Career: Craig started out on stage, eventually making his film debut in 1992's The Power of One. TV series Our Friends in the North and TV movie The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders made him a star in 1996. The movies Elizabeth (1998), Love is the Devil (1998), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), Road to Perdition (2002), The Mother (2003), Sylvia (2003), Enduring Love (2004), Layer Cake (2004) and Munich (2005) followed. He was controversially cast in a five-film deal as James Bond, but proved doubters wrong with an outstanding performance in Casino Royale (2006). He's since followed it up with Quantum of Solace (2008) and Skyfall (2012). He's also appeared in Cowboys & Aliens (2011), and the US remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011).

Career: For 30 years, Waltz made a steady living as an actor on German TV but struggled to find English-speaking roles. His big break came when he met Quentin Tarantino and played Colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (2009). It catapulted him to international recognition and he won a number of awards for his performance, including an Academy Award. Since then, Waltz has been a bona fide Hollywood star and appeared in The Green Hornet (2011), Water for Elephants (2011), The Three Musketeers (2011) and Carnage (2011). In 2012 he teamed up with Tarantino again for the critically acclaimed Django Unchained, for which Waltz won his second Academy Award. He now has a number of Hollywood films in the pipeline.

Career: Seydoux's first major acting role came in Girlfriends (2006). As she tried to establish herself as an actress, she also modelled for American Apparel. In 2009, she earned a Cesar Award nomination for her role in The Beautiful Person (2008). In the same year, she had her first role in a Hollywood film, Inglourious Basterds. Since then, she has also starred in Robin Hood (2010), Midnight in Paris (2011), Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). She was nominated for a Cesar Award for her role in French film Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013). Her biggest film to date has been Spectre (2015), playing Dr Madeleine Swann opposite Daniel Craig's James Bond.

Career: Fiennes' film debut was in Wuthering Heights opposite Juliette Binoche in 1992. It was his performances in that and the acclaimed 1990 TV drama A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia that impressed Steven Spielberg so much he cast him in Schindler's List. That movie launched his Hollywood career and he was soon snapped up for Quiz Show, Strange Days, The English Patient, The End of the Affair and Red Dragon. In 1995, he won a Tony Award for his role as Hamlet on Broadway. More recently, Fiennes has worked in such diverse projects as Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, The Constant Gardener, The White Countess, In Bruges, The Reader, Clash of the Titans, Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang and four Harry Potter movies. He made his directorial debut with Coriolanus in 2011, and is the Bond franchise's latest M.

Career: Bellucci's role in the 1996 French thriller, L'appartement (1996), shot her to stardom as she won the French equivalent of an Oscar nomination. She came to the attention of casting directors the world over and roles in major blockbusters soon followed, though she proved her commitment to taking roles that intrigued her with the controversial and thoroughly brutal Irreversible in 2002. Other credits include Malèna (2000), Under Suspicion (2000) and Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), as well as Tears of the Sun, The Passion of the Christ and two of The Matrix films. Her recent work includes Don't Look Back, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, The Whistleblower, and The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Career: Whishaw made his film debut in The Trench (1999). His other film credits include Layer Cake (2004), Stoned (2005), Brideshead Revisited (2008), The Tempest (2010) and Cloud Atlas (2012). He has played Q in the James Bond movies Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015). More recently, he has voiced the title character in Paddington (2014) and appeared in The Lobster (2015), Suffragette (2015), The Danish Girl (2015) and In the Heart of the Sea (2015). On the small screen, he has starred in Nathan Barley, Criminal Justice, The Hollow Crown, The Hour and London Spy.

Career: Harris' first break came in Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later (2002). In the same year, she starred in the TV adaptation of Zadie Smith's White Teeth. Since then, Harris has appeared on the big screen in A Cock and Bull Story (2005), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), Miami Vice (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) and Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (2010). In 2012, she starred alongside Daniel Craig in the hugely popular James Bond movie Skyfall. A year later, she starred opposite Idris Elba in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013). She returned to the James Bond franchise in 2015 in Spectre.

Career: Bautista became a professional wrestler and signed to WWE under the ring name Batista from 2000 to 2010 and from 2013 to 2014. Among his wrestling accolades, he is a six-time world champion, having won WWE's World Heavyweight Championship four times and the WWE Championship twice. He entered the acting business in 2006 and has since starred in The Man with the Iron Fists (2012), Riddick (2013), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) and the James Bond film Spectre (2015). Bautista also has a mixed martial arts (MMA) career. He signed a contract with Classic Entertainment and Sports to fight in MMA and won his debut in 2012, representing the Philippines.

Career: In 1990, Mendes became the artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse studio space in London's Covent Garden. He went on to stage productions of Assassins, Cabaret, Oliver!, The Glass Menagerie, Company, Habeas Corpus, Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night. In 2003, he directed a revival of the musical Gypsy on Broadway. In 1999, he made his feature film directorial debut with American Beauty, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Director. He went on to direct the movies Road to Perdition (2002), Jarhead (2005), Revolutionary Road (2008), Away We Go (2009) and James Bond film Skyfall (2012). He returned to the stage in 2013 as the director of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He has signed up to direct the 24th James Bond film, which is due to be released in cinemas in 2015.