Emilio Estevez

Though he was the son of star Martin Sheen, actor Emilio Estevez - who kept his father's given surname to attain success on his own terms - nonetheless benefitted from his family's position. Exposed early on to show business by being on the sets of "Apocalypse Now" (1979) and "Gandhi" (1981), Estevez was more than prepared to make the leap into stardom, which he did following an acclaimed leading performance in the cult comedy "Repo Man" (1984). He soon followed with a string of Gen-X hits, including the cultural landmark teen dramedy, "The Breakfast Club" (1985), directed by John Hughes. Also that year, he starred alongside friends and fellow up-and-comers Andrew McCarthy, Judd Nelson, Demi Moore and Ally Sheedy in "St. Elmo's Fire" (1985). The group of actors, many of whom went on to star in other films together, were notoriously dubbed "The Brat Pack" by New York magazine - a stigma that he was forced to endure. Following commercial hits like "Stakeout" (1987) and "Young Guns" (1990), Estevez's career went on a bit of a slide in the 1990s, with the Disney movie "The Mighty Ducks" (1992) as perhaps his most successful as a star. Turning more to directing in the latter half of the decade, Estevez helmed episodes of several top procedural shows while making his long dreamed-of project, "Bobby" (2006), which helped propel his career into a new and exciting direction.