Trivia: Born in London on September 6, 1972, and raised in the Hackney borough, Elba pursued acting as a high school student at the behest of a drama teacher. Elba paid his dues with many supporting roles on British television, including such series as Bramwell, The Bill, Degrees of Error, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, and The Governor. The actor grew deeply frustrated, however, over the seemingly irrepressible tendency of British casting directors to peg him in supporting roles. "Back in London," he later recalled, "I was always just going to be the best friend, or the crook or the detective on the side." When Elba could take no more of this, he immigrated to the United States. Within a few years, Elba landed a starring role on what would come to be known as one of the best TV series of all time, The Wire.Elba's performance as pusher "Stringer" Bell attained widespread popularity with viewers and helped put Elba on the map. Elba then transitioned into big-screen roles in movies like The Gospel, The Reaping, Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls, 28 Weeks Later, and the Alien prequel Prometheus. Elba also enjoyed more stateside TV success on shows like The Office and Luther.

Trivia: British actress Ruth Wilson took her on-camera bow in her early twenties. Wilson first participated in a comedy series on Channel 5 entitled Suburban Shootout, then -- almost immediately after drama school -- signed for a role that netted her significant acclaim and a Golden Globe nod for Best Actress: a portrayal of Jane Eyre in director Susanna White's 2006 BBC miniseries adaptation of the seminal Charlotte Brontë novel. After Eyre, Wilson acted under the aegis of the legendary director-cum-playwright Stephen Poliakoff -- opposite Maggie Smith and others -- in Poliakoff's 2007 telemovie A Real Summer.

Trivia: With the blond, knowing looks of a choir boy gone wrong and a resumé boasting some of the more offbeat films and television series of the last decade, British actor Steven Mackintosh is one of the more versatile and unpredictable actors on either side of the Atlantic. Although largely unknown in the United States, Mackintosh has worked steadily in his native England since his first role at the age of 13.Born in Cambridge in 1967, Mackintosh got his start on the stage but segued into television in 1985, with parts in The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 and The Browning Version. After touring with the National Theatre Company for two years, Mackintosh won his first screen role in 1987, as a minor character in the critically acclaimed story of playwright Joe Orton, Prick Up Your Ears. After secondary parts in two more features, 1989's Treasure Island and 1990's Memphis Belle, Mackintosh landed a leading role in Hanif Kureishi's London Kills Me (1991). Mackintosh, in his role as a hustler by the name of Muffdiver, was one of the odder and thornier aspects of an odd and thorny film. The actor's off-kilter versatility was further displayed via performances in subsequent films and television miniseries such as Roger Michell's 1993 miniseries The Buddha of Suburbia; Dennis Potter's final project, the comedy spoof Midnight Movie (1994); and an obscure 1995 film called The Grotesque, co-starring Alan Bates and Sting.In 1996, Mackintosh came to the attention of American art house audiences, first with his turn as Sebastian in Trevor Nunn's lavish screen adaptation of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Co-starring Helena Bonham Carter, Richard E. Grant, and Nigel Hawthorne, the film received favorable reviews which nicely complemented those garnered by Mackintosh's other outing, Different for Girls. Mackintosh co-starred with Rupert Graves as a prim transsexual in the comedy, which was remarkable for both its complex subject matter and the honesty with which such matter was dealt. The release of the film in such close context with that of Twelfth Night also gave Mackintosh further opportunity to display his startling flexibility, something he did again the following year with the World War II drama The Land Girls. After his turn as an amorous farmer, Mackintosh characteristically went in a completely different direction, with his hilarious portrayal of a ne'er-do-well pot grower in the 1998 film Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. The film, which was equal parts Quentin Tarantino and testosterone, was a smash hit in Britain, and made another offbeat addition to Mackintosh's already diverse resumé.

Trivia: Father was Indian, mother Swiss and part Italian. Once considered becoming a mime. As she told WhatsOnStage.com, she displayed acting chops as a child: She had a bunk bed with curtains, and used to "tell stories and convince people I was someone else." Trained at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. On stage, has appeared in works by Shakespeare, Harold Pinter, David Hare, Anton Chekhov, Noel Coward and Thornton Wilder. Her musical tastes sometimes tend more toward pop and rock, though, including Wilco and Michael Jackson. Her 1996 film debut was as the star of Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love, which was banned in India and Pakistan. In 2005 and 2007, played a young wife, Niobe, in the HBO series Rome. In 2010, took on the role of billionaire Ilsa Pucci in the Fox action series Human Target.

