Love Actually

Hugh Grant (Actor) .. David, the Prime Minister

Born: September 09, 1960 in Hammersmith, London

Best Known For: Playing bashful-yet-handsome British men.

Early-life: Hugh John Mungo Grant was born in London on September 9, 1960, and grew up in Hammersmith. "I was a charming little boy, but a bit neurotic," says Grant. "I was very pale and small for my age and I used to faint a lot." His mother was a teacher, his father a carpet salesman-turned-painter. He has an older brother called Jamie. Grant won a scholarship to Oxford in 1979, where he tried his hand at student drama, at one point featuring in Hamlet - performed in Star Trek costumes.

Career: Grant started out as a member of comedy troupe The Jockeys of Norfolk. He appeared in his first film, Privileged, in 1982. Other early projects include The Detective, A Very Peculiar Practice, The Demon Lover and Ladies in Charge. He had higher profile roles in Maurice, The Lair of the White Worm and The Remains of the Day. His big break came when he was cast in Four Weddings and a Funeral in 1994. Big-screen productions since include An Awfully Big Adventure, Sense and Sensibility, Notting Hill, Mickey Blue Eyes, About a Boy, Love Actually and two Bridget Jones films. He could recently be heard in animated film The Pirates!

Quote: "I just don't believe in love at first sight any more, even though I've based my whole career on the concept. In my experience, power, money and influence always attract the opposite sex. It's something that I've always exploited - with good results."

Trivia: He is a patron of Pancreatic Cancer Action.

Martine McCutcheon (Actor) .. Natalie

Born: May 14, 1976 in London

Best Known For: Playing EastEnder Tiffany Mitchell.

Early-life: Born Martine Kimberley Sherrie Ponting on May 14, 1976, in Hackney, East London. Her mother Jenny and biological father Thomas had a stormy, violent relationship. He left the family home when Martine was two. Jenny went on to marry window cleaner John McCutcheon, and her daughter took his name. At school, Martine landed parts in several plays, and at the age of 10, began attending the Italia Conti Stage School in London.

Career: McCutcheon made her TV debut in Bluebirds in 1989 and at 15 fronted the all-girl band Milan, which went on tour with East 17. She started playing Tiffany Mitchell in EastEnders when she was 17 and, for three years, was one of the show's most popular characters. McCutcheon left Albert Square to pursue a singing career - her first single, Perfect Moment, shot straight to the top of the charts. She won an Olivier Award in 2002 for her West End debut role as Eliza Doolittle in a revival of My Fair Lady, although her run was cut short by ill health. She has also starred in Love Actually, The English Harem and Echo Beach. Away from acting she's released a fitness DVD, two autobiographies and a novel, and was a judge on short-lived ITV show Let's Get Gold.

Quote: "This business is hard and really mean."

Trivia: She was declared bankrupt in 2013.

Emma Thompson (Actor) .. Karen

Born: April 15, 1959 in London

Best Known For: Being one of Britain's premier actresses.

Early-life: Born April 15, 1959, in Paddington, London. Her father was Eric Thompson, a stage director and the man behind the British version of The Magic Roundabout. Her mother is actress Phyllida Law and her sister, Sophie, is also a thespian. She originally wanted to be a writer, but the acting bug bit while at Cambridge University (her contemporaries included Stephen Fry, Tony Slattery and Hugh Laurie). Her performances were so impressive an agent signed her two years before she finished her studies.

Career: After a spell as a stand-up comic, Thompson teamed up with Fry and Laurie for TV sketch show Alfresco, starred in West End smash Me and My Girl, and acclaimed dramas Tutti Frutti and Fortunes of War. Her first film was 1989's The Tall Guy. Already a familiar face in the UK, she became an international star thanks to her Oscar-winning role in 1992's Howards End. She later won another Academy Award, this time for writing the screenplay for Sense and Sensibility. She also wrote as well as starred in Nanny McPhee and its sequel. Thompson's other movies include Dead Again, In the Name of the Father, The Remains of the Day, Junior, Primary Colors, Love Actually, Stranger Than Fiction, I Am Legend, Brideshead Revisited, The Boat That Rocked, three Harry Potter movies and Saving Mr Banks.

Quote: "I mind having to look pretty, because it is so much more of an effort."

