Taken

Liam Neeson (Actor) .. Bryan Mills

Born: June 07, 1952 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland

Best Known For: Schindler's List and Star Wars: Episode One - The Phantom Menace

Early-life: William John Neeson was born on June 7, 1952, in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. He made his acting debut at 11 in a school play. He was a good teenage amateur boxer, winning the Irish Youth Championship, but quit after blacking out following a fight. Neeson later enrolled at St Mary's Teaching College in Belfast, but became interested in acting on joining the Belfast Lyric Players' Theatre. He made ends meet with various odd jobs, including forklift operator, truck driver and assistant architect, before stardom beckoned.

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.

Quote: "I never did think of myself as handsome - terribly attractive, yes - but not handsome."

Trivia: Dated a string of famous women, including Julia Roberts, Brooke Shields, Barbra Streisand, Sinead O'Connor and Helen Mirren. Married actress Natasha Richardson, mother of his sons Micheal and Daniel. She died in a skiing accident in 2009.

Famke Janssen (Actor) .. Lenore

Born: November 05, 1964 in Amstelveen, Holland

Best Known For: Roles in GoldenEye and X-Men.

Early-life: Born November 5, 1964, in Holland. She has two sisters. She speaks four languages - Dutch, German, English and French. Thanks to her stunning looks and figure, Janssen became a model while studying economics at the University of Amsterdam, before moving to the US in 1984, where she majored in writing and literature at New York's Columbia University. It was there she began acting, before moving to Los Angeles.

Career: Made her movie debut in 1992's Fathers and Sons, alongside Jeff Goldblum. Three years later she worked on Clive Barker's movie Lord of Illusions. It helped her land the part of murderous Russian Xenia Onatopp in 007 adventure GoldenEye. Went on to star in City of Industry, Deep Rising, Celebrity and The Faculty before making the blockbuster X-Men in 2000 and its two blockbusting sequels. She's also appeared in Ally McBeal, a string of movies, and won rave reviews for her role in Liam Neeson thriller, Taken.

Quote: "I would rather not work than play in a movie nobody watches."

Trivia: She made her directorial debut with Bringing Up Bobby (2011).

Maggie Grace (Actor) .. Kim

Born: September 21, 1983 in Columbus, Ohio

Best Known For: Playing Shannon in Lost.

Early-life: Margaret Grace Denig was born in Columbus, Ohio, on September 21, 1983. She grew up in Worthington, and didn't start acting until 2001, when she was in her late teens. By the end of the year she had appeared in Canadian production Rachel's Room and been lined up to head the cast of Septuplets. Unfortunately, the latter was cancelled before it had aired.

Career: After only a short time as an actress, Maggie landed parts in various dramas such as CSI: Miami, The Lyon's Den, Miracles and Cold Case, as well as TV movies Murder in Greenwich and Twelve Mile Road, playing Tom Selleck's estranged daughter. A larger audience will have been made aware of her thanks to numerous episodes of Oliver Beene, but she's best known for portraying spoilt Shannon Rutherford in Lost. Her recent credits include The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Parts 1 and 2, and the Taken movies.

Quote: "I used to trip over my legs and get detention for my too-short shorts because none fitted. I still trip, but now I like to show them off."

Trivia: In 2012, she made her Broadway debut in Picnic.

Leland Orser (Actor) .. Sam

Xander Berkeley (Actor) .. Stuart

Katie Cassidy (Actor) .. Amanda

Born: November 25, 1986 in Los Angeles

Best Known For: Arrow.

Early-life: Katherine Evelyn Anita Cassidy was born in Los Angeles on November 25, 1986 to actor/singer David Cassidy and Sherry Benedon. Katie tried to make her mark in the music industry when she was 15 with a recording of I Think I Love You, which had been a hit for her father's TV band the Partridge Family. A year later, she made her acting debut in an episode of TV drama The Division.

Career: Cassidy went on to make guest appearances in Listen Up! and New Girl. She had recurring roles in 7th Heaven, Sex, Love & Secrets, Supernatural, Harper's Island, Melrose Place and Gossip Girl. Her film credits include Taken (2008) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010). Since 2012, she has portrayed Laurel Lance in TV superhero drama Arrow.

Quote: "I wanted to make a name for myself."

Trivia: Cassidy is a spokesperson for the charity HELP Malawi.

Holly Valance (Actor) .. Sheerah

Born: May 11, 1983 in Melbourne, Australia

Best Known For: Playing Flick Scully in Neighbours.

Early-life: Holly Rachel Vukadinovic was born on May 11, 1983, in Melbourne, Australia, to a Serbian father and a British mother. Her grandfather was Benny Hill's cousin. She was educated at a Roman Catholic high school, Star of the Sea College. In her teens, Holly modelled for catwalk shows, commercials and catalogues. In 1999 she became a familiar face in hit soap Neighbours, playing Felicity "Flick" Scully. She worked on the show for three years.

Career: Musically, Valance scored her first hit in 2002 with a cover of Kiss Kiss. It went to number one in both the Australian and UK charts. Follow-up tracks Down Boy and Naughty Girl, taken from debut album, Footprints, proved less popular. In 2003, Valance was dropped by her record company, but fared far better as an actress, appearing in hit US shows CSI: Miami, Entourage, CSI: NY, Prison Break and Shark. Movie roles have included DOA: Dead or Alive and Pledge This! and Taken. More recently, she has competed as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.

Quote: "Without any good songs or being able to perform or entertain, you wouldn't survive. It's about having an equal balance between things."

Trivia: Valance has appeared in a number of commercials for Schwarzkopf hair care products.

Olivier Rabourdin (Actor) .. Jean-Claude

Pierre Morel (Director)

10:45 pm - 12:15 am, Wednesday, January 7 on ITV1 London HD (103)

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