Trivia: With an expansive range that stretches from Shakespeare to Chicken Run and just about everything in between, actress Imelda Staunton has, not surprisingly, become one of the most highly respected actresses working in the U.K. If her penchant for playing what many would consider to be mundane, everyday characters found Staunton criminally overlooked in the early years of her career, it was her keen ability to inject those characters with a remarkable complexity that eventually made the stage mainstay-turned-small-screen powerhouse one of Britain's most sought-after talents.A London native and graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, Staunton wasted no time launching her career following graduation, becoming associated with such prestigious venues as The Old Vic and the National Theatre. A trio of productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company gained her numerous critical accolades, and in 1986 Staunton made an impressive television debut in the legendary BBC production of Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective. Increasingly busy throughout the 1990s, Staunton continued to gain momentum on-stage while earning three Oliviers for her performances in the The Corn Is Green, A Chorus of Disapproval, and Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods. As Staunton's numerous stage roles continued to earn her critical success, frequent television and film roles made her a familiar and endearing face to the general public. Though many of her U.K. television roles went unseen by stateside audiences, supporting roles in such features as Much Ado About Nothing, Sense and Sensibility, and Shakespeare in Love found Staunton slowly working her way into the conscience of U.S. film buffs as well. Moving into the new millennium, Staunton's roles in such films as Chicken Run (for which she provided the voice of Bunty), Crush, Bright Young Things, and I'll Be There found the established television actress actively distancing herself from the small screen in favor of feature films. Of course, every actor dreams of the breakthrough role that will make him or her an international star, and for Imelda Staunton that role was of a 1950s era abortionist caught in a downward spiral in director Mike Leigh's 2004 drama Vera Drake. Her undeniably affecting portrayal of the title role -- a selfless housewife and cleaning woman who makes a name for herself performing illegal abortions -- earned her near-universal praise. After earning accolades from both The Venice Film Festival and The New York Film Festival as well as the Los Angeles and Chicago film critic associations, Staunton had undeniably arrived when the role earned her a Best Actress nomination for the 77th Annual Academy Awards.Subsequent roles in the U.K. television comedy Little Britain as well as the features Nanny McPhee and Freedom Writers served well to introduce her to entirely new, often American, audiences. In 2007, just one year after appearing in a colorful Masterpiece Theatre production of the children's classic The Wind and the Willows, she remained in the world of fantasy for her role in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Staunton played Dolores Umbridge -- the latest in a long line of Defense Against the Dark Arts professors -- whose severe disposition drew the ire of Harry Potter himself. She was part of the cast of the well-respected television production Cranford, and appeared in the inspirational drama Freedom Writers. She teamed with Mike Leigh again for 2010's Another Year, and that same year she appeared in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. She continued to work in animated family films such as Arthur Christmas and The Pirates! Band of Misfits.

Trivia: A glamorous actress whose beauty and sophistication has only increased as the years pass, London-born screen star Francesca Annis is well known to cinema lovers for her roles in such films as Roman Polanski's Macbeth (1971) and David Lynch's Dune (1984). Though she would later become better known to gossip column readers for her May-September romance with actor Ralph Fiennes following an appearance opposite the intense actor in the Broadway version of Hamlet, Annis has continued to impress both on stage and screen thanks to numerous challenging roles.Though a convent education initially steered her toward life as a nun, studies in acting and dance gradually led her into the entertainment industry until she was cast in the lead of the 1958 film The Cat Gang at age 14. The featured child actor in the tale of a group of children who stumble across a smuggling ring while spending long days on the local harbor, Annis made a distinct impression on audiences and was soon advancing in such films as No Kidding (1960) and His and Hers (1961). A role in the 1963 film Cleopatra gained the young starlet international attention, and shortly after the family film Flipper's New Adventure, Annis was cast as Estella in the 1967 U.K. television series Great Expectations. If audiences had not previously recognized her talent by this point, her remarkably powerful performance in Roman Polanski's 1971 feature film Macbeth would be hard to deny. After continuing to gain credit on stage and screen throughout the 1970s, roles in the following decade's Dune, Krull (1983), and Under the Cherry Moon (1986) culminated with an impressive performance as Jacqueline Kennedy in the 1988 made-for-television feature Onassis: The Richest Man in the World.Perhaps her most well-known performance to date due to the romantic scandal that resulted from it, her part in the 1995 Broadway production of Hamlet found both her and co-star Ralph Fiennes abandoning their longtime partners to embark on a heated romance (after playing mother and son Gertrude and Hamlet in the play). Though the scandal caused quite a stir, her memorable (and BAFTA-nominated) performance in 1998's Reckless steered gossip hounds back toward recognizing her remarkable skills as an actress. In 1999 Annis would once again remind the public of her affairs, though, when she appeared opposite Fiennes in the film Onegin, a cinematic adaptation of a 19th century Russian novel. In addition to appearing in such efforts as Deceit (2000) and Copenhagen (2002) in the new millennium, Annis continued her many impressive on-stage performances with an appearance in the West End production of Noël Coward's The Vortex.

Trivia: Walkden, England, native David Bamber nearly avoided the proscenium altogether, with early plans to enter a training program for special education instructors. At the last yawning moment, however, Bamber decided to jump ship and head into acting, courtesy of the dramatic arts program at Bristol University and -- later -- a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). As a student, the thespian distinguished himself from many of his colleagues by acquiring a marked preference for contemporary material over classicist plays. As a stage actor, Bamber (though openly heterosexual, with a wife and children) sustained a particularly fine reputation for convincing portrayals of (often repressed) gay characters in such plays as My Night with Reg and Pride and Prejudice. He also gained recognition for comic physicality deemed brilliant by many critics. In terms of on-camera work, Bamber's work (somewhat ironically) has leaned more toward period material than his stage efforts. Following an appearance in the all-star British seriocomedy Privates on Parade (1982), he signed for roles in such projects as the made-for-television outings The Merchant of Venice (2001) and Pollyanna (2002), and the HBO miniseries Rome (2005) as Marcus Tillius Cicero. In 2008, Bamber joined co-stars Tom Cruise, Tom Wilkinson, Kenneth Branagh, and others for the Cruise-produced Hitler assassination thriller Valkyrie with a frightening turn as Adolf Hitler.

Trivia: Started acting at the age of 11. Wanted to be a history teacher growing up. Took classes and workshops at the Royal National Theatre in London. Is a playwright and had his play Walls produced at Battersea Arts Centre in London in 2003. Played the role of Rudge in the original West End production of The History Boys in 2004, and later reprised the role in the film version and the Broadway transfer (both 2006). Won a Royal Television Society Award for Best Comedy Performance for his performance in Him & Her in 2010. Won the Cult Hero SFX Award in 2011 for his role in Being Human. Made the first of many live appearances for arts company Pin Drop Studio in 2015, reading a short story to an audience followed by an interview with Simon Oldfield. Has written three plays; a short film Victor; and had a short story published in women's magazine Company. Came out as gay to his parents when he was 18 which caused his father much unhappiness, but the subsequent birth of a nephew improved their relationship.

Trivia: Born to an Irish mother and Anglo-French father. Lived in France until the age of five. Had a supportive drama teacher at school, who encouraged her to make a career of acting. Made her television debut in a 2004 episode of Foyle's War. Starred as Angela in the 2005 ITV miniseries Jericho. In 2010, played the role of Jackie Onassis in the West End play Onassis. Performed as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Wolf Hall, transferring to Broadway in 2015. Nominated for the 2015 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role in Wolf Hall: Parts One and Two. Was told by a former agent that she lacked the 'right bone structure' for films.

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.