Career: After his second film, See You in the Morning, won him rave reviews, the young star played opposite comedy giant John Candy in Uncle Buck, almost upstaging the seasoned actor. Global smash Home Alone was his next movie, followed by the equally successful tearjerker My Girl and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. In a departure from previous roles, Culkin took the lead in The Good Son as a psychotic youngster. His film work deteriorated as his personal problems increased, though in 2001 he made a comeback appearance on the London stage in a production of Madame Melville. More recent work includes the black comedy Saved! and Jerusalemski sindrom, which aired at the 2004 Venice Film Festival.

Career: Pesci's first film role was as an uncredited dancer in Hey, Let's Twist! (1961) but then he had to wait another 15 years for a minor part in The Death Collector (1976). His work in the second film was seen by Robert De Niro, who convinced director Martin Scorsese to cast him in the epic boxing film Raging Bull (1980), which really got him noticed in Hollywood. He played with buddy De Niro again in Once Upon a Time in America (1984), nearly stole the show as con man Leo Getz in Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) and scored a Best Supporting Actor Oscar playing the psychotic Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas. His comedic talents shone again in the mega-popular Home Alone (1990), and he put in terrific performances as co-conspirator David Ferrie in JFK (1991) and the title character in My Cousin Vinny (1992). After a brilliant turn in 1995's Casino, he has only taken the occasional role, despite having plenty of offers.

Career: Fricker initially wanted to become a journalist, but ventured into acting while working for The Irish Times. She gained experience in Irish theatre and with the National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Court Theatre Company before gaining wider public attention for her role as Megan Roach in BBC series Casualty. She received huge acclaim for her Oscar-winning supporting performance as the determined mother of a son afflicted with cerebral palsy in My Left Foot, then headed to Hollywood where she appeared in such varied fare as Home Alone 2 and So I Married an Axe Murderer, as well as more serious roles in Veronica Guerin and Stone of Destiny. She made occasional return appearances on Casualty until August 2010, when her character was killed off.

Career: Columbus launched his directing career with Adventures in Babysitting (1987). Since then, he has directed a string of popular films, including Home Alone (1990), Only the Lonely (1991), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), Mrs Doubtfire (1993), Nine Months (1995), Bicentennial Man (1999), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010) and Pixels (2015). He has also produced a number of movies, including the Night at the Museum films and The Help (2011).