Trivia: Born October 28th, 1967, Georgia native Julia Roberts was raised in a fervently pro-theater environment. Her parents regularly hosted acting and writing workshops, and both of the Roberts children (Julia and her brother Eric) showed an interest in the performing arts at an early age. Ironically enough, Eric was the first to break into film; in 1978, one year after their father died of lung cancer at 47, Eric Roberts starred in director Frank Pierson's psychological drama King of the Gypsies. Though her older brother would go on to have a solid acting career, it was, of course, Julia Roberts who earned a spot among Hollywood's elite.After making her film debut in Blood Red -- which wouldn't be released until 1989, despite having been completed in 1986 -- and appearing in several late '80s television features, Roberts got her first real break in the 1988 made-for-cable drama Satisfaction. That role, consequently, led to her first significant supporting role -- a feisty pizza parlor waitress in 1989's Mystic Pizza with Annabeth Gish, Lili Taylor, and a then 19-year-old Matt Damon. While Mystic Pizza was not a star-making film for Roberts, it certainly helped earn her the credentials she needed to land the part of Shelby, an ill-fated would-be mother in Steel Magnolias. The 1989 tearjerker found her acting alongside Sally Field and Shirley MacLaine, and culminated in an Oscar nomination for Roberts. While the success of Steel Magnolias played no small part in launching Roberts' career, and undoubtedly secured her role in the mediocre Flatliners (1990) with former flame Kiefer Sutherland, it was director Garry Marshall's romantic comedy Pretty Woman with Richard Gere that served as her true breakthrough role. Roberts' part in Pretty Woman (a good-hearted prostitute who falls in love with a millionaire client) made the young actress a household name and cemented what would become a permanent spot in tabloid fodder. Roberts broke off her engagement with Sutherland in 1991, just three days before they were scheduled to be married, and surprised the American public in 1993, when she began her two-year marriage to country singer Lyle Lovett. Roberts' personal life kept her name in the spotlight despite a host of uneven performances throughout the early '90s (neither 1991's Dying Young or Sleeping With the Enemy garnered much acclaim), as did a reputed feud with Steven Spielberg during the filming of Hook (1991). Luckily, Roberts made decidedly less embarrassing headlines in 1993, when her role alongside future Oscar winner Denzel Washington in The Pelican Brief reaffirmed her status as a dramatic actress. Her career, however, took a turn back to the mediocre throughout the following year; both Prêt-à-Porter and I Love Trouble proved commercial flops, and Mary Reilly (1996) fizzled at the box office as well. The downward spiral reversed directions once again with 1996's Michael Collins and Conspiracy Theory with Mel Gibson, and led to several successful comic roles including Notting Hill with Hugh Grant, Runaway Bride, and most notably, My Best Friend's Wedding with Rupert Everett and a then virtually unknown Cameron Diaz. Roberts' biggest success didn't present itself until 2000, though, when she delivered an Oscar-winning performance playing the title role in Steven Soderbergh's Erin Brockovich. The film, based on the true story of Erin Brockovich, a single mother who, against all odds, won a heated battle against corporate environmental offenders, earned Roberts a staggering 20-million-dollar salary. Officially the highest paid actress in Hollywood, Roberts went on to star in 2001's America's Sweethearts with Billy Crystal, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and John Cusack, as well as The Mexican with Brad Pitt. While on the set of The Mexican, Roberts met cameraman Danny Moder, whom she would marry in 2001 almost immediately after ending a four-year relationship with fellow actor Benjamin Bratt. Indeed, 2001 was a banner year for Roberts; in addition to America's Sweethearts and The Mexican, Roberts starred in the crime caper Ocean's Eleven, in which she rejoined former co-stars Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, and acted for the first time with George Clooney and Don Cheadle. Julia Roberts worked with Soderbergh once again in 2002's Full Frontal, which, despite a solid cast including Mary McCormack and Catherine Keener, among others, did not even begin to fare as well as Erin Brockovich. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), which featured Roberts as a femme fatale alongside George Clooney, Sam Rockwell, and Drew Barrymore did much better, and preceded 2003's Mona Lisa Smile with young Hollywood's Julia Stiles, Kirsten Dunst, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. In 2004, Roberts signed on for the sequel to Ocean's Eleven -- the aptly titled Ocean's Twelve. A supporting performance in the animated 2006 feature The Ant Bully marked the glamorous Hollywood beauty's first foray into the world of animation, which she would continue for Christmas of 2006 with the role of everone's favorite selfless spider in Charlotte's Web. In the coming years, Roberts would reteam with Tom Hanks for Charlie Wilson's War in 2007, and then again for Larry Crowne in 2011. In the meantime, the A-lister would keep busy with a critically acclaimed performance in 2010's Eat, Pray, Love, in which she portrayed a divorcee on a journey of self discovery, and 2012's retelling of Snow White, Mirror, Mirror.

