Trivia: Since performing in a play at the City of Leicester Boys School, Michael Kitchen has done practically all there is for an actor to do: motion pictures, TV films, TV miniseries, stage plays, radio plays, and audio cassettes. International film audiences probably know him best as Chief of Staff Bill Tanner in the Pierce Brosnan James Bond productions, although he has played major roles in other high-profile movies, such as Out of Africa (1985) and Mrs. Dalloway (1997). He is also well known to worldwide TV audiences for major roles in popular miniseries, including The Brontes of Haworth (1973), A Fall of Eagles (1974), Freud (1984), and Oliver Twist (1999). 2000 was a remarkable year for Kitchen -- incredibly, he completed the following productions during that year: Proof of Life, a major film in which he shared the screen with Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan; Lorna Doone, a three-hour TV miniseries; Always and Everyone, an eight-hour TV series resembling America's ER; The Secret World of Michael Fry, a TV miniseries; The Railway Children, a TV film shown in the U.K. and in the U.S. on Masterpiece Theatre; New Year's Day, a major motion picture; and Second Sight: Parasomnia, another TV film. For an encore in 2001, he played the title role in Foyle's War, an eight-hour TV series about a World War II-era detective, then played Foyle again in another eight-hour series in 2002. He also signed on for another James Bond film, his third. Between 1971 -- when he appeared in the film Unman, Wittering and Zigo -- and the present, Kitchen has never wanted for work. The reason, quite simply, is that he is one of Britain's finest and most versatile actors. He has walked across the stages of the most prestigious playhouses in England, performing the works of Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, and other important playwrights. In motion pictures, he has also acted parts in productions based on the works of Franz Kafka (The Trial, 1993), Robert Louis Stevenson (Kidnapped, 1995), John Le Carre (The Russia House, 1990), and Nevil Shute (Crossing to Freedom, 1990).

Trivia: Performed with the Chichester Youth Theatre. Attended weekend classes at the Sylvia Young School as a child. Spent a year studying art on the John Hall Pre-University Course in Venice, Italy. Starred as Samantha Stewart in Foyle's War from 2002 to 2015. Nominated for the 2004 Most Popular Newcomer award at the National Television Awards.

Trivia: A veteran of the theater in Scotland, Ireland, Broadway, and London's West End, actor Conleth Hill began supplementing his impressive stage career with on-screen acting in the late '80s. He started by making minor appearances on British television, eventually working his way up to more substantial parts, like his recurring role of Jared on the comedy series The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle in 2007. In 2009, Hill was cast as Brockman in the Woody Allen comedy Whatever Works, opposite Larry David.

Trivia: Attended Christ's Hospital in West Sussex until he was 15.Spent his teenage years in south London with his mother.Worked as a DJ in Camberwell.Had never heard of guitarist Brian Jones before getting the script of Stoned (2005).Did not know how to play guitar when he got the role of guitarist Brian Jones in Stoned (2005) and had less than a month to prepare.

Trivia: A slightly burly, heavyset British actor of cinema and television, Jeremy Swift seemed predestined for not merely character roles, but characterizations as a slightly blustery oaf. In the process of establishing himself, he grew into a performer venerated by audiences, and one of the busiest actors in British filmdom. Swift debuted on camera in the very early '80s, with bit parts in features including Fords on Water (1983) and Mr. Love (1985), but remained offscreen in the 10 years or so that followed. He reemerged as a prolific television player in the mid-'90s on U.K. series including Next of Kin, Making the Difference, and The Grand, then experienced a substantial change of venue in 2001, when the legendary Robert Altman cast him in the period murder mystery Gosford Park. That assignment inducted Swift into cinematic releases, and he followed it up with work in outings such as Mike Barker's To Kill a King (2002), Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist (2005) (as the aptly named Mr. Bumble), and the Vince Vaughn Christmas comedy Fred Claus (2007). Also in 2007, Swift enjoyed a plum supporting role in director John Crowley's acclaimed psychological drama Boy A.

Trivia: Gallic actor Serge Hazanavicius debuted in film not as an on-camera presence but as a director, helming a plethora of short-subject films. He shifted gears to focus on acting, then moved into supporting feature roles with a small turn in Peter Kassovitz's 1992 comedy Drôle d'oiseaux and a more substantial part as the romantic lead opposite the alluring Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi in director Laurence Barbosa's light romantic comedy Les Gens Normaux N'ont Rien d'exceptionnel (1993). These assignments seemed to set a precedent for the work that followed, as one comedic project after another ensued (witness 1996's Delphine 1-Yvan 0, 1997's Le Déménagement, and 2001's Barnie et Ses Petites Contrarietes), in time, however, Hazanavicius revealed more of a dramatic flair, receiving particularly strong acclaim for his work opposite Kristin Scott Thomas and Elsa Zylberstein in director Philippe Claudel's poignant psychological drama I've Loved You So Long... (2007).