A theater director, movie director, and former hubby of Kate Winslet, Mendes is responsible for films like American Beauty and Road to Perdition, as well as theater productions like the revival of Cabaret.

Mendes went to Cambridge before embarking on a theater career. His rise was quick: By 25, he was directing for the Royal Shakespeare Company and he went on to direct works for the Royal National Theatre before he was named artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse in 1992. Mendes turned Donmar into one of London's most exciting theatrical venues in the 1990s, directing such works as Stephen Sondheim's Assassins and a Brit production of Cabaret with Alan Cumming in 1994. Mendes made the leap to Broadway in 1998 when Cabaret was transferred stateside. The Tony-winning show led to his first film job: Steven Spielberg enlisted Mendes to direct 1999's American Beauty, which won him a Best Director Oscar. Mendes has bounced back and forth between theater and film in subsequent years. Following his success with American Beauty, he directed 2002's Road to Perdition, helmed a 2003 Broadway revival of Gypsy, starring Bernadette Peters, and the British production of Richard Greenberg's Take Me Out. He made a triumphant (depending on who you talk to) return to film with Jarhead, Revolutionary Road, and Away We Go.

After dalliances with the likes of Cameron Diaz, Calista Flockhart, and Rachel Weisz, Mendes settled down with Rachel Weisz in 2003, but the pair split in 2010. He has since been dating actress Rebecca Hall. [Image via Getty]