Career: Australian director Gregor Jordan auditioned him for the lead in Two Hands (1999), which he got. An in-your-face Aussie crime thriller, the film was outstanding and helped him secure a role in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999). After that, Heath feared being typecast as a teen hunk so he accepted a role in Mel Gibson historical war drama The Patriot (2000). He followed that with roles in the hugely popular A Knight's Tale (2001), the dark drama Monster's Ball (2001) and fantasy thriller The Brothers Grimm (2005). He won critical acclaim for his role as a conflicted gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain (2005) and the Joker in The Dark Knight (2008), for which he won a posthumous Oscar. He died on January 22, 2008, at the age of 28.

Career: Bettany worked steadily in theatre, but it took a back seat when the TV work poured in. Roles in Sharpe and miniseries David Copperfield helped boost his profile, but it was the leading role in indie flick Gangster No 1 which really set him on the road to stardom. The success of his next venture, medieval romp A Knight's Tale, led to Paul making his first collaboration with Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind. Since then, he has featured in Dogma, reunited with Crowe for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, took the lead in romcom Wimbledon and explored his darker side in The Da Vinci Code. His recent work includes The Secret Life of Bees, The Young Victoria, Legion, and The Tourist.

Career: After graduating, Addy returned to act at York's Theatre Royal and also performed at the West Yorkshire Playhouse and Hull Truck Theatre Company. Addy appeared in The Bill, A Very Peculiar Practice, Heartbeat and The Thin Blue Line before landing his big break in 1997's The Full Monty, after being recommended for a role by playwright John Godber. Projects since include Jack Frost, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, A Knight's Tale, The Time Machine and Around the World in 80 Days. He also starred in US sitcom Still Standing and ITV comedy drama Bonkers. Other projects include the Red Riding trilogy, Barney's Version, Robin Hood, Game of Thrones, Trollied and Atlantis, and he continues to be in demand for stage work.

Career: In 2002, Tudyk landed the role of wise-cracking pilot Wash in Joss Whedon's short-lived sci-fi drama Firefly. He reprised the role in Serenity (2005), the big-screen version of Firefly. In the same year, he played Lancelot on Broadway in the musical Spamalot. His other film credits include DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story (2004), I, Robot (2004), 3:10 to Yuma (2007), 42 (2013) and Trumbo (2015). More recently, he played K-2SO in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016). He has voiced a number of characters in TV shows, films and video games, including Simone in Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011), King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph (2012), Duke of Weselton in Frozen (2013) and Ludo/King Butterfly in Star vs the Forces of Evil.

Career: Sewell made his film debut in 1991's Twenty-One and first appeared in the West End a year later in the play Making it Better, winning numerous plaudits. Other stage credits include Translations, Macbeth, Luther and Tom Stoppard's acclaimed Arcadia. His role in TV's Middlemarch made him a heart-throb in 1994. Since then, he's made regular appearances on the small and big screens in such productions as Dark City (1998), Martha Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence (1998), Cold Comfort Farm and A Knight's Tale (2001). More recently, he played Dr Jacob Hood in Eleventh Hour, Tom Builder in The Pillars of the Earth and the lead role in Zen.