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: Performed with the Kirov Ballet at the Royal Opera House in London when she was 15. At 18, was forced to give up her training to become a professional ballerina after three ankle operations. Started taking acting classes while studying painting at a fine-arts college. Auditioned for the lead in Tim Burton's 2010 adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, narrowly missing out on the role to Mia Wasikowska. Nylon magazine called the Downton Abbey actress "the best thing in a bonnet since Keira [Knightley] in Pride and Prejudice." Met Kate Middleton and Prince William in 2011 as one of 42 invited guests at the inaugural Brits to Watch event thrown by BAFTA during the royal couple's visit to Los Angeles. Featured as the face of a 2012 ad campaign for British jewelry designer Dominic Jones, who described Brown-Findlay as "a real English rose."

Trivia: Is a distant relative of the English acting legend Ian Carmichael. Supported herself while pursuing an acting career by working as a teaching assistant, nanny and receptionist. Had to choose between Downton Abbey and a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night in Dubai days before she won the part of Lady Edith; the audition process had whittled the potentials to her and one other actor at the time that she had to make the call. Became good friends with fellow Downton star Michelle Dockery.

Trivia: Was head boy of his high school in his final year. Left the University of Sussex after two years to join a fringe theatre group called the Brighton Combination. Performed with the Madhouse Company of London, a comedy troupe, during the 1970s. Attended a circus school in New York during the 1970s, where he learned to walk the tightrope, ride a unicycle, juggle and perform magic. Met wife Imelda Staunton when they were both cast in a 1982 production of Guys and Dolls at the Royal National Theatre in London. They later worked together in a production of The Wizard of Oz; he was the Cowardly Lion to her Dorothy. Serves as chairman of the Hampstead Cricket Club.

Trivia: A member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, husky-voiced British actress Samantha Bond has an all-too-fitting surname for her onscreen career. She is most known stateside for her repeat performance as Miss Moneypenny, associate to Pierce Brosnan's James Bond. Her first appearance was in GoldenEye 1995, and she repeated the role for Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, and Die Another Day. She is the fourth actress to play the small yet established super-secretary role, most notably played by Lois Maxwell. Bond's acting credits are predominately on the stage, however, ranging from touring companies to Broadway to London's West End. She has shared the stage and screen with veterans like Claire Bloom, Maggie Smith, and David Suchet, although she has gained more high-profile roles in her television career. Mostly appearing in British murder mysteries and thrillers, she gained a starring role as Detective Sergeant Maureen Picasso for the BBC series NCS: Manhunt. Bond appeared opposite Dame Judi Dench in the award-winning play Amy's View, and also shared a bill with her for Die Another Day in 2002.

Trivia: Made her stage debut in 2008, in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of King Lear. Made her television debut in a 2008 episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot. In 2011, starred as Lavinia Swire in Downton Abbey. In 2012, made her film debut in comedy Freeloaders. Starred as Gemma in the 2019 miniseries Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Trivia: The great-nephew of legendary Manchester United manager Matt Busby (1909-94). Trained to be a butcher after leaving school at age 16. Decided to pursue his acting dream at age 18, a year after his father unexpectedly died. Learned to act at his cousin's Dublin theatre. Honoured with the 1999 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor for the London production of Irish playwright Conor McPherson's The Weir. Downtown Abbey creator Julian Fellowes wrote the role of Mr. Bates with him in mind, having seen him in the 2004 BBC series North and South. A patron of Lakelands Hospice in Corby, Northamptonshire; also supports Workwise, which helps young people find jobs.

Trivia: Reached the third round of auditions for the Sound of Music at the age of 8, but lost the part when she spoke in her natural Essex accent. Made her professional stage debut in His Dark Materials in 2004. In 2007, was nominated for the Evening Standard Award for her role as Eliza Dootlittle in Pygmalion. Is a jazz singer; performed at the 50th anniversary of Ronnie Scott's Jazz club in 2009. Became Oxfam's first ever Humanitarian Ambassador in 2014, having travelled to Jordan to meet with Syrian refugees.

