British & Irish Actors
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One of the world's most famous and distinguished actresses, Dame Maggie Smith was born Margaret Natalie Smith in Essex. Her Scottish mother, Margaret (Hutton), worked as a secretary, and her English father, Nathaniel Smith, was a teacher at Oxford University. Smith has been married twice: to actor Robert Stephens and to playwright Beverley Cross. Her marriage to Stephens ended in divorce in 1974. She was married to Cross until his death in 1999. She had two sons with Stephens, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens who are also actors.
Maggie Smith's career began at the Oxford Playhouse in the 1950s. She made her film debut in 1956 as one of the party guests in Child in the House (1956). She has since performed in over sixty films and television series with some of the most prominent actors and actresses in the world. These include: Othello (1965) with Laurence Olivier, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969), California Suite (1978) with Michael Caine and Jane Fonda, A Room with a View (1985), Richard III (1995) with Ian McKellen and Jim Broadbent, Franco Zeffirelli's Tea with Mussolini (1999) with Judi Dench, Joan Plowright and Cher and Gosford Park (2001) with Kristin Scott Thomas and Clive Owen, directed by Robert Altman. Maggie Smith has also been nominated for an Oscar six times and won twice, for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) and California Suite (1978).
Smith later appeared in the very successful 'Harry Potter' franchise as the formidable Professor McGonagall as well as in Julian Fellowes' ITV drama series, Downton Abbey (2010) (2010-2011) as the Dowager Countess of Grantham.- Actor
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Bill Nighy is an award-winning British character actor. He was born William Francis Nighy on December 12, 1949 in Caterham, Surrey, England, to Catherine Josephine (Whittaker), a psychiatric nurse from Glasgow, and Alfred Martin Nighy, who was English-born and managed a garage in Croydon.
At school, he gained 'O'-levels in English Language and English Literature and enjoyed reading, particularly Ernest Hemingway. On leaving school he wanted to become a journalist but didn't have the required qualifications. He eventually went on to work as a messenger boy for the Field magazine. He stayed in Paris for a while because he wanted to write "the great novel", but he only managed to write the title. When he ran out of money, the British consul shipped him home.
Nighy wound up training at Guildford School of Dance and Drama in London, and has since then worked consistently in film, television, and on stage.
Nighy is perhaps best-known to international audiences for his memorable performance as washed-up pop singer Billy Mack in Love Actually (2003), which won him a BAFTA for best supporting actor. He has also made appearances in major franchises: he played vampire leader Viktor in Underworld (2003), Underworld: Evolution (2006) and Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009), did the performance capture and voice for Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), and made a brief appearance as Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010).
Nighy's recent film credits include roles in I Capture the Castle (2003), Shaun of the Dead (2004), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), The Constant Gardener (2005), Notes on a Scandal (2006), Hot Fuzz (2007), Valkyrie (2008) and The Boat That Rocked (2009). He has also provided voice work for many animated movies in the past few years including Flushed Away (2006), Astro Boy (2009), Rango (2011) and Arthur Christmas (2011).
With supporting turns in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011), Wrath of the Titans (2012) and Total Recall (2012), 2012 was a busy year for Nighy. There are no signs of slowing down either, as he next appeared in Jack the Giant Slayer (2013), About Time (2013), and I, Frankenstein (2014).
Nighy has also had an active career on the small screen, beginning with Agony (1979), and his first widely-recognized role was in 1991 mini-series The Men's Room (1991). He has also made a habit of working on television with Harry Potter director David Yates: projects together include State of Play (2003), The Young Visiters (2003), The Girl in the Café (2005) and Page Eight (2011). Nighy won a Golden Globe for his performance in Gideon's Daughter (2005).
Nighy actually began his career on the stage, and has earned acclaim for his work in numerous plays including "The Vertical Hour," "Pravda". "A Map of the World", Tom Stoppard's Arcadia in 1993, and David Hare's Skylight. He received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor for his performance in 2001 play "Blue/Orange."
Bill's partner was actress Diana Quick (he asked her to marry him but she said: "don't ask me again"; he called her his wife because anything else would have been too difficult). They have a daughter, Mary Nighy, who is studying at university and contemplating an acting career. She has already begun to appear on TV dramas and radio programs.- Actor
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Kenneth Charles Branagh was born on December 10, 1960, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to parents William Branagh, a plumber and carpenter, and Frances (Harper), both born in 1930. He has two siblings, William Branagh, Jr. (born 1955) and Joyce Branagh (born 1970). When he was nine, his family escaped The Troubles by moving to Reading, Berkshire, England. At 23, Branagh joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he took on starring roles in "Henry V" and "Romeo and Juliet". He soon found the RSC too large and impersonal and formed his own, the Renaissance Theatre Company, which now counts Prince Charles as one of its royal patrons. At 29, he directed Henry V (1989), where he also co-starred with his then-wife, Emma Thompson. The film brought him Best Actor and Best Director Oscar nominations. In 1993, he brought Shakespeare to mainstream audiences again with his hit adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing (1993), which featured an all-star cast that included, among others, Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton and Keanu Reeves. At 30, he published his autobiography and, at 34, he directed and starred as "Victor Frankenstein" in the big-budget adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein (1994), with Robert De Niro as the monster himself. In 1996, Branagh wrote, directed and starred in a lavish adaptation of Hamlet (1996). His superb film acting work also includes a wide range of roles such as in Celebrity (1998), Wild Wild West (1999), The Road to El Dorado (2000), Valkyrie (2008) and his stunning portrayal of Laurence Olivier in My Week with Marilyn (2011), where once again he offered a great performance that was also nominated for an Academy Award.- Actress
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Dame Judi Dench was born Judith Olivia Dench in York, England, to Eleanora Olive (Jones), who was from Dublin, Ireland, and Reginald Arthur Dench, a doctor from Dorset, England. She attended Mount School in York, and studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, and at Old Vic Theatre. She is a ten-time BAFTA winner including Best Actress in a Comedy Series for A Fine Romance (1981) in which she appeared with her husband, Michael Williams, and Best Supporting Actress in A Handful of Dust (1988) and A Room with a View (1985). She received an ACE award for her performance in the television series Mr. and Mrs. Edgehill (1985). She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1970, a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1988 and a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in 2005.- Actress
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Daisy Jazz Isobel Ridley is an English actress. She is best known for her breakthrough role as "Rey" in the 2015 film, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015). Daisy was born in Westminster, London, on April 10, 1992. She is the daughter of Louise Fawkner-Corbett and Chris Ridley. Her great-uncle was Arnold Ridley, an English actor, playwright, and appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), who was best known for his authorship of the play, "The Ghost Train", and his role as "Private Godfrey" in the British sitcom, Dad's Army (1968). Daisy attended the Tring Park School for Performing Arts, located in Hertfordshire, England, where she trained in musical theater and graduated in 2010, at the age of 18. Aside from acting, her talent repertoire includes ballet, jazz dancing, Latin American, and tap. Her vocal range is mezzo-soprano, where she is notably skilled in jazz and cabaret singing. Upon graduation, Daisy was hired in a number of roles in television, film, and music. She was cast to play "Jessie" in the British comedy-drama, Youngers (2013). In 2013, she played "Fran Bedingfield" in the BBC series, Casualty (1986), and as "Charlotte" in the British comedy, Toast of London (2012). In 2014, she played opposite to Jeremy Piven as "Roxy Starlet" in the second season of the ITV series, Mr Selfridge (2013), and as "Hannah Kennedy" in two episodes of the BBC crime drama, Silent Witness (1996). She further had roles in short films, including Scrawl, 100% Beef, and Crossed Wires. She was featured in Blue Season, which was entered into the Sci-Fi-London 48-Hour Film Challenge, and Lifesaver, which was nominated for a BAFTA Award. She also appeared in Wiley's British rap music video, Lights On. In April 2014, it was announced that Daisy was cast to play the heroine main protagonist, Rey, in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the first film in the new trilogy of the Star Wars franchise. Since its release in December 2015, the J.J. Abrams directed movie has received critical acclaim and became the fastest movie, ever, to reach $1 billion at the box office, worldwide. In August 2015, it was announced that she would play the lead role of Taeko in the English dub of the 1991 animated film, Only Yesterday, which was released in 2016. In December 2017, Daisy reprised her role as Rey in the eighth Star Wars film, The Last Jedi, as well as the Star Wars TV show, Forces of Destiny. Ridley then played Mary Debenham in the Murder on the Orient Express. She also starred in the titular role in Ophelia, alongside Naomi Watts and Clive Owen, which was filmed in 2017 and debuted at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. In February 2018, Daisy voiced Cottontail in the film adaptation of Beatrix Potter's children story. In 2019, Ridley co-stars with Tom Holland in the movie, Chaos Walking, playing Viola Eade in the film adaptation of the novel done by Patrick Ness, which is currently in post-production and set for release in 2020. Daisy further reprised her role as Rey in Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, which started filming in 2018 and wrapped up in early 2019. The movie was released in December 2019 and is Ridley's final cinematic role as Rey in the franchise. Daisy is currently connected to future projects, including Christy Hall's Daddio. She will star in The Lost Wife, which is based on the novel by Alyson Richman. She is reportedly also teaming up J.J. Abrams in a couple projects, including the remake of 2003's Israeli TV movie, Kolma, and the film adaptation of Sonia Purnell's, A Woman of No Importance.- Actor
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Widely regarded as one of England's finest stage, screen and TV actors, David Suchet's international reputation has only grown over the years, greatly enhanced by his definitive interpretation of Agatha Christie's suave Belgian super-sleuth Hercule Poirot, a character he played for nearly 25 years in various TV episodes (1988-2013). Born in London on May 2, 1946, the son of actress Joan Patricia Jarché and renowned Lithuanian-Jewish obstetrician and gynecologist Jack Suchet, David, following boarding school, took an early desire in acting and was given a membership with the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain at age 16. He then studied for three years at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and, after a significant route in repertory work, became a company member of the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1973 where he evolved into one of its most dominant players.
In the 1970s, Suchet also began to come into his own on British television. In classical tradition, his first television movie was A Tale of Two Cities (1980). His first cinematic detective was as a Greek inspector in the Disney mystery comedy Trenchcoat (1983). This was followed by a versatile range of film roles that also express the width of his acting nationalities, such as a Middle Eastern terrorist in The Little Drummer Girl (1984), a Russian operative in The Falcon and the Snowman (1985), a French hunter in Harry and the Hendersons (1987), a Polish bishop in To Kill A Priest (1988), and the emperor Napoleon in Sabotage! (2000).
Suchet's masterful work in television roles also includes portrayals of historical, biblical, entertainment and fictional figures, such as Sigmund Freud in Freud (1984), news reporter William L. Shirer in Murrow (1986), Aaron in Moses (1995), movie mogul Louis B. Mayer in RKO 281 (1999), Cardinal Wolsey in Henry VIII (2003), vampire nemesis Van Helsing in Dracula (2006), and Robert Maxwell in Maxwell (2007).
Suchet's memorable theatre incarnations have included Shakespearean interps of Iago in "Othello", Tybalt in "Romeo and Juliet", Caliban in "The Tempest", and the title role of "Timon of Athens", as well as vibrant classical roles such as George in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1996), as composer Salieri in "Amadeus" (1998), a mesmerizing performance that earned both Olivier and Tony nominations, as Joe Keller in "All My Sons" (2010), as James Tyrone in "Long Day's Journey Into Night" (2012) (and in the 2014 film), as Lady Bracknell in "The Importance of Being Earnest" (2015) (and in the 2015 film), and as Gregory Solomon in "The Price" (2019).
Long married to former actress Sheila Ferris, the couple have two children: Robert Suchet (born 1981) and Katherine Suchet (born 1983). His older brother is BBC newscaster-turned-journalist John Suchet. David was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) at the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to drama. He was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire at the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to drama and to charity.- Actor
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Widely regarded as one of the greatest stage and screen actors both in his native Great Britain and internationally, Toby Edward Heslewood Jones was born on September 7, 1966 in Hammersmith, London. His parents, Freddie Jones and Jennie Heslewood, are actors as well. Toby has two brothers: Rupert, a director, and Casper, a fellow actor. He studied Drama at the University of Manchester from 1986 to 1989, and at L'École Internationale de Théâtre in Paris under Jacques Lecoq in Paris from 1989 to 1991. Naturally, his career began on the stage (and continues there), but film and television roles came soon after his studies.