Trivia: A graduate of Oxford, actor Hugh Grant would seem more a natural product of Cambridge University, breeding ground for such comic talents as Monty Python's Flying Circus. Grant's classic good looks make him a shoo-in for romantic leads, but his comic abilities -- marked by a nervous stutter, desperately fluttering eyelids, and an ability to capture a brand of distinctly English embarrassment -- have also marked him as a gifted comic performer. Born in London on September 9, 1960, Grant made his film debut under the very Oxbridge name of Hughie Grant in the Oxford-financed Privileged (1982). He then worked in repertory before forming his own comedy troupe, the Jockeys of Norfolk. Following some television roles, Grant made his first professional film appearance in 1987 with a blink-and-he's-gone part in White Mischief. The same year he did more substantial work, first as Lord Byron in Rowing With the Wind, and then as a sexually conflicted Edwardian in Ismail Merchant and James Ivory's adaptation of E.M. Forster's Maurice. The role won him a Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival, but despite such acclaim, Grant's next films were largely forgettable affairs. One exception -- albeit a dubious one -- was Ken Russell's The Lair of the White Worm, in which the actor attained some degree of cult status as a lord attempting to foil the murderous charms of a campy, trampy vampire (Amanda Donahoe).Following period work in Impromptu (in which he played a consumptive, bewigged Chopin) and another Merchant-Ivory outing, The Remains of the Day, Grant finally hit it big in 1994 with starring roles in two films, Sirens and Four Weddings and a Funeral. The latter film in particular gave the actor almost overnight transatlantic stardom, landing him on a number of magazine covers and TV talk shows. The following year, Grant gained fame of an entirely different sort when he was arrested for soliciting the services of an L.A. prostitute. The box-office take of his subsequent film, Nine Months, released on the heels of his arrest, was buoyed by his notoriety, as were the ratings of the episode of The Tonight Show which featured Grant's sheepish apology to his then-girlfriend, model/actress Elizabeth Hurley. The actor managed to recoup some of his professional dignity with a restrained performance as Emma Thompson's suitor in the acclaimed Sense and Sensibility, but his next feature, Extreme Measures, a thriller produced by his and Hurley's production company, Simian Films, proved a disappointment. Following this relative failure, Grant receded somewhat from the public consciousness, but reappeared in 1999 with Notting Hill. A commercial as well as relative critical success, the comedy helped to restore some of the actor's luster, further assisted by his roles in the comedies Mickey Blue Eyes (1999) and Woody Allen's Small Time Crooks (2000). After once again charming filmgoers while competing for the affections of Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones's Diary, Grant took on the role of a playful London lothario who forms a bond with one of his conquests' offspring in the romantic comedy About a Boy. Indeed, the romantic comedy seemed to be simply the most natural fit for the actor, and he found more success in new millennium with returns to this genre in Two Weeks Notice, Love Actually, and the sequel to Bridget Jones's Diary, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.He played a fictionalized version of Simon Cowell in the comedy American Dreamz, and was solid as a washed-up 80's pop star opposite Drew Barrymore in the romantic comedy Music and Lyrics in 2007. His next film, 2009's Did You Hear About the Morgans?, was his last on-screen appearance for nearly three years, when he took on a small role (six small roles, actually) in the Wachowski's Cloud Atlas. In 2015, he had a supporting role in The Man From U.N.C.L.E., but made bigger waves for the role he didn't take: Grant would not appear in the third Bridget Jones films, shocking fans of the series.

