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: Thurman made her mark in Dangerous Liaisons, and has been a star ever since. She made the controversial Henry and June in 1990, followed by more mainstream offerings Final Analysis and Mad Dog and Glory. Pulp Fiction proved she was more than just a pretty face in 1994. Over the course of her career, she has taken roles in the disastrous Batman and Robin and The Avengers, but fared better with the likes of Gattaca, Sweet and Lowdown, Paycheck, the Kill Bill movies, Be Cool and The Accidental Husband. In 2007, she was made a knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Away from acting, Thurman is an active supporter of several charitable organisations. She is working on a third Kil Bill film and is one of Hollywood's biggest stars.

Career: While still a bodybuilder, Sean was offered the chance to appear in a West End production of South Pacific, which kick-started his acting career. His film debut came in 1955's Lilacs in the Spring, but he didn't become a major star until he appeared as Bond in 1962's Dr No. It remains his most famous role, despite hits including The Man Who Would Be King, Rising Sun, A Bridge Too Far, Time Bandits, Highlander, The Rock, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Entrapment. He won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for The Untouchables in 1987.

Career: Izzard was a street performer before tackling stand-up at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and London's comedy clubs. He then began touring the country. Sell-out gigs led to acting roles. He's since become a star in the US and his movie credits include Velvet Goldmine, Mystery Men, Shadow of the Vampire, Ocean's Twelve and Thirteen, My Super Ex-Girlfriend and Valkyrie. He starred alongside Minnie Driver in two seasons of US drama The Riches. Izzard also played Grandpa in Mockinbird Lane, a revamp of classic series The Munsters, and has had a regular role in Hannibal. He continues to tour with his stand-up routines.

Career: On his return from service, Macnee studied at the Webber Douglas School of Dramatic Art. Small roles in several films followed but, frustrated at the lack of opportunity in Britain, he emigrated to Canada, then moved to the US. He appeared in numerous TV plays and films before returning to the UK in 1959. Producing Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years brought him to the attention of TV bosses who, to his surprise, offered him the role of John Steed in The Avengers in 1961. He stayed with the popular series until it ended in 1969, but returned to the role in The New Avengers in 1976. Macnee also appeared in such movies as A View to a Kill, This Is Spinal Tap and The Sea Wolves. He died on June 25, 2015.

Career: Broadbent caught the eye of casting directors following Illuminatus in 1976, a 12-hour sci-fi production. He worked with the National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and as the National Theatre of Brent, a two-man comedy troupe he co-founded with Patrick Barlow. Despite originally turning down the role of Del Boy, he played bent copper Roy Slater in Only Fools and Horses. Bigger parts came in the 1990s, in such projects as Life Is Sweet, Bullets Over Broadway, Richard III and Topsy-Turvy. He also starred in Bridget Jones's Diary, Moulin Rouge!, Iris (for which he won an Oscar), Gangs of New York, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and two Harry Potter movies. His recent work includes The Iron Lady, Cloud Atlas, Le Week-End, The Harry Hill Movie, Paddington and Get Santa.

Career: Atkins' post-Guildhall career began on the stage, but for nine years she struggled to gain decent roles. She's now one of the theatre's most in-demand actresses, having appeared in numerous acclaimed productions. On TV she has appeared in the likes of Smiley's People, Cold Comfort Farm, Wit, Bertie and Elizabeth, Psychoville and Cranford, as well as co-creating (with Jean Marsh) both The House of Eliott and Upstairs Downstairs (she appeared in the latter when it returned to TV in 2010). Her films include Gosford Park, Cold Mountain and Robin Hood. She was made a Dame in 2001.

Career: During the 1990s, Hawes starred in music videos for the likes of Suede and James before gaining roles in TV in Heartbeat, Karaoke and The Beggar Bride. She got her TV breakthrough when she appeared as Zoe Reynolds in spy drama Spooks from 2002 until 2004. Then she went on to appear as Rose in The Vicar of Dibley, as Jane in Death at a Funeral (2007) and as the voice of Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider video game series, starting with Tomb Raider: Legend. She was cast as Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes, a spin-off of the series Life on Mars, in 2007 and the series lasted until 2009. Following this, she appeared in such TV series as Identity and Upstairs, Downstairs. In 2014, she joined the cast of Line of Duty as Detective Inspector Lindsay Denton and guest starred as Ms Delphox in Doctor Who. More recently, she has appeared in The Missing and The Durrells.

Career: Ejogo has appeared in a number of feature films, including Metro (1997), Love's Labour's Lost (2000), Sparkle (2012), Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) and Alien: Covenant (2017). She also played civil rights activist Coretta Scott King in two films; Boycott (2001) and Selma (2014). Ejogo has done some work in the music industry too, singing on DJ Alex Reece's song Candles, Tricky's song Slowly, the film Love's Labour's Lost and on four songs for the soundtrack to the film Sparkle.