Career: While appearing in the award-winning play The House of Blue Leaves in 1989, he made a spoof version of The Color of Money. It was so funny that US satire revue Saturday Night Live bought it and offered Stiller a regular spot. But when he was given his own show it flopped. He then made ends meet with a series of guest roles on TV and saved enough money to make the film Reality Bites, which he both directed and starred in. He also directed Jim Carrey in The Cable Guy, but got his big acting break in 1998's There's Something About Mary. Since then, he's starred in films such as Meet the Parents, The Royal Tenenbaums, Zoolander and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. He has also appeared in Night at the Museum, its sequels and seemingly endless comedy hits.

Career: Williams started out as a stand-up comedian, making his TV debut in 1977 on The Richard Pryor Show. His big break came playing the alien Mork in Happy Days, and its hugely successful spin-off Mork and Mindy. Movie success was difficult to come by, despite starring roles in Popeye and The World According to Garp. His first box-office hit was 1987's Good Morning Vietnam. Success in Dead Poets Society, The Fisher King, Awakenings and Mrs Doubtfire followed. He was also the voice of the genie in Disney's popular animated film Aladdin. He went on to win an Academy Award for Good Will Hunting in 1997. He followed that up with critically acclaimed fare such as Insomnia and One Hour Photo, and a one-man Broadway show. His other film credits include the Night at the Museum franchise. He returned to TV in 2013 in the sitcom The Crazy Ones. After a long battle with depression, he took his own life on August 11, 2014, at the age of 63.

Career: Wilson's breakthrough came in 2011 when she starred in Paul Feig's hugely popular comedy film Bridesmaids. It launched her Hollywood career and since then she has starred in A Few Best Men (2011), Bachelorette (2012), What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012) and Pitch Perfect (2012). More recently, she starred in the short-lived sitcom Super Fun Night and the films Pain & Gain (2013), Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014) and Pitch Perfect 2 (2015).

Career: Bottle Rocket was so well-received, the writers were asked to turn it into a full-length feature. Although it wasn't a hit, it launched Wilson's acting career - his frequent collaborator Ben Stiller offered him a small role in The Cable Guy after seeing the movie. He went on to star in films including Armageddon, The Haunting, Shanghai Noon, Meet the Parents and Zoolander, although he gained more critical acclaim for co-writing Anderson's films Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Since then, he's taken starring roles in Starsky and Hutch, Wedding Crashers, Drillbit Taylor, Marley and Me, Midnight in Paris and Hall Pass, as well as reuniting with Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and The Darjeeling Limited.

Career: After becoming a cult favourite with Radio 4's On the Hour, Coogan made his TV breakthrough in 1993 with roles on Saturday Zoo and The Day Today. The former introduced his foul-mouthed Mancunian layabout Paul Calf, and the latter brought his most famous radio creation, Alan Partridge, to the small screen. He appeared in horror spoof Dr Terrible's House of Horrible and also made a handful of hit-and-miss films, including Terry Jones's version of Wind in the Willows, The Parole Officer and 24 Hour Party People. He's enjoyed success in America with such films as Around the World in 80 Days, A Night at the Museum and Tropic Thunder. In 2010 he appeared with Rob Brydon in contemplative BBC sitcom The Trip, and more recently in its sequel, The Trip to Italy. He also co-wrote and starred in Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa and Philomena.

Career: Gervais started out in radio on Xfm, where he met Stephen Merchant, who would become his writing partner. His first taste of stardom came via Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show. Tongue-in-cheek chat show, Meet Ricky Gervais, paved the way for BBC sitcom The Office. Extras, Life is Short and An Idiot Abroad (featuring his sidekick Karl Pilkington) have also been TV hits. He's also continued to work on radio, done stand-up, wrote the children's books Flanimals, worked on The Simpsons, appeared in various Hollywood movies and wrote and directed (with Merchant) as well as appeared in the film Cemetery Junction. Gervais has won many awards, including several Baftas, Emmys and Golden Globes. His most recent project is the Channel 4 comedy Derek, in which he stars as well as directing and writing each episode.

Career: Stevens' professional acting career started in 2004, when he played Orlando in Peter Hall's touring production of As You Like It. Following a number of theatre roles, Stevens landed the lead part in the BBC adaptation of The Line of Beauty. His biggest break came when he was cast as Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey. He left the show after its third season so that he could star in The Guest (2014). Since then, he has played the lead role in the TV series Legion and played the Beast in the live action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast (2017).

Career: Kingsley joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1967 and soon began landing lead roles. He also appeared briefly in Coronation Street in the 1960s. He made his movie debut in 1972's Fear Is the Key and worked steadily if unspectacularly on both the big and small screens until 1982 when he won an Oscar for the title role in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi. Since then Kingsley has made such films as Maurice, Without a Clue, Sneakers, Schindler's List, the live-action Thunderbirds movie, Shutter Island and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. He's been Oscar-nominated for Bugsy, Sexy Beast and House of Sand and Fog. Other projects include Iron Man 3 and Hugo.