Trivia: She speaks French and Spanish fluently.

Alan Rickman (Actor) .. Harry

Born: February 21, 1946 in Hammersmith, London

Early-life: Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman was born in London on February 21, 1946. He was the second eldest of four children born to a housewife mother and factory-worker father. His dad died when he was eight, and his mother later remarried, but soon divorced. He was interested in acting at school, but attended the Royal College of Art and became a graphic designer before finally enrolling at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada). He supported himself during this period by working as a dresser for Nigel Hawthorne and Ralph Richardson.

Best Known For: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Career: After graduating from Rada, Rickman worked in repertory theatre. His big break came when he was nominated for a Tony Award in the Broadway production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. He was passed over for the film version, instead making his big screen debut in Die Hard as the villain Hans Gruber. He went on to play a wide variety of roles on the stage and on the big screen. His other film credits included Truly, Madly Deeply, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Sense and Sensibility, the Harry Potter films, Love Actually and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Rickman also directed the movies A Little Chaos and The Winter Guest, and maintained a strong stage career. He died from cancer on January 14, 2016 at the age of 69.

Quote: "I do take my work seriously and the way to do that is not to take yourself too seriously."

Trivia: Rickman won a Bafta film award for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and a Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy for TV miniseries Rasputin.

Colin Firth (Actor) .. Jamie

Born: September 10, 1960 in Grayshott, Hampshire

Best Known For: Being Mr Darcy in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice

Early-life: Colin Andrew Firth was born on September 10, 1960 in Hampshire. His parents, Shirley and David, were both lecturers. He has a sister, Kate, and younger brother Jonathan, who both followed him into the acting profession. He spent some of his childhood in America and Nigeria, where his father taught, before the family moved back to the UK. He studied acting in London. One of his early successes was in the 1983 stage adaptation of Another Country, and he subsequently made his big-screen debut in the film version a year later.

Career: Firth worked steadily throughout the 1980s in notable projects such as Falklands drama Tumbledown, A Month in the Country (opposite Kenneth Branagh) and the period offering Valmont. But it was the 1995 costume drama Pride and Prejudice that made him a superstar. Since then, he's notched up roles in several successful films, including The English Patient, Fever Pitch, Shakespeare in Love, The Importance of Being Earnest, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Love Actually, both Bridget Jones movies, both St Trinian's films, The Accidental Husband, Mamma Mia! and A Single Man. It was 2010 movie The King's Speech that really consolidated his reputation. It garnered a number of glittering awards and Firth's Bafta Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role was consolidated by an Academy Award for Best Actor. Films since include Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Magic in the Moonlight.

Quote: "I like playing strange characters. Some people might say it has something to do with a hidden part of myself, but I think it's a lot simpler than that: normal people are just not very interesting."

Trivia: Firth pulled out of providing the voice of Paddington in the big-screen version of Michael Bond's books. He was replaced by Ben Whishaw.

Bill Nighy (Actor) .. Billy Mack

Born: December 12, 1949 in Caterham, Surrey

Best Known For: Love Actually and State of Play.

Early-life: Born William Francis Nighy on December 12, 1949, in Caterham, Surrey. His mother was a psychiatric nurse, his father a car mechanic. He has two older siblings and claims he probably would have followed in his dad's footsteps had he not discovered literature in his teens. Although not academically gifted at school, he ran away to Paris to write a novel. After failing to put pen to paper, he returned to the UK to become a journalist, but realised he wasn't cut out for it. On the advice of a girlfriend, he went to drama school.

Career: Nighy honed his craft at Liverpool's Everyman Theatre in the 1970s. He made his TV debut in 1980 in sitcom Agony. His first film, Eye of the Needle, came a year later. He has juggled acclaimed stage appearances with TV and film work. His role as a randy lecturer in 1991's The Men's Room made him a heart-throb, but he didn't become familiar to audiences until a string of hits beginning with 1998's Still Crazy, followed by Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, State of Play, and Love Actually. He also starred in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, Stormbreaker and Underworld: Evolution. Other projects include Valkyrie, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, The Boat That Rocked, G-Force, Wild Target. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and playwright David Hare's Worricker trilogy.

