Trivia: Born in Reading, England, Ricky Gervais worked in the music industry as a radio DJ, band manager, and music supervisor before getting into comedy. As a writer, he provided scripts for the U.K. television series Bruiser and The Sketch Show. As an actor, he was seen quite a bit on The 11 O'Clock Show and provided the voice of the Penguin in the animated show Robbie the Reindeer: Legend of the Lost Tribe. In 2000, he had his own show called Meet Ricky Gervais. On the big screen, Gervais appeared as the bouncer in the U.K. comedy Dog Eat Dog. He's most known, however, as the writer/director/star of the hit BBC comedy series The Office. He plays David Brent, regional manager of the Wernham Hogg paper company in the London industrial suburb of Slough. A brilliant observation of the contemporary workplace, the show has won a variety of awards over in Britain. Gervais received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy Series in 2003. Projects for 2004 include voice work on the animated film Valiant and producing an Americanized version of The Office with director Greg Daniels. He created and starred in Extras, another bitingly funny TV series, this one about a struggling actor. In 2008 he had a leading role for the first time in an American film, the supernatural comedy Ghost Town. The next year he wrote, directed, and starred in the acerbic comedy The Invention of Lying. He earned a ton of buzz in 2010 for his prickly hosting of the Golden Globes, a job he would repeat the next two years as well. In 2011 he debuted a new show he created with actor Warwick Davis, Life's Too Short.

Trivia: Hampshire, England native Martin Freeman can be seen in a variety of television, theater, and radio productions, though he is probably best known for his role as Tim Canterbury in the BBC's award-winning sitcom The Office, and as everyman Arthur Dent in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005). Freeman's credits also include the British police comedy Hot Fuzz, a brief appearance in Shaun of the Dead, and the lead role in director Gavin Claxton's The All Together. In addition to his comedy roles, Freeman has turned in a number of dramatic performances, including a turn as Lord Shaftesbury in Charles II: The Power & the Passion, a 2003 BBC historical drama, and the legendary painter Rembrandt in Nightwatching (2007). In 2010 he had a hit on the small screen playing Dr. Watson to Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock, and two years later he took the pivotal role of Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Hobbit.

Trivia: British actor Mackenzie Crook rose to fame at the hands of U.K. comedy giants Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, when the pair cast him as Gareth Keenan, the snide, obnoxious, and mirthless servant of office manager David Brent (Gervais) on the immensely popular BBC sitcom The Office (2001-2004). Crook then moved into films, where his unusual manner and appearance -- gaunt and wide-eyed, with stark features and a thick Cockney accent -- were put to excellent use in a variety of roles, often farcically. Among other accomplishments, Crook played Ragetti, a washed-up, bug-eyed member of a zany two-person pirate team (used for comic relief and as a deus ex machina) in Jerry Bruckheimer's Pirates of the Caribbean franchise; evoked a bit of Shakespearean drollery as Launcelot Gobbo in the Michael Radford-directed Merchant of Venice (2004); and landed a small supporting role in the British sex farce I Want Candy (2007). Crook also signed for a supporting role in Michael J. Bassett's period adventure Solomon Kane.

Trivia: Daughter of Jasper Carrott, a popular British comedian. One of her first jobs: packaging nuts and seeds at a health-food store. Appeared on the popular BBC radio drama The Archers for 10 years. Received a kidney transplant from her mother in 1997 after being diagnosed with kidney failure. Moved to L.A. in 2005, after the original BBC version of The Office went off the air. Appeared nude in a 2007 PETA advertisement against the bearskin hats worn by British royal guards. Volunteers with Camp Cocker, which rescues cocker spaniels from animal shelters with high kill rates in the L.A. area.

Trivia: Was the first student to win the Charles Laughton Prize for his roles in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Amadeus. Is a member of the band Grow Up. Is perhaps best known for playing Neil Godwin in The Office between 2002 and 2003. As of 2020, has starred as Stephen Holmes in detective thriller Marcella since 2016. In 2020, played the role of Darren in the dark comedy sitcom Breeders.

Trivia: Radio, film, stage and TV actor. Was brought up near Newcastle-upon-Tyne and often acted in amateur performances at the People's Theatre. Took an active role in student drama at university. Originally trained as a primary school teacher after graduating from university, but opted to be an actor after a year of teaching. Began his professional career in the theatre. Played Vronsky in a BBC Radio 4 production of Anna Karenin in 2002. Revealed he was a descendant of John Lilburne, after being confirmed to portray him in a 2008 production of The Devil's Whore. After performing in Enron in 2009, he reunited with director Rupert Goold in Earthquakes in London in 2010. Is a patron of Scene and Heard, a charity based in London that aims to improve the prospects of children through mentoring and courses in drama skills.