Trivia: Gained an interest in acting after performing in a Cub Scout play as a young child. Chose the stage name Richard as a tribute to an English teacher he admired as an 11-year-old student. Was in the same term as fellow actor Mark Rylance while studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Is a classical theatre actor who joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1986 and has regularly performed in RSC productions since. In 1989, played the role of Puck in an RSC production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Originated the role of Christopher Marlowe in Peter Whelan's School of Night in 1993. Starred in the titular role in a national tour of Hamlet with Birmingham Repertory Theatre from 1999 until 2001. Performed the role of Romeo opposite Kathryn Hunter as Juliet in Ben Power's adaptation of the Shakespearean play titled A Tender Thing in 2012. Played the role of Ben Jonson opposite Patrick Stewart in a stage production of Bingo at the Old Vic. Made his Broadway debut as Prime Minister Harold Wilson in The Audience opposite Helen Mirren. Is an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Trivia: Welsh actor Rhys Ifans has not only one of the most distinctive names in the film industry but also one of its most idiosyncratic appearances. Tall, lanky, and snaggletoothed, Ifans can go from raving freak to persuasive romantic interest in less time than it takes to pronounce his name correctly.Ifans got his start acting in a number of Welsh language dramas and comedies, and he made his feature film debut in Anthony Hopkins' August (1996). The following year, he was part of one of the most successful films in Great Britain in 1997 when he starred in Twin Town. As one half of a set of twins (the other was portrayed by his real-life brother, Llyr Evans), he played what was undoubtedly one of the most riveting and revolting characters to come into contact with film audiences in years. The film's success opened the way for more work, and the following year he did a complete about-face, appearing as the charmingly errant father of Catherine McCormack's young son in Dancing at Lughnasa.The year after that, Ifans rejected grooming and general communication skills to play the role that was to give him international recognition, starring as Hugh Grant's hygienically challenged roommate in the romantic comedy Notting Hill. Many a critic agreed that Ifans virtually stole the show from his better-known co-stars, and that same year he had a chance to prove himself further in such diverse features as Heart, a black comedy in which he played a writer; and Rancid Aluminum, in which he starred as a man forced into business with the Russian mob after his father's death. Following an unlikely appearance as a football player in The Replacements (2000) and a turn as the son of Old Scratch in Little Nicky (2000), Ifans' role as a socially challenged forest dweller turned opera-loving socialite in the eccentric Human Nature provided audiences with abundant laughs and a further glimpse into the quirkiness of a truly unique actor.Of course the ever-eccentric Ifans was only warming up, and after supporting roles in such efforts as The 51st State, The Shipping News and Once Upon a Time in the Midlands Ifans once again took the lead in the 2003 comedy Donnie Deckchair. Cast as a man whose desperate attempt to escape the monotony of suburban life includes a bundle of large helium balloons and a lightweight deck chair, Ifans charmed Australian audiences in the family-friendly effort. Outside of his film work, Ifans briefly served as lead singer of the band Super Furry Animals before they struck the big time in the late 1990s.In 2006 he voiced McBunny in Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, but had major roles the next year in two very different projects -- Hannibal Rising and Elizabeth: The Golden Age. He appeared in 2009's Pirate Radio, reteaming with Notting Hill screenwriter Richard Curtis. Ifans had a strong supporting turn in Greenberg in 2010, and was center stage in Roland Emmerich's Shakespearean drama Anonymous in 2011. The next year he was part of the cast of the Spider-Man reboot, and was the romantic rival to Jason Segel in the comedy The Five-Year Engagement.

Trivia: Wrote plays as a child that he performed with friends. Archbishop Rowan Williams was one of his teachers when he attended the University of Cambridge. Worked with the National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company after college. First met his wife, Lulu, when they were in their teens. They drifted apart, but became reacquainted during their 30s. Made his professional acting debut in 1986 as an understudy to Ralph Fiennes in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Supports Merlin, a medical charity, and Scene & Heard, a mentoring program that pairs inner-city children from Somers Town, London, with theatre professionals.

Trivia: Studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Bloomsbury, London. Won the Best Supporting Performance in a Musical Olivier Award for his work in The Lady In The Dark at the National Theatre in 1998. Was nominated for the Ian Charleson Award for his performance as Cassius in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar at the Birmingham Rep in 1988. Usually plays comedy roles.