Toby made his film debut with a small role in Sally Potter's experimental take on Virginia Woolf's novel, Orlando (1992), starring Tilda Swinton. Other small film roles included the doorkeeper in Les Misérables (1998) and a memorable turn as the Royal Page in Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998) with Drew Barrymore.
Roles in the acclaimed Victoria & Albert (2001) and the Helen Mirren-starring Elizabeth I (2005) were balanced with film work, from his voice role as Dobby the House Elf in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) to supporting appearances in Ladies in Lavender (2004) (co-starring his father, Freddie), Finding Neverland (2004) and Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005).
He continued stage work during this period, appearing on Broadway in The Play What I Wrote in 2003, a year after winning the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in the London production.
Infamous (2006), directed by Douglas McGrath and released in 2006, was Toby's first starring role. His acclaimed portrayal of Truman Capote remained mostly in the shadow of Philip Seymour Hoffman's Oscar-winning performance of the author in 2005's Capote (2005).
A steady stream of film roles followed with appearances in Amazing Grace (2006), The Painted Veil (2006), Nightwatching (2007), The Mist (2007), and St. Trinian's (2007). Toby then appeared in three successive films that could have been commercial breakthroughs: kid-lit flop City of Ember (2008), the Oscar-nominated Frost/Nixon (2008), and Oliver Stone's W. (2008).
He reprised the voice-role of Dobby in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010), appeared in the St. Trinian's sequel, as well as the Charles Darwin biopic Creation (2009) and Dustin Lance Black's post-Milk (2008) directorial outing, Virginia (2010). More Hollywood roles followed with appearances in The Rite (2011), Your Highness (2011), and his first big live-action breakthrough as Red Skull's biochemist Dr. Arnim Zola in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).
Even before Toby was announced as Claudius Templesmith in the adaptation of the novel The Hunger Games (2012), his star was on the rise after Captain America, with roles in three Oscar-nominated films: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), My Week with Marilyn (2011), and The Adventures of Tintin (2011). Though chances are he will forever be known by many as Claudius, the announcer for The Hunger Games with the booming voice and penchant for ending his statements with the phrase, "And may the odds be ever in your favor!"
Toby followed up this massive success with his mesmerizing tour-de-force interpretations as a sensational multifarious "chameleon" of substantial acting mastery in films such as Red Lights (2012) for Buried (2010) director Rodrigo Cortés, Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) reprising his role as Claudius Templesmith, Peter Strickland's Berberian Sound Studio (2012), Susanne Bier's Serena (2014) and Journey's End (2017). Among others, The Girl (2012), a BBC/HBO co-production in which he starred as Alfred Hitchcock, Titanic (2012), The Secret Agent (2016), Wayward Pines (2015), The Witness for the Prosecution (2016) and Sherlock (2010) are also included in the brilliant performances of his exquisite TV work.
Toby lives in London with his family.- Actor
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David Haig was born on 20 September 1955 in Aldershot, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for My Boy Jack (2007), Two Weeks Notice (2002) and Florence Foster Jenkins (2016). He has been married to Jane Galloway since 2010. They have five children.- Actress
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Monica was born in March 1969 into an Irish family and has a sister Gabrielle. She studied drama at the Guildhall School in London, graduating in 1991 and soon afterwards went into television. A supremely versatile character actress, she has tended to specialize in stunning portrayals of the darker side of life, as real-life stalker Maria Marchese in U Be Dead (2009), demure but deadly Miss Gilchrist in the superior Poirot adaptation After the Funeral (2006) and, particularly, as serial killer Rosemary West in Appropriate Adult (2011) for which she, along with fellow Guildhall graduate Dominic West, deservedly received a BAFTA award. Therefore it was rather a surprise when she was not the killer in Midsomer Murders episode The Great and the Good (2009), though she sort of made up for it by playing twin sisters, one nice, one less so, in Call the Midwife episode Episode #2.3 (2013). On stage she has not let the villainous side down as Regan in 'King Lear' with Ian McKellen and an unusual version of 'Macbeth', set in Africa, with her Lady Macbeth the only white protagonist. In 2014, despite a lighter role in the TV sitcom W1A (2014), she was back to being enjoyably horrid as George Mackay's bigoted mother in the film Pride (2014).- Robert East was born on 7 July 1943 in Porthcawl, Wales, UK. He is an actor, known for Jojo Rabbit (2019), MI-5 (2002) and Emma (1972).
- Paul Ready is a British actor. He is known principally for his work on stage, but he has also appeared in television, radio and films. He received a commendation at the 2003 Ian Charleson Awards. In 2018, he played the role of Rob MacDonald in the BBC television series Bodyguard.
Ready was born in Birmingham and growing up in the town of Harborne he attended King Edward VI Five Ways school within the city. He went on to train at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
At the age of 17 Ready played Romeo in the National Youth Theatre production of Romeo and Juliet at London's Bloomsbury Theatre, playing opposite Rosamund Pike who played Juliet.
He is a regular at the National and Royal Court theaters. Recent appearances have included leading parts in Major Barbara and Saint Joan (both plays by George Bernard Shaw) and Time and the Conways. His West End credits include One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest which starred Christian Slater.
Also appearing on television, Ready received notability in 2013 for appearing on the television show Utopia.
In 2018, he feature as Henry Goodsir, one of the lead roles in The Terror, a 10-part series based on Dan Simmons' best-selling novel.
Ready is married to actress and writer Michelle Terry. They have one daughter. - Miranda's credits include Inception, Dunkirk, The Dark Knight Rises, Witness for the prosecution, Eastenders, Casualty, and Silent Witness. Theatre work includes the Royal Shakespeare Company and London's Westend. Miranda completed an Art degree at Central Saint Martins College of Art, London, before becoming an actor. She holds a Black belt in Kickboxing and co founded The PinkBelt Kickboxing Empowerment Program for Women and Girls, with her husband.
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Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch was born and raised in London, England. His parents, Wanda Ventham and Timothy Carlton (born Timothy Carlton Congdon Cumberbatch), are both actors. He is a grandson of submarine commander Henry Carlton Cumberbatch, and a great-grandson of diplomat Henry Arnold Cumberbatch CMG. Cumberbatch attended Brambletye School and Harrow School. Whilst at Harrow, he had an arts scholarship and painted large oil canvases. It's also where he began acting. After he finished school, he took a year off to volunteer as an English teacher in a Tibetan monastery in Darjeeling, India. On his return, he studied drama at Manchester University. He continued his training as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art graduating with an M.A. in Classical Acting. By the time he had completed his studies, he already had an agent.
Cumberbatch has worked in theatre, television, film and radio. His breakthrough on the big screen came in 2004 when he portrayed Stephen Hawking in the television movie Hawking (2004). In 2010, he became a household name as Sherlock Holmes on the British television series Sherlock (2010). In 2011, he appeared in two Oscar-nominated films - War Horse (2011) and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011). He followed this with acclaimed roles in the science fiction film Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), the Oscar-winning drama 12 Years a Slave (2013), The Fifth Estate (2013) and August: Osage County (2013). In 2014, he portrayed Alan Turing in The Imitation Game (2014) which earned him a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award, British Academy of Film and Television Arts and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Cumberbatch was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2015 Birthday Honours for his services to the performing arts and to charity.
Cumberbatch's engagement to theatre and opera director Sophie Hunter, whom he has known for 17 years, was announced in the "Forthcoming Marriages" section of The Times newspaper on November 5, 2014. On February 14, 2015, the couple married at the 12th century Church of St. Peter and St. Paul on the Isle of Wight followed by a reception at Mottistone Manor. They have three sons, Christopher Carlton (born 2015), Hal Auden (born 2017), and Finn (born 2019).- Actor
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With his breakthrough performance as Eames in Christopher Nolan's sci-fi thriller Inception (2010), English actor Tom Hardy has been brought to the attention of mainstream audiences worldwide. However, the versatile actor has been steadily working on both stage and screen since his television debut in the miniseries Band of Brothers (2001). After being cast in the World War II drama, Hardy left his studies at the prestigious Drama Centre in London and was subsequently cast as Twombly in Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down (2001) and as the villain Shinzon in Star Trek: Nemesis (2002).
Edward Thomas Hardy was born on September 15, 1977 in Hammersmith, London; his mother, Elizabeth Anne (Barrett), is an artist and painter, and his father, Chips Hardy, is a writer. He is of English and Irish descent. Hardy was brought up in East Sheen, London, and first studied at Reed's School. His education continued at Tower House School, then at Richmond Drama School, and subsequently at the Drama Centre London, along with fellow Oscar nominee Michael Fassbender. After winning a modeling competition at age 21, he had a brief contract with the agency Models One.
Tom spent his teens and early twenties battling delinquency, alcoholism and drug addiction; after completing his work on Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), he sought treatment and has also admitted that his battles with addiction ended his five-year marriage to Sarah Ward. Returning to work in 2003, Hardy was awarded the Evening Standard Most Promising Newcomer Award for his theatre performances in the productions of "In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings" and "Blood". In 2003, Tom also co-starred in the play "The Modernists" with Paul Popplewell, Jesse Spencer and Orlando Wells.
During the next five years, Hardy worked consistently in film, television and theatre, playing roles as varied as Robert Dudley in the BBC's The Virgin Queen (2005), Bill Sikes in Oliver Twist (2007) and starring in "The Man of Mode" at the National Theatre. On the silver screen, he appeared in the crime thriller Layer Cake (2004) with Daniel Craig, Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2006), and the romp Scenes of a Sexual Nature (2006).
In 2006, Hardy created "Shotgun", an underground theatre company along with director Robert Delamere, and directed a play, penned by his father for the company, called "Blue on Blue". In 2007, Hardy received a best actor BAFTA nomination for his touching performance as Stuart Shorter in the BBC adaptation of Alexander Masters' bestselling biography Stuart: A Life Backwards (2007). Hailed for his transformative character acting, Hardy was lauded for his emotionally and physically convincing portrayal in the ill-fated and warmhearted tale of Shorter, a homeless and occasionally violent man suffering from addiction and muscular dystrophy.
The following year, he appeared as gay hoodlum Handsome Bob in the Guy Ritchie film RocknRolla (2008), but this would be his next transformation that would prove his extensive range and stun critics. In the film Bronson (2008), Hardy played the notorious Charles Bronson (given name, Michael Peterson), the "most violent prisoner in Britain". Bald, pumped-up, and outfitted with Bronson's signature strongman mustache, Hardy is unrecognizable and gives a harrowing performance that is physically fearless and psychologically unsettling. Director Nicolas Winding Refn breaks the fourth wall with Hardy retelling his tales directly to viewers as well as performing them outright before an audience of his own imagining. The performance mixes terrifying brutality, vaudevillian showmanship, wry humor, and an alarming amount of commitment, and won Hardy a British Independent Film Award for Best Actor. The performance got Hollywood's attention, and in 2009, Hardy was named one of Variety's "10 Actors to Watch". That year, he continued to garner praise for his starring role in The Take (2009), a four-part adaptation of Martina Cole's bestselling crime novel, as well as for his performance as Heathcliff in a version of Wuthering Heights (2009).
Recent work includes the aforementioned breakthrough appearance in Inception (2010) alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Ken Watanabe, Michael Caine, Marion Cotillard and Elliot Page. The movie was released in July 2010 and became one of top 25 highest grossing films of all time, collecting eight Oscar nominations (including Best Picture) and winning four.
Other films include Warrior (2011), opposite Joel Edgerton, the story of two estranged brothers facing the fight of a lifetime from director Gavin O'Connor, and This Means War (2012), directed by McG and co-starring Reese Witherspoon and Chris Pine. Tom also starred in the heralded Cold War thriller, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) with Colin Firth and Gary Oldman. Hardy rejoined Christopher Nolan for The Dark Knight Rises (2012); he played the villain role of Bane opposite Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Gary Oldman. Hardy's menacing physique and his character's scrambled, hard-to-distinguish voice became a major discussion point as the film was released.
Outside of performing, Hardy is the patron for the charity "Flack", which is an organization to aid the recovery of the homeless in Cambridge. And in 2010, Hardy was named an Ambassador for The Prince's Trust, which helps disadvantaged youth. On the recent stage, he starred in the Brett C. Leonard play "The Long Red Road" in early 2010. Written for Hardy and directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, the play was staged at Chicago's Goodman Theater.
In 2015, Hardy starred as the iconic Mad Max in George Miller's reboot of his franchise, Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). He also collected a British Independent Film Award for his portrayal of both the Kray twins, Ronnie and Reggie, in Legend (2015), and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as John Fitzgerald in The Revenant (2015). Hardy also starred on the BBC series Peaky Blinders (2013), alongside Cillian Murphy, and on the television series Taboo (2017), both created by Steven Knight.
