Career: Freeman's TV debut came in 1997 with a bit-part in This Life. His first starring role arrived the following year in the short film I Just Want to Kiss You. Notching up a string of appearances in the TV series Lock, Stock..., Casualty and Black Books, he really came to the public's attention in 2001 as lovelorn Tim Canterbury in The Office. He's since become a major player in the British comedy and drama scene, appearing in Charles II: The Power and the Passion, Hardware, Love Actually, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Robinsons, Confetti, Hot Fuzz, and Nativity. He returned to TV in 2010, playing Dr John Watson in the acclaimed Sherlock. He played the lead role of Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's three-part adaptation of The Hobbit.

Career: McKellen started out on stage, gaining acclaim in Britain and America, and winning a prestigious Tony award for his performance in the original Broadway production of Amadeus. He didn't become a household name until his film career took off with hits such as Scandal, Richard III, and X-Men and its sequels. He received Oscar nominations for Gods and Monsters and the first part of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. More recently, he reprised the role of Gandalf in The Hobbit movies. He continues to appear on stage.

Career: Armitage's first appearance on screen was in Brit-flick This Year's Love, with several small roles in Doctors, Casualty and Spooks following shortly afterwards. He landed the part of Capt Iain Macalwain in ITV1's Ultimate Force in 2003, and his star rose even higher thanks to Cold Feet, where he played Lee, and a major role in costume drama North & South, based on the Elizabeth Gaskell novel. He's since starred in a TV version of Macbeth, The Golden Hour, George Gently and Robin Hood. Armitage also took over from Rupert Penry-Jones as the male lead in Spooks.

Career: In 1999, two days after graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he landed the role of Legolas in Peter Jackson's hugely successful The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Bloom's other film credits include Black Hawk Dawn (2001), Ned Kelly (2003), The Calcium Kid (2004), Troy (2004), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), The Three Musketeers (2011), Zulu (2013) and Romeo and Juliet (2014). He reprised the role of Legolas in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (2014).

Career: Between 2000 and 2008, Evans starred in various West End productions, including Taboo, Rent, La Cava, Avenue Q and Miss Saigon. His first film role was in Clash of the Titans (2010). Since then, he has appeared in such films as Blitz (2011), Dracula Untold (2014), The Girl on the Train (2016) and Beauty and the Beast (2017).

Career: Following his graduation, Pace appeared in several off-Broadway plays, but really came to the critics' attention in 2003, when he played a transgendered woman in the TV film Soldier's Girl, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination. He followed this up with appearances in the TV series Wonderfalls and the movies The White Countess, Infamous, The Fall and The Good Shepherd before landing the lead role in the offbeat TV comedy drama Pushing Daisies, which picked up a cult following, and an Emmy nomination for Pace. His recent credits include A Single Man, Possession, When in Rome, Ceremony, Lincoln, Guardians of the Galaxy, and The Hobbit movies.

Career: Turner's TV acting career continued with roles in Desperate Romantics, The Clinic, and Being Human. He played Kili in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy. Since 2015, he has been making a big impression playing the title role in the BBC's revival of period drama Poldark.

Career: After doing missionary work in the Philippines and appearing in a couple of commercials, Lilly was persuaded to try acting as a career by a friend - and hasn't looked back since. She had small roles in episodes of Smallville, Tru Calling and Judgement Day, as well as the movie Stealing Sinatra (2003) before landing the role of Kate Austen in Lost in 2004. It was her first speaking part and it gained her numerous plaudits, including various award nominations. The series ran from 2004 until 2010. More recently, she has been playing the elf Tauriel in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy. Her other film credits include The Hurt Locker (2008) and Real Steel (2011).

Career: Cumberbatch has divided his professional time between stage, film and TV. He's performed in various London venues, including the Royal Court and National Theatre, and in 2011 he shared the Olivier Award for Best Actor with his Frankenstein co-star Jonny Lee Miller. His first film was 2003's To Kill a King; projects since include Starter for 10, Amazing Grace, The Other Boleyn Girl, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and War Horse. His biggest successes, however, have come on TV in Hawking, The Last Enemy, Parade's End and, of course, Sherlock. He's also worked on The Hobbit movies and Star Trek Into Darkness.

Career: Bad Taste's surprise success was mirrored by that of 1989's Meet The Feebles, enabling Jackson to raise enough money to make zombie comedy Braindead (1992). He then surprised his fans by making the impressive but more mainstream Heavenly Creatures (1994), which received an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay. TV movie Forgotten Silver and big-screen offering The Frighteners (1996) followed, but it was The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001 to 2003) that made him a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood and won him several Academy Awards. He followed that with a remake of King Kong (2005) and The Lovely Bones (2009). His next big project was a trilogy based on JRR Tolkien's novel The Hobbit. The first of these films, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, was released in 2012.