Starter for 10

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Now available on DVD!

Starring James McAvoy, Alice Eve, and Rebecca Hall
Executive Producers Sam Mendes, Steven Shareshian, Nathalie Marciano, and Michelle Chydzik Sowa
Producers Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman, and Pippa Harris
Directed by Tom Vaughan
Screenplay by David Nicholls Based on his book
HBO Films Presents in association with BBC Films a Playtone Picture in Association with Neal Street Productions

From Playtone and producers Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and Pippa Harris, Starter For 10 is a romantic comedy set in the mid-eighties about a working-class kid struggling to make his way in the rarified world of an upper-class British University. On his way to achieving his long-held ambition to appear on the British TV Quiz Show, University Challenge, he falls in love with his beautiful teammate and forms a plan to win her heart through his advanced general knowledge skills. Starter For 10 is a bittersweet comedy about loyalty, class, falling in love and the difference between knowledge and wisdom.

TOM VAUGHAN (Director)

Tom Vaughan was born and brought up in Helensburgh, Scotland. As a teenage actor Vaughan used the money he earned from appearing in a TV show to buy a video camera so he could pursue his burgeoning interest in filmmaking. He spent the rest of his teenage years re-making his favorite movies starring his friends and family. After studying Drama at Bristol University Vaughan moved to London and started making short films. His first short Super Grass (Executive Produced by Mike Leigh’s producer Simon Channing Williams) won a distribution deal with Richard Linklater’s movie Dazed And Confused and played in theatres across the UK as well as at film festivals. It was bought by Film Four and shown on national TV.

With casting director Stephanie Duala, Vaughan ran an acting workshop at the Holborn Centre for Performing Arts from which came the ideas and characters for his next short film Box. A devised piece set around a phone box over one night in London the film caught the attention of the organizers of a Levi’s sponsored short film competition. Vaughan’s comedy Still Buzzin’ became the first film made under this scheme and was shown at festivals around the world. It too won a theatrical distribution deal this time in front of Richard Linklater’s movie Suburbia. On the strength of Still Buzzin’ ad agency St Luke’s approached Tom to direct a short film they were producing as part of a campaign for BBC Radio 1. The resulting film Plotless was again shown at cinemas across the UK and the four TV spots shot as part of the production went on to win Tom a Creative Circle Award for Best Newcomer. Within a year Vaughan had won a BTAA Gold Arrow for his Yellow Pages commercial. He was named by Campaign as one of the UK’s Hottest Directors and was selected as part of Saatchi & Saatchi’s New Directors’ Showcase at Cannes.

Film Four fully financed Vaughan’s next short film Truel a period drama based on a game theory problem and he took time out of commercials to direct episodes of the hit TV show Cold Feet. Since then Vaughan has successfully balanced a busy commercials career with his drama work.

Most recently Vaughan directed He Knew He Was Right for the BBC. This highly acclaimed four-hour mini-series was adapted from Anthony Trollope’s novel by Andrew Davies and stars Bill Nighy, Oliver Dimsdale, Matthew Goode, David Tennant, Stephen Campbell Moore, Laura Fraser, Geoffrey Palmer, Ron Cook and Anna Massey.

Starter For Ten is Vaughan’s first feature film. Vaughan has known writer David Nicholls since college days when they both attended the same degree course studying Drama at Bristol University. Vaughan linked up with David to direct his first original TV screenplay—the award winning mini-series I Saw You. When the time came to find a director for Starter For Ten Vaughan was the obvious choice.

DAVID NICHOLLS (Writer)

Born in 1966 on the south coast of England, David Nicholls studied Drama and English at Bristol University, before moving to New York, where he trained as an actor at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.

Returning to London, Nicholls worked as an actor for eight years, performing in many plays, including several years at the Royal National Theatre. After a period working as a TV story editor, he began to work full-time as a writer eight years ago.

