Trivia: Dark and dashing in the tradition of his fellow countryman Sean Connery, Scottish actor Dougray Scott first reached American multiplex masses in 1998's Ever After, in which he starred as Drew Barrymore's fairy tale prince. Born in Fife on November 25, 1965, Scott was raised in a family of non-actors. His own interest in acting was routinely discouraged by various schoolteachers, but after graduating from the high school he attended in the small town of Glenrothes, he trained at the Welsh College of Music and Drama, where he was named "most promising student." After beginning his professional career on the stage, Scott got his first significant break in 1995 when he was cast on the popular British TV series Soldier, Soldier. He then won a measure of notoriety for his role as a thoroughly corrupt Welsh cop in Kevin Allen's Twin Town (1997), a black comedy that was a sleeper hit throughout Britain. Scott's work in the film also caught the attention of certain Hollywood casting directors, who chose him for his plum role in Ever After (1998). After returning to Scotland to portray a corrupt businessman in Gregory's Two Girls, the disappointing sequel to Bill Forsyth's Gregory's Girl, the actor appeared as part of a strong ensemble cast in the small British film This Year's Love, which cast him as a womanizing artist. Having proven himself adept at portraying morally questionable characters, Scott gave villainy another go in John Woo's Mission: Impossible II, in which he starred as a former IMF agent gone bad.

Trivia: For an actress whose late-blooming career began its slow but steady ascent around the age of 18, acclaimed stage and screen beauty Sophie Okonedo has more than made up for any lost time. As comfortable onscreen as she is on-stage, Okonedo first gained critical acclaim for her role as Cressida in Trevor Nunn's production of Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida at London's National Theater. Though Okonedo would soon expand her repertoire to include roles in film and television, it was her unwavering dedication to the stage that would be the defining aspect of her early career until breakout roles in such films as Stephen Frears' Dirty Pretty Things and the devastating Hotel Rwanda brought her both international acclaim and an Oscar nomination. Born in London to a Nigerian father and a British mother, Okonedo was 18 years old when she came across an advertisement for a writer's workshop in Time Out magazine. It didn't take long for Okonedo to realize that she was more proficient in offering dramatically rendered readings of her fellow classmate's stories than penning her own, and with the encouragement of writing coach Hanif Kureishi, the aspiring actress was soon honing her skills at the Royal Court Theater. A scholarship to the Royal Academy was quick to follow, and in the succeeding years, Okonedo would earn glowing reviews thanks to, among many other roles, her stunning performance in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida. A brief appearance as a tribal princess in the Jim Carrey vehicle Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls found Okonedo becoming increasingly at ease in front of the camera, and upon returning to the U.K., the rising starlet began to carve out an impressive niche for herself on such television productions as The Governor, Deep Secrets, and In Defence. Despite Okonedo's increasing exposure abroad on screens both large and small, it was her touching turn as a sympathetic prostitute in Frears' dark thriller Dirty Pretty Things (2002) that proved to be her breakout role in film. It was shortly after witnessing Okonedo's performance in that movie that filmmaker Terry George approached her for a substantial role in his upcoming docudrama Hotel Rwanda -- am emotionally devastating retelling of the 1994 Tutsi massacre and one local hotel owner's noble attempt to save innocent lives by opening his doors to those hoping to escape a grim fate at the hands of the Hutus. Delivering a performance that was as genuinely moving as it was heartbreaking, Okonedo truly came into her own with the role -- and earned an Oscar nomination in the process. In addition to her increasingly busy onscreen career (by the time Hotel Rwanda was released into theaters she was already nearly finished filming her role opposite Charlize Theron in the sci-fi action effort Aeon Flux), Okonedo still found time to remain loyal to the stage by serving on the board of directors at the Royal Court Theater. Nevertheless the silver screen was calling now, and when her theatrical obligations were fullfilled, Okonedo was ready to jump back into the fray with a key supporting role n the family friendly action flick Stormbreaker - a cinematic adaptation of author Anthony Horowitz popular series of novels concerning the wild adventures of fourteen-year-old super-spy Alex Rider.

