Damon had been pursuing an English degree at Harvard University when he dropped out, changed course and pursued a movie career instead. Damon and his friend Ben Affleck (they went to the same high school) wrote "Good Will Hunting" while he tried to get acting jobs. He landed his first role, a one-liner, in the 1988 film "Mystic Pizza" and later appeared in "Courage Under Fire" (1996) and the John Grisham drama "The Rainmaker" (1997). "Hunting" isn't the first movie in which he's co-starred with Affleck, either; they previously teamed up for "Chasing Amy."

His film debut was in "To Kill A Mockingbird" (1962), in which he played Gregory Peck's feeble-minded next-door neighbor. Duvall ranks among the most respected character actors and jack-of-all trades in the movie industry today. He has taken billing in past movies as actor, producer, director, writer and composer. The only Oscar win to date was for his portrayal of country-western singer Mac Sledge in the 1983 movie "Tender Mercies." He wrote and directed "The Apostle," and paid for its $5 million production costs.

Peter Fonda hails from that noted acting family of Fondas; he is the son of actor Henry Fonda, brother of actress Jane and father of actress Bridget. Peter first gained widespread recognition in "Easy Rider" (1969), which he produced and co-wrote. Since then he has starred in many movies, but few memorable ones: His Oscar nomination for portraying a Florida beekeeper bringing up a troubled family is the only one he has received since he was nominated for writing the "Easy Rider" screenplay.

Hoffman, who has developed a reputation for his love of method acting, struggled as a janitor and hospital mental ward attendant for several years before his big break in an off-Broadway production of "The Journey of the Fifth Horse." Winning an Obie in that performance eventually led director Mike Nichols to cast him in the part of Benjamin Braddock in "The Graduate" (1967), which catapulted Hoffman to instant stardom. Since then, he's won the Oscar for best actor, in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Rain Man (1988).

Jack Nicholson, a former messenger boy for MGM's cartoon department, also drove "Easy Rider" to fame. But he has gained more critical acclaim in his career than Fonda. In most of his roles, like that of obsessive-compulsive writer Melvin Udall in "As Good As It Gets," Nicholson has portrayed the eternal outsider and the sardonic drifter who bucks the system.

Abandoned by his father in his childhood, Nicholson was raised believing his grandmother was his mother and his mother was his older sister. The truth was revealed to him years later when a Time magazine researcher uncovered the truth while preparing a story on the star.

Forster, nominated for his portrayal of a bail bondsman in "Jackie Brown," was bitten by the acting bug while attending the University of Rochester in his hometown. Early positive reviews in movies like "Reflections in a Golden Eye" (1967) kept him interested in film, but his career was stalled in the B-lane for more than two decades. Those cheap movies put him in the path of the man responsible for his current nomination: director Quentin Tarantino, then-video store clerk and B-movie fan.

Hopkins began his acting career on the stage, progressing to the London theater circuit by the 1960s and remaining there through the '70s. During the '80s, he acted in a variety of TV and feature films including "The Bounty" (1984). But his most acclaimed works have come since his role as serial killer Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991) reignited his career. In just the last six years he has made "Dracula," "Shadowlands," "Legends of the Fall," "The Road to Wellville," "Nixon," and "The Edge," leading up to his latest role as John Quincy Adams in "Amistad."

Kinnear, who hosted E! Entertainment TV's show "Talk Soup" from 1991 to 1994, also appeared in a few minor TV series roles before landing the role of Harrison Ford's younger brother in the 1995 remake of "Sabrina."

Reynolds played football at Florida State University and was drafted by the Baltimore Colts, but he pursued a stage career after a football injury. He was one of the movie industry's most popular sex symbols in the 1960s and '70s. In recent years he had all but moved off of the big screen, focusing on his self-named Florida dinner theater and appearing in the occasional cheesy movie. His appearance as a congressman in "Striptease" (1996) put him back on the big-leagues' roll call. He gets his first Oscar nomination ever for his portrayal of a pornographic filmmaker

Williams got his start in the entertainment industry as a stand-up comic on the West Coast. He broke into films after gaining fame for his portrayal of wisecracking, extraterrestrial character Mork from Ork on the sitcom "Mork and Mindy" (that show itself was a spin-off of "Happy Days," in which Mork appeared). Despite his reputation as a comedian, he has expanded his dramatic range significantly in the last decade, garnering Academy Award nominations (but no awards so far) for leading roles in the 1991 film "The Fisher King," "Good Morning Vietnam" (1987) and "Dead Poets Society" (1989).