Career: On a visit to Los Angeles, Depp met Nicolas Cage who took him to see his agent. Depp made his movie debut in A Nightmare on Elm Street, but didn't become a star until the TV series 21 Jump Street. Despite gaining fame via the series, he quit to concentrate on offbeat movies. He has since gained critical acclaim in Edward Scissorhands (where he began his long association with director Tim Burton), Sleepy Hollow, Ed Wood, Blow, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Finding Neverland, Chocolat, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and the Pirates of the Carribean movies - he received his first Oscar nomination for his role in the original film. He always has a number of films in the pipeline and his recent movies include Alice in Wonderland, The Tourist, Dark Shadows, The Lone Ranger and Transcendence.

Career: In 1986, Winona made her film debut in Lucas; at the same time she changed her name to Ryder after listening to her father's Mitch Ryder album. Playing a troubled teen in 1988's Beetlejuice made her a star, and typecast her in the process. She also appeared as angst-ridden adolescents in Mermaids, Edward Scissorhands and Heathers. She came of age with Dracula in 1992, and received Oscar nominations for her roles in The Age of Innocence and Little Women. Other movies include Reality Bites, The Crucible, Girl Interrupted, Alien: Resurrection, Star Trek, Black Swan and Frankenweenie.

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: Hall's first major role came in the play The Wake. His debut movie was 1979's Jennifer's Journey, and a year later he starred in acclaimed chiller The Gold Bug. In 1983, he began his association with film-maker John Hughes thanks to National Lampoon's Vacation. They then worked together on the Brat Pack movies Sixteen Candles, Weird Science, and The Breakfast Club. At the age of 17, he became the youngest-ever member of Saturday Night Live, but was forced to quit after a year while giving up alcohol. Since then he's appeared in Edward Scissorhands, Six Degrees of Separation, and The Dead Zone. His recent work includes Funny Valentine, Final Approach and The Dark Knight.

Career: Having seen Frankenweenie, comedian Paul Reubens chose Burton to direct his 1985 movie Pee Wee's Big Adventure. That paved the way for his first blockbuster, Beetlejuice. Burton was entrusted with the long-awaited Batman movie, and when that became a huge hit in 1989, he pressed on with personal project Edward Scissorhands. A commercial and critical success, he followed it up with stylish sequel Batman Returns. Although 1994 offering Ed Wood was a commercial disaster, his biopic of the eponymous film-maker remains one of his finest works and also won Martin Landau an Oscar. Other hits include The Nightmare Before Christmas (which he produced), Mars Attacks!, Sleepy Hollow, Planet of the Apes, Big Fish, Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Alice in Wonderland was a huge commercial success when it was released in 2010.