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Samantha Morton has established herself as one of the finest actors of her generation, winning Oscar nominations for her turns in Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown (1999) and Jim Sheridan's In America (2002). She has the talent to become one of the major performers in the cinema of this young century.

Samantha Morton was born on May 13, 1977 in Nottingham, England to parents who divorced when she was three years old. Peter and Pamela Morton took other spouses and made Samantha part of a mixed family of 13; she has eight brothers and sisters. She turned to play-acting early in her life, while she was a school-girl.

At 13, she left regular school to train as an actress at the Central Junior Television Workshop, where she learned her craft for three years. It was at the end of her training then that she decided that a life as a professional actress was for her.

She honed her skills in television roles, working her way up from series television to TV-movies and prestigious mini-series, such as Emma (1996) and Jane Eyre (1997). Her first major film role, Under the Skin (1997), won her the Best Actress Award from the Boston Film Critics Society. Woody Allen cast her as Hattie, the "dumb" (unspeaking) lover of Sean Penn's caddish jazz guitarist in Sweet and Lowdown (1999), a beautiful performance in a role that could have flummoxed a less-talented performer. Penn was Oscar-nominated for his performance, but it was Morton's Hattie that was central to the success of the film, Allen's last unqualified success. She provided the moral and narrative center of the film. It was quite a remarkable performance for a 21-year old as she had to do all her acting with her face, having been shorn of her voice. The role of Hattie won Morton a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination.

Ironically, Morton had never seen a Woody Allen movie before. (She grew up watching the TV and listening to the radio.) She agreed to do the film after reading the script (as she says, well-written roles for women are hard to find), and the movie made her a hot commodity in Hollywood after she won the Oscar nomination. (She lost out to Angelina Jolie). Morton was offered many roles, but was very choosy as she was not in acting as a game with a payoff of stardom and money.

She had consolidated her reputation by following up the Allen film with work in indie features that showed that she was not only talented, but quite courageous as a performer. She played a heroin addict in the underrated Jesus' Son (1999) and gave a brilliant performance in Morvern Callar (2002), the story of a Scottish supermarket clerk coping with her boyfriend's suicide.

Steven Spielberg cast her, opposite superstar Tom Cruise, as the clairvoyant in Minority Report (2002), in which she more than held her own opposite Cruise and the special effects. (She took the role as Cruise and Steven Spielberg are favorites of hers). As good as she was, Morton was better served by Irish director Jim Sheridan, Sheridan cast her as a character modeled after his wife in an autobiographical picture more in line with persona and that made better use of her talents. Her performance as the young Irish mother coping with life in New York City in In America (2002) won her numerous critics' awards and another Oscar nod, this time as Best Actress.

At this point, one feels that the odds of her winning the Oscar are even or better. Samantha Morton continues to deliver fine work in provocative films such as Michael Winterbottom's Code 46 (2003), though she is branching out towards the mainstream, taking a role in the remake of that perennial family favorite, Lassie (2005).

Lennie James was born in Nottingham to Trinidadian parents, and grew up in South London. His mother, Phyllis Mary James, died when he was 12. Lennie and his older brother went into a council children's home. When he was 16 he was fostered with a social worker who had two older children, and they remain very close. Within a year Lennie began writing plays (Storm Damage was broadcast by the BBC in 2000 and won a Royal Television Society (RTS) award in 2001). Lennie received his training at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama from which he graduated in 1988.

Screen International "Star of Tomorrow" Aisling Loftus is best known thus far as 'Sonya Rostova' in the hugely successful BBC historical period drama series War and Peace alongside Lily James, Paul Dano and James Norton.

She plays Zoë Moran in The Midwich Cuckoos, a dark, disturbing modern-day re-imagining of John Wyndham's classic science fiction novel of the same name, made most famous in the film Village of the Damned. The Sky series is adapted by Emmy-nominated writer David Farr (The Night Manager, Hanna).

Aisling is well respected for her eclectic projects to date, from A Discovery of Witches to Mr Selfridge with The Observer predicting her to be a 'phenomenon' following her role in BBC drama Dive, from BAFTA award winning Dominic Savage in which she starred with Jack O'Connell. She also starred in Jimmy McGovern's six-part BBC drama Broken with Sean Bean and Anna Friel and for film she featured in Oranges and Sunshine alongside Lily James, Sam Riley and Emily Watson.

