The Other Bennet Sister

Ella Bruccoleri (Actor) .. Mary Bennet

Richard E Grant (Actor) .. Mr Bennet

Born: May 02, 1957 in Mbabane, Swaziland

Best Known For: Withnail and I.

Early-life: Born Richard Esterhuysen on May 2, 1957, in Mbabane, Swaziland. His mother left home when he was 11, leaving him and his brother Stuart to be raised by their father, the country's director of education. He attended school with Nelson Mandela's daughter. Grant knew from an early age he wanted to act after becoming infatuated with Barbra Streisand. He studied English and drama at university in Cape Town, South Africa, then settled in London, but struggled to make a name for himself.

Career: Grant gained good reviews for a performance in short film Honest, Decent and True in 1985, alongside Gary Oldman and Arabella Weir. His big break came when Daniel Day-Lewis dropped out of Withnail and I, and Grant took his place. The film was a cult smash. Since then, he's appeared in various films and TV shows, including Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Age of Innocence, LA Story, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Gosford Park, and The Hound of the Baskervilles. His film diary, With Nails, was a best-seller, but a novel, By Design, was disappointing. In 2005, he made his directing debut with the critically acclaimed, semi-autobiographical Wah-Wah. His recent work includes roles in Colour Me Kubrick, Penelope, Cuckoo and The Iron Lady, in which he played Tory politician Michael Heseltine.

Quote: 'Sometimes Hollywood doesn't seem a million miles from a Miss World contest. I just don't have strong enough mental furniture to withstand it.'

Trivia: In 2006, he helped to expose a $98million scam to sell a bogus AIDS cure.

Ruth Jones (Actor) .. Mrs Bennet

Born: September 22, 1966 in Bridgend, Wales

Best Known For: Gavin and Stacey.

Early-life: Ruth Alexandra Elizabeth Jones was born on September 22, 1966, in Bridgend, Wales. She has two older brothers and a younger sister; her mother was a child psychiatrist, her father a legal executive at British Steel in Port Talbot. Ruth attended the same school as future comedy actor (and Gavin and Stacey co-star) Rob Brydon. She graduated from Warwick University with a drama degree and also studied at Cardiff's Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Career: Jones struggled to make a living as an actress and was thinking of retraining as a solicitor - until she landed a panto job. Brydon also persuaded her to join an improvisational group in Bath which included Julia Davis; they would later work together on Nighty Night and Gavin and Stacey. Roles in East is East, Saxondale and Little Britain followed, but it was Fat Friends that changed the course of her career. It was there that Jones met James Corden, with whom she would create Gavin and Stacey. Its success turned them both into major stars. Since then she's hosted her own chat shows and starred in Marple, The Great Outdoors and Hattie. She is also the writer and star of Sky1's Stella.

Quote: 'At drama school I can remember thinking: 'I will never be Juliet. I'll always be the nurse'.'

Trivia: Jones is married to TV producer David Peet. They own their own company, Tidy Productions, which makes Stella.

Lucy Briers (Actor) .. Mrs Hill

Tanya Reynolds (Actor) .. Caroline Bingley

Maddie Close (Actor) .. Jane Bennet

Poppy Gilbert (Actor) .. Elizabeth Bennet

Grace Hogg-Robinson (Actor) .. Lydia Bennet

Molly Wright (Actor) .. Kitty Bennet

Anna Fenton-Garvey (Actor) .. Charlotte Lucas

Claire Cage (Actor) .. Lady Lucas

Sean Carlsen (Actor) .. Sir William Lucas

Lucinda Dryzek (Actor) .. Louisa Bingley

Aled Owens (Actor) .. Charles Bingley

Victor Pilard (Actor) .. Fitzwilliam Darcy

Ryan Sampson (Actor) .. Mr Collins

Born: November 28, 1985 in Rotherham

Best Known For: Playing Grumio in the sitcom Plebs.

Early-life: Ryan Oliver Sampson was born in Rotherham on November 28, 1985. He attended Wales High School in Rotherham, where he appeared in school productions. He made his TV debut in 2003 in Wire in the Blood. Roles followed in the TV movie In Denial of Murder, Heartbeat and Holby City.

Career: Sampson's first break came in 2007 when he starred alongside Nicholas Lyndhurst, Celia Imrie and Dani Harmer in BBC sitcom After You're Gone. He has also made guest appearances in Doctor Who, Fresh Meat and Dates. He has had recurring roles in The Work Experience, Up the Women and Undercover. He is perhaps best known for playing Grumio in the ITV sitcom Plebs.

Quote: 'I'm an annoying person to be around.'

Trivia: On the stage, he has starred in Dido, Queen of Cambridge, The Kitchen Sink, and From Here to Eternity the Musical.

Richard Coyle (Actor) .. Mr Gardiner

Born: February 27, 1972 in Sheffield

Best Known For: Coupling.

Early-life: Born February 6, 1972, in Sheffield. His parents are Irish and he has four brothers. On leaving school he studied languages and philosophy at York University, where he became interested in acting, appearing in several amateur productions and at the Edinburgh Festival. He was going to be an extra in Franco Zeffirelli's version of Jane Eyre, but was given a small speaking part instead when the director heard he was planning on going to drama school.

Career: After attending the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Coyle landed small parts in TV productions, including an experimental version of Macbeth and Hetty Wainthropp Investigates. He then appeared in such acclaimed movies as Human Traffic and Topsy-Turvy, before returning to TV for Wives and Daughters, Up Rising, and Hearts and Bones. In 2000, he got his big break when he landed the role of eccentric Welshman Jeff in Coupling. He has since appeared in Lorna Doone, Strange, The History of Mr Polly, The Whistleblowers, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and W.E, which was directed by Madonna. Coyle also has his own company, Arcola Theatre, which he runs with friend Rafe Spall.

Quote: 'Heroes are different today, they are not the same as the 1940s and 1950s with the Errol Flynn stuff. Heroes today can be insecure. They can worry too.'

Indira Varma (Actor) .. Mrs Gardiner

Sarah Quintrell (Dramatised by)

Becca Kinder (Executive producer)

Kate Crowther (Executive producer)

Jane Tranter (Executive producer)

Janice Hadlow (Executive producer)

John Pocock (Producer)

Jennifer Sheridan (Director)

8:30 pm - 9:00 pm, Sunday, March 15 on BBC One London (1)

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Season 1, Episode 2

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