Trivia: One of the screen's most consistently solid performers and least recognized personalities, British actor Ian Hart has appeared in an enviably diverse number of films over the course of the '90s. To say that Hart has a chameleon-like quality would be something of an understatement; one of the reasons for the lack of audience recognition afforded to him is his ability to completely disappear in his roles, exchanging full-bodied characterizations for any trace of the actor responsible for them.Little is known about Hart's background aside from the fact that he got his start in regional theatre and on such BBC television programs as the popular series Eastenders. One thing that is certain is that Hart's Liverpool origins and uncanny resemblance to John Lennon were responsible for getting him his first big break. In 1992, he was chosen to play Lennon in Christopher Munch's The Hours and Times (1992), a film that examined the relationship between Lennon and Beatles manager Brian Epstein. Two years later, Hart again played the musician in Backbeat, Iain Softley's account of the relationship between Lennon, Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorff), and Sutcliffe's girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr (Sheryl Lee). The film earned a number of strong notices and was fairly successful at the box office, with Hart earning particular acclaim for his portrayal of Lennon.Following a starring role as a shell-shocked young Welshman in The Englishman Who Went up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain (1995), Hart embarked on a series of projects that read like a who's who list of gritty, socially conscious British films. For director Ken Loach, he played a dedicated young journalist who gets caught up in the Spanish Civil War in Land and Freedom (1995); that same year, he won the Venice Film Festival's Volpi Cup for his portrayal of a psychotic Northern Irish Protestant gangster in Thaddeus O'Sullivan's Nothing Personal. The following year, Hart played Martin Donovan's lover in the relentlessly intense child abuse drama Hollow Reed and had a substantial supporting role in Neil Jordan's Michael Collins, a biographical epic about the legendary and controversial Irish rebellion leader.The following year, Hart again collaborated with Jordan, this time on The Butcher Boy. He also returned to the milieu of the post-war rock scene as a club manager in Jez Butterworth's Mojo. In one of his rare U.S. outings, Hart played the owner of a Lower Manhattan diner in Amos Poe's comedy-thriller Frogs for Snakes (1998); that same year, he appeared in American director Ted Demme's Monument Avenue, a drama about a group of Irish-American toughs in Boston.1999 brought with it another collaboration for Hart and Jordan; this time it was on an adaptation of Graham Greene's The End of the Affair, a World War II romance that featured Hart as a cockney detective. That same year, he starred as a nerdy, emotionally unstable comic book enthusiast who finds love in an unlikely place in the ensemble comedy This Year's Love and played a doltish ex-boyfriend in Michael Winterbottom's acclaimed ensemble drama Wonderland. Over the next several years, Hart would remain active on screen, appering on series like The Virgin Queen, Dirt, and Luck, as well as in films like Blind Fight, Within the Whirlwind, and Hard Boiled Sweets.

Trivia: Exhibiting perpetual intensity and the dark, hangdog looks of someone who has been run over by life one too many times, Stephen Rea is one of Ireland's most popular and well-respected actors. Although he has acted in films in diverse genres, Rea is most closely associated with his collaborations with director Neil Jordan, particularly The Crying Game, for which he earned Oscar and BAFTA nominations.Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1943, Rea was brought up in a working-class Protestant family. After training at the Abbey Theatre School, he began acting on the stage, screen, and television, making his film debut in the 1970 thriller Cry of the Banshee. He first collaborated with Jordan in 1982 on Angel, a crime drama in which he played a saxophonist who witnesses a number of brutal murders. The two again collaborated in 1984 on The Company of Wolves, a modern retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale. That same year, Rea worked with Mike Leigh on Four Days in July; he would later work with him on Leigh's celebrated Life is Sweet (1991). In addition to his work on the screen, Rea formed the Field Day Theatre Company with playwrights Brian Friel and Seamus Heaney, bringing theatre to rural communities across Ireland.In 1992, Rea was introduced to international audiences with his role as an IRA "volunteer" in The Crying Game. Thanks to the film's great success and the praise surrounding his performance, Rea went on to appear in a number of high profile films, including Jordan's adaptation of Interview with the Vampire and Robert Altman's Ready to Wear, in which he gave a delightful portrayal of an egotistical fashion photographer. In addition to further collaborations with Jordan (1996's Michael Collins, 1997's The Butcher Boy), Rea continued to do solid work in films ranging from dramas (This is My Father, 1998) to comedy spoofs (Still Crazy, also 1998). In 1999 alone, Rea could be seen in no less than four divergent films. Following a turn as a psychiatrist in the big-budget thriller In Dreams, he starred as a bohemian photographer with a predilection for young, deeply insecure women in Audrey Wells' celebrated Guinevere. Later that year, he returned to Ireland for I Could Read the Sky and then starred alongside Julianne Moore and Ralph Fiennes in the adaptation of Graham Greene's The End of the Affair. Over the next several years, Rea would prove to be a consistent presence on screen, appearing in movies like The Good Shepherd, Control, V for Vendetta, and Underworld: Awakening.

Trivia: Sang with the Manchester Girls Choir for eleven years. Made her stage debut in The Great Theatre of the World. Appeared as part of the 2008 UNDEREXPOSED exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, bringing attention to of black role models and artistic talent. Won Best Female Performance at the Screen Nation Awards for her role in I Am Slave. Won the 2017 BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Damilola, Our Loved Boy.

Trivia: Originally wanted to be a film technician and enrolled in a Dublin acting school in order to get a foot in the industry. Enrolled in the Abbey Theatre's acting school, becoming a member of the company in 1967. While playing Thérnadier in Les Misérables in 1999, he was dropped and broke his ankle; he continued, despite the injury, for two more hours until the end of the performance.