Aisling took on the pivotal role of 'the irrepressible Queenie' in the critically acclaimed, five-star production of Andrea Levy's prize-winning novel, Small Island, at the National Theatre (Time Out). She also starred in the equally prolific, The Treatment at the Almeida Theatre with Indira Varma and Julian Ovenden.

Vicky McClure, born Nottingham, May 1983, is an actress best known for her work in the films of Shane Meadows. She starred as Ladine, Romeo's sister, in A Room for Romeo Brass and in Meadows' most successful film, This Is England. Similarly she went on to continue playing Lol in Meadows' critically acclaimed TV series' This Is England '86, ;88 and '90.

She has recently co-starred in the London-based comedy film Filth and Wisdom, the first feature film directed by pop singer Madonna. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 13, 2008.

Undoubtedly a rising British Actor with a lot of Hollywood Directors interested in casting her in future roles.

Sophia Marie Di Martino is an English actress known for portraying Sylvie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series Loki. Di Martino was born in Nottingham and grew up in the suburb of Attenborough. She is half Italian. She attended Chilwell Comprehensive School, where she completed an A Level in performing arts. She went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts with honors in media and performance from the University of Salford.

Cherie Lunghi was born on 4 April 1952 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Excalibur (1981), Frankenstein (1994) and The Mission (1986). She was previously married to Ralph Lawson.

Marcus Rutherford was born on 4 April 1995 in Nottingham, England, UK. He is an actor, known for September 5 (2024), The Wheel of Time (2021) and County Lines (2019).

Ace Bhatti was born on 13 September 1969 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2007) and EastEnders (1985).

Mathew Horne was born on 6 September 1978 in Nottingham, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Planet 51 (2009), Agatha Raisin (2014) and The Nan Movie (2022). He has been married to Celina Bassili since October 2021.

Charlie Creed-Miles was born on 24 March 1972 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for The Fifth Element (1997), Harry Brown (2009) and King Arthur (2004).

Georgia Groome was born on 11 February 1992 in Nottingham, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008), The Holding (2011) and Double Date (2017).

Having grown up in Cambridgeshire and excelled at drama in school, Robinson went on to enroll as a Philosophy Undergraduate at the University of Birmingham, before putting his studies on hold after successfully auditioning for his breakout role as troublemaker Isaac, in Series 2 of the hugely popular show Sex Education, which launched on Netflix in January 2019.

Robinson quickly became popular with fans of the show for his portrayal of the playful, sarcastic Isaac, who, with his brother Joe, moves into the caravan park where Maeve lives. Masking his insecurities and a developing crush on Maeve with his razor-sharp wit and mischievous pranking, he soon becomes entangled in a love triangle with Maeve and Otis, throwing up some challenging moral decisions for Isaac.

Isaac was also Sex Education's first disabled, series regular, character, which emphasized the show's fresh approach to depicting a multiplicity of characters, backgrounds and stories.

Robinson was paralyzed in an accident during a school rugby match in South Africa in 2015, at the age of 17.

Pui Fan Lee was born on 14 July 1971 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for The Nevers (2021) and Landscapers (2021).

Twice BAFTA award-winning English satirist, writer and director, the son of chemist shopkeeper Horace Bird and his wife, Dorothy (née Haubitz). Born in Bulwell, Nottingham, Bird was a graduate of the Cambridge Footlights troupe. He was best known for his lengthy association with fellow Cambridge alumnus John Fortune, with whom he appeared in the trailblazing BBC satire That Was the Week That Was (1962), in addition to contributing scripts. His greatest success came later as support for Rory Bremner in the long-running improvisational political sketch comedy Bremner, Bird and Fortune (1997). Bird was particularly noted for his lampooning of political leaders, such as Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

Other prominent roles saw him as a private detective in 30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia (1968), a university vice-chancellor in A Very Peculiar Practice (1986), a feckless civil servant in If It Moves, File It (1970), pompous barrister John Fuller-Carp in Chambers (2000) and Professor Peter Plum in season 4 of the game show Cluedo (1990). He also made guest appearances in episodes of popular TV shows like Armchair Thriller (1978), Yes, Prime Minister (1986), One Foot in the Grave (1990), Jonathan Creek (1997) and Midsomer Murders (1997). Bird admitted to drug and alcohol dependency at some point in the mid- to late 70s, which for some time seriously affected both his physical and mental health.

