Career: Elba's earliest roles came in Crimewatch UK reconstructions, 2point4 Children, Absolutely Fabulous and Bramwell. He spent a couple of years in Channel 5 soap Family Affairs and featured in Ultraviolet and Dangerfield before playing a suave, but doomed, urban gangster in the critically acclaimed The Wire on US TV from 2002 to 2004. The role turned him into a star on both sides of the Atlantic. Projects since include 28 Weeks Later, American Gangster, RocknRolla, The Office (US version), Thor, The Big C, Prometheus and the hugely successful Luther. More recently, he has starred in Pacific Rim, Thor: The Dark World, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and No Good Deed.

Career: During the early 1990s, McConaughey combined his studies with appearances in adverts, before winning an eye-catching part in the cult movie Dazed and Confused. He made an even bigger splash in 1996, when he won the starring role in the John Grisham adaptation A Time to Kill, which was a major hit worldwide. He's been a popular Hollywood leading man ever since, and his movie credits include Amistad, EDtv, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Sahara, Failure to Launch, Tropic Thunder, and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. In more recent years McConaughey has proved his versatility with roles in more challenging movies, Magic Mike, Bernie, The Dallas Buyers Club, for which he won an Oscar, and Interstellar. He also starred in the first season of acclaimed TV series True Detective.

Career: After acting work dried up, Haley turned to directing and found success making TV commercials. He returned to acting in 2006, appearing in All the King's Men (2006), and the critically acclaimed Little Children (2006), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. Since then, Haley has appeared in Semi-Pro (2008), Watchmen (2009), Shutter Island (2010), A Nightmare on Elm Street (as Freddy Krueger) (2010), Dark Shadows (2012) and Lincoln (2012). He had a role in two seasons of TV action drama Human Target.