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: Following his graduation in 1995, Macfadyen continued to act on stage. His TV breakthrough came three years later when he played Hareton Earnshaw in an adaptation of Wuthering Heights. He went on to appear in the TV drama Warriors and the movies Maybe Baby and Enigma, but really made his name when he took the lead role in spy drama Spooks in 2002. Three years later, he proved he was romantic leading man material when he was cast as Mr Darcy in the movie version of Pride and Prejudice. In 2007, he won plaudits for playing a paeodophile in Secret Life. Other TV work includes Little Dorrit, Enid Blyton, Criminal Justice, The Pillars of the Earth, Any Human Heart, Criminal Justice, Ripper Street and The Enfield Haunting. Other big screen projects include Death at a Funeral, Frost/Nixon, Robin Hood and Anna Karenina.

Career: Dench made her professional debut with the Old Vic Company before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1961, and has frequently worked on stage ever since. She became a household name in the 1980s thanks to sitcom A Fine Romance, for which she won a Bafta. She's also won the award for Four in the Morning, Talking to a Stranger, Iris, The Last of the Blonde Bombshells, Shakespeare In Love (for which she picked up an Oscar too), A Handful of Dust, Mrs Brown and A Room With a View. Other notable productions include Chocolat, Notes on a Scandal, J Edgar, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and its sequel, and several Bond movies, including Skyfall, in which she bowed out as M.

Career: Sutherland appeared in several British TV dramas before making his film debut in 1964's Crypt of Horror. He named his eldest son after its director, Warren Kiefer. More small-screen and low-budget movie projects followed until 1967's The Dirty Dozen. That led to bigger roles in acclaimed films, including 1970's MASH, which made him a star. Impressive yet occasionally offbeat performances followed in films such as Kelly's Heroes, Klute, Don't Look Now, The Eagle Has Landed, Animal House, Ordinary People and JFK. More recently he's featured in Dirty Sexy Money, Astro Boy (as the voice of President Stone), The Hunger Games and The Pillars of the Earth.

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: Malone made her professional acting debut in the film Bastard Out of Carolina (1996). Her first leading role on the big screen came in Donnie Darko (2001). In 2006, she made her stage debut on Broadway in Doubt. Her other film credits include Contact (1997), Into the Wild (2007), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Sucker Punch (2011) and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013).

Career: Other TV work followed with roles in Bleak House, The Amazing Mrs Pritchard, Agatha Christie's Marple, Waking the Dead and a standout performance in an episode of Doctor Who. An Academy Award nomination for her role in An Education (2009) elevated her to the world stage and she has never looked back. Since then she has starred in a number of independent and big-budget films, including Public Enemies (2009), Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010), Never Let Me Go (2010), Drive (2011), Shame (2011), The Great Gatsby (2013) and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013).

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.