Career: Owen's professional career began on stage, but he soon switched to TV, making his debut in a 1987 episode of Rockliffe's Babies. Adaptations of Precious Bane and Lorna Doone raised his profile, but it was Chancer that made him a star in the early 1990s. Projects such as Close My Eyes, An Evening with Gary Lineker, The Return of the Native, Sharman and Second Sight sealed his standing as a reliable leading man. Croupier (1998) made Hollywood bigwigs sit up and take notice, and he's enjoyed big-screen success ever since. He received an Oscar nomination for Closer (2004), and also featured in Gosford Park (2001), The Bourne Identity (2002), King Arthur (2004), Sin City (2005), Derailed (2005), Inside Man (2006), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), and Shadow Dancer (2012). In 2014, he began starring in American period medical drama The Knick.

Career: Caine worked on stage and appeared in small roles on TV, often struggling to make ends meet. He was good friends with Terence Stamp during the early 1960s, before either became famous, and they often shared digs. Caine decided if he wasn't successful by the age of 30 he'd quit acting. Days before this milestone he landed the role in Zulu which made his name. The Harry Palmer spy movies, The Italian Job and Alfie secured his star status. Since then, he's made many films, many forgettable and, by his own admission, done for the money. Highlights include Get Carter, Sleuth (plus a remake), The Man Who Would Be King, Educating Rita, Little Voice, Mona Lisa, Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Harry Brown and Interstellar. He won Oscars for Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules. He claims he will retire from showbusiness when he's 90.

Career: Moore started her professional career on stage and made her TV debut in 1984 with a recurring role in soap Edge of Night. She then had a two-year stint in As the World Turns, before taking roles in numerous forgettable movies. First made a mark on the big screen in 1993 with small roles in Benny and Joon, Short Cuts and The Fugitive. She followed those up with bigger parts in Nine Months and The Lost World. Her first Oscar nomination followed for 1997's Boogie Nights. She's since been nominated for The End of the Affair, Far from Heaven and The Hours. Other projects include The Kids Are All Right, Carrie and playing Sarah Palin in Game Change.

Career: Ferris first made an impact in the 1985 drama series Connie. Other than The Darling Buds of May, she has also appeared in TV shows Hardwicke House, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Paradise Heights, Where the Heart Is, Rosemary & Thyme, Gavin & Stacey and Grandma's House. A "Jill of all trades", Pam has appeared in a number of Royal Court Theatre and Royal National Theatre productions, and in films like Matilda, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Children of Men, Nativity!, Telstar, and Malice in Wonderland. In 2012, she began playing Sister Evangelina in Call the Midwife.

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: During his time at university, Mullan began acting, and continued after graduating. His CV includes appearances in hit films including Riff-Raff (1991), Shallow Grave (1994), Trainspotting (1996), Braveheart (1995), My Name Is Joe (1998), for which he won Best Actor at Cannes, and On a Clear Day (2005). Mullan also has plenty of small-screen appearances to his name, including the Channel 4 drama Boy A. An accomplished director, his most famous work is 2002 offering The Magdalene Sisters, which he also scripted. His other acting work includes Red Riding, The Fixer and Steven Spielberg's War Horse (2011). His most recent directing work is Neds, a project that won the best film award at the San Sebastian Film Festival in 2010. In 2013, he starred in the miniseries Top of the Lake.

Career: Huston got his start in the film industry directing Mr North (1988), which was produced by his father and starred his half-sister. In Leaving Las Vegas (1995), he turned to acting. He directed The Maddening in the same year. His breakthrough acting performance was in Ivans Xtc (2001) and he then went on to appear in The Aviator (2004), 30 Days of Night (2007), How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and Clash of the Titans (2010). Huston joined the cast of the TV series American Horror Story in 2013 and has since appeared in Big Eyes (2014) and Wonder Woman (2017).