Trivia: Ranked among Great Britain's most esteemed stage actresses, Juliet Stevenson also occasionally lends her talent to film and television productions. In film, she received the most acclaim for Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991). A graduate of London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she first made waves in classical theater in the early '80s. She also occasionally worked in more modern productions, such as Ariel Dorfman's Death and the Maiden, for which Stevenson originated the role of the vengeful Paulina. In 1987, Stevenson entered television in the British/American film Helix/The Race for the Double Helix (1987). She followed this up with several feature films, making her American debut co-starring with Gwyneth Paltrow in Emma (1996).

Trivia: Trained at the East 15 Acting School, British actress Alison Steadman worked as a secretary for the Liverpool Probation Service before making her professional stage bow in 1968. Five years later, Steadman made her London theatrical debut. She won a plethora of awards for her rendition of the title role in both the stage and film version of Abigail's Party. This and several subsequent productions were directed by Steadman's former husband, Mike Leigh. She has starred in the British TV series Wackers (1975) and Gone to Seed (1992), and has made a number of conspicuous film appearances since her 1982 screen debut in Kipperbang. American TV viewers will remember Steadman as Mrs. Marlowe in the wildly eccentric Dennis Potter miniseries The Singing Detective. More recently, Alison Steadman was seen as Mrs. Bennet in the 1995 British TV-miniseries production of Pride and Prejudice.

Trivia: Born February 15th, 1951, the raven-haired daughter of a prosperous British gynecologist, Jane Seymour debuted onstage at 13 as a member of the London Festival Ballet, after training at the Arts Educational School. Five years later, she switched to acting, making her screen bow as part of a huge ensemble in Oh, What A Lovely War! (1968). She entered the fan-mag files with her portrayal of the enigmatic Solitaire in the 1973 James Bond epic Live and Let Die, following this with a ingenue turn in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1974). While her subesquent film appearances were well-received (as was her engagement in the 1980 Broadway production of Amadeus), Seymour's larger fame rested on her prolific TV work, notably on such miniseries as "East of Eden" and "War and Remembrance." In 1988, she won an Emmy for her portrayal of Maria Callas in the TV miniseries "Onassis." Four years later, she landed one of her most successful roles to date, that of the title heroine of the TV series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. In subsequent years, Seymour sustained her career with longform soapers - such as the 1998 A Marriage of Convenience and the 2002 Heart of a Stranger - before making a most welcome return to theatrical features in 2005. That year, she scored a neat comic turn as the wife of U.S. Treasury Secretary Christopher Walken (and the mother of some outrageously dysfunctional children) in the summer comedy smash Wedding Crashers. Two years later, ABC tapped Seymour to trip the light fantastic as one of the celebrity dancers on its blockbuster series Dancing with the Stars. On that program, Seymour danced opposite series vet Tony Ovolani.

Trivia: Was signed up for Tap Dancing classes at the age of four, to correct his pigeon toes. In order to obtain his Equity Card, he joined a circus in Budapest at the age of 17. Enrolled in drama school at 22 where he completed the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art's (LAMDA) three year program. Got his first experience of acting in a feature film with a one-line role in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999). In 2009, he beat international stars Johnny Depp and Daniel Craig to be the winner of the Romantic Novelists' Sexiest Thing on Two Legs award. Agreed to be undergo the experience of water torture for a scene in the seventh season of Spooks (2002) where his character undergoes waterboarding - a practice banned in the UK.

Trivia: British actor Tom Riley regularly graced the London stage before turning his attention to on-screen acting, with roles in films like A Few Days in September in 2006, I Want Candy in 2007, and Happily Ever After in 2009. Soon, Riley was ready to grace a smaller screen, signing on to play Leonardo Da Vinci in the Starz series Da Vinci's Demons. He guested on a 2014 episode of Doctor Who, playing Robin Hood, and later appeared in the online series The Collection.