Trivia: Lead actor, onscreen from the late '80s.

Trivia: A member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, dramatic actress Saskia Reeves made her film debut in December Bride (1990). Prior to that, she had appeared in the television film Metamorphosis (1987). In film, Reeves has specialized in playing offbeat roles in films such as Michael Winterbottom's Butterfly Kiss (1995).

Trivia: Performed in school plays but didn't become interested in acting until his 20s. Is a former World Thai Boxing champion. A friend he was training with as a boxer got him interested in acting, helping him find work as an extra. Has starred in a number of stage plays, including the comedy Speedating at the Comedy Store in London. Played the role of Tom in a BBC Radio 4 production of I'm the Boss.

Trivia: Starred in a production of Conor McPherson's The Weir that ran in Dublin, London and Los Angeles. Auditioned for the role of the seventh Doctor on the BBC series Doctor Who in 1987, but the part went to Sylvester McCoy. Often appeared on the BBC Radio series Mind's Eye. Has narrated several audio books, including Morris West's The Shoes of the Fisherman and Barbara Vine's Gallowglass. Starred as Ebenezer Scrooge in the McCarter Theatre's 28th annual production of A Christmas Carol in 2008.

Trivia: Best known for his role as Tyres O'Flaherty the bicycle riding raver in the sitcom Spaced. Before finding fame, his previous jobs included cycle courier and club DJ. Shared an flat with Spaced co-stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in the 1990s. Began doing stand-up in 1993, after accepting a bet at an open-mic night. He then became a regular at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Has two children with his second wife, English journalist and broadcaster Miranda Sawyer. Won Best Supporting Actor at the 2011 British Independent Film Awards for his role in Kill List.

Trivia: Born in Nigeria, her father's home country, but was raised in the U.K. and Antigua by her mother. Aspired to be a professional dancer, but a back injury led her to pursue acting as a career. Performed in numerous productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company, including A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest and The Servant of Two Masters. Met her husband, fellow actor Geoffrey Streatfeild, while on tour with the RSC in Japan. Played the role of Viola in a stage production of Twelfth Night with Bristol Old Vic Theatre Company, a role that earned her an Ian Charleson award nomination in 2004. Starred as Eurydice in Moira Buffini's Welcome to Thebes at the Royal National Theatre in 2010.

Trivia: Though it's a typical trend for models to attempt acting careers in Hollywood, a close look at the career of British model-turned-actress Sienna Guillory reveals that she is anything but the "typical" case. Despite the fact that it was likely her role as a Hugo Boss girl that first got the talented and attractive blonde beauty noticed on U.S. shores, she had actually been acting long before embarking on a career as a model, and in fact, simply stumbled onto a career on the catwalks quite by accident. More content to be labeled an "actor" than a "star," the down-to-earth starlet no doubt possesses the kind of selflessness displayed by Charlize Theron in Monster that would allow her talent to take precedence over her physical appearance when the role demands it. The daughter of Cuban-born guitarist Isaac Guillory, Sienna was born in London in May of 1975; her childhood was marked by the kind of bohemian upbringing that encouraged creativity and artistic experimentation. It wasn't long before the ambitious youngster was considering a career as an actress, and in 1993, at the age of 16, Guillory landed her first role with a bit part in the cheeky, equestrian-themed U.K. miniseries Riders. Those who caught a brief glimpse of the up-and-coming talent no doubt agreed that the camera took a special shine to her, and a bit part in the U.K. period drama The Buccaneers following in short order. Guillory's appearance in The Buccaneers prompted her to study her craft more closely, but her course was somewhat altered when, at the age of 21, she accompanied a friend to the Select modeling agency and was immediately signed by the powerhouse. Though a stint as the Hugo Boss girl (not to mention campaigns for Armani and Dolce & Gabbana, to name only a few) did offer Guillory notable exposure, it did little to sway her dedication to acting, and she was soon honing her skills at the New World School of Dramatic Arts and later the Paris Conservatoire. By the time Guillory returned to the screen with a substantial role in the 2000 thriller Sorted, she had began to develop a unique style that would continue to impress in such features as Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang) and Late Night Shopping. A winning-turn as the virginal heroine of Kingsley Amis' novel A Girl Like You got Guillory positive critical notice when the television adaptation was aired in the U.K. in 2001, and it wasn't long before she had set her sights on Hollywood. If Guillory's turn as the romantic interest of lead Guy Pearce's character in the 2002 sci-fi adventure The Time Machine did little to further her career when the film generally failed to live up to expectations at the box office, she could at least take comfort in the fact that she would soon be portraying one of the most legendary beauties of all in the made-for-television adventure Helen of Troy. That film, too, was met with a somewhat lukewarm response, and though she would remain decidedly loyal to British television with roles in such efforts as 2004's Beauty, it was obvious by parts in such movies as Love Actually and Resident Evil: Apocalypse that she was eager to expand her horizons beyond typical costume drama fare and into mainstream Hollywood territory. In 2004, Guillory began preparation for roles in the fraternity-themed horror film Victims and director Keoni Waxman's Poolhall Prophets.

