Trivia: One of Scotland's most acclaimed comedians, Craig Ferguson first became known to American audiences as Nigel Wick, Drew Carey's evil boss on The Drew Carey Show. A fixture of the series from 1995, Ferguson won over film audiences four years later with his portrayal of Crawford Mackenzie, an indefatigable but naïve hairdresser intent on competing in the World Freestyle Hairstyling Competition in the mock-documentary The Big Tease.Originally hailing from Glasgow, Ferguson started out as a musician, but gradually segued into comedy via the stage and television. He earned great popularity as the star of a series of self-titled specials on the BBC, and also received positive notices as the lead of the West End revival of The Rocky Horror Pictures Show and Neil Simon's The Odd Couple, which was staged at the Edinburgh Festival. By the mid-'90s, Ferguson decided it was time to move on, to set his sights on grander schemes, and duly moved to L.A. Upon his arrival, he found himself being forced to masticate a particularly large slab of humble pie, as the charm and wit that had earned him so many fans back home did little but translate to open casting calls and endless auditions in Hollywood. Ferguson's luck began to change when he landed the role of Mr. Wick on The Drew Carey Show and he was able to use his initial hard-luck experiences in L.A. as the basis for The Big Tease, which, in addition to starring in, he wrote and executive produced with Sacha Gervasi. The film, which also starred Frances Fisher and contained a pivotal cameo by Carey, was relatively well-received by critics and enjoyed a fairly successful commercial release.Ferguson followed The Big Tease in 2000 with Saving Grace, which Ferguson also co-wrote and co-produced. He would go on to appear in movies like Trust Me, and lend his voice to animated films like How to Train Your Dragon and Winnie the Pooh, but Ferguson would become best known for his late night talk show, The Late Show with Craig Ferguson, beginning in 2005.

Trivia: Perhaps best-known to international audiences for her role as Bubble, Edina Monsoon's gloriously vapid assistant on Absolutely Fabulous, Jane Horrocks is a well-established stage and screen actress in her native Britain.Born in Lancashire, England, to working-class parents on January 18, 1964, Horrocks began performing in a non-professional capacity (or "showing off" as she has said) at an early age, wowing her informal audiences with her gift for mimicry. Although an acting career was seen as unrealistic in her Northern English town, Horrocks nevertheless ended up winning a place at London's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where her classmates included Ralph Fiennes, Imogen Stubbs, and Iain Glen. During her studies at RADA, Horrocks was advised to lose her distinctive Lancashire accent. Fortunately, she rejected this "advice;" her decision to nurture her way of speaking would later result in her casting in a number of plum character roles.Following graduation, Horrocks joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. Despite the RSC's prestige, the actress felt unchallenged and underused in her work with the company. Thankfully, she found some form of relief in her collaboration with playwright Jim Cartwright while performing in a production of one of his plays; Cartwright was so impressed with Horrocks' uncanny impersonations of such singers as Edith Piaf and Judy Garland that he promised to write a play expressly to showcase her talents. A few years later, he made good on his promise with The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, a play about a painfully shy girl (Horrocks) possessing a remarkable ability to mimic some of history's most famous singers. Horrocks earned lavish praise for her performance; in 1998, the play was made into a well-received film, Little Voice, in which Horrocks co-starred with Ewan McGregor, Brenda Blethyn, and Michael Caine. Horrocks also began appearing on both the big and small screens during the late '80s, doing supporting work in a number of films and television series. She had her screen breakthrough in Mike Leigh's acclaimed family comedy Life Is Sweet (1991), earning awards from the Los Angeles film critics and the National Society of Film Critics for her portrayal of an anorexic girl who at one point asks her boyfriend (David Thewlis) to lick chocolate off her breasts.Bouncing back and forth between comedy and drama and film and television during the rest of the decade, Horrocks continued to establish herself as one of her country's most versatile performers. The 1998 release of Little Voice brought with it lavish acclaim for the actress, who earned a number of international award nominations and honors for her singular performance in the film.

Trivia: Talented British actor Adrian Lester first became known to American audiences with his role as an idealistic presidential campaign worker in Mike Nichols' Primary Colors (1998). Lester, who was born in Birmingham, England, in 1970, got his start on the stage, winning an Olivier Award in 1996 for his performance in Company. He made his film debut in 1991, acting in a number of British productions, and got his first Hollywood break with Primary Colors. In 2000, he could be seen interpreting the Bard as Dumaine, one of the noblemen in Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of Love's Labour's Lost who finds that the demands of the body are liable to undermine the noble pursuits of the mind.

