Career: At the age of 16, Hathaway was cast in short-lived TV series Get Real. Her big-screen debut came in The Other Side of Heaven. In the same year she beat 500 other girls to land a role alongside Julie Andrews in Disney's The Princess Diaries. The film was a huge success and the family films Nicholas Nickleby, Ella Enchanted and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement followed before she started taking on more mature roles. The first of these was gritty drama Havoc. Since then, Hathaway has starred in a number of box-office hits, including Brokeback Mountain, The Devil Wears Prada, Becoming Jane, Rachel Getting Married, Alice in Wonderland, Love & Other Drugs, The Dark Knight Rises and Les Miserables, a role that secured her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

Career: Spencer has made guest appearances in a number of TV shows, including ER, Chicago Hope, Roswell, The X-Files, Becker, Malcolm in the Middle and Dharma and Greg. She is best known for playing domestic Minny Jackson in The Help (2011), a role that earned her an Oscar and a Golden Globe. More recently, she has starred in Fruitvale Station (2013), Snowpiercer (2013), Get on Up (2014), Black and White (2014) and Insurgent (2015). She had a recurring role in the sitcom Mom.

Career: Tucci is much in demand as an actor and has had roles in a number of films, including Beethoven (1992), The Pelican Brief (1993), Kiss of Death (1995), Big Night (1996), Road to Perdition (2002), The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004), The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Julie & Julia (2009), The Lovely Bones (2009), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), The Hunger Games (2012) and its sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), and Jack the Giant Slayer (2013). He has also turned up on the small screen in Monk, ER, 3lbs and 30 Rock.

Career: In the 1980s, Rock hit the comedy circuit and his cutting quips and clever observations soon saw him step onto TV in Miami Vice, and catch Eddie Murphy's attention. The celebrated comic saw huge potential in Rock and befriended the aspiring star, securing him a role in Beverley Hills Cop II. In the early 1990s he became an integral part of the American sketch show Saturday Night Live, where his brand of humour complemented Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider and Chris Farley. After a succession of bit-part roles in films such as Sgt Bilko, a show-stealing performance in Lethal Weapon 4 gave Rock a springboard to future success. In 2001, he was given his first film lead in Down to Earth, where he played a comedian given a second chance at life. In 2005, Rock returned to TV with a show based loosely around his upbringing called Everybody Hates Chris, which the dry comic narrated and produced. It received widespread critical acclaim and ran for four seasons. In 2005 Rock's status was catapulted into the stratosphere when he was entrusted to host the Oscars, with event organisers hoping he would add edginess to the proceedings. The uproarious actor once again united with SNL co-star Adam Sandler in 2010's Grown Ups and its 2013 sequel.

Career: Simon made her film debut in Cry Freedom (1987). A year later, she had a lead role in Milk and Honey. In 1992, she starred alongside Brenda Fricker in the TV movie Seekers. Her TV work includes appearances in Kavanagh QC, Dalziel and Pascoe, Lewis, The Bill, Skins, Minder, Casualty and Silent Witness. More recently, she has starred in New Tricks, Merlin, Death in Paradise and Suspects. On the stage, she has performed frequently with the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Career: Robinson's TV debut came in 2007 when she guest starred in an episode of The Green Green Grass. Her big break came in 2010 when Channel 4 commissioned her to make sketch show The Morgana Show. She went on to star in the sketch show Very Important People and BBC sitcom House of Fools.

Career: At USC, Zemeckis developed a close friendship with fellow student Bob Gale, who he co-wrote the Back to the Future trilogy with. After winning a Student Academy Award at USC for his film A Field of Honor, Zemeckis formed a working relationship with director Steven Spielberg, who executive produced a number of his films. Zemeckis was struggling to find work in the early 1980s until Michael Douglas hired him to direct Romancing the Stone. It was a box-office hit and gave Zemeckis the clout he needed to direct Back to the Future (1985), which was hugely successful and was followed by two sequels. He went on to direct a string of successful movies, including Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Death Becomes Her (1992), Forrest Gump (1994), Contact (1997), What Lies Beneath (2000), Cast Away (2000), The Polar Express (2004) and A Christmas Carol (2009). He produced box-office animated flop Mars Needs Moms (2011) but bounced back by directing live-action drama Flight (2012).