Nicholls’s TV writing credits include the hit British TV series Cold Feet, Rescue Me, and I Saw You. His most recent play for television, a modern version of Much Ado About Nothing for BBC TV, received critical acclaim and a BAFTA nomination for Best Drama. His next play for BBC television, After Sun, was screened September 2006.

Nicholls’s first film credit was as co-writer (with director Matthew Warchus) of the film adaptation of Sam Shepard’s Simpatico, which starred Nick Nolte, Jeff Bridges, Albert Finney and Sharon Stone.

He has also written two best-selling novels, Starter For Ten (published in the US as A Question of Attraction) and The Understudy, which he is currently developing as a screenplay.

TOM HANKS (Producer)

One of the today’s most admired and respected actors, Tom Hanks also holds the distinction of being the first actor in 50 years to be awarded back-to-back Best Actor Academy Awards®. In 1993, he was rewarded for his compelling performance as the AIDS-stricken lawyer in Philadelphia and the following year he won the Oscar® for his outstanding performance in Forrest Gump. He also won Golden Globes for both of these performances. For Forrest Gump, Hanks also won a Peoples Choice Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Chicago Film Critics Award, a National Association of Theater Owners Male Star of the Year Award and the Hollywood Women’s Press Club Award. In addition to the many honors Hanks has received, he was named “Man of the Year” by the nation’s oldest undergraduate dramatic group, Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals, for his performance as astronaut Jim Lovell in Ron Howard’s Apollo 13.

In 1996, Hanks made his feature film writing and directing debut with That Thing You Do!, which followed the meteoric rise to fame of a local rock band named “The Wonders” in the summer of 1964. The film’s title song not only reached the Top 10 in many contemporary music charts, but was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Original Song. Hanks also appeared in the film in a supporting role.

Born and raised in Oakland, CA, Hanks first became interested in acting during high school. He attended California State University in Sacramento, where he appeared in a production of The Cherry Orchard and met director Vincent Dowling, resident director of the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Cleveland. Dowling invited Hanks to intern with the company, where he made his professional debut portraying Grumio in The Taming of the Shrew. Hanks appeared in other Great Lakes productions, including The Two Gentlemen of Verona, for which he received the Cleveland Critics Award for Best Actor. From Cleveland, Hanks went on to New York, where he appeared in his first feature film He Knows You’re Alone and onstage in The Taming of the Shrew.

Hanks got his first big break when he was cast as the lead in the ABC television comedy series Bosom Buddies. This led to starring roles in Bachelor Party followed by Ron Howard’s Splash—a box office hit that started him on his path to becoming one of Hollywood’s busiest and most sought-after leading men. Hanks many film credits include Volunteers, Nothing in Common and A League of Their Own. In 1988, with his box office success established, Hanks found himself a critical success with acclaimed performances in Punchline and Big (for which he earned his first Academy Award® nomination and his first Golden Globe Award). The same year, the Los Angeles Film Critics recognized both performances, bestowing on Hanks their Best Actor Award. Constantly challenging himself, Hanks served as executive producer for HBO’s From the Earth to the Moon—an ambitious 12-hour dramatic film anthology that explored the Apollo space program. Not only did Hanks personally help make this show a reality, he directed the first episode and wrote and appeared in the final episode.

In 1998, Hanks starred in Steven Spielberg’s war drama Saving Private Ryan in which he played a soldier who went deep behind enemy lines to save a trapped private during the Allied invasion. He received another Oscar® nomination for his work. The following year he starred in The Green Mile, which was written and directed by Frank Darabont and is based on the six-part serialized novel by Stephen King.

In 2000, Hanks starred in Cast Away for which he received yet anotherOscar® nomination for his portrayal as the sole survivor of a plane crash marooned on a deserted island. Cast Away was directed by Robert Zemeckis, from a screenplay by William Broyles Jr.

In 2000, he served as executive producer (for another epic HBO miniseries), Band of Brothers, based on Stephen Ambrose’s book. He also directed one of the episodes. The miniseries aired in the spring of 2001 to wide-scale critical acclaim, leading to a Golden Globe win for the Best Miniseries in 2002.