Trivia: Appeared in Bill Pryde's production of Noel Coward's play, Hay Fever, at the Arts Theatre in Cambridge. Worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing in productions of Richard III, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet and Henry V. Earned a degree in history through the Open University, a distance-learning school. Took part in a Downton Abbey parody for ITV fundraising campaign, Text Santa, starring alongside George Clooney. Known for his roles as DS John Wadsworth in Happy Valley, John Parr in The Lakes and the valet /footman Joseph Molesley in Downton Abbey. Has won two Screen Actors Guild awards and a Royal Television Society award for best actor for Happy Valley.

Trivia: As a young girl, moved with her family from Dublin to County Wexford and later to Bray in County Wicklow, a town to which she still claims a close connection. Did not consider a professional career as a singer until after graduation. Released her first album When Justice Came in 1989 as part of the Black Velvet Band. Did not consider becoming an actress until she had established herself as a singer. Made her film debut in The Commitments (1991), playing a backup singer. Appeared in The Blue Macushla at the Druid Theatre in Galway in 1996. Founded the music label Mermaid Records in 2001 and released her debut solo album, Charm. Teamed with her husband, singer Kieran Kennedy, on the 2011 album The Storms Are On The Ocean. Has admitted she still suffers from nerves before performing but uses breathing techniques to control them. Considers herself first and foremost a singer; has said she could live without acting but not without singing.

Trivia: Made her acting debut in the 1986 film Rita, Sue and Bob Too! First met and became friends with husband Mark Jordon during the late 1980s when both were jobbing actors in Manchester, but it took quite a few years before romance flowered between them. Became engaged to Mark Jordon on the way to a Cirque du Soleil performance. Jordon hired a limousine specifically for the occasion and arranged for it to pull over in front of Harrods so he could pop the question.

Trivia: Won the Most Promising Newcomer award at the 2010 British Independent Film Awards for her leading role in drama film In Our Name. Is perhaps best known for her role as Anna Bates on the critically-acclaimed period drama Downton Abbey between 2010 and 2015. Won the Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or TV Movie award at the 2014 Golden Globes, for her role in Downton Abbey. Made her stage debut in 2019, playing Frances Thorpe in a West End production of Alys, Always. Is an ambassador for children's charity Plan UK's "Because I Am a Girl" campaign.

Trivia: A handsome supporting player whose occasional leap into the lead has resulted in some interestingly varied performances, actor Iain Glen has appeared in everything from low-budget indies to high-profile Hollywood blockbusters -- frequently holding his own opposite such screen heavies as Harvey Keitel (The Young Americans) and Billy Connolly (Gabriel & Me). A native of Edinburgh, Scotland, who studied at Edinburgh Academy and the University of Aberdeen before honing his craft at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, the talented Shakespearian actor would go on to impress audiences in such stage works as Macbeth and Henry V. In 1985, the ascending stage talent made a successful transition to the screen with a small role in an episode of the popular U.K. mystery series Taggart, and after making the leap to the big screen with a supporting role in the 1987 feature Will You Love Me Tomorrow, Glen returned to television the next year for a role in the series The Fear. In the years that followed, Glen's big-screen career gained notable momentum thanks to solid performances in Gorillas in the Mist (1988) and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1990), with his early years coming to a peak when he took home a Best Actor award from the Berlin International Film Festival for his turn as a convicted killer in the 1990 film Silent Scream. That same year, Glen also received accolades for his portrayal of real-life explorer Lt. John Hanning Speke in Mountains of the Moon, though the remainder of the decade would find him sticking mainly to U.K. television (occasionally taking the lead, as in 1992's Frankie's House). Following an endearing turn as a sports reporter whose one-night fling leads him to come to terms with his tragic past in Glasgow Kiss, Glen received notable international exposure with a high-profile role opposite Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Though Glen's shattering performance as a father suffering terminal lung cancer in the drama Gabriel & Me (screenwriter Lee Hall's follow-up to Billy Elliot) ultimately failed to gel with audiences, Glen's horrific turn as a seemingly possessed father in Darkness offered the talented actor at his manic best. By this point, Glen seemed to be growing increasingly comfortable alternating between more independent-minded features and more large-scale productions, taking the role of noted psychiatrist Carl Jung in the 2003 romantic drama The Soul Keeper before taking a more epic turn as an anthropologist who hunts and captures pygmies in order to study them and prove a link between man and ape in 2005's Man to Man. He appeared in Ridley Scott's epic Kingdom of Heaven, as well as Resident Evil: Extinction. In 2008 he had a major part in a retelling of The Diary of Anne Frank for the BBC, and followed that up with a part in the Michael Caine vehicle Harry Brown. In 2011 he acted in the Oscar winning biopic The Iron Lady.

