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: McAvoy made guest appearances in a steady stream of TV shows (including The Bill, Band of Brothers, Foyle's War, State of Play and Early Doors) and movies until he caught the British public's imagination in 2004 playing Steve McBride in Shameless. A year later he became known to worldwide audiences for his role in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Since then he has been much in demand and starred in The Last King of Scotland, Penelope, Becoming Jane, Atonement, Wanted, the X-Men franchise, Filth, Muppets Most Wanted and Trance. He has also voiced characters in Gnomeo & Juliet and Arthur Christmas. McAvoy is a big fan of Celtic FC.

Career: Blethyn gained early experience with two small theatre groups before joining the National Theatre in 1975. Her TV debut was in a 1979 episode of Tales of the Unexpected, and a year later she had a lead role in Mike Leigh's small-screen project Gloria. In 1990 she made her first film, The Witches, following that up with A River Runs Through It. Despite roles in Outside Edge and The Buddha of Suburbia, she didn't become a household name until her Oscar-nominated role in Leigh's Secrets & Lies. Since then she's starred in Girls' Night, Saving Grace, Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, London River, and gained another Oscar nomination for Little Voice. She returned to the small screen in 2011 playing the title role in ITV's detective series Vera.

Career: Ronan received good reviews for her performance in Atonement (2007), a small-budget film that grossed more than $129million worldwide and earned her an Academy Award nomination. She followed this up with the straight-to-DVD romantic comedy I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007). Since then, she has starred in a number of successful movies, including City of Ember (2008), The Lovely Bones (2009), The Way Back (2010), Hanna (2011), Byzantium (2012) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014).

Career: Her first major film role came in Nicholas Nickleby (2002) and a year later, she landed the lead in I Capture the Castle (2003). Her film credits also include Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004), Vanity Fair (2004), Scoop (2006), Angel (2007), Atonement (2007) and One Day (2011). She received Golden Globe nominations for both TV miniseries Emma and TV drama The Hour.

Career: Redgrave's first professional job was at Frinton Summer Theatre. She made her West End debut opposite her father in A Touch of the Sun, and starred alongside him in 1958's Behind the Mask, her film debut. She became a face of the 1960s thanks to movies such as Blowup, Isadora and Camelot before winning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1977 for Julia. Redgrave has continued to appear on the big screen in productions such as Agatha, Yanks, Wetherby, Howards End, Mission: Impossible, Wilde, Venus, Atonement, Song for Marion and Ralph Fiennes' acclaimed film version of Coriolanus. She's also an activist who works tirelessly for various causes, often creating controversy with her forthright views.