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.

Trivia: A child actor on British television from 1968, Peter Firth has been in films since 1973's Brother Sun, Sister Moon. Full theatrical stardom came Firth's way in 1973 with his disturbingly convincing portrayal of horse-mutilating stable boy Arthur Strang in Peter Shaffer's Equus. He repeated this role in the 1977 film version, earning a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination. He went on to such film characterizations as the title character in Joseph Andrews (1977), Angel Clare in Tess (1977) and Ivan Patten in Hunt for Red October (1990). His credits in the past decade have included Shadowlands (1993), An Awfully Big Adventure (1995), and a voiceover in the Disney animated feature The Rescuers Down Under (1990). Peter Firth returned to British TV in 1994 as star of the weekly Heartbeat.

Trivia: Made her screen debut as Heather in 2007 comedy-horror 'Small Town Folk'. In 2014, played the role of Lucia Kors in Tena Štivičić's play '3 Winters' at the National Theatre. Between 2017 and 2019, starred as Alice Kett in 'Jamestown'. In 2018, starred as Vicky Budd in critically-acclaimed BBC Drama 'Bodyguard'. In 2019, co-starred as Ann Walker in BBC/HBO co-production 'Gentleman Jack'.

Trivia: First name comes from a nickname her grandmother used to call her mother. Was a member of Bristol Old Vic Youth Theatre. Made her West End debut in the 2013 revival of Graham Greene's The Living Room.

Trivia: Born in England, but lived in Dubai from ages 2 to 18. Dabbled in painting and music before launching into acting. Studied acting at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and appeared in numerous productions. Made his professional stage debut in 2010 in Enlightenment at London's Hampstead Theatre. Was a series regular on the final season of MI-5 in 2011. Big break came in 2012 when he was cast as the lead on the BBC America series Copper. Middle name is Weston; he hyphenated his middle and last names to ensure he wouldn't be confused with famous singer Tom Jones. Plays saxophone and guitar. Is a trained dancer in tap, ballet and jazz.

Trivia: Performed as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company between 1995 and 1997. Is perhaps best known for playing James Potter in the Harry Potter franchise between 2001 and 2011. Nominated for the Best Supporting Actor/Actress award at the 2003 British Independent Film Awards, for his role in Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself. In 2015, became the artistic director of the East Riding Theatre. Played the role of Nikolai Fomin in the critically-acclaimed 2019 miniseries Chernobyl.

Trivia: Joined the dramatic society at university where he made most of his friends, including his best friend to this day. Although he had trained as an architect, he watched a British Council screening of a film about the RSC and Stratford-upon-Avon in Nigeria where he was working as a trainee architect, and knew straightaway that he wanted to become an actor. While studying at RADA in 1977, he won the Bancroft Gold Medal for acting. Frequently performs with the Royal Shakespeare Company; played Bolingbroke in Richard II in 1990 and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew in 1992. Has been associated with reading novels by Charles Dickens for Naxos Audio Books since 2012, including Oliver Twist. Is a patron of the Lynx Animal Welfare Trust. In 2013, for two months played the part of Robin Carrow in Ambridge Extra, a BBC Radio 4 Extra spin-off from the BBC Radio 4 drama The Archers. Was announced a public supporter of Chapel Lane Theatre Company located in Stratford-upon-Avon, UK in 2015.

Trivia: The oldest of three children.Her parents and grandparents worked in the television industry.Landed her first professional acting job at the age of 14.Participated in her first school play at the age of 17.Took a gap year after high school.Was coached in dance, piano and horseback riding to play the role of Daphne Bridgerton in Bridgerton.

Trivia: Almost didn't get accepted into RADA because of a skin condition on his face. One of the main reasons he was hired for the 1983 British series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet was because he could do a Liverpool accent, which he had learned while living in a city hostel for two years as a teen. Lent his voice to the Wallace and Gromit features Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) and Flushed Away (2006). Other voiceover work includes radio, TV commercials, documentaries, cartoons and looping. Played John Lennon's father, Freddie, in the 2010 biopic Lennon Naked.

Trivia: Became interested in theatre after watching performances of Shakespeare - The Animated Tales at the Barbican in London when he was 11 years old. Played the role of Francisco/Lucianus in English Touring Theatre's production of Hamlet in 2005. Performed with Sir Ian McKellan in King Lear in 2008. First National Theatre lead role was in Edward II in September 2013. To prepare for his role in Oppenheimer in 2015 he watched YouTube videos of J. Robert Oppenheimer to pick up his vocal energy and mannerisms. Played the title role in Macbeth with Anna Maxwell Martin as Lady Macbeth at the Young Vic theatre in London in 2015.

