Career: Neeson's professional debut was on stage in The Risen People. He was spotted in a play at Dublin's Abbey Theatre by director John Boorman, who cast him in movie Excalibur in 1981. He made a name for himself in Krull, A Woman of Substance, Ellis Island and The Mission. Other leading roles came in Suspect, The Dead Pool and The Big Man. However, he didn't become a major star until Schindler's List in 1993. Since then he's featured in Star Wars: Episode One - The Phantom Menace, Gangs of New York, Love Actually, Kinsey and the brilliant action film Taken. He was also seen in the big-screen version of The A Team and has several blockbusters in the pipeline.

Career: Hurt made both his London stage debut (in the acclaimed Infanticide in the House of Fred Ginger) and his first film, The Wild and the Willing, in 1962. More theatre work and films such as A Man for All Seasons and 10 Rillington Place followed. In 1975, he won a Bafta for his portrayal of Quentin Crisp in TV drama The Naked Civil Servant, which made his name. He received Oscar nominations for Midnight Express and The Elephant Man. Other acclaimed projects included Nineteen Eighty-Four, Scandal, Alien and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. He also portrayed the Tory politician Alan Clark in The Alan Clark Diaries for the BBC. He reprised his role as Quentin Crisp in 2009 in An Englishman in New York. He went on to appear in the final two Harry Potter films, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and Doctor Who. He died on January 27, 2017, at the age of 77.

Career: Stoltz's professional career began on the stage, including a stint at the Edinburgh Festival. He made his movie debut in 1982's Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and gained a Golden Globe nomination for his performance as a deformed teenager in 1985's Mask. Roles in Some Kind of Wonderful, Say Anything, Memphis Belle, Singles, Pulp Fiction and Rob Roy followed. More recently, he's appeared in The House of Mirth and The Honeymooners. He was most recently seen on-screen in short-lived sci-fi series Caprica.

Career: Roth made his screen debut in 1982 playing a 16-year-old skinhead in acclaimed drama Made In Britain, followed by a collaboration with Gary Oldman in Mike Leigh's TV movie Meantime two years later. A string of well-received films followed including The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover. Roth moved to America in 1990 and hit the big time in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, reuniting with the director for his Oscar-winning 1994 drama Pulp Fiction. Roth picked up a Bafta for Rob Roy the following year and made his directing debut in 1999 with The War Zone. He stole the show in Tim Burton's revamp of Planet of the Apes in 2001 and his other films include Dark Water, Even Money, Funny Games and The Incredible Hulk. He played the lead role in American TV drama Lie to Me.

Career: Cox's earliest TV appearances were as an extra in cult TV series The Prisoner. He has been a mainstay in the world of TV and film ever since, popping up in Hammer House of Horror, Minder, Frasier and Deadwood. He played Hannibal Lecktor in Manhunter, Michael Mann's adaptation of Red Dragon. (The name was later spelled Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs). He has appeared in a string of major Hollywood offerings, including The Long Kiss Goodnight, X-Men 2, Troy, The Bourne Supremacy, Zodiac and Red. On the stage he has appeared in Titus Andronicus, Taming of the Shrew and King Lear. He has also voiced characters in the video games Killzone and Manhunt.