He has an outlaw biker story among other projects in development. In 2010, Hardy became engaged to fellow English actress Charlotte Riley, whom he starred with in The Take (2009) and Wuthering Heights (2009), and is raising a young son, Louis Thomas Hardy, with ex-girlfriend Rachael Speed. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire at the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to drama.- Actor
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David Matthew Macfadyen was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, to Meinir (Owen), a drama teacher and actress, and Martin Macfadyen, an oil executive. He is of Scottish and Welsh descent. Because of his father's career, he spent at least part of his childhood in Indonesia, before finishing his education back in England and winning a place at RADA in 1992. He won critical acclaim in the UK with his work with the stage company Cheek By Jowl in the 1990s and was well established as a stage actor when he made his first TV appearance in Wuthering Heights (1998). A couple more TV roles followed but it was his role as Tom Quinn, head of Section D, in the hit BBC series MI-5 (2002) that really made his name at home. And, indeed, established his home - he met his wife, Keeley Hawes, while working on the show. A steady stream of TV and film work followed, with his performance as Mr Darcy in Pride & Prejudice (2005) firmly establishing his name worldwide.- Actor
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Even though he had burned up the London stage for nearly a decade--and appeared in several films--Michael Sheen was not really "discovered" by American audiences until his critically-acclaimed turn as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the 1999 Broadway revival of "Amadeus".
Sheen was born in Newport, Wales, the only son of Irene (Thomas) and Meyrick Sheen. The charming, curly-haired actor grew up a middle-class boy in the working-class town of Port Talbot, Wales. Although his parents worked in personnel, they shared with their son a deep appreciation for acting, with Meyrick Sheen enjoying some success later in life as a Jack Nicholson impersonator.
As a young man, Michael Sheen turned down the opportunity to pursue a possible professional football career, opting to follow in the footsteps of Daniel Day-Lewis and Patrick Stewart by attending the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School instead of university. In his second year, he won the coveted Laurence Olivier Bursary for consistently outstanding performances. While Sheen was still studying, he landed a pivotal role opposite stage legend Vanessa Redgrave in Martin Sherman's "When She Danced" (1991). He left school early to make his West End debut and has been dazzling audiences and critics with his intense and passionate performances ever since. Among his most memorable roles were "Romeo" in "Romeo and Juliet", the title role in Yukio Ninagawa's 1994 Royal Shakespeare Company's staging of "Peer Gynt" and "Jimmy Porter" both in a 1994 regional staging in a 1999 London revival of "Look Back in Anger". A critic from the London Times panned the multimedia production of "Peer Gynt", but praised Sheen for his ability to express "astonishing vitality despite lifeless direction". Referring to Sheen's performance in "Look Back in Anger", Susannah Clapp of The Observer hailed him for his "luminous quality" and ability to be goaded and fiery and defensive all at the same time. Sheen also managed to set critics' tongues wagging with a deft performance in the role of "Henry V", not a part traditionally given to a slight, boyish-looking actor. One writer raved: "Sheen, volatile and responsive in an excellent performance, showed us the exhilaration of power and conquest".
In 1993, Sheen joined the troupe "Cheek By Jowl" and was nominated for the Ian Charleson Award for his performance in "Don't Fool with Love". That same year, he excelled as a mentally unstable man who becomes enmeshed in a kidnapping plot in Mystery!: Gallowglass (1993), a three-part BBC serial that aired in the USA on PBS' "Mystery!" in 1995. The actor nabbed his first feature film role in 1994, playing Dr. Jekyll's footman in Mary Reilly (1996) opposite John Malkovich and Julia Roberts, but that film did not make it into theaters until 1996, a year after Sheen's second movie, Othello (1995), was filmed and released. Perhaps his most memorable big screen role at that point, however, was "Robert Ross", Oscar Wilde's erstwhile lover, in the 1997 biopic Wilde (1997). He would also be seen in the Brit road film Heartlands (2002) opposite Mark Addy.
Hot off the success of "Amadeus", Sheen began racking up even more notable big screen credits, starring opposite Heath Ledger, Wes Bentley and Kate Hudson in The Four Feathers (2002) and landing a major role opposite Kate Beckinsale in the action-horror blockbuster Underworld (2003), along with supporting turns in Bright Young Things (2003), Timeline (2003) and as British Prime Minister Tony Blair in director Stephen Frears' film The Queen (2006). Next, Sheen grabbed good notices played a divorce-embattled rock star, stealing scenes from Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore in the romantic comedy Laws of Attraction (2004).
Back on the stage, the actor earned raves for his performance as "Caligula" in London, for which he won the Evening Standard Award and Critics Circle Award for Best Actor, along with a nomination for the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award.- Actor
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Widely considered as one of the greatest stage and screen actors of his generation both in his native Scotland and internationally, David Tennant was born David John McDonald in West Lothian, Scotland, to Essdale Helen (McLeod) and Sandy McDonald, who was a Presbyterian minister. He is of Scottish and Ulster-Scots descent. When he was about 3 or 4 years old, he decided to become an actor, inspired by his love of Doctor Who (1963).
He was brought up in Bathgate, West Lothian and Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland and was a huge fan of the band The Proclaimers. He attended Paisley Grammar school and while there he wrote about how he wanted to become a professional actor and play the role of the Doctor in Doctor Who (1963).
He made his first television appearance (which was also his first professional acting job) when he was 16, after his father sent some photos of him to a casting director at Scottish television. He also attended a youth theatre group at weekends run by the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now renamed the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). When he was 16 he auditioned for and won a place at the academy; the youngest student to ever do so, and started as a full time drama student when he was 17.
He worked regularly in theatre and TV after leaving drama school, and his first big break came in 1994 when he was cast in a lead role in the Scottish drama Takin' Over the Asylum (1994). He then moved to London where his career thrived. Among other significant factors of his prolific artistic course, he spent several years as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and became famous from his lead roles in TV dramas Blackpool (2004) and Casanova (2005).
In 2005, his childhood wish came true. David was cast to play the role of the Doctor in Doctor Who (2005) alongside Billie Piper, after Christopher Eccleston decided to leave. Playing the Doctor made him a household name and a sex symbol, being voted "Sexiest Man in the Universe" by readers of The Pink Paper and 16th Sexiest Man in the World by a Cosmopolitan survey. Since leaving the series in 2010 his career has continued to rise, with lead roles in films, TV series and theatre.- Actress
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Miranda Richardson was born in Southport, Lancashire, England on March 3, 1958, to Marian Georgina (Townsend) and William Alan Richardson, a marketing executive. She has one sister, eight years her senior. Her parents and sister are not involved in the performing arts. At an early age she performed in school plays, having shown a talent and desire to "turn herself into" other people. She has referred to it as "an emotional fusion; you think yourself into them". This mimicry could be of school friends or film stars.
She left school (Southport High School for Girls) at the age of 17, and originally intended becoming a vet. She also considered studying English literature in college, but decided to concentrate on drama and enrolled at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (as did many well-known British actors). After three years she graduated and moved into repertory theatre. She became affiliated with the Library Theatre in Manchester in 1979, where she became an assistant stage manager. She obtained her Equity card, and after several regional productions, first appeared on the London stage (Moving at Queens Theatre) in 1981. British television roles soon followed, and then film.
Since then, Miranda has moved into the international arena, and has made films in America, France and Spain. Television work (on both sides of the Atlantic) continues, as does some stage work. Her roles are diverse, but powerful and engaging. She has been quoted as stating "what I basically like is doing things I haven't done before" and this continually comes through in the variety of roles she has played in her career. She is also selective in the roles she takes, being uninterested in performing in the standard Hollywood fare, and preferring more offbeat roles. She was approached to play the Glenn Close role in Fatal Attraction (1987), but found it "regressive in its attitudes". Her attitude is summed up by a quote from an interview that appeared in the New York Times (Dec 27 1992): "I would rather do many small roles on TV, stage or film than one blockbuster that made me rich but had no acting. And if that's the choice I have to make, I think I've already made it".
According to "1994 Current Biography Yearbook", she resides in South London with her two Siamese cats, Otis and Waldo. She has now moved to West London. Her hobbies include drawing, walking, gardening, fashion, falconry, and music. She, by her own admission, is a loner and lives rather modestly. An actor who studied with Ms Richardson at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre in the late 1970s described her as "a strong minded, specially gifted, rather pretty young woman who enjoys wearing jewelry. She wore toe rings, which in the late 1970s and especially in England, were a rarity and considered rather racy." He also remarked on her drive, even then, to be an actress of the highest caliber.- Actress
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Born in London, with a Nigerian father, Nina trained at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, and gained A-levels in Performing Arts. Soon she was appearing as Desdemona in "Othello", Olivia in "Twelfth Night" and Hermia in "A Midsummer Night's Dream", along with the title role in "Educating Rita". Joining the RSC, she played in "Henry V", "The White Devil", "The Learned Ladies" and "Herbal Bed", before moving to the National Theatre for "Anthony & Cleopatra" and "House and Garden", followed by "The Marriage of Figaro" at the Royal Exchange.
On TV, Nina has appeared in People Like Us (1999), Teachers (2001), The Jury (2002), The Three Gamblers (2000), Prime Suspect 2 (1992) - and many others. New projects include Human Trade (2003) with Martin Kemp and John Duttine, and Richard Curtis's new film Love Actually (2003) with Hugh Grant. She also appears in "The Vortex" at the Donmar Warehouse until February 2003.- Actor
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Daniel Alan Mays (born 31 March 1978) is an English actor.
Born the third of four boys, Mays was brought up in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, by his electrician father and bank cashier mother. He attended the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts before going on to win a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
After graduating from RADA in 2000, Mays soon started appearing in a number of supporting roles ranging from a bit part in the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 2000 to playing a pilot in Jerry Bruckheimer's big-budget Pearl Harbor (2001). He was cast in the Mike Leigh film All or Nothing (2002) as Jason, a thug who abused his girlfriend, and also appeared in Leigh's next project, Vera Drake (2004), in which he played Sid, the protagonist's son. His performances for Leigh resulted in further offers of work.
One of Mays's most notable early roles was in the improvised BBC drama Rehab. Directed by acclaimed film maker Antonia Bird, Rehab was a drama about life inside a drug rehabilitation facility. He starred as Adam, a young heroin addict released from prison and sent directly to rehab. For his performance Mays was awarded the Best Actor award at the Palmare-Reims Television Festival in 2003.
Mays has continued to work regularly, and has appeared in a variety of productions, which have included a part in Johnny Vaughan's sitcom, Top Buzzer (2004); the lead role of Carter Krantz in BBC Three's Funland (2005); as well as film appearances in Atonement (2007), White Girl (2008) and The Bank Job (2008).
May starred in a television film Half Broken Things (2007) alongside Penelope Wilton.
Mays starred in Channel 4's Friday-night comedy-of-errors sitcom Plus One, in which he played Rob Black, the perennial victim of Sod's law whose girlfriend has dumped him to marry "Duncan from Blue". He played the role of Michael Myshkin in Channel 4's adaptation of David Peace's Red Riding trilogy. He also appears in the third and final series of Ashes to Ashes on BBC1 as Discipline and Complaints Officer, DCI Jim Keats (who is actually the devil disguised as a police officer).
In addition to his TV and film work, Mays has also starred in six stage plays at London's Royal Court Theatre. The productions have included Ladybird, Motortown, The Winterling and Scarborough. Simon Stephens wrote the lead role of Danny in Motortown with Mays in mind. He went on to win critical acclaim for his performance, but the hard-hitting play was too much for some audience members and walkouts were not uncommon.
Projects in 2009 included Hippie Hippie Shake (as '60s alternative figurehead David Widgery, alongside Cillian Murphy and Sienna Miller); a role opposite Anna Friel in the third series of Jimmy McGovern's The Street; a "mark" in the BBC drama serial Hustle; as well as an appearance in the independent British film Shifty, co-starring Riz Ahmed, for which he received a nomination for best supporting actor at the British Independent Film Awards.
Mays starred as Eddie O'Grady in the 2010 film Made in Dagenham. In the same year, he played DCI Jim Keats in the third series of "Ashes to Ashes", in which he portrayed a character that was the antagonist of Philip Glenister's Gene Hunt.
Mays appears in the BBC sci-fi series Outcasts, which started on 7 February 2011, as PAS Officer Cass Cromwell, and in the ninth episode of the 6th series of Doctor Who, titled "Night Terrors," broadcast on BBC One on 3 September 2011.