In 2002, Hanks starred in the depression era drama The Road to Perdition opposite Paul Newman and Jude Law under Sam Mendes’ direction. It was followed by Spielberg’s stylish caper Catch Me If You Can opposite Leonardo DeCaprio, which was based on the true-life exploits of international confidence man Frank Abagnale Jr.

Hanks teamed again with Spielberg in The Terminal opposite Catherine Zeta Jones and followed it with the Coen brothers’ dark comedy The Ladykillers, the story of an eccentric Southern professor who assembles a band of inept thieves to rob the Bandit Queen, a Mississippi riverboat casino.

In November 2004, Hanks starred in the film adaptation of the Caldecott Medal-winning children’s book The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. Hanks portrayed The Conductor in this beloved children’s book, which reunited him with Cast Away director Robert Zemeckis.

Tom can currently be seen playing Robert Langdon in the film adaptation of Dan Brown’s best selling novel The Da Vinci Code. The film is helmed by Ron Howard and also stars Audrey Tautou, Paul Bettany, Ian McKellen and Jean Reno.

Hanks currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Rita Wilson, and their family.

GARY GOETZMAN (Producer)

Gary Goetzman’s producing credits include The Ant Bully, The Polar Express, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Beloved, That Thing You Do!, The Silence of the Lambs, (winner of 5 Academy Awards®, including Best Picture), Philadelphia, Devil In a Blue Dress, Miami Blues, Modern Girls, Amos and Andrew, Storefront Hitchcock, Neil Young Heart of Gold, the Imax 3-D short Magnificent Desolation, the HBO Series Big Love and the Emmy® and Golden Globe® winning mini-series, Band of Brothers.

At 20, Goetzman production managed Jonathan Demme’s directorial debut Caged Heat. He also produced the Talking Heads’ concert film Stop Making Sense, Neil Young’s long form video The Complex Sessions and music videos for Bruce Springsteen, Suzanne Vega, David Byrne, and Jane Child’s number one music video Don’t Wanna Fall in Love, which he also directed.

Goetzman is currently producing the films Charlie Wilson’s War starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Phillip Seymour Hoffman and directed by Mike Nichols, Where The Wild Things Are, based on the beloved children’s book, to be directed by Spike Jonze, The Great Buck Howard starring John Malkovich and Colin Hanks and City of Ember to be directed by Gil Kenan.

A native of Los Angeles, Goetzman has a rich musical background and has written and produced songs for many recording artists including Smokey Robinson, Natalie Cole, Chaka Khan, The Staple Singers, Thelma Houston, The Manhattans, David Ruffin, and Robert John.

He has contributed his talents to many motion picture soundtracks including Something Wild, Colors, Married to the Mob, That Thing You Do!, Devil In a Blue Dress, Wim Wender’s Until the End of the World, and Philadelphia, which includes Bruce Springsteen’s Academy Award® and Grammy winner for Best Original Song, “Streets of Philadelphia.” He produced the socially provocative and star-studded music DVD What’s Going On? for the Artists Against AIDS Fund. In 1998 Goetzman teamed up with Tom Hanks to form PLAYTONE, a film, television and record company.

PIPPA HARRIS (Producer)

Pippa Harris set up Neal Street Productions in 2003 with Sam Mendes and Caro Newling. Prior to this she was Head of Drama Commissioning for the BBC. Drama Commissions include State of Play (RTS, Best Drama Serial & Best Writer), The Lost Prince (Emmy Award, Outstanding Miniseries), Cutting It, Daniel Deronda (BANFF Rockie Award, Best Miniseries), Out of Control (Edinburgh Best British Feature, RTS Best Single Drama) and Flesh and Blood (Prix Europa Best Drama).

She joined the BBC in 1997 as Development Executive, BBC Films and later became Executive Producer, BBC Drama Serials. Production Credits include: The Young Visitors, The Way We Live Now (BAFTA Best Drama Serial), Care (BAFTA Best Single Drama, Prix Italia Best TV Drama), Warriors (BAFTA Best Drama Serial, Prix Italia Best Television Programme). Prior to joining the BBC in 1997 Pippa worked in the drama divisions of Carlton TV and Channel 4 as a development executive.

