Career: Wahlberg's film career kicked off in 1993 with TV movie The Substitute. A year later he made his big-screen debut in flop comedy Renaissance Man. Impressive turns in The Basketball Diaries and Fear made critics realise he was more than just another pop star-turned-actor. It was 1997 drama Boogie Nights that made his name as an actor. By 2000 he was a Hollywood hot property with roles in Three Kings and The Perfect Storm. Although a revamp of Planet of the Apes divided critics, Wahlberg delivered fine turns in The Italian Job remake, Four Brothers, I Heart Huckabees, The Departed and The Fighter. He is also a respected producer, with credits on Entourage, In Treatment, Boardwalk Empire, and How to Make It In America.

Career: Caan began appearing in off-Broadway plays before making his Broadway debut in Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole in 1961. He appeared in TV series such as The Untouchables, Wide Country, Dr Kildare, and Ben Casey, before landing his first film role in 1964 thriller Lady in a Cage. A year later, he landed his first starring role in Red Line 7000. More films followed in the 1960s, including El Dorado (1966), Countdown (1968), and The Rain People (1969). During the 1970s, he won acclaim in TV movie Brian's Song, and on the big screen in The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974), Rollerball (1975), Funny Lady (1975), A Bridge Too Far (1977), and Violent Streets (1981). After a break from acting, he returned in 1987 in Francis Ford Coppola's Gardens of Stone. He went on to star in Alien Nation (1988), Dick Tracy (1990), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Eraser (1996), Mickey Blue Eyes (1999), and Elf (2003). In 2003, he returned to TV in Las Vegas, a role he played for five seasons.

Career: The Phoenix children began landing acting roles at a young age. Leaf's first role was on TV in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in 1982. His film debut was in 1986's Space Camp. He also appeared in Parenthood in 1989 before changing his name back to Joaquin and dropping out of acting to travel in South America with his father. To Die For thrust him back into the spotlight in 1995. He's worked constantly since then, in such projects as 8MM, The Yards, Quills, Buffalo Soldiers, Signs, The Village, Ladder 49, and Her. He has received Oscar nominations for The Master, Walk the Line, and Gladiator.

Career: An agent spotted Theron arguing with a bank clerk and signed her on the spot. After eight months of acting lessons she landed her first role, a non-speaking part in Children of the Corn III. A more significant role in 2 Days in the Valley followed. Tom Hanks cast her in That Thing You Do! in 1996, and she hasn't looked back, appearing in hits such as The Devil's Advocate, Mighty Joe Young, and Reindeer Games. In 2003, she starred in the remake of The Italian Job and critically acclaimed drama Monster; her performance in the latter won her an Oscar. She also starred in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, Aeon Flux, Hancock, The Road, Young Adult, Snow White & the Huntsman and Prometheus.

Career: Burstyn's role as an actress terrorised by a demon dwelling within her daughter helped turn her into one of Hollywood's hottest properties. While films such as Harry and Tonto and Providence failed to impress, she won an Oscar and a Bafta for Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. A string of hit-and-miss movies followed, while in 1986 she enjoyed short-lived TV success on The Ellen Burstyn Show. In 2000 she gave a memorable turn as a drug-addled mum in critically acclaimed Requiem For A Dream, and re-teamed with director Darren Aronofsky for avant-garde fantasy flop The Fountain. Recent offerings have included the biopic W, Another Happy Day and TV series Big Love.

Career: Dunaway landed her first starring role, in a stage production of A Man for All Seasons, just days after graduating from university. Her TV debut was in a 1965 episode of Seaway, and her first film, Hurry Sundown, was released two years later. She became a household name thanks to Bonnie and Clyde, and followed it with such hits as The Thomas Crown Affair, Chinatown, The Towering Inferno, Network (for which she won an Oscar) and The Champ. Her films in the 1980s and 1990s weren't as successful, although she had a cameo role in the Thomas Crown remake.