Trivia: Denis Lawson has gone through a good part of his professional career since 1977 being thought of simply as X-Wing fighter pilot Wedge Antilles, a part he first played in Star Wars and reprised (with more screen time each time) in The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi. The character is notable for being one of the few X-Wing pilots to survive the various battles.Lawson has done far more than a bit part in a major movie, however, having had a steady career in theater, television, and film. He co-starred with Peter Riegert and Burt Lancaster in Bill Forsyth's Local Hero, and later headed up a pair of miniseries, The Justice Game and The Justice Game II: The Lady From Rome, as affluent Glasgow lawyer Dominic Rossi. As the '90s drew to a close, much was made of the fact that Lawson is the uncle of Ewan McGregor, the actor cast as the young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the trilogy of Star Wars prequels.

Trivia: Ancestors on her father's side are Greek Cypriot. Breakout TV role was on the British soap opera Night & Day. Appeared in the Royal Court Theatre production of The Sugar Syndrome in 2003. First lead role in a movie was the adaptation of Neil Gaiman's MirrorMask.

Trivia: Born in Los Angeles, California, where his father was a professor of linguistics at UCLA, the family moved back to their native London when he was 7. Went by the name BB Burn when he competed as a beatboxer. His big television breakthrough came in BBC's Bleak House, an adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel, in the role of William Guppy. Appeared in the 2009 West End revival of Oliver! as Bill Sikes, opposite Rowan Atkinson; he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical in the Whatsonstage Theatre Awards for the role. He and his wife had a third child, a daughter, Rosa in 2014. The couple split up in 2017.

Trivia: While at Bretton Hall College, became friends with fellow students Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss and Jeremy Dyson. Together, they would create the award-winning comedy The for his performance as The League of Gentlemen. Based his infamous character of Papa Lazaru in The League of Gentlemen on his and Pemberton's landlord, down to the tone of his voice. Played Leo Bloom in The Producers on the West End in 2006. Received an honorary doctorate from Hull University in 2014. Created an original art piece for the Stars On Canvas charity to display and then auction to raise money. Appeared in the title role in The Dresser in 2017 at the Chichester Festival Theatre, and reunited with The League of Gentlemen in three TV specials, transmitted on BBC2 in December 2017. Appeared as himself in the 2018 short film To Trend on Twitter to raise funds for the charity CLIC Sargent which supports young people with cancer. Received a nomination in 2020 for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as The President and Jon in A Very Expensive Poison at the Old Vic.

Trivia: First name in Zulu means "our treasure." Daughter of a South African doctor and a British nurse. Grew up in Witney, West Oxfordshire, England, where she took acting, dancing and saxophone lessons. Finished school early so she could perform in a 2004 open-air production of As You Like It. Nominated for a Manchester Evening News Award in 2005 for her lead role as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. First TV appearance was on the BBC drama Holby City. Made big-screen debut in the 2007 thriller Closure. Included on the 2008 UK Stars of Tomorrow list by Screen International, a global multimedia film magazine. In 2009 portrayed Ophelia in the London and Broadway productions of Hamlet. Cast as the female lead opposite Boris Kodjoe in the 2010 NBC series Undercovers, it marked her introduction to American TV. Was recognised in 2014 by Elle Magazine during the Women in Hollywood Awards for her outstanding achievements in film. Was nominated in 2015 for a BAFTA Rising Star Award in recognition of her body of work. Named a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen's 2017 Birthday Honours list.

Trivia: Made her stage debut in a production of The Birthday Party at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre. In 1993, made her film debut in musical comedy-drama The Token King. Made her TV debut in 2000, in miniseries Nature Boy. In 2002, played Melanie Woods in BBC drama Rescue Me. Between 2010 and 2016, starred as DS Annie Cabbot on Police procedural DCI Banks.

Trivia: In 2005, won a Rose D'or for Female Comedy Performance for her role as Joanna Clore in Green Wing. Played the Queen in Laura Wade's version of Alice in Wonderland at the Crucible, Sheffield in 2010. While filming The Brittas Empire was dropped into a pile of elephant dung from a crane for a scene. In 2015, took over the character Helen Golightly from Liza Tarbuck in the BBC Radio 4 series Clare in the Community.

Trivia: British lead actress Coduri has appeared on screen since the late '80s.