Pippa is currently producing Stuart A Life Backwards for HBO/BBC and Executive Producing Things We Lost in the Fire for DreamWorks. She also co-produced Jarhead for Universal Pictures.

ASHLEY ROWE (Director of Photography)

Ashley Rowe has recently served as director of photography on Charles Shyer’s films The Affair of the Necklace with Hillary Swank, Adrien Brody, and Christopher Walken; and Alfie with Jude Law and Marisa Tomei. Rowe also shot Calendar Girls with Helen Mirren and Julie Walters; Sacha Baron Cohen’s Ali G. Indahouse; the Mandy Moore teen comedy Chasing Liberty; director Brian Gibson’s music comedy Still Crazy; Marshall Herskowitz’s The Castle; Michael Radford’s B-Monkey; and Phil Agland’s The Woodlanders, for which he received the 1999 Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Technical/Artistic Achievement in Cinematography.

Other awards include a Cameraimage “Golden Frog” nomination for director Chris Menges’s Second Best, Best Cinematography award at the Troi Film Festival for One Full Moon, and a BAFTA award for Best Cinematography for Om Edwards.

For television, Rowe contributed notable work to the BBC Dennis Potter project Karaoke, and was honored with BAFTA Best Cinematography awards for the BBC productions The Cormorant and Friday On My Mind.

Upcoming for Rowe is the crime drama Butterfly On A Wheel starring Pierce Brosnan and Maria Bello.

HEATHER PERSONS (Editor)

Heather Persons began her career apprenticing for Dede Allen on The Addams Family and later assisted on several films including Flesh and Bone, starring Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid; Something to Talk About, directed by Lasse Hallström, starring Julia Roberts; and American Rhapsody, starring Scarlett Johansson. With Mia Goldman, she co-edited My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which was a huge domestic and international success, and The In-Laws, starring Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks. She edited the TNT movie The Ron Clark Story, starring Matthew Perry for director Randa Haines and she most recently edited Open Window (Sundance 2006) starring Robin Tunney and Joel Edgerton.

SARAH GREENWOOD (Production Designer)

Last year Sarah Greenwood received an Academy Award® nomination for outstanding achievement in production design for Joe Wright’s Pride and Prejudice, an adaptation of the Jane Austen classic starring Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Dame Judi Dench, and Donald Sutherland. Other recent feature films include David Kane’s Born Romantic and This Year’s Love; Sandra Goldbacher’s The Governess with Minnie Driver, Tom Wilkinson, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers; and Bob Bierman’s film version of George Orwell’s Keep The Aspidistra Flying (aka A Merry War) with Richard E. Grant and Helena Bonham Carter.

Greenwood’s artistic collaboration with Joe Wright began with their successful work in British television including: the BAFTA Award-winning BBC drama Charles II, Channel Four’s Bodily Harm, and BBC’s Nature Boy. Greenwood is currently reteaming with Wright for the filmmaker’s highly-anticipated adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel, Atonement, starring James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Kristin Scott Thomas, Brenda Blethyn, and Romola Garai.

JAMES McAVOY (Brian Jackson)

James McAvoy was born in the Scotstoun area of Glasgow, Scotland in 1979 and is a graduate of the prestigious Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. In his short career, he has tested himself with an incredible variety of work, on stage, television and film and is regarded as one of the UK’s most exciting acting talents.

Although he cut his teeth with small parts in high-profile projects like the World War One drama Regeneration, alongside Jonathan Pryce and Dougray Scott, and the hugely-successful HBO series, Band of Brothers, produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, McAvoy first came to prominence in the UK with the role of Josh in the Channel Four adaptation of Zadie Smith’s popular novel, White Teeth, with Geraldine James, John Simm and Naomie Harris. This brought McAvoy to the attention of Hollywood and in 2002 he was cast as Leto Atreides II in the Emmy Award-winning mini-series, Children Of Dune. Directed by Greg Yataines and co-starring Susan Sarandon and Steven Berkoff, the series was a massive hit, with The Hollywood Reporter describing James as “excellent as a young man forced to battle great odds,” adding that “he adeptly engages in some Matrix-style battles.”