Quote: "I watched Love Actually and it was good fun but I thought, 'God you're old, you're knackered-looking, you look terrible' - because I do and I am."

Trivia: Nighy suffers from the condition Dupuytren's contracture, which causes the ring and little finger of each hand to be permanently bent towards the palms. His daughter Mary is an actress.

Liam Neeson (Actor) .. Daniel

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.

Andrew Lincoln (Actor) .. Mark

Born: September 14, 1973 in London

Best Known For: This Life and The Walking Dead.

Early-life: Andrew James Clutterbuck was born in London on September 14, 1973 to a civil engineer and a South African nurse. He grew up in Hull and moved with his family to Bath when he was 10. He attended Beechen Cliff Secondary School. Andrew showed a flair for drama after being cast as a leper in a school production of Jesus Christ, Superstar. He was inspired to take up acting professionally by the RSC's production of A Clockwork Orange, ending his dreams of being a vet. He moved to London at the age of 18 to study at Rada and his career took off less than a year after graduating.

Career: In 1994, Lincoln made his TV debut in Drop the Dead Donkey. He appeared in TV series N7 and the movie Boston Kickout (1995) before cult BBC drama This Life helped turn him into a celebrity in 1996. The actor got on so well with This Life co-star Jack Davenport, he was best man at his wedding in 2000. Lincoln went on to appear in The Woman in White, Mersey Blues, Human Traffic and Offending Angels before landing another hit, starring in and directing the odd episode of cult Channel 4 comedy drama Teachers. He has also appeared in The Canterbury Tales, Afterlife, This Life: 10 Years On and Wuthering Heights. His movie credits include Love Actually (2003), Enduring Love (2004) and These Foolish Things (2006) and Made in Dagenham (2010). His career took off in America in 2010 when he started playing Rick Grimes in AMC's hugely popular horror drama The Walking Dead.

Quote: On The Walking Dead: "I go to work, I wear a Stetson, I put cowboy boots on and I shoot zombies for a living."

Trivia: In 2010, Lincoln signed up for a potential six years on The Walking Dead.

Martin Freeman (Actor) .. John

Born: September 08, 1971 in Aldershot

Best Known For: Playing Tim in The Office

Early-life: Martin John C Freeman was born on September 8, 1971, in Aldershot, Hampshire. He has three older brothers and a sister. Although he considered a career as a professional squash player, Freeman developed his love of acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama. While studying, he also started participating in amateur productions with the Youth Action Theatre in Teddington, and began to pick up work providing voice-overs for documentaries.

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.

Quote: "Part of me is a grumpy old man way before my time and part of me is very open and optimistic and a big believer in love - that underpins everything for me."

Trivia: Freeman is married to fellow actor Amanda Abbington. They have two children, Joe and Grace.

Laura Linney (Actor) .. Sarah

Born: February 05, 1964 in New York

Best Known For: Her consistently high quality performances.

Early-life: Born Laura Leggett Linney on February 5, 1964, in New York. Her mother was a nurse, her father a playwright - it was his work which initially attracted her to acting. She has a half-sister, Susan, from her dad's second marriage. After graduating from high school in 1982, Linney studied at Northwestern University, then transferred to Brown University, where she became a prolific amateur stage actress. She later had spells studying acting at Juilliard and the Arts Theatre School in Moscow.

Career: Linney's professional career began on Broadway, where she was acclaimed for her work in several productions. She started appearing in small roles in films and on TV in the early 1990s, but began landing bigger parts after the first instalment of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City was broadcast. Movies Primal Fear, The Truman Show and Absolute Power followed. She reunited with the director of Absolute Power, Clint Eastwood, for Mystic River, and bagged Oscar nominations for Kinsey, You Can Count on Me and The Savages. Other notable work includes Love Actually, Frasier, and The Squid and the Whale, while her extraordinary turns in miniseries John Adams and comedy drama The Big C have been widely acclaimed.

Quote: "A lifetime of work, particularly where you get to see an actor grow and change, is better than becoming a rock 'n' roll movie star."

Trivia: Linney has received Tony Award nominations for The Crucible, Sight Unseen, and Time Stands Still.

Keira Knightley (Actor) .. Juliet

Born: March 26, 1985 in London

Best Known For: The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.

