Career: McAvoy made guest appearances in a steady stream of TV shows (including The Bill, Band of Brothers, Foyle's War, State of Play and Early Doors) and movies until he caught the British public's imagination in 2004 playing Steve McBride in Shameless. A year later he became known to worldwide audiences for his role in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Since then he has been much in demand and starred in The Last King of Scotland, Penelope, Becoming Jane, Atonement, Wanted, the X-Men franchise, Filth, Muppets Most Wanted and Trance. He has also voiced characters in Gnomeo & Juliet and Arthur Christmas. McAvoy is a big fan of Celtic FC.

Career: Jolie's star began to rise following appearances in a number of small films in the mid-1990s, including Hackers (1995), Foxfire (1996), True Woman (1997) and George Wallace (1997), a TV movie that won her a Golden Globe. She secured another Golden Globe a year later for her role as supermodel Gia Carangi in Gia (1998). Her big break came in 1999 when she landed a leading role in The Bone Collector (1999). In the same year, she gave an acclaimed performance in Girl, Interrupted, a role that led to her third Golden Globe and an Academy Award. Since then, Jolie has appeared in a number of high-profile movies, including Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), Mr & Mrs Smith (2005), Changeling (2008), Salt (2010), The Tourist (2010) and Maleficent (2014).

Career: Freeman's first credited big-screen appearance was in 1971's Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow?, before he landed a regular role on children's show The Electric Company. In the mid-1980s, Freeman started getting more prominent roles in movies. Among his biggest hits have been Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption, Se7en, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Glory, Amistad, Deep Impact and Bruce Almighty. He is also an in-demand voice-over artist, lending his dulcet tones to sci-fi blockbuster War of the Worlds and the Oscar-winning documentary March of the Penguins. Freeman received an Academy Award of his own for his supporting role in Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby. A prolific actor, he has more recently appeared in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy and always has several films in pre-production.

Career: Stamp and his flatmate Michael Caine struggled to make ends meet for years. Then, in 1962, Stamp landed the title role in the film Billy Budd, for which he gained an Oscar nomination. He became one of the faces of the 1960s thanks to his roles in the likes of The Collector, Poor Cow, and Far from the Madding Crowd. He rarely worked during the 1970s, preferring to spend time in India. He returned to form playing the villainous General Zod in Superman and its sequel. Since then, Stamp has appeared in such movies as The Hit, Wall Street, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Star Wars: Episode One - The Phantom Menace, Bowfinger and The Limey. More recent work includes Get Smart, Valkyrie, The Adjustment Bureau and Song for Marion.

Career: Kretschmann caught the eye of Hollywood casting directors when he played Captain Wilm Hosenfeld in Roman Polanski's The Pianist (2002). Since then, he has starred in Downfall (2004), Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), King Kong (2005), Valkyrie (2008), The Young Victoria (2009) and Cars 2 (2011) as the voice of Professor Z. On the small screen, he starred in short-lived American supernatural drama The River. He can currently be seen playing Abraham Van Helsing in TV horror drama Dracula.

Career: In 1992, Common released his first album, Can I Borrow A Dollar?, under the stage name Common Sense. He released his second album, Resurrection, under this name before a lawsuit forced him to change it. His rap career has seen him collaborate with Erykah Badu, De La Soul and other artists and groups. He has also won three Grammy Awards and an Oscar for Best Original Song. His Oscar-winning song, Glory, was featuring in Selma (2014), which he also co-starred in. He initially transitioned into acting in 2003, when he got his first role in the sitcom Girlfriends. His big screen debut was in Smokin' Aces (2007). Other films he has appeared in include American Gangster (2007), Wanted (2008), Terminator Salvation (2009) and Suicide Squad (2016).

Career: Warren went on to make guest appearances in a number of TV shows, including Heartbeat, The Bill, A Touch of Frost and Wycliffe. He has also had recurring roles in Oliver Twist, The Vice, Band of Brothers, State of Play and Mutual Friends. He is perhaps best known for playing Danny Blue in Hustle. More recently, he has starred in The Good Wife, Mad Dogs, The Musketeers and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.