Career: On a visit to Los Angeles, Depp met Nicolas Cage who took him to see his agent. Depp made his movie debut in A Nightmare on Elm Street, but didn't become a star until the TV series 21 Jump Street. Despite gaining fame via the series, he quit to concentrate on offbeat movies. He has since gained critical acclaim in Edward Scissorhands (where he began his long association with director Tim Burton), Sleepy Hollow, Ed Wood, Blow, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Finding Neverland, Chocolat, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and the Pirates of the Carribean movies - he received his first Oscar nomination for his role in the original film. He always has a number of films in the pipeline and his recent movies include Alice in Wonderland, The Tourist, Dark Shadows, The Lone Ranger and Transcendence.

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: 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.

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.

Career: Davenport became a sought-after actor and heart-throb after starring as Miles in hit series This Life. Projects such as Talos the Mummy, Macbeth, and Ultraviolet followed, before he made his Hollywood debut in The Talented Mr Ripley in 1999. Since then, he's returned to TV to star in acclaimed sitcom Coupling and made little-seen movies such as Offending Angels, The Bunker, Look, and Gypsy. His biggest film role to date came in The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. He also appeared in The Boat That Rocked, and was a cast member of US shows FlashForward and Smash. Davenport returned to the UK to make ITV series Breathless.

Career: Pryce built up his acting CV with roles in two TV films directed by Stephen Frears, Daft as a Brush and Playthings. In 1975, he played the lead role in the Trevor Griffiths play Comedians. He reprised the role on Broadway and won a Tony Award for his performance. He made his film debut a year later in Voyage of the Damned and continued to be a regular stage performer. He won an Oliver Award in 1980 for his performance in the title role of Hamlet. His breakthrough on the big screen came in 1985 when he starred in Terry Gilliam's Brazil. After making the move into musicals, Pryce won an Olivier Award and a Tony Award for his role as the Engineer in Miss Saigon. He would go on to star in stage revivals of Oliver! and My Fair Lady. His film credits include Jumpin' Jack Flash, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Glengarry Glen Ross, Carrington, Evita, Tomorrow Never Dies and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Career: Hollander read English at Cambridge where fellow student Sam Mendes directed him in several plays (including a controversial staging of Cyrano de Bergerac) before graduating. He spent nine months as a toy demonstrator at Hamley's before theatre work began rolling in. He won the Ian Charles Award for his performance in The Way of the World in 1992, and hasn't looked back since. When encouraged to try films, he appeared in True Blue and Some Mother's Son and while the films got mixed responses, Hollander stood out as their true star. He went on to appear in Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence, Gosford Park, The Lost Prince, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pride and Prejudice, In the Loop, and Any Human Heart. He's also returned to the stage on numerous occasions. Hollander co-created the sitcom Rev, in which he also stars.

Career: Crook began his career as a stand-up comedian alongside Iain Lee; they worked together for about eight years. His first major TV role was as a comedy sketch contributor on Channel 4's The Eleven O'Clock Show in 1998 - which was fronted by Lee. His big break came when he was cast as Gareth in The Office. He then appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and the two sequels, Dead Man's Chest and At World's End. He also appeared as Launcelot Gobbo in Michael Radford's film adaptation of The Merchant of Venice. Other projects include The Gathering, Sex Lives of the Potato Men, Churchill: The Hollywood Years, The Brothers Grimm, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Game of Thrones and his self-penned sitcom Detectorists.

Career: Verbinski followed up the success of Mouse Hunt with action comedy The Mexican (2001) and horror film remake The Ring (2002), which grossed more than $200million worldwide. His big break came in 2003 when he directed Johnny Depp in the hugely popular Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. It grossed more than $650million worldwide. His next film, The Weather Man (2005), was his first box-office failure. He bounced back by directing two Pirates of the Caribbean sequels. The animated comedy western Rango followed in 2011 and box-office disaster The Lone Ranger arrived in 2013.