Trivia: Actor, writer, and comedian Dylan Moran has been making a mark in comedy since the age of 20, when he tested his skills at stand-up in the early '90s. Moran continues to perform at various international comedy festivals, and is known for his role as David in Shaun of the Dead, as well as a quirky bookshop owner in the popular British sitcom Black Books, which he also co-wrote. Moran can be seen alongside Hank Azaria and Simon Pegg in Run, Fat Boy, Run (2007).

Trivia: British actor Tim McInnerny first caught the attention of audiences in the early '80s, playing Lord Percy Percy on the comedy series The Black Adder. He would continue appearing on the English screen over the following years, with roles in projects like Erik the Viking and Rogue Trader. His notoriety increased, but as the years passed, McInnerny's affection for his home country would continue, with appearances in British movies like 2009's Hustle, and 2011's Black Death.

Trivia: Fairly well-known in her native Britain for her work on such television series as Our Friend in the North, The Brass Eye, and The Lenny Henry Show, Gina McKee started earning recognition among transatlantic audiences with her work in a series of films during the late '90s.McKee made her film debut in 1988, when she had a bit part as a nurse in Ken Russell's Lair of the White Worm, a camp-fest starring a then-unknown Hugh Grant. Although McKee would eventually work with Grant again eleven years later in Notting Hill, in the meantime she played bit roles in such films as The Rachel Papers (1989) and Mike Leigh's Naked (1993). In 1999 McKee could be seen in a major role in the aforementioned Notting Hill; over the course of that same year, she did more substantial work in Michael Winterbottom's ensemble family drama Wonderland, and Women Talking Dirty, the latter of which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. McKee also had secondary roles in Mike Figgis' The Loss of Sexual Innocence and Luc Besson's The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc.

Trivia: On stage, the classically trained, stark-featured English character actor John Shrapnel wove a forceful, occasionally even scabrous dramatic undercurrent into his evocations of the figures inhabiting the great tragedies of literature. Maintaining a frequent presence at theaters such as The Aldwych, The Warehouse, and The Piccadilly, Shrapnel earned enthusiastic notices for his supporting contributions to productions of Julius Caesar, The Greeks, Hamlet, and innumerable others. On camera, the thespian built up a massive resumé beginning in the early '70s and emphasized both television and cinematic work. Filmed roles in the early years (such as that of Petya in the 1971 Nicholas and Alexandra, or that of Hector in the 1982 Troilus and Cressida) seemed primarily an offshoot of his theatrical stock, but by the late 1980s, he expanded his repertoire to include more commercial (Hollywood-oriented) fare. On that note, Shrapnel did effective supporting work in films as diverse as How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989), 101 Dalmatians (1996), and K-19: The Widowmaker (2002). Producers still often reserved him for classical and/or historical roles, however, per his portrayal of Lord Howard in Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007).

Trivia: The second of four sons, he had his first experience of theatre in a school production of My Fair Lady. Moved to London in 1973, briefly working as a backup singer. Continued working as a backing vocalist during the 1970s but later chose to become an actor. Received a 1990 Tony Award nomination for Best Book of a Musical, for his writing on the revue Five Guys Named Moe. In 1999, was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role in Chicago. Played the role of Billy Flynn in the 2000 Broadway revival of Chicago. Between 2002 and 2008, starred as Detective Lester Freamon in The Wire. Between 2010 and 2013, starred as Albert Lambreaux in Treme. Is a follower of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, a movement dedicated to personal transformation and world renewal.