Trivia: Started acting at the Doncaster Little Theatre, Doncaster, South Yorskhire, England at the age of 10. Was offered his professional acting debut while still in rehearsals for the leading role in My Favorite Year. Is a trained pianist. Supports two local charities in his hometown of Doncaster. Has served as Music Director for Doncaster College.

Trivia: Didn't begin acting until 2005, when a friend asked if he'd appear in a student film that he was shooting. Prior to that, he was pursuing the career he'd gone to college for—marketing. Found an acting teacher via the Yellow Pages after deciding he wanted to give acting a go. Among the jobs he took while supporting his acting aspirations: bricklayer and pastry packer. Hyphenated his name to James-Collier to placate the acting union Equity, as there was already an actor named Rob Collier. Scored a supporting role in a series (Down to Earth) on one of his first auditions. Appeared in catalogs for Argos (a British retail chain) in 2007 and '08. Anointed "Sexiest Male" at the 2007 and 2008 British Soap Awards for his work on Coronation Street.

Trivia: Was shy as a child, until his role as the Cowardly Lion in a school production of The Wizard of Oz inspired him to become an actor. Made his stage debut in a London production of A Streetcar Named Desire at age 16. Voted Sexiest Irish Male by U Magazine in 2005. Was named 48th Best Dressed Man in Britain by GQ in 2015. Became patron of the CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young) charity in 2016; lost his friend Peter Greene to Sudden Adult Death Syndrome in 2002.

Trivia: Lead actress, onscreen from the early '80s.

Trivia: The daughter of educators, Elizabeth McGovern moved from her home town of Evanston, Illinois to Los Angeles when her father, a law professor at Northwestern, transferred to UCLA. Discovered for the movies while appearing in a high-school play, McGovern made an impressive screen debut as the girlfriend of emotionally disturbed teenager Timothy Hutton in the Oscar-winning Ordinary People (1980). The following year, she earned an Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of notorious turn-of-the-century "kept lady" Evelyn Nesbit Shaw in Ragtime. She honed her acting skills at Julliard and the American Conservatory Theatre, then made her off-Broadway debut in a 1981 production of To Be Young, Gifted and Black; her later stage credits include Painting Churches and The Hitch-hiker. Carefully avoiding the make-work roles usually reserved for actresses of her generation, McGovern has opted for offbeat characterizations in such films as Racing with the Moon (1984) and Once Upon a Time in America. She seems unconcerned with the size of her roles, so long as she can make a lasting impression as witness The Handmaid's Tale (1991) in which she deftly handles her role with such formidable co-stars as Natasha Richardson and Robert Duvall with her brief appearance as self-deprecating lesbian prostitute Moira. Elizabeth McGovern also starred in the 1995 TV sitcom If Not for You.

Trivia: After her first week with Footsteps Theatre School at age 12, she was sent for an audition for The Goodbye Girl. She was cast and made her West End debut with the show at the London Palladium. Went on a national UK tour of Annie. Started a company with her then-boyfriend while at university called ThatSweetFeeling. Appeared in Jerusalem at the Apollo Theatre with Mark Rylance in 2011.

Trivia: Made her television debut in 1985 soap opera The Practice.Starred as Auntie Annie in the original 1996 production of East is East, reprising the role in the 1999 film adaptation.Between 2000 and 2002, starred as Rosie in the West End production of Mamma Mia!Is perhaps best known for playing Mrs Patmore in ITV period drama Downton Abbey between 2010 and 2019.In 2017, wrote and produced an original musical about her life.Is an ambassador for animal charity Animals Asia.