Early-life: Born Kiera Christina Knightley in Teddington, Middlesex, on March 26, 1985, she is the daughter of TV actor Will Knightley and playwright Sharman Macdonald. Her mother also trod the boards, but a mixture of severe stage fright and the responsibilities of looking after Keira and her elder brother Caleb ended her acting aspirations. At the age of three, after watching both her parents receive calls from their agents, Keira demanded one of her own. She persisted for three years until her mother relented.

Career: By the age of seven, Knightley had made her TV debut in the drama Royal Celebration, but during the 1990s, she was only allowed to act during the summer holidays. Her first high-profile role was playing Natalie Portman's handmaiden in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, but it was Bend It Like Beckham that proved to be her breakthrough. In the same year, she appeared in a mini-series version of Doctor Zhivago, and in 2003 featured in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, and Love Actually. Subsequent films have included King Arthur, Pride and Prejudice (for which she was Oscar-nominated), two of the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, Atonement, The Duchess, Never Let Me Go, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Begin Again, and Say When.

Quote: "A newspaper voted me one of the scruffiest people in Britain. I'm quite proud of that. It's completely true."

Trivia: Knightley was nominated for an Olivier award for her performance in The Misanthrope at the Comedy Theatre.

Rowan Atkinson (Actor) .. Rufus

Born: January 06, 1955 in Consett, County Durham

Best Known For: Mr Bean and Blackadder.

Early-life: Rowan Sebastian Atkinson was born in Consett, County Durham, on January 6, 1955. He is the youngest of four sons of a farmer and company director. Rowan was educated at Durham Choristers School, St Bees School and Newcastle University. He also studied for a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering at Oxford, where he began his comedy career. He became friends with writer Richard Curtis and composer Howard Goodall during his time there.

Career: Atkinson's first professional success came in 1978 via the radio show The Atkinson People; it was co-written by Curtis and produced by Griff Rhys Jones. He then became part of the Not the Nine O'Clock News team before creating the character of Edmund in The Black Adder 1983. The sitcom ran for four series and a number of specials. He also created the affable idiot Mr Bean, who appeared in a number of one-off TV specials and two hugely successful films. Other projects include Johnny English and its sequel, The Thin Blue Line, The Witches, Four Weddings and a Funeral and Rat Race. Atkinson also appeared at the Olympics opening ceremony and returned to the West End stage to star in Quartermaine's Terms. He was awarded a CBE in 2013.

Quote: "People think because I can make them laugh on the stage, I'll be able to make them laugh in person. That isn't the case at all. I am essentially a rather quiet, dull person who just happens to be a performer."

Trivia: He is an avid fan of cars, even writing articles about them for various magazines.

Kris Marshall (Actor) .. Colin Frissell

Born: April 01, 1973 in Malmesbury, Wiltshire

Best Known For: Playing dopey Nick Harper in My Family

Early-life: Born in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, on April 1, 1973. He spent some of his childhood in Hong Kong and Canada, and attended Wells Cathedral School in Somerset, from which he was expelled at the age of 17. He puts the incident down to not being able to do things in the confines of school, such as smoke, which he freely did at home. After failing his A levels, he enrolled at Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead.

Career: Marshall's first TV role came in 1993's Closing Numbers. He later had bit parts in shows including The Bill and Trial and Retribution II. Playing gormless Nick in My Family turned him into a star in 2000. He left the sitcom three years later (although he returned to made guest appearances), and went on to appear in Doctor Zhivago, Love Actually, Iris, The Four Feathers and The Merchant of Venice. His first lead role in a TV drama came in 2004 when he was cast as DS Luke Stone in ITV1's Murder City alongside Amanda Donohoe. He's since featured in Citizen Khan, Derek and Lightfields. Marshall also appeared in a popular series of ads for BT between 2005 and 2011. He took over from Ben Miller as the star of Death in Paradise in 2014.

Quote: "I am 6ft 2in with legs like a giraffe and I get fan mail from six-year-olds."

Trivia: In 2008, he suffered head injuries after being hit by a car during a night out with friends in Bristol. He made a full recovery, and credits a card from his favourite football team, Aston Villa, for boosting his morale.

Billy Bob Thornton (Actor) .. The US President

Born: August 04, 1955 in Arkansas

Best Known For: His marriage to Angelina Jolie.