Trivia: Equally at home playing leads and character roles, actor Alec Baldwin is known for his work in just about every genre, from action thrillers to comedies to dramas. Born April 3, 1958, in Massapequa, Long Island, he was the second of six children (brothers William, Daniel, and Stephen would also become actors). Baldwin was a political science major at George Washington University before he decided to become an actor; following his change in vocation, he studied drama at NYU and the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. Early in his career, Baldwin was a busy man, simultaneously playing a role on the TV daytime drama The Doctors and performing in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream on-stage in the evenings. A few years after making his 1980 Broadway debut, the actor moved to Los Angeles, where he landed a part in the television series Knots Landing. He made his film debut in 1987 with a starring role in Forever, Lulu, which led to work in a number of major films. From 1988 to 1989 alone, Baldwin appeared in no less than seven films, including Tim Burton's black comedy Beetlejuice, Mike Nichols' Working Girl, Jonathan Demme's Married to the Mob, and Oliver Stone's Talk Radio. In 1990, Baldwin achieved big-budget success playing ace CIA agent Jack Ryan in the undersea thriller The Hunt for Red October. The film's popularity won him acclaim, so Baldwin surprised many by foregoing the opportunity to reprise his role in the sequel Patriot Games (he was replaced by Harrison Ford) in favor of returning to Broadway to star as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire. Although his decision paid off -- he received a Tony nomination for his performance -- it also marked the point at which Baldwin's star wattage began to flicker. His 1991 film, The Marrying Man proved to be an all-out flop (although it did provide him an introduction to co-star Kim Basinger, whom he would marry in 1993), and the critical success of his next two films, Prelude to a Kiss and Glengarry Glen Ross was overshadowed by a subsequent string of flops, including Malice (1993), The Getaway (1994), and The Juror (1996). The actor rebounded a bit with his role in Al Pacino's acclaimed documentary Looking for Richard (1996) but then had the unfortunate luck of starring in the 1998 Bruce Willis disaster Mercury Rising. However, the following year proved more fortuitous for Baldwin, as he starred in the coming-of-age comedy Outside Providence, as well as in the crime drama Thick As Thieves and the ethical drama The Confession, appearing alongside Amy Irving and Ben Kingsley. In addition, the actor made an uncredited appearance in Notting Hill, sending up his macho Hollywood persona as Julia Roberts' piggish actor boyfriend.Baldwin started off the 2000s by re-teaming with David Mamet on the Hollywood satire State and Main as a lecherous leading man with a weakness for underage girls. He provided narration for Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums, and was one of the few people to escape unscathed from Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor. Although he continued to make headlines because of his politics, as well as his ongoing legal scuffles with now ex-wife Kim Basinger, Baldwin continued to do strong work in the comedies Along Came Polly (2004) and Fun with Dick and Jane (2005), and scored his first-ever Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor playing a menacing casino manager in 2003's The Cooler. He became a part of Martin Scorsese's stock company playing Juan Trippe in 2004's The Aviator, following it up as a federal agent in love with the Patriot Act in 2006's The Departed.Baldwin's longstanding association with the venerable sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (he has hosted over ten times) paid great dividends when he was hired to play the part of the boss on former SNL head writer Tina Fey's fall 2006 sitcom 30 Rock. He earned universal raves for his work on the show, and would earn a Golden Globe nomination every single year of the show's run, winning the award three times. He'd also pick up no less than five Emmy nods, winning that award twice as well. Baldwin was positively beloved on the series, but he would also continue to work in film as well, most notably in the 2009 romcom It's Complicated, which he starred in with Meryl Streep, and the 2012 Woody Allen ensemble film To Rome with Love.

Trivia: Matthew Modine probably developed his love of performing through multiple viewings of films exhibited in the many Utah drive-in theaters managed by his father. His family moved a lot, so his adaptability as an actor may have grown out of learning to adapt as a child, as well. After dropping out of college and working a variety of odd jobs, Modine moved to New York, where he studied acting with Stella Adler and eventually began appearing in TV commercials and soap operas. He made his screen debut in 1983 in the film comedy Baby It's You, and won the Venice Film Festival's Best Actor award that year for his work in Robert Altman's Streamers. Refusing to trade on his freshly scrubbed, all-American good looks, Modinemade a point of treating each film role as a challenge and a chance to grow. How many other pretty-boy Brat Packers would have been willing to play a disturbed Vietnam vet who's thinks he's a bird in 1984's Birdy? His other film roles included dual characters in The Hotel New Hampshire (1984); Private Joker in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987); love-struck FBI agent Mike Downey in Married to the Mob (1988); swashbuckler William Shaw in Cutthroat Island (1995); and the title role in the made-for-cable Biblical spectacle Jacob (1994). Modine was nominated for an Emmy for his performance as aloof AIDS researcher Don Francis in the 1993 TV movie And the Band Played On, and continued to accept occasional stage roles in between his film and TV projects. He made his screen directorial debut in 1994 with a short subject entitled Smoking. Modine woulds spend the next few decades appearing in a number of interesting projects, like Funky Monkey, Transporter 2, and The Dark Knight Rises.