Trivia: After making a memorable impression on audiences as Mel Gibson's doomed love in Braveheart, British actress Catherine McCormack emerged as one of the most promising of Britain's new wave of young actors. Born January 1, 1972, in Hampshire, England, McCormack trained at the Oxford School of Drama. Following some stage and television work, she made her film debut in Anna Campion's Loaded (1994), playing a member of a group of friends who go away for a fairly disastrous weekend retreat. After a turn in the obscure Tashunga (a 1995 film that was released a year later under the title of North Star), McCormack got her break in the epic Braveheart (1995). Although her role was secondary, the huge success of the film won McCormack widespread attention, paving the way for her lead role in the 1997 World War II drama The Land Girls (which also starred fellow up-and-comers Rachel Weisz and Anna Friel). The following year, the actress gained further prominence through the lead role in Dangerous Beauty, in which she played a Venetian courtesan. The same year, she also had a prominent part in Dancing at Lughnasa, a screen adaptation of Brian Friel's acclaimed play, starring Meryl Streep. In 1999, McCormack headlined yet another film, with her turn in the British comedy This Year's Love, in which she co-starred with fellow rising stars Dougray Scott, Jennifer Ehle, and Ian Hart. In the years to come, McCormack would remain active on screen, appearing in films like 28 Weeks Later, and starring on the series Lights Out.Her onscreen career subsequently stalled by a series of weighty roles in such high profile but only moderately successfuls films as Shadow of the Vampire, The Tailor of Panama, and Spy Game, McCormack nevertheless managed to make an impression on stage in such efforts as the SoHo Theater production of Kiss Me Like You Mean It and the West End production of Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind. Later making her directorial debut with a West End production of Anna Weiss, McCormack was nominated for as Best Supporting Actress at the 2001 Oliver Awards for her memorable performance in a British National Theater production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons. In 2005 McCormack would go hunting for the fearsome baboonasaurus in the notorious flop A Sound of Thunder, with voice work in the visually extravagant 2006 sci fi action entry Renaissance marking the actress' first foray into the world of animation.

Trivia: Extremely prolific British actor David Morrissey sounded off as a vociferous, intense player in English pictures such as Peter Greenaway's Drowning by Numbers (1988, as an unfortunate victim of mariticide), Stephen Gyllenhaal's drama Waterland (1992, as the simple-minded brother of Jeremy Irons), and Hilary and Jackie (1998, as a loving and devoted husband). He forsook British arthouse material for more mainstream Hollywood fare with key performances in the seamy Basic Instinct 2 (2006) and ascended to top billing as the male lead of Hilary Swank in The Reaping (2007), a religious-themed horror outing. That same year, Showtime tapped Morrissey to headline the series Meadowlands, as an English patriarch attempting at all costs to help his wife and children escape the family's crime-saturated past. Over the coming years, he would go on to find even more notable success on the zombie series The Walking Dead.

Trivia: A struggling stage actress when she was cast in the Kevin Costner epic The Postman (1997), British actress Olivia Williams survived the film's meltdown with her reputation relatively intact. The daughter of lawyers, Williams earned a degree in English at Cambridge University before studying acting for two years with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Her training led to several stage roles, as well as to work with the Royal Shakespeare Company in both Stratford-upon-Avon and London. A four-month tour of Richard III featuring Ian McKellen brought Williams to the United States, and, following a supporting role in the made-for-TV adaptation of Emma (1997), she again found herself stateside to work on The Postman. Fortunately for Williams, she rebounded from The Postman with her role as Miss Cross, the fought-over love interest of a precocious 15-year-old and an embittered millionaire in the acclaimed comedy Rushmore (1998). She could be seen the next year starring opposite Bruce Willis in the enormously successful supernatural thriller The Sixth Sense. She continued to work steadily in films such as Born Romantic, The Man from Elysian Fields, A Knight's Tale, and Peter Pan. She was excellent in An Education as a sympathetic teacher, appeared in short-lived Joss Whedon series Dollhouse, and starred in Roman Polanski's politically-tinged thriller The Ghost Writer. In 2011 she had a main role in the action film Hanna and appeared as Countess Vronsky in Joe Wright's 2012 adaptation of the classic Anna Karenina.

