Career: In 1996, Murphy made his professional stage debut in Enda Walsh's Disco Pigs. The runaway success of the play prompted him to leave university and quit his band, and led to him landing an agent. Between 1997 and 2003, he busied himself in an array of indie productions, but it was his powerful performance in the 2002 thriller 28 Days Later that really got him noticed. Since then, he has notched up impressive performances in a number of diverse films, including The Wind That Shakes The Barley, Sunshine, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Cold Mountain, Red Eye, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Inception and Tron: Legacy. He's also the star of the BBC's Peaky Blinders.

Career: Downey Jr appeared in three of his father's films while still a child. His career took off in the mid-1980s thanks to such films as Weird Science, The Pick-Up Artist and Chances Are. He beat several talented actors to the lead role of Chaplin in 1989, and his performance earned him an Oscar nomination. Since then, he's appeared in Natural Born Killers, Only You, Restoration and Wonder Boys. Following his widely reported personal problems, TV show Ally McBeal gave him a chance to put his career back on track, but his character was written out when he was sacked following two drug arrests. Since then he has emerged as one of the world's most sought-after and respected thespians, with roles in the likes of The Singing Detective, Iron Man, Tropic Thunder and Sherlock Holmes catapulting him to A-list status.

Career: Damon dropped out of Harvard to concentrate on acting. He struggled to get roles and made his film debut in 1988's Mystic Pizza. Playing a troubled soldier in 1996's Courage Under Fire got him noticed. A year later, Good Will Hunting, based on a story by Damon and Affleck, became a major success and won them Best Screenplay Oscars. Since then, Damon has appeared in several hits, including Saving Private Ryan, Dogma, The Talented Mr Ripley, Stuck On You, The Departed, True Grit, Invictus and the Ocean's Eleven and Bourne franchises. He is now among the world's most bankable stars.

Career: Blunt made her TV debut in 2003 in Boudica, and in the same year, she starred on the small screen in two-part drama Henry VIII. She received praise for her performance in the critically acclaimed low-budget British film My Summer of Love and won a Golden Globe for her role in Stephen Poliakoff's TV drama Gideon's Daughter. Her rise to international prominence began in 2006 when she starred on the big screen opposite Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada. Notable films since then have included Charlie Wilson, The Young Victoria, Gnomeo & Juliet, The Adjustment Bureau, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, The Muppets, The Five-Year Engagement, Looper and Edge of Tomorrow.

Career: Hartnett has developed a steady career, having appeared in several hit films, including The Virgin Suicides (1999), Black Hawk Down (2001), Lucky Number Slevin (2006), Sin City (2005) and The Black Dahlia (2006). In 2008, he branched out into producing, with the movies August (in which he also features) and Nobody. In 2014, he began starring in the TV horror drama Penny Dreadful.

Career: Conti started out on the stage in the 1960s, making his London debut in 1973. A year later he made his first film, the Slade movie Flame. In 1979 he picked up a Tony award for his Broadway appearance in Whose Life Is It Anyway? This led to parts in such acclaimed movies as Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, Reuben Reuben (for which he received an Oscar nomination) and Shirley Valentine. He appeared in short-lived US TV series Wright Verdicts in 1995. Other productions include Don't Go Breaking My Heart, I Was a Rat, Dangerous Parking and Deeply Irresponsible. He divides his time between stage work, film and TV.

Career: The success of Following, made for £3,000, led to Nolan directing Memento (2000), which he co-wrote with his brother Jonathan. The film was a box-office success and was nominated for two Academy Awards. He followed this up with box-office success Insomnia (2002). In 2005, he rebooted the Batman franchise with Batman Begins. It was a critical and commercial success. The sequel, The Dark Knight (2008), cemented Nolan's position as a leading director when it took more than $1billion at the worldwide box office. His trilogy of Batman movies ended with The Dark Knight Rises (2012), which also generated more than $1billion at the box office. Nolan has also had success with The Prestige (2006), Inception (2010) and Interstellar (2014).