Early-life: Born William Robert Thornton on August 4, 1955, in Arkansas, the eldest child of a teacher father and a mother who supposedly had psychic abilities. He had three brothers: James Donald (who died at the age of 30 after suffering a heart attack), James Bean and John David. They were raised alongside other members of their family in a shack that had no plumbing or electricity. His dream of becoming a baseball star was cut short by injury, so Thornton turned to acting, eventually moving to Los Angeles in 1981 with friend Tom Epperson (who became his writing partner) to pursue his career. He also sought work as a musician.

Career: After years of trying to interest studios in their script, Thornton and Epperson sold their screenplay for One False Move, which was turned into a movie in 1992. Thornton co-starred, and by 1996 he had written, directed and starred in the critically acclaimed Sling Blade for which he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Thornton was then snapped up for projects including U Turn, Armageddon, A Simple Plan, Pushing Tin, The Man Who Wasn't There, Monster's Ball, Bad Santa and Bandits. More recent projects have included School for Scoundrels, Mr Woodcock, Eagle Eye and Manure, and the TV miniseries Fargo.

Quote: "I was the fattest baby in Clark County, Arkansas. They put me in the newspaper. I was like a prize turnip."

Trivia: Thornton has recorded several albums.

Claudia Schiffer (Actor) .. Carol

Joanna Page (Actor) .. Just Judy

Born: March 23, 1978 in Swansea, Wales

Best Known For: Gavin & Stacey.

Early-life: Born Joanna Louise Page on March 23, 1978, in Swansea. She's an only child, the daughter of a mechanic father and bank worker mother. She claims she felt adored while growing up, but that may have caused problems later on, because being turned down after auditions came as a shock. She left home to move to London at 18 to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada). She suffered from homesickness initially, but a friendship with fellow student Maxine Peake helped her settle down. They remain good pals.

Career: Page's first film was 1999's Miss Julie, the same year she made her TV debut as Dora in an adaptation of David Copperfield. She went on to have a regular role in The Cazalets. Page appeared alongside Johnny Depp in From Hell, but it was starring as the girl who steals Martin Freeman's heart in Love Actually that made her a famous face, although she didn't become a household name until tackling one of the lead roles in much-loved sitcom Gavin & Stacey. Other TV work includes appearances in White Van Man, The Syndicate, Gates and the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who.

Quote: "I don't go out a lot. The other day I was in the middle of doing the house cleaning and there was a knock on the door and I opened it to some man who went: 'Oh good God, it's you. What are you doing here?'"

Trivia: Page has also appeared frequently on stage, done panto and featured in numerous adverts.

Caroline John (Actor) .. Sam's grandmother

Richard Curtis (Director)

Born: November 08, 1956 in Wellington, New Zealand

Best Known For: Creating Four Weddings and a Funeral

Early-life: Born in New Zealand in 1956. He father was an Unilever executive, and the family moved around a lot - Richard spent parts of his childhood in the Philippines and Sweden, before attending school in England at the age of 11. He won a scholarship to the prestigious private school Harrow, where he became head boy, before going to study English Literature and Language at Oxford. As well as picking up a first-class degree, he also befriended fellow student Rowan Atkinson.

Career: In the early 1980s, Richard became a regular writer on Not the Nine O'Clock News, which starred Atkinson, and they went on to work together on Blackadder and Mr Bean. In 1989, Richard gained plaudits for writing the film The Tall Guy, but his real movie breakthrough came five years later when he penned Four Weddings and a Funeral, which went on to become the most successful British movie of all time. In 1999 he scored another huge hit with Notting Hill, and went on to work on the adaptation of Bridget Jones's Diary before making his directorial debut with Love Actually in 2003. His new film, The Boat That Rocked, hits cinemas this week. Curtis is also behind the sitcom the Vicar of Dibley, acclaimed TV film The Girl in the Cafe, and is one of the founders of Comic Relief.

Quote: "I really do believe that there is a tremendous amount of optimism, goodness and love in the world, and that it is under-represented."

Trivia: He was awarded a CBE in 2000.

10:10 pm - 12:40 am, Wednesday, December 24 on ITV1 London +1 (35)

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