Career: Brosnan's first roles came on stage at York Theatre Royal. He was chosen by Tennessee Williams to star in the West End debut of his play The Red Devil Battery Sign. He followed by his movie debut in Resting Rough in 1979. He made appearances in The Professionals, Hammer House of Horror, The Long Good Friday and Manions of America before moving to Hollywood. He was in the TV show Remington Steele for five years, which prevented him taking over from Roger Moore as 007 in 1986. Low-budget movies followed until Bond came calling again in 1995. His last 007 movie, Die Another Day, was released in 2002. He runs his own production company, Irish DreamTime. Among his best non-Bond movies are The Thomas Crown Affair remake, The Matador, Seraphim Falls, The Ghost, Love is All You Need, The Love Punch, A Long Way Down and Mamma Mia!

Career: Sean worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company before making his TV debut in a 1984 episode of The Bill. Roles in The Fifteen Streets, Stormy Monday and Patriot Games followed before Lady Chatterley and the first Sharpe TV movies made him a household name in 1993. Other work includes A Woman's Guide to Adultery, Bravo Two Zero, GoldenEye, Ronin, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Equilibrium, Troy, National Treasure and HBO TV series Game of Thrones. He is one of Hollywood's most sought-after character actors and always has a number of productions in the pipeline.

Career: Made her movie debut in 1992's Fathers and Sons, alongside Jeff Goldblum. Three years later she worked on Clive Barker's movie Lord of Illusions. It helped her land the part of murderous Russian Xenia Onatopp in 007 adventure GoldenEye. Went on to star in City of Industry, Deep Rising, Celebrity and The Faculty before making the blockbuster X-Men in 2000 and its two blockbusting sequels. She's also appeared in Ally McBeal, a string of movies, and won rave reviews for her role in Liam Neeson thriller, Taken.

Career: Kitchen immediately began gaining roles on stage, quickly building a reputation for himself. He was also keen to shun small parts in glossy productions, preferring to play larger roles in less well-attended plays. He made his movie debut in 1971's little-seen Unman, Wittering and Zigo, following it up with Dracula AD 1972. Since then, he's worked steadily on TV and in films. Among his most famous projects are Brimstone and Treacle, Breaking Glass, Out of Africa, The Russia House, Dandelion Dead, A&E and the hugely acclaimed TV series Foyle's War. He also appeared in two of Pierce Brosnan's Bond movies and starred in ITV's 2007 drama Mobile.

Career: Dench made her professional debut with the Old Vic Company before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1961, and has frequently worked on stage ever since. She became a household name in the 1980s thanks to sitcom A Fine Romance, for which she won a Bafta. She's also won the award for Four in the Morning, Talking to a Stranger, Iris, The Last of the Blonde Bombshells, Shakespeare In Love (for which she picked up an Oscar too), A Handful of Dust, Mrs Brown and A Room With a View. Other notable productions include Chocolat, Notes on a Scandal, J Edgar, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and its sequel, and several Bond movies, including Skyfall, in which she bowed out as M.

Career: Coltrane first captured the public's attention as a member of the Comic Strip team in 1982, co-writing and co-directing the series as well as starring. He'd done the rounds as a stand-up comedian, but realised he wanted to pursue a career in acting. He has proven himself to be capable of doing straight roles and comedy, winning three Best Actor Bafta Awards for crime drama series Cracker. He has also won roles in big-budget movies, including two outings as a Bond villain in Goldeneye and The World Is Not Enough, and more recently as Hagrid in the Harry Potter films as well as voicing roles in several children's animations. Robbie received an OBE for services to drama in 2006.

Career: Cumming's cabaret act, Victor and Barry, with Forbes Masson, was critically acclaimed, winning numerous awards. TV roles quickly followed, but he continued working on the stage. Stints with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre raised his profile, as did his accolades following his film debut in the drama Prague (1992). In 1994, he starred in TV sitcom The High Life, closely followed by the movies Circle of Friends (1995), GoldenEye (1995) and Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion (1997). More recently, he has worked on three Spy Kids films (2001-2003), X-Men 2 (2003), The Tempest (2010), Burlesque (2010) and TV drama The Good Wife. A firm favourite on Broadway, Cumming won a Tony Award in 1998 for playing the MC in Caberet. He returned to the role in 2014.