Career: Before Amistad, Chiwetel starred in TV movie Deadly Voyage. The film G:MT - Greenwich Mean Time (1999) was not well received, but his next film, Dirty Pretty Things (2002), led to him winning a number of awards. Since then, he has starred in Twelfth Night (2003), Love Actually (2003), Four Brothers (2005), Serenity (2005), Kinky Boots (2005), American Gangster (2007), 2012 (2009) and Salt (2010). An accomplished stage actor, he won a Laurence Olivier Award in 2008 for playing the lead role in Othello. More recently he played the lead role in the critically acclaimed 12 Years a Slave (2014).

Career: Fassbender's first TV role was in the mini-series Band of Brothers. Roles followed in Hearts and Bones, Holby City, William and Mary, Murphy's Law, Hex and Agatha Christie's Poirot. He made his movie debut in 300. Since then, he has established himself as a bona fide film star. His big-screen credits include Eden Lake, Inglourious Basterds, X-Men: First Class, A Dangerous Method, Prometheus, Frank and X-Men: Days of Future Past. Fassbender also has a strong working relationship with director Steve McQueen, with whom he's worked on the acclaimed projects Hunger, Shame and 12 Years a Slave - Fassbender received an Oscar nomination for his work on the latter.

Career: Cumberbatch has divided his professional time between stage, film and TV. He's performed in various London venues, including the Royal Court and National Theatre, and in 2011 he shared the Olivier Award for Best Actor with his Frankenstein co-star Jonny Lee Miller. His first film was 2003's To Kill a King; projects since include Starter for 10, Amazing Grace, The Other Boleyn Girl, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and War Horse. His biggest successes, however, have come on TV in Hawking, The Last Enemy, Parade's End and, of course, Sherlock. He's also worked on The Hobbit movies and Star Trek Into Darkness.

Career: Early roles came in Dallas, Growing Pains, Head Of The Class and several TV movies. Pitt's big break was playing young stud JD in Thelma And Louise. Hits include True Romance, Se7en, Interview With The Vampire, Snatch, Fight Club, Ocean's Eleven and Spy Game. Keen to stretch himself, he turned down a role in Apollo 13 to make Twelve Monkeys, for which he received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. Since then his films include Mr & Mrs Smith, two sequels to Ocean's Eleven, Babel, Burn After Reading and The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford. He received an Oscar nomination for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button in 2008. His recent work includes Inglourious Basterds, Moneyball, World War Z, 12 Years a Slave and Fury.

Career: In 2008, Nyong'o appeared in the Kenyan TV series Shuga. A year later, she wrote, directed and produced the documentary In My Genes. While studying a master's degree in acting at the Yale School of Drama, she appeared in a number of stage productions, including Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. After graduating from Yale, she was cast as Patsey in Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave (2013), a role that earned her an Academy Award. Since then, she has starred in Non-Stop (2014), Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) and Queen of Katwe (2016). She voiced the character Raksha in The Jungle Book (2016).

Career: Dano was 17 when he appeared in his first major film, L.I.E. (2001). He rose to prominence in 2006 when he starred in Little Miss Sunshine. He went on to play identical twin brothers in There Will Be Blood (2007), for which he earned a Bafta nomination. More recently, he has starred in Knight and Day (2010), Cowboys & Aliens (2011), Looper (2012), Prisoners (2013), 12 Years a Slave (2013) and Love & Mercy (2014).