He had roles in No One Gets Off in This Town and a supporting role in the Steven Spielberg film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. However the latest part he has played was a criminal on a curfew after serving a 10-year sentence for the murder of his girlfriend when he was 19 in the programme Public Enemies, which aired on BBC One in early January 2012. He played Ronnie Biggs in a 5-part drama called Mrs Biggs alongside Sheridan Smith.
For much of the latter half of 2013, Mays performed on stage. Performing in Nick Payne's The Same Deep Water As Me at the Donmar Warehouse alongside Nigel Lindsay and in the first major revival of Jez Butterworth's debut play, Mojo at the Harold Pinter Theatre. He starred alongside Ben Whishaw, Brendan Coyle, Rupert Grint and Colin Morgan.
Mays starred in Series 3 of BBC drama Line of Duty as Sergeant Danny Waldron, an armed response officer whose troubled and abusive childhood comes under investigation following his death in episode one as part of wider investigation of police corruption throughout the serial.
From 29 March - 14 May 2016 Mays played the part of Aston in Harold Pinter's play The Caretaker directed by Matthew Warchus at The Old Vic Theatre in London opposite Timothy Spall and George MacKay.
Mays portrayed Tivik in the film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
On 11 April 2017 Daniel Mays was nominated for a BAFTA Television Award for Supporting Actor for his role in Line of Duty series 3.- Actor
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Jack Whitehall was a child actor in various television dramas, but decided to pursue stand-up comedy after leaving school. He was a finalist in the So You Think You're Funny talent hunt at last year's Edinburgh Fringe, and was nominated for best newcomer at this year's Chortle Awards. In December 2012 he was awarded the title King of Comedy by the British Comedy Awards, perhaps his most prestigious award yet.- Actor
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Reece Shearsmith originates from Hull and is a talented writer and performer. Having graduated from Bretton Hall Drama College with a BA(hons) in Theatre Arts, he is a quarter of the award-winning comedy team The League of Gentlemen and has appeared in a variety of television shows and films. He has also written and performed in London's long-running weekly satirical show Newsrevue. He has two children, Holly and Danny, with wife Jane.- Actor
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Steve Pemberton is a BAFTA winning actor and writer born in Blackburn, UK. He graduated from Bretton Hall in Yorkshire with a BA (Hons) in Theatre Arts in 1989. After leaving college Steve spent time producing and starring in small-scale theatre productions in London and working part-time for Variety as assistant editor of the International Film Guide. In 1996 Steve and his college friends Mark Gatiss, Reece Shearsmith and Jeremy Dyson went to Edinburgh with comedy show The League of Gentlemen, winning the coveted Perrier Comedy prize a year later. The group then went on to record a radio series and four TV series for the BBC as well as staging three live tours and making a film.
In 2009 Steve and Reece wrote and starred in the multi-award winning black comedy Psychoville which ran for two series and a Halloween special. The pair's acclaimed anthology show Inside No 9 began in 2014 and Steve was awarded with a BAFTA for Best Male Comedy Performance in 2019. The show also won BAFTAs for Scripted Comedy and Comedy Writing. Steve lives in North London with his partner and three children.- Actress
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Sheridan Smith was born on 25 June 1981 and grew up in Epworth. While Sheridan was growing up, her parents, Colin and Marilyn, performed as a Country and Western duo called The Daltons and it wasn't long before Sheridan got into it. She was dancing from the age of 4 and singing with her parents when she was about 7. At 14 she made her professional debut in the production of Annie, playing the lead role. She then went on to star in many big stage roles such as: The Go-Between, Little Red Riding Hood in the 1998 Donmar Warehouse production of Into The Woods, Talullah in National Youth Theatre's production of Bugsy Malone, Doll the Moll in Tin Pan Ali, Mrs Hardcastle in The Kissing Dance or She Stoops To Conquer, Pendragon and Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz.
Sheridan appeared on Blue Peter, Newsround, Children in Need, Olivier Awards and Theatreland with the NYMT (National Youth Music Theatre) of which she was a member.
Sheridan's first TV appearance came in 1999 when she played Matilda in ITV's Dark Ages (1999). Since then Sheridan has made many guest appearances, including roles in Wives and Daughters, Anchor Me, Peaches, Hawk, Heartbeat, Doctors, Where the Heart Is (1997), Holby City, Blood Strangers, Fat Friends, The Royal, Mile High and The Bill.
She is perhaps best known for her roles in The Royle Family (1998) from 1999-2000 were she played Emma, Anthony Royle's (Ralf Little) girlfriend, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (2001), again playing Ralf's girlfriend, and Rudi in three series of Gavin & Stacey (2007).
Sheridan lives in London with flatmate Jason. Her brother Damien is a member of the band Indie Manned.- Actor
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He was taught metal work at school by the actor Steve Coogan's dad, and like Coogan he was an altar boy. He proposed to his wife Susan on one knee outside 'Andy's Records', because it was the first place where they kissed. He's worked everywhere, in a factory packing toilet rolls, in a supermarket, in a video shop, at a bingo hall, at a cash and carry, as a mobile disc jockey and at a garage for six years in between all the other jobs. He claims he lied to get into college, he told them he'd two 'A' Levels and five GCSEs and apparently they never checked up.
He won the 1997 So You Think You're Funny contest at Edinburgh and the North West Comedian of the Year award. In 1998 Peter took his own hour-long show to the Edinburgh Fringe and was nominated for the Perrier Award. Peter actually has a qualification in stand up, which he got as part of his Btec in Media Performance Studies. His childhood ambition was to be a bin man.- Actress
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Keeley Hawes was born on 10 February 1976 at St Mary's Hospital, London, England as Clare Julia Hawes. She is an actress and producer, known for The Bank Job (2008), High-Rise (2015) and Death at a Funeral (2007). She has been married to Matthew Macfadyen since 8 October 2004. They have two children. She was previously married to Spencer McCallum, with whom she has an older child.- Actress
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Rachael Stirling was born on 30 May 1977 in St Marylebone, London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), The Young Victoria (2009) and Tipping the Velvet (2002). She has been married to Guy Garvey since 3 June 2016. They have one child.- Actress
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Jodhi was born in 1975. She was born and brought up in London, England, UK. She went to Wadham College, Oxford University 1994-1997. She studied and received a Masters in English. During her time at Wadham she read a lot of literature. She has been acting since she was twelve.- Actor
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Alexei Sayle was born on 7 August 1952 in Anfield, Liverpool, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Alexei Sayle's Stuff (1988) and Whoops Apocalypse (1982). He has been married to Linda Rawsthorn since 1974.- Actress
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Sally Cecilia Hawkins was born in 1976 in Lewisham hospital, London, England, to Jacqui and Colin Hawkins, authors and illustrators of children's books. She is of English and Irish descent. Hawkins was brought up in Greenwich, in southeast London. She attended James Allen's Girls' School in Dulwich. She graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1998. Hawkins' theatre appearances include Much Ado About Nothing (2000), A Midsummer Night's Dream (2000), Misconceptions (2001), Country Music (2004), and David Hare's adaptation of Federico García Lorca's play The House of Bernarda Alba in 2005. Hawkins made her first notable screen performance as Samantha in the 2002 Mike Leigh film All or Nothing (2002). She also appeared as Slasher in the 2004 film Layer Cake (2004). She played the role of Zena Blake in the BBC adaptation of Sarah Waters' novel, Tipping the Velvet (2002) in 2002. Her first major television role came in 2005, when she played Susan Trinder in the BAFTA-nominated BBC drama Fingersmith (2005), an adaptation of Sarah Waters' novel of the same name, in which she co-starred with Imelda Staunton, as she had in Vera Drake (2004). Since then she has gone on to star in another BBC adaptation, Patrick Hamilton's Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky. Hawkins appeared in three episodes of the BBC comedy series Little Britain (2003), in addition to Ed Reardon's Week on BBC Radio 4. She has also contributed to the BBC Radio 4 series Concrete Cow. In 2006, Hawkins returned to the stage, appearing at the Royal Court Theatre in Jez Butterworth's The Winterling. In 2007, she played the lead in a new film of Jane Austen's Persuasion, and followed this with her critically acclaimed performance in Happy-Go-Lucky (2008). Questions and a minor controversy arose when Hawkins was not nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Poppy. It was the first year since 2000-01 that the winner of the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy was not nominated for an Academy Award, and the first year since 1995-96 that no one from the category was nominated. During 2006 she also made uncredited appearances in Richard Ayoade's Man to Man with Dean Learner where she played various uncredited roles from Personal Assistant to Wife of Steve Pising in various deleted scenes included on the DVD. Hawkins' 2009-10 films included Desert Flower (2009), Never Let Me Go (2010), and Happy Ever Afters (2009). In November 2010, she appeared on Broadway as Vivie in Mrs. Warren's Profession. In 2011, Hawkins appeared in Submarine (2010) and had a supporting role in the film adaptation of Jane Eyre (2011).
In 2017, Sally was highly critically acclaimed for her role as Elisa, a mute janitor, in director Guillermo del Toro fantasy drama The Shape of Water (2017).- Hugh Bonneville is a British actor, known for his stage work at the National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company as well as the West End. His extensive film and television work includes Twenty Twelve, W1A, Downton Abbey, Paddington, The Gold and I Came By. See his website hughbonneville.uk for full biography.
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Johnny Vegas was born on 11 September 1971 in St. Helens, Merseyside, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for Bleak House (2005), The Libertine (2004) and Happiness (2001). He has been married to Maia Dunphy since March 2011. They have one child. He was previously married to Catherine "Kitty" Donnelly.- Actress
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Imelda Staunton is an English actress and singer from Archway, London. Her ancestry is primarily Irish. She has worked extensively in theater, and has won 4 Laurence Olivier Awards; 3 for leading roles and one for a supporting role. Her best known role in films has been the recurring villain Dolores Umbridge in the fantasy films "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (2007) and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1" (2010). Her character was depicted as an authoritarian bureaucrat from the Ministry of Magic who was appointed as the new professor of "Defence Against the Dark Arts". The character was driven by both her political agendas and her own prejudice. In television, Staunton's best-known role was portraying Queen Elizabeth II in the 5th season of the historical drama series "The Crown" (2016-). The season fictionalized the events of Elizabeth's reign from 1991 to 1997.
In 1956, Staunton was born in Archway, an area in the London Borough of Islington. Archway has had a large Irish community since the 1830s, when Irish workers from this area were employed in the construction of railways and roads. Staunton's parents were the laborer Joseph Staunton and his wife, the hairdresser and musician Bridie McNicholas. Both parents were first-generation immigrants from County Mayo, Ireland. Bridie played both the accordion and the fiddle in Irish show-bands.
Staunton received her secondary education at the La Sainte Union Catholic School, a girls' school operated by the Holy Union Sisters. She was trained in drama and elocution, and practiced her new skills by starring in school plays. Encouraged by one of her teachers, Staunton applied to several drama schools. In 1974, Staunton was accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). She was reportedly rejected by both the "Central School of Speech and Drama" and the "Guildhall School of Music and Drama", so her options were rather limited.
Staunton graduated from RADA in 1976. For the next 6 years, Staunton primarily acted in English repertory theater. She portrayed the French military leader Joan of Arc (c. 1412-1431) in a 1979 revival of the play "Saint Joan" (1923) by George Bernard Shaw. In 1982, she started acting for the Royal National Theatre in London. In her first year there, Staunton was nominated for both the "Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical" and the "Laurence Olivier Award for Best Newcomer in a Play". Staunton lost the Best Actress Award to Julia McKenzie, and the Newcomer Award to Kenneth Branagh.
Staunton made her film debut in the historical drama "Comrades" (1986). The film dramatized the lives of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, a group of British labor activists who were convicted in 1834 under an obscure act and sentenced to penal transportation to Australia. The group members were pardoned in 1836 after mass protests in their favor, and they became heroes for the early union and workers' rights movements.
Among Staunton's most notable theatrical roles in the 1980s was portraying Dorothy Gale in a British version of the musical "The Wizard of Oz" (1987) by John Kane. It was a theatrical adaptation of the novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (1900) by L. Frank Baum. The theatrical production was by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Staunton was nominated for the 1988 "Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical" for this role, but lost to Patricia Routledge.
Staunton had a co-staring role in the comedy film "Peter's Friends" (1992), her first film role since 1986. In the film, Peter (played by Stephen Fry) is the new owner of his family's country house, and invites the former members of his student comedy troupe to a reunion there. Each of the members has had a dysfunctional life, but Peter eventually informs them that he has a worse fate than his friends. He reveals that he is HIV-positive, and that the real reasons for the reunion were the fears for his mortality. The film was nominated for the 1993 "Goya Award for Best European Film", but lost to "Three Colors: Blue".