Trivia: Made his television debut in a 1983 episode of Reilly, Ace of Spies. Between 1994 and 1997, starred as Bernard Green in BBC sitcom Common As Muck. Between 2000 and 2004, starred as Alan Ashburn in ITV drama Fat Friends. As of 2019, has voiced the character of Daddy Pig in Peppa Pig since 2004. In 2016, was nominated for the BTVA Video Game Voice Acting Award for Best Male Vocal Performance in a Video Game in a Supporting Role, for his work on Tearaway Unfolded.

Trivia: In 1991, received an Ian Charleson Award commendation for her role in The Seagull. Released a cover of the Exciters' "Tell Him" alongside co-star Leslie Ash in 1996. Won the 2004 Best Comedy Actress award at the British Comedy Awards, for her role in Von Trapped. Is the president of the Campaign for National Parks. Is a patron of Coeliac UK.

Trivia: British lead and supporting actress Pauline Collins is most closely associated with the role of Shirley Valentine from the play and 1988 film. For her portrayal of the frowsy British housewife who escapes to Greece to find herself, Collins won a Golden Globe, a BAFTA award, and an American Oscar nomination. For the theatrical version, which opened in 1989 at the Booth Theater in New York, she won many awards including a Tony, a Drama Desk Award, and the Outer Critics Circle Award. In Great Britain, Collins is perhaps best known for her many years as a television actress in shows such as Upstairs Downstairs, Thomas and Sarah, and Forever Green, in which she co-starred with her husband, John Alderton. In 1997, Collins played a leading role in Paradise Road, the story of women incarcerated in a POW camp during WWII who defied their Japanese captors by founding a vocal orchestra.

Trivia: Acclaimed as one of Britain's funniest standup comedians, Omid Djalili also retained the distinction of being the country's sole Iranian standup act. Following the smashing success in the 1995 Edinburgh Festival and such satirical U.K. efforts as Small Potatoes (2001) and Between Iraq and a Hard Place (2003), Djalili seemed poised to take the U.S. by storm with his supporting role in the new Whoopi Goldberg sitcom Whoopi. Born to an Iranian journalist and photographer who had settled in London in 1957, Djalili's father was both a contributor to Iran's top newspapers and a translator for the Iranian embassy. Severing his ties with the Iranian government following the 1979 Iranian revolution, the elder Djalili opened a medical hostile for Iranian immigrants, and it was there that young Omid witnessed his father's unique ability to entertain and began to get a true sense of the cultural differences between native-born Londoners and their Iranian immigrant counterparts. His enrollment in London's multi-cultural Holland Park school also served to provide young Djalili with a strong catalog of various foreign accents that would later prove key to his success as a standup act. Djalili graduated from the University of Ulster with a degree in English and theater arts in 1988, and embarked on a series of odd jobs after returning to London and being rejected from 16 different drama schools. Gradually working his way from the outskirts of the theater scene to small roles on stage and screen, it wasn't long before Djalili met his future wife, Annabel Knight, at a friends wedding and the two began collaborating on various projects. After working themselves into the experimental theater scene in the Czech Republic via a cultural exchange program, the couple was preparing to have their first child when Mrs. Knight decided to pen a one man play for her husband to star in. An introspective, humorous, and honest depiction of the struggle for truth in the face of religious prosecution, A Strange Bit of History proved an enormous hit after debuting in Edinburgh to capacity crowds. His crossover appeal in part the result of his ability to relate to numerous foreign cultures, Djalili took home the coveted LWT Stand Up Award in 1997 and has since gone on to numerous film and television roles. Djalili endeared himself to U.K. television audiences in the late '90s, and after making his film debut in the 1999 Hollywood blockbuster The Mummy, it seemed as if his appeal had made the sometimes difficult translation from the U.K. to the U.S. Alternating between work in Europe and America into the new millennium, Djalili received stateside exposure with roles in such high-profile releases as The World is Not Enough (1999) and Spy Game (2001) while maintaining U.K. credibility with supporting performances in Mean Machine (2001) and The Calcium Kid (2003). Following the premiere of Whoopi, Djalili began preparation for his role as Pablo Picasso in the feature Modigliani (2004). Over the next several years, Djalili would continue to remain a force on screen, appearing in films like Casanova and The Infadel, as well as TV series like The Paul Reiser Show.