Also in 2002, McAvoy filmed his first lead role in a feature film, as Jay in the British comedy, Bollywood Queen. Directed by Jeremy Wooding, the film tells the story of a cross-cultural romance between Jay and Geena (Preeya Kalidas). McAvoy went straight from this to play student Casanova, Liam, in the cult BBC sitcom, Early Doors.

As McAvoy’s body of work grew, the roles being offered to him grew more and more significant and he next found himself playing the memorable role of Dan Foster in the BAFTA-winning BBC ONE political drama series, State Of Play, with Bill Nighy, John Simm and Kelly Macdonald. Written by Paul Abbott and directed by David Yates, it ran in the UK in Autumn 2003, on BBC America in 2004 and became one of the most successful UK TV series in recent years.

While impressing on the small screen, McAvoy also proved to be a hit on the big screen, when Stephen Fry’s much-anticipated comedy, Bright Young Things was released in October 2004. The BBC said at the time that he “burns brightly and brilliantly as the tragic Lord Balcairn” and the Guardian reported that “there are some excellent performances, most notably by James McAvoy as a desperately ambitious gossip writer”. The film has an all-star international cast, including Emily Mortimer, Dan Ackroyd, Sir Peter O’Toole, Jim Broadbent, Richard E Grant and many more. Bright Young Things was released in the US in August 2004.

McAvoy’s popularity in the UK grew with his portrayal of the car thief, Steve, in the BAFTA-winning, Channel Four series Shameless, which began in the UK in early 2004. Once again written by Paul Abbott, who handpicked McAvoy for the role, the series tells the story of the fortunes and misfortunes of a family on a Manchester council estate. The show returned for a second series in December 2004 before debuting on BBC America in April 2005. McAvoy was nominated in the Best Comedy Newcomer category at the 2004 British Comedy Awards for his performance.

Late 2004 saw McAvoy gain further critical acclaim for two major films. First, in September, came Wimbledon, in which he starred alongside Paul Bettany and Kirsten Dunst. McAvoy plays Carl Colt, brother to Bettany’s Wimbledon hopeful, Peter, who makes a habit of betting large sums against his inspired sibling winning.

A month later, in October, Inside I’m Dancing was released in the UK. Directed by Damian O’Donnell and co-starring Steven Robertson and Romola Garai, the film tells the story of Rory O’Shea, a young Irishman with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, who leads his cerebral palsy-stricken friend in a fight for physical and emotional freedom. The film received great critical acclaim, with McAvoy’s landmark performance being especially noted. Film Review wrote that “McAvoy, last seen in Wimbledon, steals the film in a performance of sly anarchy, all the more impressive in that he can only act from the neck up.” The Independent described James as “brilliant”, The Sunday Telegraph called him “superb,” Screen International said that “McAvoy burns with charisma” and The Sunday Times praised the fact that “McAvoy at last gets to command centre stage.” The film was released in the States as Rory O’Shea Was Here. McAvoy was nominated in the Best British Actor category at the 2005 London Film Critics Circle Awards for his performance.

December 2005 saw the long-awaited arrival of Disney’s big budget The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Filmed in New Zealand over the second half of 2004, McAvoy plays Mr. Tumnus The Faun in this adaptation of the C.S. Lewis classic, directed by Andrew Adamson and co-starring Tilda Swinton, Rupert Everett and Liam Neeson. The film became a massive international success and is one of the 20 highest grossing films of all time. McAvoy was nominated in the British Actor in a Supporting Role at the 2006 London Film Critics Circle Awards for his performance.