Trivia: Moved to England at age 10. Began her stage career as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Theatre Northampton. Portrayed Adriana in a 1999 production of A Comedy of Errors, staged at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London. Played Gertrude in a staged production of Hamlet by the Factory Theatre Company in 2007, and reprised her role in a 2012 production at The Teatro Espanol in Madrid, Spain. Was hired by the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama at the University of London as a staff teacher in the Acting-Shakespeare course in 2006. Is adept at horse riding.

Trivia: Hailed as one of the most talented child actors of the 1990s, Mischa Barton had carved out the beginnings of an enviable career on the screen and stage by the time most kids her age were being allowed to see PG-13 movies on their own. Possessing blonde hair, blue eyes the color and approximate size of Wedgewood saucers, and precocious intelligence, Barton first came to the attention of critics and audiences as the ten-year-old heroine of John Duigan's Lawn Dogs (1997). Born January 24, 1986, in London, England, Barton was raised in the city until the age of four. Following the move, she began working as a child model and taking summer camp acting classes; after being spotted by a talent agent, the aspiring actress got her first professional break on the New York stage in 1994, when she played one of the lead characters in an off-Broadway production of Slavs!. Earning rave reviews for her performance, Barton went on to perform in a number of plays, including the Lincoln Center production of James Lapine's Twelve Dreams and Naomi Wallace's One Flea Spare at the New York Shakespeare Festival's Public Theatre, which cast her in the lead role of a street urchin opposite Dianne Wiest. While she was building a career on the stage and as a model for the likes of Calvin Klein, Barton was also beginning to accumulate a number of screen credits. After doing a year-long stint on the popular soap opera All My Children, she had her first publicized screen role in the little-seen New York Crossing (1996). A starring role as a 13-year-old who holds up a bank alongside her boyfriend followed in 1999, in the independent drama Pups. That same year, Barton appeared in supporting roles in both Notting Hill and M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense, the latter of which cast her as the ghost of a sickly girl.Barton's increasing recognition was subsequently reflected by her involvement in a number of screen projects. Included amongst them was Skipped Parts (2000) and the TV series Once and Again (2002). Barton's breakthrough would come in 2003 however, with a starring role in the phenomenally poular night-time soap The O.C. The show's three year run would make Barton a household name, and she would follow it up with appearances in films like Homecoming, Assassination of a High School President, and You and I. A critically lauded appearance in Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain would make waves for the actress in 2012, followed by the horror film Apartment 1303 3D.

Trivia: British supporting actor Henry Goodman has been involved with everything from classical theater to television mysteries to movie comedies. On stage, he performed with the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Goodman made his feature film debut playing a cabbie in Queen of Hearts (1989).

Trivia: Worked as a marketing executive at IBM. Began performing comedy in 1996, as a musical comedy double act with Nitin Sawhney. Wrote and starred in The Kumars at No. 42 between 2001 and 2006. In 2005, received an OBE. Was appointed chancellor of the University of Sussex in 2009. Received the Outstanding Achievement in Television award at the 2015 Asian Awards.