Trivia: Began performing as a child with the Oldham Theatre Workshop. Made his television debut at the age of 10 in a 1989 episode of ITV's Children's Ward. Starred as Joe Wicks on Eastenders from 1996 to 1997. Made his West End debut in 2000, starring in a production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night. Starred as Andy in a 2016 theatrical adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption.

Trivia: Best known as the fourth incarnation of Dr. Who from the 1960s BBC sci-fi series of the same name, Tom Baker continues to play character roles in feature films and television.

Trivia: Has been a regular on British television since 1966, but is also well known for her theatre work, both in the West End and on Broadway. Has turned her hand to directing on a number of theatre productions. Won an Olivier award for Actress of the Year in a Musical as Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls (1982), and Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd (1984). It was announced that she would play Miss Marple in the long running, and highly popular ITV series in 2008 as a replacement for Geraldine McEwan.

Trivia: When British actor Benedict Cumberbatch signed for his first cinematic roles in the early 2000s, he immediately unveiled a proclivity -- and a gift -- for essaying a diverse array of characterizations. Cumberbatch began with BBC television productions, notably a supporting part in the lesbian-themed period drama Tipping the Velvet (2002) and the lead role of the brilliant, physically disabled scientist Stephen Hawking in the BBC telemovie Hawking (2004). Cumberbatch landed one of his first significant international crossover roles (and his first major big-screen assignment) as one of the leads in Michael Apted's arthouse hit Amazing Grace (2006) -- portraying William Pitt, an 18th century British prime minister who crusaded against slavery. While appearing on the British stage and in British television shows, Cumberbatch slowly built up an impressive résumé of supporting film roles. He had a small (but significant) part in Joe Wright's period drama Atonement (2007), and played William Carey, Mary Boleyn's husband in The Other Boleyn Girl (2008).In 2010, Cumberbatch took on his breakout role, playing Sherlock Holmes in a BBC series reboot. His career exploded after the show took off. He played The Necromancer/Smaug in The Hobbit trilogy, Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness, a plantation owner in 12 Years a Slave and nabbed his first true starring role playing Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate. In 2014 Cumberbatch portrayed the pioneering British mathematician Alan Turing in The Imitation Game, and his work earned him a Best Actor nomination from the Academy, the first nod of his career.

Trivia: Tall, blonde, and statuesque British actor Julian Sands is equally fit appearing in elegant historical dramas as he is in cult movies and horror films. A native of Yorkshire, he has a fine bone structure, striking blonde hair, and an eloquent speaking voice. Sands studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London and joined the Forum Theatre Company. He made his film debut in Derek Jarman's Broken English but stayed working in the theater until his breakthrough film performance as photographer Jon Swain in Roland Joffé's The Killing Fields. He paid his dues with some routine U.K. films (Oxford Blues, After Darkness) until he landed the role of free-spirited George Emerson in the Merchant-Ivory production A Room With a View. He entered the realm of sexualized horror films as poet Percy Shelley in Ken Russell's Gothic. This role seemed to lead straightaway to his title role in Warlock, followed by Warlock: The Armageddon. Briefly returning to historical costume dramas to portray composer Franz Liszt in James Lapine's lavish Impromptu, Sands was back to creepy, sexual thrillers like Mary Lambert's Siesta and David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch. He also found time to play a few doctors in the Cyndi Lauper movie Vibes and in Steven Spielberg's Arachnophobia. After playing the sexually submissive surgeon in the critically dismissed drama Boxing Helena, he made a quick recovery in Paul Schrader's made-for-TV detective film Witch Hunt. Back in the U.K., he formed a close working relationship with director Mike Figgis and found roles in The Browning Version, Leaving Las Vegas, One Night Stand, The Loss of Sexual Innocence, Timecode, and Hotel. Meanwhile, he made a few films in Italy, most notably as the Phantom in Dario Argento's The Phantom of the Opera. In 2002, he was cast in the epic miniseries Rose Red and Napoleon. Not one to shy away from middle-brow genres, Sands can be also seen as the bad guy in the Jackie Chan movie The Medallion and as the voice of Valmont on the Jackie Chan Adventures animated series.

