why are they famous? Ben Affleck

MAIN CLAIM: Gwyneth. Although now an Oscar-winning screen writer and rising film star in his own right, currently appearing alongside Bruce Willis in Armageddon, young Ben first came to our attention as the boy who dared take over where Brad left off. A bold - some might say foolish - move. In a symbolic chain of fame, Brad Pitt, he of the unstinting love pronouncements, endowed girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow with global superstardom, while Gwyneth passed the torch along to Ben. Meanwhile, Ben's best mucker Matt Damon starts dating Winona Ryder. Hey presto, everyone's a thoroughgoing famous person.

APPEARANCE: Soulful war reporter with determined chin. Brooding, handsome introvert everyone thinks they've discovered. Autistic genius. PhD archaeology student, heart-throb of the summer dig.

DIY SKILLS: The story goes that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck got pissed off hanging about for good roles, so they made their own - wrote a script, flogged it for loads, acted in it, became stars, won Oscars. That's the way you do things round here. Then there's the eternal search for the new Marlon Brando. Johnny Depp's a bit old hat. Sean Penn's a bit old. Good-looking Ben from the wrong side of the tracks may as well fill the role for a couple of years.

CIRCLE OF FRIENDS: "Almost every relationship I've ever been in has been a train wreck," admits our dark and thoughtful hero. After six months dating Gwyneth, Ben has at last come out with it: "She is the woman I love." Gwyneth on Ben: "He's really nice, but I don't talk about relationships any more."

HOME BOY: The big things about Ben, 25, are: a) Ben loves Gwyneth and b) Ben is very working class and very proud of it. Ben's collar may be bluer than your average Hollywood superstar's, but hey it gives him grit, material, authenticity, those very traits all the Johnnys, Winonas and Ethans apparently so crave. Ben Affleck and pal Damon are working class heroes from rough, tough old south Boston. Ben is given to expounding at length upon his interesting left-wing views on private education and inheritance. Willowy trilingual Gwyneth with her showbiz parents and her education at New York's most expensive girls' school fits the bill, then.

FAME PROSPECTS: Can't go wrong, mate. See you on the picket line, then buy you a couple of jars. Ben is the new Brad, the new Liam, the new Marlon. Dare we say it - the new James Dean. Guaranteed superstardom, cred and adulation before flabbiness and Santa Monica mansions set in.