In the summer of 2005, McAvoy traveled to Uganda to take on the lead role in The Last King Of Scotland, directed by the Oscar® and Bafta-winning Kevin Macdonald. The film tells the story of Nicholas Garrigan, a Scottish doctor on a Ugandan medical mission who becomes irreversibly entangled with one of the world’s most barbaric figures, Idi Amin, played by Forest Whitaker. The film co-stars Kerry Washington and Gillian Anderson.

McAvoy will also soon be seen in Penelope, directed by Mark Palansky. Co-starring Reese Witherspoon, Christina Ricci and Richard E. Grant, McAvoy plays a man called upon to save a young woman cursed with the snout of a pig.

In April 2006, McAvoy moved to Dublin to start work on Becoming Jane. Directed by Julian Jarrold and co-starring Dame Maggie Smith and Julie Walters, McAvoy plays the brilliant, roguish Irishman, Tom Lefroy whose affair with Jane Austen (Anne Hathaway) inspired her to write Pride & Prejudice. From Dublin, McAvoy returned immediately to the UK to begin work on Atonement. An adaptation of the popular Ian McEwan novel, the movie is directed by Joe Wright and co-stars Keira Knightley, Kristin Scott Thomas, Brenda Blethyn and Romola Garai. McAvoy plays Robbie Turner, a Cambridge graduate falsely accused of rape, who goes on to fight in the Second World War with the accusation hanging over him.

McAvoy won the Rising Star Award at the 2006 BAFTAs.

REBECCA HALL (Rebecca Epstein)

Rebecca Hall makes her feature film debut in Tom Vaughn’s Starter For Ten.

In the fall, she starred opposite Christian Bale in Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige, a tale of two turn-of-the-century London magicians whose rivalry jeopardizes the lives of everyone around them. Rebecca was recently nominated for an award as British Newcomer of the Year at the London Film Awards.

Last year, Hall received wide acclaim for her performance as Rosalind, Shakespeare’s love conflicted heroine in Peter Hall’s production of As You Like It, which began at The Theatre Royal Bath in 2003 and was followed by an international tour. It was revived in 2005 at the Rose Theatre in Kingston and subsequently ran at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Los Angeles’ Ahmanson Theater and the Curran Theater in San Francisco. In summer 2004, she starred in three productions at the Theatre Royal, Bath: as the title role in Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Galileo’s Daughter, (d: Peter Hall), Elvira in Simon Nye’s version of the Moliere comedy Don Juan (d: Thea Sharrock) and as Ann Whitfield in Shaw’s epic Man and Superman (d: Peter Hall). For her West End debut as Vivie, the tough minded daughter in Mrs. Warren’s Profession (Strand Theatre, premiered October 2002), Hall garnered the Ian Charleson Award. In 2003 she was again nominated for the Ian Charleson Award for As You Like It.

While reading English at Cambridge, she played Miranda in The Tempest, Martha in Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and directed productions of Cuckoo by Guiseppe Manfredi and Tom Stoppard’s The Real Inspector Hound.

Hall’s television credits include Brendan Maher’s forthcoming Wide Sargasso Sea, for BBC 4, Peter Hall’s acclaimed adaptation of Mary Wesley’s novel The Camomile Lawn for Channel 4 and Don’t Leave Me This Way, directed by Stuart Orme.

ALICE EVE (Alice Harbinson)

Alice Eve was born in London, to Trevor Eve and Sharon Maughn (the well known British actors.) She went to school in London before going on to study English at Oxford University. Whilst at university Eve took part in many theatre productions which is where she developed her love of acting. Her roles at University included Galatica in Scenes from an Execution and Mabel in An Ideal Husband.

Eve’s first major film role came whilst she was still at University. This was playing the mischievous character of Miss Frain in the hit film Stage Beauty directed by Richard Eyre. The rest of the cast included Billy Crudup, Rupert Everett, Clare Danes, and Ben Chaplin. The film received fantastic reviews and really launched Eve into the British film scene. Her next role came in the summer holidays of her second year at Oxford in Philip Martin’s BBC television drama Hawking, the story of the search for the beginning of time in which she played the character of Martha.