Bird was married and divorced from Ann Stockdale, the daughter of a US ambassador to Ireland, and to television presenter Bridget Simpson. His third wife, concert pianist Libby Crandon, predeceased him in 2012.

Harriet Cains was born on 17 September 1993 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Bridgerton (2020), Mercury (2018) and Line of Duty (2012).

Perry Fitzpatrick was born in 1982 in Nottingham, England, UK. He is an actor, known for I Am... (2019), This Is England '90 (2015) and Downton Abbey (2019).

Molly Windsor (born 19 June 1997) is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the 2009 Channel 4 television film The Unloved (2009) and the 2017 BBC miniseries Three Girls (2017), for which she won the 2018 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress. Windsor was named as a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit, one of the 20 members from the film, television, and gaming industries, in 2017.

Lucy Manvers in The Unloved (2009) was Windsor's first professional acting role. The Times described her character as "played with an unsettling stillness by Molly Windsor". She was discovered by the writer and director of BAFTA-winning "The Unloved", Samantha Morton, in a local drama school and casting agency, Rama Young Actors. She also had a role as Margaret's daughter in the 2011 film, Oranges and Sunshine.

Windsor attended the Nottingham Actors Studio, a not-for-profit CIC organization, and the Television Workshop, and has signed a contract with London-based talent agency, the Artists Partnership.

Windsor lives in Breaston, Derbyshire with her family. She attended the Nottingham's Central Junior Television Workshop, before switching to Rama Young Actors at the age of ten. As of 2009 she believed in God, which Samantha Morton named as a contributing factor in Windsor's casting in "The Unloved".

Rosalie Craig was born on 30 May 1981 in Nottingham, England, UK. She is an actress, known for MI-5 (2002), National Theatre Live: The Threepenny Opera (2016) and Macbeth (2013). She has been married to Hadley Fraser since 5 October 2014. They have one child.

Harry Gilby is a British actor born on August 21, 2001 in Nottingham, England, to Helen Gilby and Neil Gilby. He is known for The Last Kingdom (2022), Tolkien (2019) and Just Charlie (2017). He began his career in 2013 playing Nathan in the West End run of The Full Monty at the Noel Coward Theatre in London. Since then, he has appeared in Grantchester (2020), Casualty (2019) among other film and television roles.

Karl Collins was born on 20 October 1971 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Attack the Block (2011), The Flash (2023) and TwentyFourSeven (1997).

Richard Beckinsale was an English actor, primarily known for his roles in sitcoms. His best known characters were prison inmate Leonard Arthur "Lennie" Godber in "Porridge" (1974-1977) and its sequel series "Going Straight" (1978), and medical student Alan Moore in "Rising Damp" (1974-1978).

Beckinsale was born in the suburban town of Carlton, Nottinghamshire, which is part of the Borough of Gedling. His father Arthur John Beckinsale was Anglo-Burmese, while his mother Maggie Barlow was English. Beckinsale claimed to be a distant cousin of actor Charles Laughton (1899-1962).

Beckinsale attended College House Junior School in Chilwell, and performed in many school plays. His first notable role was that of Dopey the Dwarf in a school play adaptation of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". He also appeared in school plays while attending Alderman White Secondary Modern School. In 1962, he decided to drop out of school and pursue a career as a professional actor. At age 15, Beckinsale was too young to attend drama school. He financially supported himself through a series of odd jobs.

In 1963, Beckinsale was enrolled at Nottingham College, Clarendon, pursuing a drama teacher's training programme. In 1965, Beckinsale applied for training the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). He was accepted there with his second audition, one of only 31 applicants accepted. During his training, Beckinsale accepted a comedy award. He graduated in 1968.

Following his graduation, Beckinsale started appearing in repertory theatre. He toured the United Kingdom with such roles as the Scarecrow in "The Wizard of Oz", Sir Andrew Aguecheek in "Twelfth Night", and the title role in Shakespeare's Hamlet. He made his television debut in 1969, playing a one-shot police officer character in the soap opera "Coronation Street". He next gained a minor role in the drama series "A Family at War" (1970-1972).

