Career: Bullock moved to New York and studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Student films were followed by the Off-Broadway play No Time Flat. She went to Hollywood to appear in TV movie Bionic Showdown in 1989, and thought her big break had come when she landed the lead in a small-screen version of hit movie Working Girl. Sadly, the series flopped. Things began looking up in 1993 when she landed a role in Demolition Man; a year later she was a massive star thanks to Speed. Hits since include While You Were Sleeping, Miss Congeniality (and its sequel), Crash, Premonition and The Proposal. She won an Oscar for her performance in The Blind Side. Her recent credits include The Heat and Gravity.

Career: In 2001, Hamm was asked to feature in a play, which then evolved into the critically acclaimed Kissing Jessica Stein. Around the same time he landed a small role in the comedy Space Cowboys. A series of recurring TV roles in shows such as Providence, The Division, What About Brian and The Unit boosted his CV, before he finally landed the role of Don Draper in Mad Men. In 2008, Hamm won the Golden Globe for his performance in the period drama. His film credits include The Day the Earth Stood Still, A Single Man, Sucker Punch, Friends with Kids and Million Dollar Arm. On the small screen, he has also starred in Black Mirror.

Career: Keaton's big break came when he landed a lead role in the short-lived sitcom Working Stiffs in 1979; it led to an appearance in the 1982 film Night Shift in 1982. Mr Mom, Johnny Dangerously and Gung Ho followed, but it was his role as the title character in the 1988 Tim Burton horror-comedy Beetlejuice that boosted him onto the A-list. He reunited with Burton in 1989 to make Batman, the highest-grossing film of the year. After an equally popular sequel to that film, Keaton remained in demand during the 1990s, appearing in Pacific Heights, One Good Cop, the star-studded Shakespeare adaptation Much Ado About Nothing and the thriller Desperate Measures. Since 2000, Keaton has provided the voices of Chick Hicks in Cars and Ken in Toy Story, and received major critical plaudits, including an Oscar nomination, for his role in Birdman.

Career: On Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward's advice, Janney enrolled at New York's Neighbourhood Playhouse, but she struggled to land decent roles. She made her big-screen debut in 1989's Who Shot Patakango? and also enjoyed a two-year stint in TV soap opera The Guiding Light. Small parts followed in Wolf (1994), The Ice Storm (1997), Primary Colors (1998) and American Beauty (1999). She won four Emmy awards for her role as CJ in The West Wing. She's since appeared in Hairspray (2007), Juno (2007), The Help (2011) and The Way Way Back (2013). Her recent TV credits include Mom and Masters of Sex.

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: Appearances in The Young Ones, Girls on Top and Happy Families followed, but it was the sketch show French and Saunders that propelled her to fame. One short skit in the series became the basis for Absolutely Fabulous. The sitcom's phenomenal global success opened new doors, and helped land Jennifer roles in the movies In the Bleak Midwinter, Spice World and Fanny and Elvis. She also voiced a not-so-good fairy godmother in hit animation Shrek 2 and stars in the BBC's Blandings. As well as the film and TV work, she has long been an active participant in the charity Comic Relief, alongside her on-screen partner Dawn French, and regularly takes part in the telethon events. We've also seen her reunited with her old pal in Jam & Jerusalem, which she wrote.

Career: During the 1990s, Carell taught an improvisational comedy class, wrote for The Dana Carvey Show and was one of the correspondents on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He impressed critics with supporting roles in Bruce Almighty (2003) and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004). In 2005, he co-wrote and starred in The 40 Year Old Virgin, which thrust him into the mainstream. He also shone in Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and helped turn the US version of British sitcom The Office into a big success. Since then he's starred in the likes of Date Night (2010), Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011), Hope Springs (2012) and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013). He left The Office in 2011 to concentrate on movies.

Career: Rush's film debut was a bit part in 1981's Hoodwink and he didn't have a major role on the big screen until he played Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night six years later. He had a small role as a dentist in a 1993 episode of Lovejoy, but his big break came in 1996 with Shine, for which he won an Academy Award. He has received further nominations for Shakespeare in Love (1998), Quills (2000) and The King's Speech (2010). His other film credits include Elizabeth (1998), The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004), Munich (2004) and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Throughout his film career, Rush has continued to work on the stage.