Staunton portrayed the waiting gentlewoman Margaret in thee romantic comedy "Much Ado About Nothing" (1993), a film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name. In the film, Margaret is mistaken for her charge, Hero (played by Kate Beckinsale). Staunton had her first notable animated roles in the fantasy film "The Snow Queen" (1995), an adaptation of the 1844 fairy tale Hans Christian Andersen. She portrayed both the sentient bird Ivy and Angorra, the self-centered daughter of the Robber King.
Staunton portrayed the witty servant Maria in the romantic comedy "Twelfth Night" (1996), an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play. Maria was one of several characters who humiliated the pompous steward Malvolio (played by Nigel Hawthorne), and orchestrated his downfall. Staunton had two new roles in the sequel animated film "The Snow Queen's Revenge" (1996). She voiced both the optimistic servant Elsbeth and the ambitious bounty hunter Rowena.
Staunton voiced the group cynic Bunty in the stop-motion animated comedy film "Chicken Run" (2000). It was the first feature-length film by the animation studio Aardman Animations, and grossed about 224.8 million dollars at the worldwide box office. The film broke a record as the highest-grossing stop-motion film in film history. It has retained this record into the 2020s. This was one of Staunton's most commercially successful films.
Staunton portrayed the malevolent wife Conchita Flynn in the comedy film "Rat" (2000), loosely based on the novella "The Metamorphosis" (1915) by Franz Kafka. In the film, a normal working-class man inexplicably shape-shifts into a rat. His family both turns against him, and tries to profit from his condition. Staunton portrayed the supporting character of police superintendent Janine in the romantic comedy film "Crush" (2001). In the film, middle-aged schoolmistress Kate Scales (played by Andie MacDowell) starts dating a man in his twenties, who was once her student. Janine and another of Kate's friends try to figure out whether the man genuinely loves Kate, or is simply manipulating her. When the man is killed in a traffic accident, the two friends try to help a pregnant Kate with some serious life decisions.
Staunton portrayed the main character Vera Drake in the period drama "Vera Drake" (2004). In the film, Vera is a middle-aged house cleaner who provides illegal abortions for young women during the early 1950s. She provides her services free of charge, and is unaware that her partner is getting payments for arranging meetings with Vera. When Vera is arrested following the near-death of one of her patients, people who previously depended on her kindness are left distraught. Staunton won the "BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role" for this role, and was nominated for the "Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama". The film was met with general critical praise, despite some criticism for its inaccurate portrayal of real-life abortion methods.
Staunton portrayed Ambassador Cochran in the thriller film "Shadow Man" (2006), one of the few genuine allies of the protagonist Jack Foster (played by Steven Seagal). In the film, Jack is a retired CIA agent. Following the disappearance and suspected death of his father-in-law, Jack is mistakenly thought to have the formula for a biological weapon which his father-in-law had stolen. Jack finds himself targeted by multiple intelligent agents and organizations, including several of his former friends and allies. The film was set entirely in Bucharest, Romania, though it was based on a script intended for a period film about post-World War II Japan.
Staunton next portrayed Dolores Umbridge in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (2007). Staunton's performance was praised by critics, and she was nominated in the "British Actress in a Supporting Role" category at the London Film Critics Circle Awards. Dolores as a character has been praised as one of the better villains from the "Harry Potter" series, because her brand of "authoritarian evil" was reportedly more relatable than Lord Voldemort and his abstract plans. Staunton herself claimed that her performance as Dolores was inspired primarily by her views on the behavior of the controversial Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013, term 1979-1990).
Staunton portrayed motel owner Sonia Teichberg in the comedy-drama film "Taking Woodstock" (2009). In the film, the motel of the Teichberg family is about to be foreclosed by their bank, and their young son is desperate to raise enough money to save the family business. Following a series of the son's money-making schemes, he learns that Sonia had hid nearly 100,000 dollars in her closet and could single-handedly save the motel if she was willing to spend it. Motivating him to strike out on his own. The film was an adaptation of the memoir "Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, a Concert, and a Life" (2007) by Elliot Tiber, one of the people involved in organizing the Woodstock music festival (1969).
Staunton portrayed the housekeeper Maud Hill in the supernatural drama "The Awakening". In the film, a skeptic writer investigates ghost sightings at a boarding school in Cumbria during the early 1920s. She realized belatedly that the boarding house's building used to be her family's residence during her childhood, that the ghost in question was her murdered half-brother, and that Maud used to be her father's mistress. Maud had invited her there in order to kill her and to turn her into the building's newest ghost. The film was praised by critics as an atmospheric, ghost story, though its resolution was thought to be predictable.
Staunton voiced Margaret Claus in the Christmas animated film "Arthur Christmas" (2011). In the film, a family has used the hereditary title of "Santa Claus" for many generations, and the current Santa (Malcolm) is the 20th one. When a child's present is accidentally lost, Malcolm is indifferent to the situation, and Steven (his cynical eldest son and business-manager) considers this to be an acceptable error. But his idealistic younger son Arthur sets out to personally deliver the present, using an outdated wooden sleigh that had been out of use for nearly a century. As the inexperienced gift-bringer tries to complete his mission, Malcolm tries to hide the situation from his wife Margaret while starting to realize that he was never suited for a leadership position. The film earned 147,4 million at the worldwide box office. It was nominated for an Annie Award for the Best Animated Feature.
Staunton voiced Queen Victoria in the animated swashbuckler film "The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!" (2012). In the film, the new queen regnant is in conflict with a group of unorthodox pirates, while trying to secure ownership of the last-living dodo bird. Assisting Victoria in her efforts is the young scientist Charles Darwin (voiced by David Tennant). The film earned about 123,1 million dollars at the worldwide box office. It was nominated for an "Academy Award for Best Animated Feature", but lost to the fantasy film "Brave".
Staunton portrayed the Welsh activist Hefina Headon (1930-2013) in the period film "Pride" (2014). The film dramatized the UK miners' strike (1984-1985) and the formation of the activist organization "Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners". The activists organized fund-raising efforts to help the impoverished miners and their families. Staunton was nominated for the "BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role" for this role, but lost to Patricia Arquette.
Staunton portrayed the protective pixie Knotgrass in the fantasy film "Maleficent" (2014). Her character was based on the fairy Flora from the animated film "Sleeping Beauty" (1959), but Knotgrass was intentionally depicted as an inept counterpart to the original character. Knotgrass is one of the legal guardians of the human girl Aurora (played by Elle Fanning), but turns out to be a neglectful parent figure. The film grossed over 758 million dollars at the worldwide box-office, becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2014. It was also one of the highest-grossing film's in Staunton's career.
Staunton voiced Aunt Lucy in the comedy film "Paddington" (2014). Her character was portrayed as the aunt and surrogate mother of Paddington Bear. After being widowed in an earthquake, Lucy encourages Paddington to migrate to London, where her only human friend once lived. The film earned 282.8 million dollars at the worldwide box office, and was nominated for a "Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film".
Staunton portrayed the leading role of the aristocrat Sandra Abbott, Lady Abbott in the romantic comedy film "Finding Your Feet" (2017). In the film, Sandra finds out that her husband is cheating on her, and then decides to move in with her estranged, free-spirited older sister Bif (played by Celia Imrie). They bond for a while, just before Bif dies from lung cancer. When Sandra's husband tries to reconcile with her, Sandra is no longer interested in leading a conventional life by his side. The film won the won the "Audience Award for Best Film" at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
Staunton portrayed the aristocrat Lady Maud Bagshaw in the historical drama "Downton Abbey" (2019). Her character was depicted as a lady-in-waiting to Mary of Teck, Queen consort of the United Kingdom (1867-1953, term 1910-1936). Maud was portrayed as an estranged cousin to Robert Crawley, 7th Earl of Grantham (played by Hugh Bonneville). Maud schemed to allow her property to be inherited by her own illegitimate daughter, rather than by her cousin and his heirs. The Crawley family starts scheming an advantageous marriage of their widowed son-in-law Tom Branson to Maud's heiress. The film was a continuation of the historical drama series "Downton Abbey" (2010-2015), which followed the lives of an aristocratic family of Yorkshire and their efforts to maintain or to increase their wealth. The film earned 194.7 million at the worldwide box office.
Staunton returned to the role of Lady Maud Bagshaw in the sequel film "Downton Abbey: A New Era" (2022). The film opens with Maud marrying her illegitimate daughter Lucy Smith to Tom Branson. The film subsequently deals with the last days in the life of Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham (played by Maggie Smith), and with her son's increasing doubts about his own paternity. The film earned 92.3 million dollars at the worldwide box office. The film was nominated for the "Golden Rooster Award for Best Foreign Language Film" in China.
By 2022, Staunton was 66-years-old. She is no longer the up-and-coming stage star of the 1980s. She is considered a respected veteran of the theater and the film industry. She maintains a cult following among fans of fantasy films, animated films, and period films set primarily in the 19th century or the 20th century. She has had an ever-increasing number of well-received roles in films of these types, and she seems likely to continue her film career.- Actress
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Julia McKenzie was born on 17 February 1941 in Enfield, Middlesex, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for Notes on a Scandal (2006), Bright Young Things (2003) and Cranford (2007). She was previously married to Jerry Harte.- Actress
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Deborah Findlay was born in Surrey and studied English at Leeds University. She worked in Leeds with a theatre group touring plays, music, community theatre and cabaret before coming to London to work at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. She was in the original production of 'Top Girls' by Caryl Churchill (OBIE Award) and seasons at the RSC and National Theatre where she received an Olivier Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for 'Stanley'. She has an extensive career in theatre and was nominated for a Tony for the play 'The Children'. She had another Olivier nomination for 'The Cut'. She played in New York on Broadway and in the West End in London including prestigious theatre the Donmar with the play 'The Vortex'.- Born on 5th August 1948 in Hastings, East Sussex, England. She started her television career in 1970 in the TV series A Family at War (1970), cast as Freda Ashton. She became better known following her appearances in The Beiderbecke Affair (1985), The Beiderbecke Tapes (1987) and The Beiderbecke Connection (1988), alongside James Bolam. She has narrated recent documentaries such as: "Frontier House", When Pat Phoenix Met Tony Booth (2002), "50s & 60s in Living Colour" and "What Granny Did in the War". Television series include: Cracker (1993) in which she played Fitz's wife Judith, more recently in Hornblower: Duty (2003) and Hornblower: Loyalty (2003). Recent feature film appearances include: Professor Corner in You're Dead... (1999) and Pauline in The Escort (1999) (aka "The Escort"). Theatre includes: Goneril in "King Lear" National Theatre (1997) and on BBC TV (King Lear (1998)); "The Bullet" in which she played Billie at London's West End Donmar Warehouse Theatre (1998); "An Experiment With An Air Pump" at the Hampstead Theatre (2002), playing two characters, Susannah Fenwick and Ellen.
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Jim Carter was born on 19 August 1948 in Harrogate, Yorkshire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Transformers: The Last Knight (2017), Shakespeare in Love (1998) and Downton Abbey (2019). He has been married to Imelda Staunton since October 1983. They have one child.- Actor
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Alex Jennings was born on 10 May 1957 in Essex, England, UK. He is an actor, known for The Lady in the Van (2015), The Queen (2006) and The Wings of the Dove (1997). He has been married to Lesley Moors since 2012. They have two children.- Actor
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Adrian Scarborough was born on 10 May 1968 in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Gosford Park (2001), Vera Drake (2004) and Dirty Pretty Things (2002). He is married to Rose Blackshaw. They have two children.- Actor
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Andrew Buchan was born on 19 February 1979 in Stockport, Cheshire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for All the Money in the World (2017), Broadchurch (2013) and Garrow's Law (2009). He has been married to Amy Nuttall since 8 September 2012. They have one child.- Actress
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Claudie Blakley graduated from London's Central School of Speech and Drama in 1997 and was hailed that year as a bright and fresh Wendy in the National Theatre's Christmas production of 'Peter Pan' opposite Ian McKellen. Staying with the National she went with them for their 1998-99 season at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, where she received the Ian Charleson Award as best young performer for her role in Chekhov's 'The Seagull'.
