. Other notable projects include 1992 blockbuster Universal Soldier and Keanu Reeves' sci-fi flop Johnny Mnemonic (1995). He's spent the past few years making a string of low-budget action adventures, including The Peacekeeper (1997), Hidden Agenda (2001) and The Defender (2004), appeared in Sylvester Stallone's action flick The Expendables (2010) and its two sequels and returned to the Universal Soldier franchise for two sequels. In 2013, he began starring in American TV action drama SAF3.

Career: Arkin made his film debut in The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966), for which he earned an Academy Award nomination. Two years later, he was nominated again for The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968). In the same year, he played the title role in Inspector Clouseau, a character that had been made famous in two earlier films by Peter Sellers. Arkin's other film credits include Wait Until Dark (1967), Catch-22 (1970), The In-Laws (1979) Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), and Little Miss Sunshine (2006), for which he won a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for Argo (2012).

Career: Royal Variety and pantomime performances made Andrews a famous name in the UK. In 1954, she was offered the lead in The Boy Friend on Broadway. That led to her being cast in the first production of My Fair Lady in 1956, but she lost out on the movie role to Audrey Hepburn. Instead, she won an Oscar for Mary Poppins - her first film. The Sound of Music was a massive hit in 1965, but a string of flops dogged her through the late 1960s and mid-1970s; even her award-winning variety-style TV show The Julie Andrews Hour, was cancelled after one season. Movies since include 10, SOB, Victor/Victoria, The Princess Diaries and its sequel, and three Shrek movies. She writes children's books under her married name of Julie Edwards, and won a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2010. Andrews returned to the London stage for a one-off concert later that year.