Trivia: At 16, was cast as the understudy of the lead role in The Phantom of the Opera.Studied at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts and the National Youth Music Theatre.Is a classically trained vocalist.Her first album was nominated for a Classical Brit Award.On July 14, 2011, the University of Bolton awarded her an Honorary Doctorate of Arts.

Trivia: Was 'roped in' to act in plays at school, found he was good enough and decided to focus on acting as a career. Gained attention for his role in the 1976 BBC production of I, Claudius, starring as Germanicus. For over twenty years, has volunteered for the Samaritans, a charity providing support to vulnerable people in emotional distress, or at risk of suicide. Ran in the Edinburgh Marathon to raise money for leukaemia research. Appeared in a Scottish production of Lay of the Last Minstrel opposite his wife, Briony McRoberts, and Joanna Lumley in 2013. His late wife suffered from anorexia and depression; she committed suicide in 2013 by jumping in front of a train in London. Was classicly trained as an actor and finds theatre acting keeps his feet on the ground, although he likes the fast pace of screen acting.

Trivia: Breathes there a theatergoer or film fan on Earth who has not, at one time or another, fallen in love with the sublimely brilliant British comedic actress Dame Maggie Smith? The daughter of an Oxford University pathologist, Smith received her earliest acting training at the Oxford Playhouse School. In 1952, she made her professional stage bow as Viola in Twelfth Night. Four years later she was on Broadway, performing comedy routines in Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1956; that same year, she made her first, extremely brief screen appearance in Child in the House (she usually refers to 1959's Nowhere to Go as her screen debut).In 1959, Smith joined the Old Vic, and in 1962 won the first of several performing honors, the London Evening Standard Award, for her work in the West End production The Private Ear/The Public Eye. Her subsequent theatrical prizes include the 1963 and 1972 Variety Club awards for Mary Mary and Private Lives, respectively, and the 1990 Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway play Lettice and Lovage. In addition, Smith has won Oscars for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) and California Suite (1978), and British Film Academy awards for A Private Function (1985), A Room With a View (1986), and The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1987).These accolades notwithstanding, Smith has had no qualms about accepting such "lightweight" roles as lady sleuth Dora Charleston (a delicious Myrna Loy takeoff) in Murder By Death (1976), the aging Wendy in Steven Spielberg's Peter Pan derivation Hook (1991), and the Mother Superior in Whoopi Goldberg's Sister Act films of the early '90s. During the same decade, she also took more serious roles in Richard III (1995), Washington Square (1997), and Tea With Mussolini (1999). On a lighter note, her role in director Robert Altman's Gosford Park earned Smith her sixth Oscar nomination. She earned a whole new generation of fans during the first decade of the next century when she was cast as Professor McGonagall in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, a part she would return to for each of the film's phenomenally successful sequels. She worked in other films as well including Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Becoming Jane, and Nanny McPhee Returns. In 2010 she earned rave reviews for her work in the television series Downton Abbey.Made a Dame Commander in 1989, Smith was elected to the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1994. Previously married to the late actor Sir Robert Stephens, she is the wife of screenwriter Beverly Cross and the mother of actors Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin.

Trivia: Adopted at birth by middle-class teachers. Knew he wanted to become an actor while in primary school. Honed his acting chops with Britain's National Youth Theatre. Pursued stand-up comedy for a time during his college years. Joined the amateur theatrical Footlights Dramatic Club while at Cambridge. Discovered by British theatrical-film director Peter Hall, who spotted him in a Footlights production of Macbeth opposite Hall's daughter Rebecca. Editor-at-large for the Junket, an online quarterly magazine. Writes a column for the Sunday Telegraph (a British newspaper).

Trivia: Has dyslexia. Attended a convent boarding school. Made her West End debut in John Osborne's West of Suez opposite Ralph Richardson in 1971; and has acted with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre Company. Became a household name in England in the mid-1980s due to her work on the BBC sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles. Honored with the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2004; elevated to a Dame in 2016. Bestowed with an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the University of Hull in North Yorkshire, England, in 2012.