In the early 2000s she appeared in ensemble costume films Gosford Park (2001) and The Cat's Meaw (2001) before returning to the stage in 2003 to join the Royal Shakespeare Company in 'All's Well That Ends Well' opposite Judi Dench. She was a touching Charlotte Lucas in Joe Wright's film of Pride & Prejudice (2005) opposite Keira Knightly and starred as the ill-fated Jill in cult horror-comedy Severance (2006) with Danny Dyer and Toby Stephens.
Between 2007-11 she completed two further ensemble costume pieces for television, Cranford (2007-09) and Lark Rise To Candleford (2008-11) as the much-loved Emma Timmins opposite Brendan Coyle. Claudie has since gone on to have a wide and varied career in film and television as a well as recent highly acclaimed stage productions including 'Chimerica' and 'Consent' in London's West End.- English actress Francesca Annis, who has enjoyed a career spanning seven decades in movies, television and the theater, was born in London six days after V-E Day, on May 14, 1945. Her father, Lester, was English, but her mother, Mariquita (aka Mara Purcell), was of Brazilian-French heritage. From the time she was a year old to the age of seven, the family lived in Brazil. The young Francesca spoke Portuguese, that country's language, as a child. Educated at a convent school, she dreamed of becoming a nun but trained as a ballet dancer before studying drama at the Corona Theatre School. She began acting in bit parts in the 1950s, working her way up to better roles. In addition to appearing on the big and little screens, she was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Her most famous roles are as Lady Macbeth in Roman Polanski's version of Macbeth (1971), in which she had a notorious nude sleepwalking scene, and as Kyle MacLachlan (Paul Atreides)' mother Lady Jessica in David Lynch's adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune (1984). A highly respected performer, in 1979, she won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress, playing Lily Langtry in the miniseries Lillie (1978). She appeared with James Warwick as husband and wife sleuths Tommy and Tuppence Beresford in the television series Partners in Crime (1983). She also appeared as Jacqueline Kennedy in the television movie Onassis: The Richest Man in the World (1988). - Born in Salford in 1975 Emma Lowndes was bitten by the acting bug at the age of eight when her school class was invited to take part in Opera North's production of 'Carmen'. Having been head girl at school and an English graduate from York University she managed to get a place at RADA thanks to Richard Attenborough, who championed her audition, and also to another Salfordian, Albert Finney, who helped set up the Salford Sport and Arts Fund which paid for her three-year course. Since graduation she has appeared on stage at the Manchester Exchange Theatre, where her performance in 'The Seagull' saw her nominated for an Ian Charleson award, and as the lead in 'The Rise and Fall of Little Voice'. For the Royal Shakespeare Company she was in 'Great Expectations, 'Therese Raquin' for the National and in the West End revival of 'Whose Life Is It Anyway?'. In 2009 she reprised her role as Bella Gregson' from the first series of television costume drama 'Cranford', where one of her many co-stars was Lisa Dillon, the actress who pipped Emma to winning the Ian Charleson award.
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Shaw was already an accomplished theater actress when director Jim Sheridan awarded her a role in his film, My Left Foot (1989). The film is a telling of Christy Brown (Daniel Day-Lewis), an Irishman disgruntled with his confinement to a body horribly crippled by cerebral palsy but who found incredible success as an artist and writer. Shaw portrayed Eileen Cole, the doctor largely responsible for Christy's education and physical rehabilitation. Since, Shaw has received several accolades for her film and television performances.- Actress
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Jodie Comer is a British actress from Liverpool, England. She is known for playing Rey's mother in Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, Villanelle in Killing Eve, Marguerite de Carrouges in The Last Duel, Kate Parks from Doctor Foster, Millie Rusk in Free Guy and Chloe Gemell from My Mad Fat Diary.- Actor
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Edward Bluemel was born on 22 May 1993 in Somerset, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for The Commuter (2018), Persuasion (2022) and Safe Word (2022).- Actress
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Dame Harriet Mary Walter DBE is a British actress. She has received a Laurence Olivier Award as well as numerous nominations including for a Tony Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2011, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to drama.- Gemma Elizabeth Whelan (born April 23, 1981) is an English actress and comedian, best known for playing Yara Greyjoy in the HBO fantasy-drama series Game of Thrones.
Whelan attended The King's High School for Girls in Warwick. In addition to being an actor and comedian, Whelan is also a professional dancer specializing in the tap and jazz dance styles. She is a member of the dance troupe the Beaux Belles, based in London. She is also trained in musical theatre and has a mezzo-soprano singing voice. Whelan can speak conversational Spanish. She lives in London. In July 2017, she was expecting her first child with husband Gerry. She gave birth to their daughter a few months later.
Whelan is vegetarian but had eaten meat on the sets of Game of Thrones.
As a comedian, Whelan won the Funny Women Variety Award for stand-up comedy in 2010. She often performs stand-up in character as Chastity Butterworth and in 2014 she recorded a pilot chat show for BBC Radio 4 called The Chastity Butterworth Show.
On screen, she has played supporting roles in several films and TV shows, including in the 2010 films Gulliver's Travels and The Wolfman. She has had roles in comedies including Upstart Crow, Uncle and The Agency.
In August 2011, she was cast as Yara Greyjoy in the HBO fantasy-drama television series Game of Thrones, and appeared as a recurring cast member from the second season onward. - Actor
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Henry Lloyd-Hughes was born on 11 August 1985 in London, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for We Were the Lucky Ones (2024), Archie (2023) and Marriage (2022).- Actor
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Adeel was born in London on 18th September 1980 to a Pakistani father and a Kenyan mother and attended Cheltenham College throughout the 1990s. His father was keen for him to become a lawyer and he obtained a law degree but was more interested in acting and studied at the Actors' Studio in New York. He has made several stage appearances, including as Guildenstern in the Young Vic's 2011 production of 'Hamlet' but is best known for his television performances, being the first non-white actor to bag a BAFTA award as actor in a leading role for the single drama 'Murdered By My Father' and in 2018 will be seen as the villainous Thenardier opposite Olivia Colman and Dominic West in the BBC's serialization of 'Les Miserables'.- Actress
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Emma Pierson was born on 30 April 1981 in Plymouth, Devon, England, UK. She is an actress and director, known for Absolutely Anything (2015), Guest House Paradiso (1999) and The Last King (2003).- Actress
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Alexandra Roach was born in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire in Wales and was already a veteran of the Welsh television soap 'Pobol Y Cwm' by her early teens. In 2003 whilst studying for her GCSE exams at the local comprehensive school she learned that she had beaten out players in national soaps to win the award for the best juvenile actor in a soap at the Children in Entertainment Awards. Leaving 'Pobl Y Cwm' in 2005 she spent time with the National Youth Theatre of Wales before going on to R.A.D.A. from where she graduated with a B.A, in acting in 2010. A number of high profile roles followed including television series and the role of the younger Margaret Thatcher in the biopic 'The Iron Lady' with Meryl Streep.- Actor
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Steve Oram was born on 25 August 1973 in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Sightseers (2012), The World's End (2013) and Aaaaaaaah! (2015).- Actress
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Susan was doing plays in Gaelic before she was offered a place at the Central School of Speech and Drama and while there she won the Kenneth Branagh Renaissance Award for Most Promising Student, Her theatre roles include El Cid and Pericles at the National and the title role of Miss Julie at the Young Vic and Ashes and Sand at the Royal Court, She made her tv debut in an episode of Cracker which was followed with parts in Ivanhoe, A Royal Scandal and Truth or Dare About 1997 she completed the film The Secret of Roan Inish a mini series which was filmed in Donegal and had a small part in Interview With the Vampire then came Downtime in which she did her own stunts ,After that she filmed Kings in Grass Castles, a mini series which she filmed in Australia for the BBIC- Actor
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Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill was born on the Bailiwick of Jersey, a British Crown dependency in the Channel Islands. His mother, Marianne (Dalgliesh), a housewife, was also born on Jersey, and is of Irish, Scottish and English ancestry. Henry's father, Colin Richard Cavill, a stockbroker, is of English origin (born in Chester, England). Henry is the second youngest son, with four brothers. He was privately educated at St. Michael's Preparatory School in Saint Saviour, Jersey before attending Stowe School in Buckinghamshire, England.
His interest in acting started at an early age with school play renditions of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and Sonny LaTierri in "Grease". He also starred and directed Shakespeare's "Hamlet" in the BBC documentary "40 Minutes". It was at age 17 when Henry was discovered by casting directors at school who were looking for a young boy to play Albert Mondego in The Count of Monte Cristo (2002). He went on to star in Vendetta (2001), appear in BBC's The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (2001), the television film Goodbye, Mr. Chips (2002), and the television series Midsomer Murders (1997).
When Henry was 20 years old, he gained starring roles in I Capture the Castle (2003), Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005), Red Riding Hood (2006) and Tristan + Isolde (2006). He also had a minor role in the fantasy-adventure epic Stardust (2007) alongside Sienna Miller and Ben Barnes. During 2007-2010, Henry had a leading role on the television series The Tudors (2007) as Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. The series was a success and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 2007 and won an Emmy Award in 2008. Entertainment Weekly named him "Most Dashing Duke".
He also starred in Blood Creek (2006) and Woody Allen's comedy film Whatever Works (2009). On January 30, 2011, it was announced that Henry Cavill had been cast as the next Superman in Man of Steel (2013), making him the first non-American actor to play Superman. The movie was directed by Zach Snyder, produced by Christopher Nolan, and scripted by David S. Goyer. On November 7, 2011, Henry starred in Tarsem Singh's fantasy-adventure epic Immortals (2011) alongside Mickey Rourke, Freida Pinto and Luke Evans. On September 7, 2012, Henry starred in the action-thriller Cold Light of Day (2003) alongside Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver.
On June 10, 2013, Man of Steel (2013) kicked off its world premiere in New York City followed by London, Bailiwick of Jersey, Sicily, Madrid, Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo. The movie became the highest-grossing Superman film to date, and the second-highest-grossing reboot of all time behind The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). Glamour magazine ranked him the #1 "Sexiest Man". In August 2014, Henry became the Ambassador for Durrell Wildlife Park and created a website and social media called #CavillConservation to help raise funds and awareness for his love of animals and conservation. On November 3, 2014, it was announced that Cavill, his brother Charlie, and London-based producer Rex Glensy, have formed their own British production company, Promethean Productions.
On August 7, 2015, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) began its premiere tour with a people's premiere at the famous Somerset House in London, followed by its world premiere in New York City, then Toronto, and Rio de Janeiro. Cavill reprised his role as Superman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017).- Freya Allan (Oxfordshire, England, September 6, 2001) is a British actress known for being chosen to play Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon in the Netflix adaptation of The Witcher (2019). She will star in the upcoming Planet of the Apes movie that will be released May 2024. Freya also appears in HBO series The Third Day and Studio Canals film Gunpowder Milkshake.
- Anya Chalotra is an English actress known for playing Jennifer Ashman in the British TV show Wanderlust (2018) and for her role as Yennefer of Vengerberg in the Netflix series The Witcher (2019).
Chalotra was born in a British-Indian family. Her father is of Indian descent while her mother is English. She grew up in Lower Penn village in South Staffordshire, UK, where she lived with her parents, and two siblings. Chalotra completed her schooling at the St. Dominic's Grammar School for Girls in Brewood. and later trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Chalotra has starred in several theater productions including Much Ado About Nothing and The Village.
She is represented by The Artists Partnership talent agency.
On October 10, 2018, it was announced by Deadline that Chalotra would star in a main role as Yennefer of Vengerberg in the Netflix fantasy drama, The Witcher. The series premiered on December 20, 2019. - Mimî M Khayisa was born on 31 August 1991 in Guildford, Surrey, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019), The Legend of Tarzan (2016) and Cinderella (2015).
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Joey Batey is a British actor, originally from Newcastle upon Tyne. He read Modern and Medieval Languages at the University of Cambridge, before featuring in the Royal Shakespeare Company's Olivier and Tony award winning productions Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies on the West End and Broadway. Since then he has appeared in numerous British and U.S. television series.- Anna Shaffer was born on 15 March 1992 in London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011).
