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.

Career: Rush's film debut was a bit part in 1981's Hoodwink and he didn't have a major role on the big screen until he played Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night six years later. He had a small role as a dentist in a 1993 episode of Lovejoy, but his big break came in 1996 with Shine, for which he won an Academy Award. He has received further nominations for Shakespeare in Love (1998), Quills (2000) and The King's Speech (2010). His other film credits include Elizabeth (1998), The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004), Munich (2004) and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Throughout his film career, Rush has continued to work on the stage.

Career: Helena's professional debut came at 16 in a TV commercial, swiftly followed by small-screen movie Pattern of Roses. The film Lady Jane followed, but it was 1985's A Room with a View which made her a star. Roles in Hamlet, Howards End and Frankenstein followed, and she was Oscar-nominated for 1997's The Wings of the Dove. The actress went on to prove she could do more than just period drama in projects such as Fight Club, Planet of the Apes, Big Fish, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and lent her voice to animated movies Corpse Bride and Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. She made her musical debut in the big-screen version of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. She's since appeared in Dark Shadows, Les Miserables and Burton & Taylor, and played Bellatrix Lestrange in several of the Harry Potter movies.

Career: After three years in Ramsay Street, Pearce had a stint in Home and Away. During this time he also made several films, including Heaven Tonight, and Hunting, and later appeared in Snowy River: The McGregor Saga. But it was 1994's The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, that made Hollywood notice his acting talent, and lead roles in movies including the Oscar-winning LA Confidential (opposite fellow antipodean Russell Crowe) and critically acclaimed Memento followed. Other projects include The Count of Monte Cristo, Factory Girl, The Hurt Locker, The Road, The Proposition, The King's Speech and Iron Man 3.

Career: Ehle first rose to prominence in 1992 when Peter Hall cast her as Calypso in the TV miniseries The Camomile Lawn. Her performance as Elizabeth Bennett in the 1995 BBC TV adaptation of Pride and Prejudice earned her a Bafta award. A spell with the Royal Shakespeare Company was followed by her first major film role in Paradise Road (1997). In the same year she played the lead role in Alan Bleasdale's TV drama Melissa. Other film roles have included This Year's Love (1999), Sunshine (1999), The King's Speech (2010), The Adjustment Bureau (2011), The Ides of March (2011), Contagion (2011) and Zero Dark Thirty (2012). In 2011, she appeared in short-lived American medical drama A Gifted Man. More recently, she has appeared in RoboCop (2014).

Career: Gambon became a member of Laurence Olivier's first Royal National Theatre company, and made his movie debut in 1965's Othello, alongside the star. His role in long-running TV show The Borderers led to an audition for James Bond. Parts in such forgettable productions as The Beast Must Die and Nothing But the Night came next. It was The Singing Detective in 1986 that finally made him a star. He's worked steadily ever since in the likes of Maigret, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, Gosford Park, Doctor Who, Quartet, Sleepy Hollow and Fortitude. He took over playing Dumbledore in Harry Potter following the death of Richard Harris. He's won BAFTA TV awards for Perfect Strangers, Longitude, Wives and Daughters, and The Singing Detective.

Career: Following acclaimed performances at university, Jacobi joined Birmingham Rep. He was spotted by Laurence Olivier, who invited him to join the National Theatre Company. He made his film debut alongside Olivier in 1965's Othello. Since then, Jacobi has continued to make acclaimed appearances on stage and screen. Among his films are The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, Love Is the Devil, Gladiator, Gosford Park, The King's Speech and Hereafter. He inspired Kenneth Branagh to become an actor and worked alongside him in Henry V, Hamlet and Dead Again. Jacobi won a Bafta for I, Claudius in 1977, starred in the medieval-set series Cadfael, played The Master in Doctor Who, is the narrator of In the Night Garden and scored a surprise hit with Last Tango in Halifax.

Career: Spall appeared on stage with Birmingham Rep and the Royal Shakespeare Company before his movie debut in 1979's Quadrophenia. His big break came playing Barry in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet in 1983. He received Bafta TV nominations for Our Mutual Friend, Shooting The Past and Vacuuming Completely Nude In Paradise. Other memorable projects include Secrets and Lies, Life Is Sweet, Topsy-Turvy, Vanilla Sky, Still Crazy, Frank Stubbs Promotes and several of the Harry Potter movies. He received an OBE in 1999. Always in demand, more recent work includes Pierrepoint, The Street, Enchanted, Oliver Twist, The Damned United, The Fattest Man in Britain, The King's Speech, The Syndicate, and Mr Turner.