Trivia: One of the screen's most consistently solid performers and least recognized personalities, British actor Ian Hart has appeared in an enviably diverse number of films over the course of the '90s. To say that Hart has a chameleon-like quality would be something of an understatement; one of the reasons for the lack of audience recognition afforded to him is his ability to completely disappear in his roles, exchanging full-bodied characterizations for any trace of the actor responsible for them.Little is known about Hart's background aside from the fact that he got his start in regional theatre and on such BBC television programs as the popular series Eastenders. One thing that is certain is that Hart's Liverpool origins and uncanny resemblance to John Lennon were responsible for getting him his first big break. In 1992, he was chosen to play Lennon in Christopher Munch's The Hours and Times (1992), a film that examined the relationship between Lennon and Beatles manager Brian Epstein. Two years later, Hart again played the musician in Backbeat, Iain Softley's account of the relationship between Lennon, Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorff), and Sutcliffe's girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr (Sheryl Lee). The film earned a number of strong notices and was fairly successful at the box office, with Hart earning particular acclaim for his portrayal of Lennon.Following a starring role as a shell-shocked young Welshman in The Englishman Who Went up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain (1995), Hart embarked on a series of projects that read like a who's who list of gritty, socially conscious British films. For director Ken Loach, he played a dedicated young journalist who gets caught up in the Spanish Civil War in Land and Freedom (1995); that same year, he won the Venice Film Festival's Volpi Cup for his portrayal of a psychotic Northern Irish Protestant gangster in Thaddeus O'Sullivan's Nothing Personal. The following year, Hart played Martin Donovan's lover in the relentlessly intense child abuse drama Hollow Reed and had a substantial supporting role in Neil Jordan's Michael Collins, a biographical epic about the legendary and controversial Irish rebellion leader.The following year, Hart again collaborated with Jordan, this time on The Butcher Boy. He also returned to the milieu of the post-war rock scene as a club manager in Jez Butterworth's Mojo. In one of his rare U.S. outings, Hart played the owner of a Lower Manhattan diner in Amos Poe's comedy-thriller Frogs for Snakes (1998); that same year, he appeared in American director Ted Demme's Monument Avenue, a drama about a group of Irish-American toughs in Boston.1999 brought with it another collaboration for Hart and Jordan; this time it was on an adaptation of Graham Greene's The End of the Affair, a World War II romance that featured Hart as a cockney detective. That same year, he starred as a nerdy, emotionally unstable comic book enthusiast who finds love in an unlikely place in the ensemble comedy This Year's Love and played a doltish ex-boyfriend in Michael Winterbottom's acclaimed ensemble drama Wonderland. Over the next several years, Hart would remain active on screen, appering on series like The Virgin Queen, Dirt, and Luck, as well as in films like Blind Fight, Within the Whirlwind, and Hard Boiled Sweets.

Trivia: Supporting actor Cranham first appeared on screen in 1968.

Trivia: Born in England, Paddy Considine worked as a photographer before turning to acting full-time. In 1999, he made quite a worthwhile film debut in the comedy drama A Room for Romeo Brass, directed by Shane Meadows. He played Morell, the strange and dangerous character who comes between the two 12-year-old leads (Andrew Shim and Ben Marshall). In 2000, he turned to more intimate drama in Pawel Pawlikowski's Last Resort. He won festival acclaim for his role of Alfie, an arcade owner in Northern England who befriends a Russian immigrant (Dina Korzun) and her son (Artiom Strelnikov). Considine returned to lighter material for his next few films: the relationship comedy Born Romantic, the strangely dark crime comedy Happy Now, and the poorly received nightmare-vacation film The Martins. By 2002, he had started to gain a little more international exposure outside of the U.K. He portrayed New Order manager Rob Groton in Michael Winterbottom's 24 Hour Party People, a funny biopic about the Manchester music scene that was shown at the Cannes Film Festival. After starring in Nick Willing's crime thriller Hypnotic (also released as Doctor Sleep), he got his first major leading role in Jim Sheridan's semi-autobiographic drama In America. Considine adopted an Irish accent to play Johnny, Sheridan's fictional counterpart. An out-of-work actor, Johnny immigrates to New York City with his wife (Samantha Morton), daughters (Emma and Sarah Bolger), and a lot of emotional baggage. Considine also appeared in the Coldplay music video for "God Put a Smile on Your Face".

Trivia: Made her television debut in the 1991 BBC serial The Men's Room. Played the role of Karen Marsden in ITV comedy-drama Cold Feet between 1998 and 2003, reprising the role in the 2016 revival. In 2001, was nominated for a British Comedy Award for Best Actress for her role in Cold Feet. Won the Best Actress award at the inaugural ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards in 2008, for her role in Spooks. In 2019, joined the cast of Luther for the fifth series.

Trivia: Her father is the chairman of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Has a degree in Italian. Attended the private school Wycombe Abbey School, in Campbell House. Had a role in Bridget Jones's Diary; she originally auditioned to play Bridget. In 2003, The Observer listed her as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.

Trivia: Formerly known as Jessica Stevenson (she officially changed her name in 2007 to her married name, despite having used her maiden name professionally for more than a decade), actress and screenwriter Jessica Hynes was born in Lewisham, England, but raised in Brighton. As a youth, Hynes gravitated to stage performance and enlisted in the National Youth Theatre ensemble when she was in her teens. Hynes broke into features at the age of 21, with a role in Peter Greenaway's The Baby of Macon; several years of various performance activities then ensued, including a substantial part in a straight-faced nursing drama on British television and participation in a two-woman comedy act called "the Liz Hurleys" (opposite actress Katy Carmichael). Hynes' most substantial acclaim, however, arose from two long-running comedic stints on television: the role of nutty neighbor Cheryl in the situation comedy The Royle Family and an assignment developing, writing, and starring in the popular sitcom Spaced (1999), as Daisy Steiner, alongside Simon Pegg. Taking the success of these ventures as a cue, Hynes then branched out into feature films, with small offbeat characterizations in productions including Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004), Shaun of the Dead (done with several Spaced creators including Pegg), and Son of Rambow. Fantasy enthusiasts may also recall her voice work as Mafalda Hopkirk, who reprimands Harry via a letter from the Ministry of Magic for his improper use of magic in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). Off-camera, Hynes remained fully active in stage pursuits and was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for her contribution to the play The Night Heron in 2003.