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Royce Pierreson was born on 1 April 1989 in Saltash, Cornwall, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for Murdered by My Boyfriend (2014), Line of Duty (2012) and The Irregulars (2021).- Tom Canton is a British and Irish actor most known for his role as 'Filavandrel' - the King of the Elves, in Seasons 1, 2 and 3 of the 3 time Emmy Awards nominated and BAFTA winning series THE WITCHER for Netflix, starring alongside Henry Cavill. Canton made his television debut on BBC's DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY and ITV's THE GOOD KARMA HOSPITAL. His big screen debut was FARMING, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and won Best Film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
Canton trained at the highly regarded Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He began his career on the stage, starring as the title role in Oscar Wilde's THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY at the National Theatre of Ireland, THE ABBEY. Following this he starred as Heathcliff in WUTHERING HEIGHTS at the highly prestigious The Gate Theatre. He then went on to star in Shakespeare's RICHARD III, as the nemesis to Ralph Fiennes. - Mecia Simson, the accomplished English actress renowned for portraying Francesca Findabair in the Netflix series The Witcher, spent her formative years in Plymouth and attended Plymstock School. After winning Britain's Next Top Model in 2009, she enjoyed a successful modeling career before transitioning to acting. In 2019, Simson completed her acting degree at Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. Shortly after graduating, she secured her debut role in Brave New World and subsequently landed a series regular role in Season 2 of The Witcher on Netflix, continuing to film Season 3.
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Graham McTavish is a Scottish television and film actor, best known for his roles as Dougal Mackenzie in the popular TV series "Outlander" (2014-16), as Dwalin in the "The Hobbit" trilogy for Peter Jackson (2012-14) as well as the Saint of Killers in AMC's series "Preacher", based on Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's cult comic book series (2016 onwards). He also starred alongside Sylvester Stallone in "Rambo" (2008) and "Creed" (2015), making him the only actor to perform opposite Rocky AND Rambo. He is also known for his roles in numerous other TV shows and movies including "Red Dwarf" (1998), "24" (2009), "Rome" (2004), "The Finest Hours" (2015) and "Colombiana" (2011). As well as extensive theatre work throughout the UK including The Royal Court, and The Royal National Theatre, he is well known for his voice work on games and animated TV, including "Uncharted 2, 3, and 4", "Call of Duty", "Dante's Inferno", Loki in "Hulk v Thor" and "The Avengers", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Kung Fu Panda"- Bart Edwards was born in 1989 in Guildford, Surrey, England, UK. He is an actor, known for The Witcher (2019), UnREAL (2015) and State of Happiness (2018).
- Terence Maynard was born in Liverpool and brought up in Nantwich, Cheshire. At the age of eight he showed a natural gift for dancing and, encouraged by his family, went to dance classes three times a week. As a result he became interested in performance in general and studied drama at the Guildford School of Acting, Guildford, where it became apparent to him that his main interest was in acting. On graduation in June 1991 he became a jobbing actor, his first big break being in 1998 in 'Roger, Roger', a comedy-drama series set in a taxi office. From this he graduated to a leading role in Sky One's football soap 'Dream Team' and has since appeared in a recurring role in 'Holby City' and the children's comedy series 'Young Dracula' as a descendant of Van Helsing, and, on the West End stage in 'Chicago.' In 2014 he joined the cast of 'Coronation Street'.
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Cassie Clare was born in London, she started dancing and singing at very young age. As a youth, she joined the National Youth Theatre, and performed at the Soho Theatre with the NYT play; 20 Cigarettes. To date she has starred in West End Musicals, Plays and Feature films, she has also worked as a Model for fashion campaigns.
Cassie is about to start filming for a BBC drama.- Actor
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Hugh was born on 6 January 1985 in London. He attended Eastbourne College from 1998 to 2003. He studied drama at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and on graduation went into stage work. After minor roles in 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' and 'Any Human Heart' on television in 2014 he registered with viewers in two very different ongoing roles, as stupid intern Will in the satirical look at the BBC 'W1A' and as the sympathetic village doctor in the period piece 'Our Zoo'. From 2016 he has been seen in the comedy series 'The Windsors' as a sweet but dumb version of Prince William and in 2018 appeared on the big screen as a younger version of Colin Firth's 'Harry' in the much-awaited 'Mamma Mia - Here We Go Again.'- Paul Bullion is a British actor known for his portrayal of Lambert in Netflix's "The Witcher".
Also known for his roles in hit drama series "Peaky Blinders" for the BBC and Kurt Sutter's "The Bastard Executioner" for FX. He has appeared in live theatre productions for The National Theatre and Shakespeare's Globe.
He lives in London United Kingdom. All enquiries to be made through Samantha Boyd at Creative Artists Management - Actor
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Shaun was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, to Ann and Denis Dooley. He is an actor known for Misfits (2009).
He has two younger sisters, Stephanie Dooley and Kimberly Dooley.
Shaun is married to Polly Dooley.
Despite living in London, Shaun still attends all of Barnsley FC's home games.
Shaun won the RTS Northwest award for best actor in the award-winning film The Mark of Cain (2007).- Actor
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Simon Callow was born on 13 June 1949 in London, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Shakespeare in Love (1998) and A Room with a View (1985). He has been married to Sebastian Fox since June 2016.- Actor
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Kevin McKidd was born and raised in Elgin, Scotland, the son of Kathleen, a secretary, and Neil McKidd, a plumber. He was a member of the Moray Youth Theatre, before going on to study Engineering at the University of Edinburgh. While at the university, Kevin became involved with Bedlam Theatre, the university's student theatre company. At this point, Kevin decided to give up on engineering and dropped out of the university to pursue acting full-time. In 1994, he landed the leading role in the stageplay, "The Silver Darlings", produced by Robert Carlyle's Rain Dog Theatre Company. It was only a matter of time before Kevin made his screen debut as the vicious gangleader, "Malky Johnson", in Gillies MacKinnon's Small Faces (1995). His next role was as the tragic, gentle giant, "Tommy", in Trainspotting (1996).- Actress
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Polly Alexandra Walker was born on May 19, 1966 in Warrington, Cheshire, England. She graduated from Ballet Rambert School in Twickenham, began her career as a dancer, but an injury at age 18 forced her to change direction. She started at London's Drama Centre to the Royal Shakespeare Company, where she portrayed small parts before graduating to small roles on television. Polly landed the title role in the television series Lorna Doone (1990) before making her feature debut in Journey of Honor (1991) ("Shogun Mayeda"). She first gained attention as an English woman in an Irish terrorist brigade in Phillip Noyce's Patriot Games (1992).- Actor
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James Brian Mark Purefoy was born and brought up in Taunton, Somerset, England, the son of Shirley (Taylor), who ran an employment agency, and Anthony Chetwynd Purefoy. After leaving school at the age of sixteen, he took a succession of different jobs, including working on a pig farm and as a porter at Yeovil District Hospital, before travelling and working extensively throughout Europe. At eighteen, James returned to college to take his A-Levels, one of which was Drama. It was there that he realised that this was something he felt inspired by and so applied for and was accepted onto the acting course at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Whilst playing the title role in "Henry V" in the first term of his final year at Central, he was seen by a casting director from the RSC and invited to join the company, immediately, in Stratford. Although initially asked only to play "Ferdinand" in Nicholas Hytner's production of "The Tempest", he left the RSC two years later having performed in eight productions and been directed by the likes of Adrian Noble, Roger Michell and Gene Saks playing, amongst other, "Edgar" in "King Lear" and "Malcolm" in "Macbeth". Over the next six years, he divided his time between theatre and television. In the theatre, he worked with Katie Mitchell on "Women of Troy" at the Gate; Matthew Warchus, Ken Stott and Jude Law on "Death of a Salesman" at the West Yorkshire Playhouse; Iain Glen on "Hamlet" at Bristol Old Vic; Bill Alexander in a critically-acclaimed season at Birmingham Rep, playing leading parts in "The Servant", "The Way of the World" and "Macbeth"; and with Simon Callow, Joseph Fiennes, Rupert Graves, and Helen McCrory, on "Les Enfants du Paradis", again for the RSC.
As well as appearing in the BBC's landmark period drama, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1996), he has always chosen to do a wide variety of parts on television, to avoid being typecast. From the psychopathic rapist in BBC1's Calling the Shots (1993) with Lynn Redgrave to the fraudster "Darius Guppy" in LWT's "The Prince"; from the urbane observer "Nick Jenkins" in Channel 4's A Dance to the Music of Time (1997) to the sad stalker in Granada's series, Metropolis (2000), James has always managed to confound people's expectations of him. Over the last few years, he has been busy making feature films, on average at the rate of three a year. Early credits include "Jedd Wainwright" in Feast of July (1995) for "Merchant Ivory", and as the bisexual Irish baker, "Brendan" in Rose Troche's Bedrooms and Hallways (1998). From the alcoholic roustabout "Tom Bertram" in Mansfield Park (1999) to the wannabee "Bond" actor "Carl Phipps" in Maybe Baby (2000); the gambling, womanising "Daniel" in Women Talking Dirty (1999) with Helena Bonham Carter to the noble, enigmatic "Prince Edward" in Brian Helgeland's A Knight's Tale (2001).
He has continued to surprise those who seek to pigeon-hole him in his film career - always choosing to play parts that juxtapose strongly with the one he has just completed. Last year, he returned to the theatre to play the rake "Ned Loveless" in Trevor Nunn's acclaimed production of "The Relapse" at the National Theatre in London, before embarking on the biggest challenge he has yet faced - playing "George" in the big budget George and the Dragon (2004), with, among others, Michael Clarke Duncan, Val Kilmer, Piper Perabo and Patrick Swayze. This movie will be released in the summer of 2003. He lives alone in London.- Actor
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Ian McNeice went to Taunton School in Somerset and then had two years at the Salisbury Playhouse as an Acting A.S.M. before going to L.A.M.D.A. 1971-74. The next few years were spent in theatre, including four years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, ending with "Nicholas Nickleby" on Broadway. His TV breakthrough was as Harcourt in the B.A.F.T.A award-wining series Edge of Darkness (1985). His American screen breakthrough was playing opposite Jim Carrey as Fulton Greenwall in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995).- Actress
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Lindsay Duncan was born on 7 November 1950 in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. She is an actress, known for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014), About Time (2013) and Gifted (2017). She is married to Hilton McRae. They have one child.- Actor
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Tobias was born in London. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in 1998 and began his acting career in popular UK series such as Foyle's War (2002), Midsomer Murders (1997), and Casualty (1986). He also appeared in the controversial drama A Very Social Secretary (2005). He is best known to international audiences as Marcus Junius Brutus in the television series Rome (2005).
He had a major film role in The Low Down (2000) with Aidan Gillen and featured in the 2006 reboot of the James Bond franchise, Casino Royale (2006). 2007 sees him appearing as William Elliot in ITV's production of Jane Austin's classic book, Persuasion (2007) and as Derrick Sington in the Channel 4 drama The Relief of Belsen (2007).
On TV, he guest starred on seasons 3 and 6 of HBO's Game of Thrones (2011) as Edmure Tully, and starred as Jack Randall and Frank Randall on Starz's Outlander (2014). He has played Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on the Netflix historical drama series The Crown (2016) since its third season.
On stage, his credits include the young teacher Irwin in Alan Bennett's The History Boys and Michael Blakemore's West End production of Three Sisters for which he was nominated for the Ian Charleson Award. He was a critically acclaimed Hamlet in Rupert Goold's Hamlet at the Royal Theatre.- Nicholas - or Nick - Woodeson, born in 1949 in Port Sudan, Sudan to British parents - spent his early childhood in Haifa, Israel, in line with his parents' diplomatic postings. He recalls that his first taste of thespian glory was reciting A.A. Milne poems to family friends at the age of six. Nick's strong affinity and regard for the Middle East has meant that, in the 2000s, he has written several heartfelt letters to English broadsheet newspapers expressing his views on the Middle East crisis and American involvement therein. Sent back to England to complete a boarding school education, he went on to Sussex University where his interest in drama re-surfaced and he engaged in competitive productions for the British National Student Drama Festival. As a consequence he was noticed by, and obtained his first acting job for, the theatrical repertory company at Crewe in Cheshire, England, ruefully noting in hindsight that he was usually a prompter or assistant stage manager, rather than a player. However, he soon obtained a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, and later joined the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company, in 1981, remaining with them intermittently until 1990. He has consequently appeared in other media including films like 'Topsy-Turvy' and television dramas like 'Midsomer Murders' in 1998, where he played one of several murder suspects, along with actress Angela Pleasence. A year later, Angela and Nick played a mother and son in the stage play 'The Late Middle Classes', notwithstanding the fact that there was only an eight year age gap between them. From 2007, he reached a global audience as Julius Caesar's clever and loyal "body slave" Posca, in the BBC/HBO TV blockbuster, 'Rome'.
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David Bamber was born on 19 September 1954 in Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Valkyrie (2008), Miss Potter (2006) and The Bourne Identity (2002). He has been married to Julia Swift since July 1982. They have two children.- Actress
- Producer
Indira Anne Varma (born 27 September 1973) is a British actress. Her film debut and first major role was in Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love. She has gone on to appear in the television series The Canterbury Tales, Rome, Luther, Human Target, and Game of Thrones (as Ellaria Sand). In September 2016, she began starring in the ITV/Netflix series Paranoid, as DS Nina Suresh.