His first major television role was that of leading Geoffrey Scrimshaw in the sitcom "The Lovers" (1970-1971). The premise was having a mismatched couple, with a romantic girl paired with a sex-obsessed boyfriend. It was a minor ratings hit and brought some much-needed fame to Beckinsale.

Beckinsale's career reached new heights with the hit sitcoms "Porridge" and "Rising Damp". He also appeared in the sequel series "Going Straight", with the humorous concept of former prison inmates trying to rebuild their lives and seeking honest jobs. His final major role was as the leading actor in the sitcom "Bloomers", but only five episodes were completed before his death.

In December, 1978, while filming episodes for "Bloomers", Beckinsale suffered from dizzy spells. He was worried about his health and sought medical help, but his doctor reassured him that his only health problems were "an overactive stomach lining, and slightly high cholesterol". He subsequently had further signs of ill health, but he attributed them to his nerves.

By 18 March, 1979, Beckinsale was suffering from pain in his chest and arms, but decided against seeking further help. He went to bed, and was found dead the next morning. He had died during the night due to a heart attack. At the time of his death, his wife Judy Loe was recovering in hospital after having an operation. A post-mortem examination revealed that his recent health problems were the results of undiagnosed coronary artery disease. He was only 31 at the time of his death.

Beckinsale was cremated in Bracknell, Berkshire, and his remains were taken to Mortlake Crematorium. A memorial service for him was attended by 300 people, a testament to his popularity. In his will, he left about 65,000 pounds for his wife and daughters. Only 18,000 pounds were left after taxes.

Michael was born in Nottingham where he was educated at Becket Roman Catholic Grammar School, West Bridgeford in Nottingham where he was known as Jimmy - his real name is Michael James - and where he was caned some 130 times. While that might have been a record, the one that went into the record books was scoring 60 of the under-13 football team's 120 goals in a season. In between canings and scoring goals, he acquired a great love of literature and the English language from a teacher at Becket Grammar School which he left at 17 with an A level in philosophy and became an accountant with the coal board. Before he took his accountancy finals, he left the Coal Board and went to work in the Nottingham Fish Market where the language he learned was a revelation to him.

Robert Harris is a former television news reporter, journalist and columnist who wrote his first suspense novel "Fatherland" in 1992. He has followed up that novel with several others, among them "Enigma" (1995) and "Archangel" (1998). Harris is a graduate of Cambridge University and lives in Berkshire with his wife and four children.

Madeleine Mantock is a British actress. She is known for her television work on the AMC series Into the Badlands and The CW revival of The Tomorrow People, as well as her film work on Edge of Tomorrow. Madeleine attended Arts Educational Schools, London where she obtained her BA in Musical Theater.

Mantock primarily works in television, starring as main character Scarlett Conway in Casualty, before she graduated drama school. She was part of the series for 36 episodes starting from 2011 till 2012. She then appeared on Lee Nelson's Well Funny People in 2013, before coming to the United States to be a main character, Astrid, on The Tomorrow People, though it was canceled after one season.

Mantock then played the small role of Julie in the film, Edge of Tomorrow, before she was cast as the main character, Veil, on AMC's Into the Badlands. Her character for 'Into the Badlands' has received positive response.

Mantock then had a role in the 2017 film, Breaking Brooklyn, and is filming her main role in the series Age Before Beauty.

In March 2018, Mantock was cast in the lead role of Macy in The CW's upcoming pilot of Charmed, a reboot of the 1998 series of the same name. The reboot centers on three sisters in a college town who discover they are witches.

Born in Nottingham, England, Arsher Avesta Ali hails from a South Asian background. His father was a welder at the world-famous Raleigh Bike factory in Nottingham and the family ran a chauffeur business.

After finishing secondary school, he decided to become a sports journalist but needed an extra subject to fill out his college timetable. He added Drama to his list of subjects, due to having so many friends in that class.

After receiving encouragement from his drama teacher over the course, Arsher decided to drop all other subjects to focus singularly on Drama and apply to only one drama school after getting a taste for method acting, East 15.

Arsher left Nottingham for London, amid a mixed reaction from his family - determined to make his new path a success and become the first member of his family to work in the arts.

Upon leaving East 15, he signed with Ruth Young at what was then PFD (now United Agents) and was named as one of Screen Internationals 'Stars of Tomorrow'.

He continues to showcase his considerable versatility across TV and Theatre and remains extremely selective in the work he commits to.