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: Studied architecture at Manchester University before applying to drama school. Performed in the year-long international tour of Geometry of Miracles. Joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2000, performing in As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet and The Comedy of Errors. Played Paul Milner in Foyle's War from 2002 to 2010. In 2006, starred as Charles in the first stage adaptation of The French Lieutenant's Woman.

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: To refer to British actor Julian Ovenden as a "thespian" marks the understatement to end all understatements. The son of Queen Elizabeth II's chaplain, Ovenden came of age in a regal environment and, at an early point, demonstrated his sharpest and clearest talent in the musical realm. By seven years old, Ovenden received an invitation to sing at St. Paul's Cathedral; by the age of 13, he won a musical scholarship to Eton College. A tenure at Oxford University on a choral scholarship followed, as did post-graduate studies at London's esteemed Webber-Douglas Academy of Performing Arts, which found Ovenden acting opposite such legends as Nigel Hawthorne and under the aegis of director Michael Grandage.Ovenden pursued film and television acting alongside his theatrical and musical work from the earliest stages of his career. His first high-profile filmed role arrived around 2002, when cast in the Working Title telemovie Come Together opposite James D'Arcy. A popular turn as a doctor on the British series The Royal ensued, as did a role in the widely viewed miniseries Foyle's War (as Andrew Foyle) alongside the revered Michael Kitchen (Out of Africa). In 2004, Ovenden put his vocal and dramatic talents to use for a single television project: the Arthur Seidelman-directed telemovie A Christmas Carol: The Musical, starring Kelsey Grammer as Ebenezer Scrooge and Jane Krakowski as The Ghost of Christmas Past. Ovenden played Fred Anderson in that film. Meanwhile, the actor continued to pursue both theatrical and cinematic projects with equal vitality. Ovenden also signed for a regular supporting role on the 2008 series drama Cashmere Mafia, produced by Darren Star; however, the series didn't make it past its first season.

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: Scottish, versatile, and for a long time underappreciated, Alan Cumming is chameleon-like in both his choice of roles and his ability to inhabit them convincingly. Born January 27, 1965, in Perthshire, Scotland, Cumming studied drama at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama before embarking on a career that would have its roots on the stage. For years, Cumming worked steadily in the theater as a member of repertory companies, such as the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1992 he had his film debut in the largely unheard of Prague, which was essentially a historical overview of the city. In 1994 American audiences were introduced to the sound of Cumming's voice thanks to his role as the narrator of Black Beauty, but it wasn't until 1995 (Cumming's other 1994 film, Second Best notwithstanding) that they actually saw him, this time via his small but memorable role as a Russian computer programmer in Goldeneye.Wider exposure followed, thanks to two successful films. The first, Circle of Friends (1995), featured Cumming as Minnie Driver's slimy, unwelcome suitor, and the second, 1996's Emma, saw Cumming playing yet another unwelcome suitor, this time to Gwyneth Paltrow. More sympathetic roles followed in For My Baby, Buddy, and Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (in which he played a sweetly awkward nerd with a crush on Lisa Kudrow), all released in 1997. Work in Spice World came next in 1998, as did the stage role that was to give Cumming critical acclaim, a host of awards, and the wider respect he deserved. That role was Cabaret's Emcee, and Cumming managed to make the character -- previously the sole territory of Joel Grey -- all his own, giving a wickedly delicious performance that was unabashedly dark, sly, androgynous, and altogether terrifying. His performance won him all three New York theater awards: a Tony, a Drama Desk, and an Outer Critics Circle. This triumph resulted in a new range of opportunities for the actor, one of which was the chance to be a part of what was to be Stanley Kubrick's last film, Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Although Cumming's role as a hotel desk clerk was a small one, the actor turned in a sly and insinuating performance that reflected his ability to make the most out of even the most limited opportunities.Cumming was subsequently given almost unlimited opportunities to showcase his flamboyance in Julie Taymor's Titus, her 1999 adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. In his role as the queen's (Jessica Lange) debauched lover, he gave a performance that was as over-the-top and rococo as the film itself, leading some critics to say his portrayal had a little too much in common with a Christmas ham.Fortunately, Cumming surprised critics and audiences alike when he directed, with Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Anniversary Party (2001), a marital comedy-drama that starred him and Leigh as a husband and wife whose anniversary party exposes the many flaws of their fragile marriage. Featuring a cast that included Kevin Kline, Phoebe Cates, Gwyneth Paltrow, John C. Reilly, and Jennifer Beals, the film, which was shot on digital video, earned a fairly warm reception from critics, many of whom praised Cumming for his work both behind and in front of the camera.Cumming took the part of the bad guy in the first Spy Kids movie, a role he would repeat in the film's first two sequels. He also played the evil corporate manipulator in Josie and the Pussycats. He appeared in the musical remake of Reefer Madness in 2004, and that same year voiced a cat in the live action Garfield the movie. He worked steadily in a variety of projects including Gray Matters, Eloise: Eloise in Hollywood, and Dare, but found his biggest critical success on the small screen as part of the cast in the highly-respected CBS drama The Good Wife which began its run in 2009.