Varma was born in Bath, Somerset, the only child of an Indian father and a Swiss mother who was of part Genoese Italian descent; her parents were relatively elderly and were often mistaken for her grandparents. She was a member of Musical Youth Theatre Company and graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, in 1995.
Varma has had a number of television and film roles, including Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love in 1997 and Bride and Prejudice in 2004, and the young Roman wife Niobe during the first season of BBC/HBO's historical drama series Rome. Her character appeared briefly in the second season of the award-winning series when it aired on 14 January 2007.
In 2006, she played Suzie Costello in the first and eighth episodes, "Everything Changes" and "They Keep Killing Suzie", of BBC Three's science-fiction drama series Torchwood. She appeared as Dr Adrienne Holland in the CBS medical drama 3 lbs which premiered on 14 November 2006 and was cancelled on 30 November 2006 due to poor ratings. Varma guest starred in the fourth-season premiere of hit US detective drama Bones as Scotland Yard Inspector Cate Pritchard. She also played the role of Zoe Luther in the first series of the BBC drama Luther.
Varma played the role of Ilsa Pucci in the second season of the Fox series Human Target until the show was cancelled on 10 May 2011.
Varma played the role of Ellaria Sand, the paramour of Oberyn Martell in season 4 of the HBO show Game of Thrones, and reprised the role in seasons 5, 6 and 7.
She lent her voice to the Circle mage Vivienne, in the 2014 role-playing video game Dragon Age: Inquisition.
In 2016, she played the lead role of DC Nina Suresh in the eight-episode British television drama Paranoid, streamed worldwide on Netflix.
In 1997, Varma played Bianca in Shakespeare's Othello at the National Theatre, London. In 2000 to 2001, she appeared in Harold Pinter and Di Trevis's NT stage adaptation of Pinter's The Proust Screenplay, Remembrance of Things Past, based on À la recherche du temps perdu, by Marcel Proust. In the summer of 2001, she played Gila in One for the Road, by Harold Pinter, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City.
In 2002, she played Sasha Lebedieff in Ivanov by Anton Chekhov at the National Theatre and Bunty Mainwaring in The Vortex by Noël Coward at the Donmar Theatre, London. In 2004, she played Sabina in The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder at the Young Vic Theatre Theatre, London. In 2008, she played Nadia Baliye in The Vertical Hour by David Hare at the Royal Court Theatre London. In 2009, she played Olivia in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night with Donmar West End at Wyndham's Theatre, London. In 2012, she played Jessica in Terry Johnson's Hysteria at the Theatre Royal, Bath. In 2013 she played Miss Cutts in The Hothouse by Harold Pinter in the Trafalgar Transformed season at Trafalgar Studios.
In 2014, Varma played Tamora, Queen of the Goths, in Lucy Bailey's "gore-fest" production of Titus Andronicus at Shakespeare's Globe. In 2015, she appeared alongside Ralph Fiennes in George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman at the National Theatre.- Actress
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Suzanne Bertish was born on 7 August 1951 in Hammersmith, London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Benediction (2021).- Additional Crew
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Born in 1989, Max Pirkis performed in several school plays before winning his first role in a motion picture, as the ultra kind and friendly Midshipman Lord Blakeney in the blockbuster Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) starring Russell Crowe, reading for the part alongside Max Benitz (Benitz auditioning for Midshipman Calamy). Max currently lives in London with his mother (a publisher), father (a stockbroker) and little sister, enjoys cricket and football, plays violin and saxophone and has two dogs.- Actor
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Lee Boardman was born on 2 July 1972 in Manchester, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for Memory (2022), Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) and Enola Holmes 2 (2022). He has been married to Jennifer James since 12 May 2001.- Esther Hall was born on 28 August 1970 in Manchester, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Queer as Folk (1999), Weekend Retreat (2011) and Rome (2005).
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Ciarán Hinds was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on February 9, 1953. He was one of five children and the only son. His father was a doctor who hoped to have Ciarán follow in his footsteps, but that was not to be. It was his mother Moya, an amateur actress, who was the real influence behind his decision to become an actor. Though he did enroll in Law at Queens' University of Belfast, he left that in order to train in acting at RADA. He began his stage career at the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre as a pantomime horse in the production of "Cinderella". Staying with the company for several years, he starred in a number of productions, including playing the lead roles in "Arsenic and Old Lace" and "Faust". His stage career has included working with The Field Day Company and a number of world tours. He has starred in a number of productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company, including a world tour in the title role of "Richard III". Hinds' film career began in 1981 in the movie Excalibur (1981), which boasted a cast rich in talented actors including Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne and Patrick Stewart. In-between his movie work, he's amassed a large number of television credits. Playing such classic characters as "Mr. Rochester" in Jane Eyre (1997), and "Captain Wentworth" in Persuasion (1995) has increased his popularity and most definitely given him much increased recognition. As for his personal life, you won't be likely to see his name in the weekly tabloids. He likes to keep his private life private. It is known that he is in a long-term, committed relationship with a French-Vietnamese actress named Hélène Patarot and they have a daughter together and live in Paris. He is in very high demand and his reputation as a quality, professional actor is sure to keep him busy for as long as he chooses.- Michael Nardone was born on 20 January 1967 in Fife, Scotland, UK. He is an actor, known for Durham County (2007), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and Assassin's Creed: Origins (2017).
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Dunfermline-born character actor Kenneth Cranham has specialised in playing abrasive characters, reprobates and rough diamonds on stage, on radio, in films and in one-off dramas or guest roles on TV. The son of Ronald Cranham, an English civil servant and former army staff sergeant and his Scottish wife Margaret McKay Cranham (née Ferguson), he spent the first four years of his life in Scotland. The family then moved to London where Kenneth attended Tulse Hill Comprehensive School. At the age of nineteen, while working at a bookshop, he was discovered by the playwright Joe Orton who cast him in his radio play 'The Ruffian on the Stair'. This marked the beginning of his career.
Cranham trained for acting at the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain and then studied at RADA, graduating in 1966. His association with Orton continued that year with a role in 'Loot' at the Royal Court (and, subsequently, at the Criterion Theatre). The actor later remarked that this role set him up "for all the hoodies in Softly, Softly, Z Cars and New Scotland Yard." With his craggy features and gruff voice, it is hardly surprising that Cranham has often been cast in tough or villainous roles. On screen from 1964, he first came to notice as Noah Claypole, one of Fagin's gang of pickpockets, in Oliver! (1968). His first starring turn was in the comedy series Shine on Harvey Moon (1982) as the titular character, a demobbed RAF corporal. Other notable roles across diverse genres have included the callous Gratiano in The Merchant of Venice (1980), Lenin in Reilly: Ace of Spies (1983), a wealthy, despotic landowner in Heart of the High Country (1985) (set in 1880s New Zealand), the comically over-zealous Pastor Finch in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1989), British gangster Gus Mercer in El C.I.D. (1990), cunning magician Aulfric in Merlin (2008), a scurrilous newspaper editor who gets his comeuppance in Hustle (2004) and Caesar's rival Pompey in Rome (2005). A more recent TV guest spot saw Cranham as an ailing patient in India, attempting to rediscover a lost love in season three of The Good Karma Hospital (2017). He has also essayed real life barristers Michael Mansfield Q.C. (The Murder of Stephen Lawrence (1999)) and George Carmen Q.C. (Justice in Wonderland (2000)).
For the big screen, Cranham has been notable as the maniacal Dr. Channard in Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), double-dealing mob boss Jimmy Price in Layer Cake (2004), another elder statesman of the London underworld in Gangster No. 1 (2000), farmer James Reaper in the buddy-cop comedy Hot Fuzz (2007) and as the tyrannical King Henry, a main antagonist in Disney's Maleficent (2014).
The actor has been equally prolific on stage where he has headlined as the amoral title character in Orton's play Entertaining Mr. Sloane. He was much acclaimed for his role as Inspector Goole in An Inspector Calls at the National Theatre (an Olivier Award-nominated performance, which transferred to Broadway in 1994-95). He played the avuncular detective Rough in Gaslight at the Old Vic in 2007 and finally won the coveted Olivier Award in 2016 for his performance as an elderly man with dementia in Florian Zeller's play The Father. For services to drama, Cranham received a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 2023.- Guy Henry is a British stage and screen actor. He is best-known for his roles in Rome (2005) and John Adams (2008). He trained at RADA (1979-1981). He has done most of his work at the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has appeared in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011). He does work on stage, TV, radio and film.
During a two year break from the BBC drama Holby City he learned to drive buses, sitting and passing the PCV test. He enjoys driving motor coaches when not acting. - Anna Francolini was born in Chertsey, Surrey, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) and Emma. (2020).
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Simon Woods was born in 1980 in England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Pride & Prejudice (2005), Penelope (2006) and Rome (2005). He has been married to Christopher Bailey since 2012.- Actress
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Zuleikha Robinson was born in London, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for Hidalgo (2004), The Merchant of Venice (2004) and Homeland (2011). She was previously married to Sean Doyle.- Actor
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Karl Johnson was born on 1 March 1948 in Wales, UK. He is an actor, known for Hot Fuzz (2007), Lark Rise to Candleford (2008) and The Death of Stalin (2017).- Alex Wyndham is an Oxford University and Royal Academy of Dramatic Art graduate. He's starred in Emmy-winning TV shows for HBO and the BBC including Rome and Little Dorrit and and other critically acclaimed dramas such as the TV adaptation of the Booker prize winning The Line of Beauty opposite Dan Stevens and Hayley Atwell, ITV's Endeavour and the BBC's World War I centenary centrepiece The Crimson Field.
He's also appeared in various films for directors such as Kenneth Branagh and David Blair including the HBO Films adaptation of Shakespeare's As You Like It opposite Kevin Kline and Bryce Dallas Howard.
Alex has also provided numerous performances for triple A video games such as Sony's Horizon Zero Dawn and Microsoft's We Happy Few and various radio plays for BBC Radio 4 including the popular series Homefront and Tommies. - Paul Jesson was born on 6 July 1946 in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Coriolanus (2011), Marrowbone (2017) and Mr. Turner (2014). He was previously married to Maggie Lunn.
- Camilla grew up with her sisters in Holland Park. Her father was a writer for The Financial Times and her mother was a magistrate. She studied Maths at Newcastle University, and met her husband, Rufus Abbott, at a party in London. They had a traditional Roman Catholic wedding at St. George's Church in Campden Hill, and held the reception in the Orangerie. They have a son named Hector and a daughter named Maud.
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Nigel Lindsay was born on 17th January 1969 and entered into the world of acting comparatively late. For three years he was a financial analyst in the City in his native London but, on his own admission, hated it and applied almost simultaneously for the law and the stage. He had a place at bar school beginning on the same day as the start of his three year course at the Webber Douglas Academy - but the lure of the stage prevailed and he chose the academy,where he won the Amherst Webber Scholarship. His finals role was in 'Charley's Aunt' directed by Michael Fry,for whom he first worked professionally with the Lincolnshire touring company Great Eastern Stage playing an assassin in 'Shoot the Archduke'. Since then he has appeared on many stages,the Royal Court,the National,the Old Vic and on Broadway in Tom Stoppard's 'The Real Thing'. With a range extending from Pinter to musicals - most notably under layers of green make-up in the title role of 'Shrek - the Musical - he also took the Whatsonstage award as best supporting actor in 2011 for 'Broken Glass'. On television he has been nice,as Sally Phillips' kindly boyfriend in comedy 'Jam and Jerusalem', and nasty,as a sinister policeman investigating one of the 'Midsomer Murders' and on film as a fervent white Muslim in the black farce 'Four Lions'.- Actress
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Lyndsey Marshal was born on 16 June 1978 in Manchester, England, UK. She is an actress and producer, known for Rome (2005), Trespass Against Us (2016) and Hereafter (2010).- Actor
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Rick Warden is a British Television, Film, Theatre and Radio actor. He played Lt. Harry Welsh in HBO's Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning Band of Brothers, and Inspector Mike Taylor in BBC's BAFTA Award winning Happy Valley. Rick studied History at Churchill College Cambridge University and married actress Lucy Barker on Mayday 2004. They have two daughters.- Actress
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Amy Marston was born in 1972 in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, UK. She is an actress and producer, known for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), Operation Mincemeat (2021) and Neverwhere (1996).