Career: At the age of 16, Hathaway was cast in short-lived TV series Get Real. Her big-screen debut came in The Other Side of Heaven. In the same year she beat 500 other girls to land a role alongside Julie Andrews in Disney's The Princess Diaries. The film was a huge success and the family films Nicholas Nickleby, Ella Enchanted and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement followed before she started taking on more mature roles. The first of these was gritty drama Havoc. Since then, Hathaway has starred in a number of box-office hits, including Brokeback Mountain, The Devil Wears Prada, Becoming Jane, Rachel Getting Married, Alice in Wonderland, Love & Other Drugs, The Dark Knight Rises and Les Miserables, a role that secured her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

Career: Elwes made his acting debut in Another Country (1984) and has continued working steadily ever since. His film credits include The Princess Bride (1987), Glory (1989), Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), Twister (1996), Kiss the Girls (1997), Saw (2004), Ella Enchanted (2004) and Saw 3D (2010). On the small screen, he has appeared in The X-Files, miniseries Pope John Paul II, Psych, Leverage and TV movie The Anna Nicole Story.

Career: Driver's TV debut was in 1990's God on the Rocks. She then appeared in The House of Eliott, and Mr Wroe's Virgins. Her big break came in 1995 when she starred in The Politician's Wife and Circle of Friends. Her most notable movies since include Sleepers, Good Will Hunting (for which she received an Oscar nomination), Grosse Pointe Blank, and Return to Me. In 2003 she appeared in the West End opposite Matthew Perry. She returned to the big screen in the movie version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, and released her debut album in 2004. More recently she's appeared in TV series The Riches and The Deep, and on the big screen in Barney's Version and I Give It A Year.

Career: Lumley's first film was 1969's Some Girls Do, followed by Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Her most notable early role was as Ken Barlow's girlfriend Elaine in Coronation Street. Lumley became famous thanks to The New Avengers in 1976. After Sapphire and Steel in the late 1970s, she turned her attention to the theatre and had a stint as a Times columnist. In 1992, Jennifer Saunders cast her as Patsy in sitcom Absolutely Fabulous. Since then, she has appeared in numerous TV dramas and films, including Maybe Baby, James and the Giant Peach, Jam & Jerusalem, Sensitive Skin, The Making of a Lady and The Wolf of Wall Street.

Career: In 1999, McArdle joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, making a splash in such plays as A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, and Antony and Cleopatra. He made his TV debut in a 2002 episode of Casualty and had a regular role in the series Any Time Now. Two years later he appeared in his first film, Ella Enchanted (2004), but it was his performance as Dudley Moore in TV movie Not Only But Always that made people sit up and take notice. He's since featured in Marple, Jane Eyre, the Perfect Day trilogy, Beautiful People, Garrow's Law, Mr Selfridge, The Mill, Clean Break and The Fall.

Career: Idle's first TV appearance came in Jonathan Miller's 1966 adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. A year later he featured alongside Terry Jones and Michael Palin in Do Not Adjust Your Set. In 1969 the trio joined forces with John Cleese, Terry Gilliam and Graham Chapman to make sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus. The programme ended in 1974, but the team went on to make several films, including The Holy Grail, on which hit musical Spamalot - written by Idle - is based. They also reteamed in 2014 for a final, sell-out series of gigs at London's O2. Other projects include Rutland Weekend Television, The Rutles, Nuns on the Run, Splitting Heirs and voicing Merlin in Shrek the Third. He also wrote and sang the theme for hit sitcom One Foot in the Grave.

Career: After attending the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama, Mistry moved to London and began auditioning. One of his first roles was a non-speaking part in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet in 1996. He then appeared on stage at the Royal Court Theatre in East Is East; the subsequent film version made him a familiar face. But it was playing Dr Fonseca in EastEnders that turned him into a household name. He left the soap after two years in 2000 and appeared in Hollywood ventures The Guru, Ella Enchanted and Blood Diamond. In 2010, Mistry competed in Strictly Come Dancing, and was knocked out in week six. He's since appeared in West Is West and The Syndicate. In November 2013, he joined Coronation Street as Khalid Nazir.

Career: Fox made her film debut in Oliver Stone's war drama Born on the Fourth of July (1989). She got her breakthrough in Independence Day (1996) playing Jasmine Dubrow, a role she reprised for Independence Day: Resurgence (2016). Fox later appeared in the films Soul Food (1997), City of Angels (2000) and in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films as the assassin Vernita Green. She has also appeared in a number of TV shows, such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, Law and Order, Alias and Missing.

Career: Despite planning to study music and drama at university, Nagra's acting career began taking off during her year out. Her TV debut was in 1996 drama Turning World. She followed it with appearances in King Girl, Casualty and Donovan Quick before landing a regular role in Always and Everyone in 2001. An episode of Judge John Deed followed before 2002's Bend It Like Beckham became a surprise box office hit, turning her into a star. A year later she was snapped up by the producers of ER. She's also appeared in Ella Enchanted (2004), Compulsion (2008) and Horrid Henry: The Movie (2011). Since 2013, she has been a series regular on American crime drama Blacklist.

Career: After becoming a cult favourite with Radio 4's On the Hour, Coogan made his TV breakthrough in 1993 with roles on Saturday Zoo and The Day Today. The former introduced his foul-mouthed Mancunian layabout Paul Calf, and the latter brought his most famous radio creation, Alan Partridge, to the small screen. He appeared in horror spoof Dr Terrible's House of Horrible and also made a handful of hit-and-miss films, including Terry Jones's version of Wind in the Willows, The Parole Officer and 24 Hour Party People. He's enjoyed success in America with such films as Around the World in 80 Days, A Night at the Museum and Tropic Thunder. In 2010 he appeared with Rob Brydon in contemplative BBC sitcom The Trip, and more recently in its sequel, The Trip to Italy. He also co-wrote and starred in Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa and Philomena.