After gaining her English degree from Oxford Eve was immediately cast in the role of Cicely Boyd in the hit UK TV series The Rotters Club. This cult series was an adaptation of the novel by Jonathan Coe about three friends growing up in Birmingham in the 1970s. It also proved to be a showcase for many young British talent, other cast members included Julian Rhind-Tutt and Hugo Speer.

Following The Rotters Club Eve was immediately cast in the much-anticipated Starter For Ten. Eve’s next project, Big Nothing is directed by Jean-Baptiste Andrea. It is the story of a frustrated, unemployed teacher (played by David Schwimmer) joining forces with a scammer and his girlfriend Josie (played by Eve) in a blackmailing scheme. This hilarious comedy, in which Eve shines brightly, is due for release late in 2006 or early 2007.

Immediately after finishing filming Big Nothing Eve left for the shores of India to begin filming Losing Gemma. This is an ITV1, two-part, 90-minute movie which documents Eve’s characters travels around India. It is due for release in the UK in November. After returning from India Eve went straight in to rehearsals for the critically acclaimed Rock n Roll—Tom Stoppard’s new play directed by Trevor Nunn—in London’s West End. Eve stars alongside Rufus Sewell, Brian Cox, and Sinead Cusack. The play has been sold out months in advance and has received rave reviews from all of London’s top theatre critics. Rock n Roll ran in London until the end of November 2006.

DOMINIC COOPER (Spencer)

Currently performing on Broadway in the critically-acclaimed play, The History Boys, Dominic Cooper will soon be seen starring in the highly-anticipated film adaptation as well. Reprising the role of Dakin that earned him both Drama Desk and Evening Standard Award nominations, Dominic is quickly emerging as one of the most exciting talents in the industry.

Upon completion of his professional training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), Dominic landed a role at the prestigious National Theatre under resident director Nicholas Hytner in Mother Clap’s Molly House. Subsequent theatre credits included roles in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the Caryl Churchill Event at the Royal Court Theatre, before reteaming with Hytner at the National Theatre for His Dark Materials and The History Boys. Winner of three Olivier Awards including Best New Play, The History Boys tells the story of a group of students and their professors as they prepare for life and the pursuit of higher learning. Written by Alan Bennett, The History Boys has since been made into a Fox Searchlight film and toured Japan and New Zealand before landing on Broadway in 2006, where it was the recipient of six Tony Awards, including Best Play.

Making the seamless leap from stage to screen, Dominic film credits include roles in Boudica, I’ll Be There, Neil Jordan’s The Good Thief, and Albert Hughes’s From Hell. Television credits include a series regular role on BBC’s Down to Earth, Sparkling Cyanide, BBC’s The Gentleman Thief, Hallmark’s Davison’s Eyes, and Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed Band of Brothers.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH (Patrick)

Son of actor Timothy Carlton and actress Wanda Ventham, Benedict Cumberbatch trained at the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).

Cumberbatch had the privilege of meeting with Professor Stephen Hawking in preparation for the title role of the BBC television drama Hawking—a role for which he was honored with a 2005 BAFTA nomination and the 2004 Best Actor award from the Monte Carlo Television Festival.

Film highlights include Paige Cameron’s short film based on Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants and director Michael Apted’s upcoming Amazing Grace starring Albert Finney, Michael Gambon, Ciarán Hinds, Rufus Sewell, and Romola Garai. On stage, Cumberbatch has performed in Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler in West End’s Almedia Theatre under the direction of Richard Eyre (for which he received Olivier and Ian Charleson Award nominations); and in Lady From The Sea for theatrical impresario Trevor Nunn.

Cumberbatch will soon be seen opposite Starter For Ten colleague James McAvoy in director Joe Wright’s highly-anticipated adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel, Atonement. When he’s not busy on stage, screen, or television, Cumberbatch’s interests include guitar, harmonica, cricket, rugby, and scuba diving.