Trivia: Actor Sam Spruell made one of his earliest film appearances in Kathryn Bigelow's Hollywood actioner K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), then followed it up with work on numerous British television series including The Ghost Squad, Rosemary & Thyme, and Silent Witness. Spruell received an international crossover role with his turn as a nasty hoodlum in Paul Andrew Williams' big-screen urban thriller London to Brighton (2006), then tackled a bit part in Shekhar Kapur's arthouse period drama Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) and a supporting role in Lisa Gornick's offbeat comedy drama Tick Tock Lullaby (2007). In 2008, he appeared in the Edward Zwick WWII drama Defiance, starring Daniel Craig.

Trivia: While Sean Pertwee, son of the late Jon Pertwee, has amassed an impressive number of credits in a short time, along with a respectable fan club, not that much is known about his life. He has performed in theater, television, and motion pictures, often playing rough-edged or tough characters such as his role as an ambitious ram-raider in Paul Anderson's breakthrough film Shopping, and his part as Smith, the ill-fated pilot of the Lewis and Clark in Anderson's Event Horizon. He has played a number of more intriguing and thoughtful parts as well, however, including the lead role of JC in the British surf parable Blue Juice, and the role of Hugh Beringar in the first set of the Cadfael TV movies (unable to continue in the role due to film work, he was replaced by Eoin McCarthy). During periods without acting work, he has worked as an animator, a painter, and an album cover designer.While Pertwee continued to act in a broad variety of films, such as Talos the Mummy, Paul Anderson's Soldier, and David Cronenberg's eXistenZ, he also set out on a directorial career, beginning with the short film Another Day in London. In 1996, he became part of a group of actors, producers, editors, and directors to form a pair of companies under the name of Natural Nylon, based in London and New York, with the aim of developing and producing motion pictures and television projects for the members of the consortium. He lives in London, preferring not to move to the United States.

Trivia: Born Patrick G. Duggan on March 24, 1945, Patrick Malahide grew up in the Thames Valley west of London in the village of Pangbourne, where Kenneth Grahame wrote about Mole, Toad, and Rat in the 1908 children's classic The Wind in the Willows. Malahide's Irish immigrant parents each held down two jobs to send Patrick and their other two children to the best schools. Patrick attended St. Anne's Primary and then the Douai School of the Benedictine Abbey at Upper Woolhampton, Berkshire. At both schools, Patrick received an excellent education and learned to mix with upper-class children and mimic the articulation and cadence of their speech. Thus, he was unwittingly preparing himself for film roles requiring an understanding of class-conscious societies and a mastery of accents. Such roles included his portrayal of Sir John Conroy in the 2001 TV miniseries Victoria and Albert, Captain Claude Howlett in the 1999 TV miniseries All the King's Men, and the Rev. Casaubon in the 1994 TV miniseries Middlemarch. After attending Edinburgh University, where he studied literature and psychology and performed with a dramatic society, he taught English at a boys' school in Wokingham. Soon, however, he abandoned the classroom for the stage, managing and directing at a small theater and acting in the plays of Henrik Ibsen, Noel Coward, Anton Chekhov, and Arthur Miller. After performing in London, he signed on with the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh, playing roles in the dramas of Shakespeare and other classic authors, accepted television roles, and earned critical acclaim in 1981 in a tour de force one-man show, Judgement [writer's note: the British spelling of the word "judgment" is correct here], in which he tells the audience why he resorted to cannibalism to survive as a Russian officer in a Nazi prison. Then came worldwide recognition from productions such as The Killing Fields (1984), the TV miniseries The Singing Detective (1985), A Month in the Country (1987), the TV docudrama Investigation: Inside a Terrorist Bombing (1990), A Man of No Importance (1994), U.S. Marshals (1998), and Billy Elliot (2000).