Career: Redmayne starred in a production of Twelfth Night at Shakespeare's Globe theatre in 2002 and two years later, he won an Evening Standard award for his performance in Edward Albee's The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? His TV credits include roles in Doctors, Elizabeth I, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, The Pillars of the Earth and Birdsong. His big break came in 2012 when he was cast as Marius Pontmercy in the big-screen version of Les Miserables.

Career: Law made his TV debut in 1989's The Tailor of Gloucester, and a year later left school to take a role in daytime soap Families. During his early twenties, he spent much of his time on stage, where he gained numerous plaudits. His first film, Shopping, wasn't a success, but he made a name for himself in Wilde. Appearances in Gattaca, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, eXistenZ and AI: Artificial Intelligence cemented his reputation. He gained an Oscar nomination for The Talented Mr Ripley in 1999, and another for Cold Mountain four years later. Other projects include Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, The Aviator and The Holiday. His more recent roles include a part in Guy Ritchie's takes on Sherlock Holmes, playing Dr Watson. He also occasionally appears in stage productions.

Career: Miller's big break came in 2011 when he starred alongside Tilda Swinton and John C Reilly in We Need to Talk About Kevin. He went on to have success in The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012). He has also had roles on TV in Californication, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Royal Pains.

Career: Mikkelsen's debut was in the Danish crime drama Pusher (1996). From there, he slowly grew to become one of the biggest film actors in Denmark, with his credits including Flickering Lights (2000) and Shake It (2001). He got more attention internationally when he played Tristan in King Arthur (2004) and achieved global recognition as the main antagonist, Le Chiffre, in the James Bond film Casino Royale (2006). Since then, his roles have included Igor Stravinsky in the French film Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky (2008), Lucas in Danish film The Hunt (2012), Kaecilius in the Marvel film Doctor Strange (2016) and Galen Erso in the Star Wars film Rogue One (2016).

Career: Waterston's feature film debut was in Michael Clayton (2007). She then went on to have supporting roles in such films as Robot & Frank (2012), Being Flynn (2012) and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her (2013) before landing her leading role in Inherent Vice (2014). Since then, she has played Chrisann Brennan in Steve Jobs (2015) and starred in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016). Her acting career has also seen her appear on stage, such as in the original Off-Broadway production of Bachelorette and in the Classic Stage Company production of The Cherry Orchard.

Career: Bloomsbury bosses advised Rowling to come up with a pair of initials instead of using her own name, as they feared boys wouldn't buy books written by a woman, so she borrowed her grandmother Kathleen's initial. In 1997, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone won several awards, including the prestigious British Book Award for Children's Book of the Year. The subsequent titles in the series have all gone on to become phenomenally popular. In 1998, Warner Bros bought the rights to the series and work began on the films, with Rowling assisting in the script-writing process.