Trivia: Made her television debut as Kathleen Kelly in a 1986 episode of Taggart. Made her film debut as Hazel in the 1988 film The Fruit Machine.Between 2000 and 2003, played Megan Hartnoll in ITV comedy-drama At Home with the Braithwaites. Starred as Sheron Dawson on the ITV sitcom Benidorm between 2016 and 2018.As of 2019, has played Rhona Kelly in Shetland since 2014.

Trivia: One of England's most renowned stage actresses, Eileen Atkins has been a staple of both the Royal Shakespeare Company and London's West End since the 1960s. She has also popped up occasionally on film and television, and she has made numerous contributions to both mediums as a scriptwriter, most notably for the acclaimed series Upstairs Downstairs and House of Eliott and the well-received screen adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway.A product of London's East End, where she was born in the Clapton Salvation Army Home on June 16, 1934, Atkins grew up in a council home as the third child of a homemaker and a gas meter reader. She began performing as a tap dancer in working men's clubs at the age of seven, and she had done professional pantomime by the time she was 13. Under the encouragement of a school instructor -- who gave Atkins voice lessons to remove her Cockney accent and introduced her to Shakespeare -- she went on to attend the Guildhall School of Drama, where she did a teaching course and took drama classes.Atkins struggled to begin her professional career, finding it difficult to get stage roles of any substance, to say nothing of stage roles, period. She got her first break when she moved to Stratford with her then-husband, Julian Glover, who had found work with the RSC. Atkins got her start in Stratford as an usherette, and she gradually moved her way up until she was allowed into the company. She first performed on the Stratford stage as Audrey in As You Like It, chosen to fill in for the understudy of Dame Peggy Ashcroft after both had taken ill. Atkins spent several years with the RSC, performing in both classical and contemporary plays alongside the likes of Lawrence Olivier and Alec Guinness. On the London stage, she portrayed numerous characters, earning a Best Supporting Actress Olivier Award for her performance in Peter Hall's production of The Winter's Tale. Her one-woman show, A Room of One's Own, was an international success, earning Atkins a Drama Desk Award for Best Solo Performance and a special Citation from the New York Drama Critics Circle for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf.Although the international stage has been the centerpoint of Atkins' career, she has made many contributions to film and television. Aside from her work on the aforementioned Upstairs, Downstairs, The House of Elliot, and Mrs. Dalloway (the last of which earned her the Evening Standard British Film Best Screenplay award), she has appeared in such films as Let Him Have It (1991), Jack and Sarah (1995), and John Schlesinger's Cold Comfort Farm (1995). Among the endless honors Atkins holds is a Commander of the British Empire. Atkin would appear in several notable projects over the coming years, including Gosford Park, The Hours, Cold Mountain, and TV series like Doc Martin and Psychoville.

Trivia: His mother passed away when he was six from leukaemia. Became a vegetarian when a student and participated in animal rights organisations. Began performing comedy at the Whitstable Labour Club in 1988. Named Time Out's Best Young Comic in 1991. Won the Edinburgh Festival Critics Award for Comedy in 1994. Played the title role in Jonathan Creek from 1997 to 2004, the show that brought him to mainstream attention and won a BAFTA for Best Drama. Argued the case for John Lennon to be nominated the greatest Briton of all time on the BBC's Great Britons series in 2002. Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 2003 by the University of Kent. Huge fan of Arsenal Football Club. Comedian Bill Bailey was the best man at his wedding. Has been the only permanent panellist on the BBC panel show QI since 2003. Narrated an anti-vivisection video entitled Wasted Lives for Animal Aid in 2006. His autobiography Rebel Without A Clue: How the 80s Made Me was published in 2009. Began a Masters of Arts in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths College which he completed in 2018.

Trivia: Stage, film and TV actress. First came to public notice playing Nell Gwynne in Richard Eyre's award-winning film Stage Beauty in 2004. Appeared in Epitaph for George Dillon at the Comedy Theatre in the West End in 2005, opposite Joseph Fiennes. Played Desdemona in Othello at Shakespeare's famed Globe Theatre in 2007. Married actor Oliver Dimsdale at The Painted Hall in Greenwich, London, which was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1696. Is a supporter of the non-profit Fishlove, a project which raises awareness of over-fishing and the marine environment.