Trivia: An attractive and talented actress who is as comfortable in historical dramas as in modern day thrillers and comedies, Emily Mortimer was born in Great Britain in 1971. Mortimer's father is author John Mortimer, best known for his series of Rumpole of the Bailey mystery novels, and she seems to have absorbed her father's literary influence -- before her career as an actress took off, Mortimer wrote a column for the London Telegraph, and she's served as screenwriter for an screen adaptation of Lorna Sage's book Bad Blood. Mortimer was a student at the prestigious St. Paul's Girls School when she first developed an interest in acting, appearing in several student productions. After graduating from St. Paul's, she moved on to Oxford, where she majored in Russian. Mortimer found time to perform in several plays while studying at Oxford, and while acting in a student production she impressed a producer who cast her in a supporting role in a television adaptation of Catherine Cookson's The Glass Virgin in 1995. Several more television roles followed, including the British TV movie Sharpe's Sword, before she won her first film role, playing the wife of John Patterson (Val Kilmer) in 1996's The Ghost and the Darkness. Mortimer had a much showier role in the Irish coming-of-age story The Last of the High Kings, released later the same year, and in 1998, Mortimer played Miss Flynn in the TV miniseries Cider With Rosie, which was adapted for television by her father, John Mortimer. Also in 1998, Mortimer appeared as Kat Ashley in the international hit Elizabeth, and in 1999, she enjoyed three showy roles that raised her profile outside the U.K.: She was the ill-fated "Perfect Girl" dropped by Hugh Grant in Notting Hill, appeared as Esther in the American TV miniseries Noah's Ark, and was Angelina, the star of the film-within-a-film, in the upscale slasher flick Scream 3. In 2000, Mortimer was cast as Katherine in Kenneth Branagh's ill-fated musical adaptation of Love's Labour's Lost, but the experience had a happy ending for her -- she met actor Alessandro Nivola, and the two soon fell in love and have been together ever since. That same year, Mortimer took on her biggest role in an American film to date, playing opposite Bruce Willis in The Kid, and 2002 promised to be a big year for her, with major roles in two major releases -- The 51st State, starring opposite Samuel L. Jackson, and a key supporting character in John Woo's war drama Windtalkers.

Trivia: One of Britain's more underrated actors, Samuel West first became known to international audiences in 1992 as the perpetually unfortunate Leonard Bast in the acclaimed Ismail Merchant/James Ivory adaptation of E.M. Forster's Howards End.The son of actors Timothy West and Prunella Scales, West was born in London on June 19, 1966. Taking to science rather than to acting when he was growing up, he attended Oxford University, where he planned to study physics. However, an interest in acting finally took hold, and West switched his studies to English and became involved with the University Experimental Theatre Club and Dramatic Society, touring Africa with it in 1986.Upon his graduation in 1988, West secured his first film role as a German aristocrat in Reunion. Although the film was critically well-received, it was largely unseen, and West subsequently did most of his work on television. His acclaimed performance in Howards End, for which he earned a British Academy Award nomination, gave him both greater respect and recognition. He went on to appear in a number of films of varying quality, doing particularly notable work in Persuasion (1995), Carrington (1995), and Jane Eyre (1996). He parodied the sort of period dramas in which he had made his name with his role as an upper-crust prig in Stiff Upper Lips in 1998, and that same year he finally broke through to modern dress in the Canadian film Rupert's Land, earning a Genie nomination for his portrayal of a clean-cut lawyer reluctantly dragged on an odyssey across the wilds of British Columbia. The following year, he was back in breeches and a frock coat for his bit part in Notting Hill, and that same year he could be seen taking to the sea in the popular British miniseries, Horatio Hornblower. In addition to his screen roles, West is known in his native country for his work on the stage, television, and radio, endearing many a listener to his deep, mellifluous voice.

Trivia: It's not often that casting directors receive the kind of high-profile recognition that actors and other above-the-line personalities do -- but then again, there aren't too many people in that line of work who can boast of the accomplishments made by top British casting professional Mary Selway. Often cited as one of Britain's top talents for matching the right actor with the right role, Selway used her sharp eye to fill roles in such acclaimed features as Raiders of the Lost Ark, A Dry White Season, Gosford Park, and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. A native of Norwich, England, who enrolled at the Italia Conti stage school at the young age of 13, the aspiring talent defied her father's wishes of pursuing a more academic career to carve her own distinctive path in the entertainment industry. Though Selway was too much of a wallflower to command the boards, frequent modeling eventually led to work as a production assistant on television variety shows. Work in television and theater followed, with Selway eventually landing a job with top casting agent Miriam Brickman. In the decades that followed, Selway worked with such legendary filmmakers as Roman Polanski, Sydney Pollack, Steven Spielberg, and Robert Altman, among countless others -- contributing in no small part to the creation of some of the silver screen's most memorable characters. Plagued by recurring illness in her later years, Selway nevertheless continued working on such features as The Chronicles of Riddick and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire until she was physically able to work no more. In 2001, Selway was the recipient of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts' Michael Balcon Award for outstanding contribution to British film. On April 21, 2004, Mary Selway died of cancer in London. She was 68.