The Amazing Spider-Man: The Legacy of Carrie

Andrew Russell Garfield was born in Los Angeles, California, to a British mother, Lynn, and American father, Richard Garfield. When he was three, he moved to Surrey, U.K., with his parents and older brother. He is of English and Polish Jewish heritage. Andrew was raised in a middle class family, and attended a private school, the City of London Freemen's School. He began acting in youth theatre productions while he was still at school. At age 19, he went to the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

His first professional roles were on the stage and in 2005 he made his TV debut in the Channel 4 teen series Sugar Rush (2005) in the UK. More TV work followed (reaching a wider UK audience in a two-part story in the third season of Doctor Who (2005)), as well as a number of movie appearances. Garfield played Eduardo in The Social Network (2010) and Tommy in Never Let Me Go (2010), two films that brought him to full international attention. That same year, he was cast as the title character in the reboot of the Spider-Man film franchise, The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). He reprised the role in the sequel, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), before passing off the torch to Tom Holland.

Resuming his work in drama films, Garfield starred in Ramin Bahrani's 99 Homes (2014), with Michael Shannon, Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge (2016), about real-life Seventh Day Adventist war hero Desmond Doss, and Martin Scorsese's Silence (2016), opposite Adam Driver, playing Jesuit priests. He received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his role as Doss.

In 2017, he starred in Andy Serkis-directed drama Breathe (2017), where Garfield plays Robin Cavendish, an adventurous man paralyzed by polio. In 2018, he headlines David Robert Mitchell's noir thriller Under the Silver Lake (2018).

Moretz is best known for her work in the sci-fi thriller series The Peripheral, created by Scott B. Smith; the Mattson Tomlin-directed sci-fi thriller Mother/Android; Neil Jordan's thriller Greta; Roseanne Liang's Shadow in the Cloud, which claimed the Midnight Madness People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival in 2020; The Miseducation of Cameron Post, which won both critical acclaim and the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2018; Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria, which went on to claim the Independent Spirit Awards' Robert Altman Award after world premiering in Venice; MGM's The Amityville Horror; Marc Webb's 500 Days of Summer; the Kick-Ass franchise; Matt Reeves' English-language remake of Let Me In; Martin Scorsese's Oscar winner Hugo; Warner Bros' If I Stay and Dark Shadows; Kimberly Peirce's remake of the Stephen King classic Carrie; and Sony's The Equalizer with Denzel Washington. She also exec produced the Snapchat Discover series Coming Out, which premiered in 2021.

Thomas Jane is an American actor who is known for portraying Frank Castle from the 2004 Marvel Comics film The Punisher and the 2012 fan film Dirty Laundry. He also was in Boogie Nights, The Thin Red Line, Deep Blue Sea, The Predator, 1922, The Mist and Evening Raga of the West.

Kiki Sukezane is a Japanese actress, active both in America and Japan. Born in Kyoto to a family with historical samurai ancestry, Kiki was inspired to learn English and studied abroad in South Dakota. Upon returning to Japan and graduating, Kiki attended acting school in Tokyo before moving to Los Angeles. While honing her sword fighting skills, she booked her first major role as Katana Girl/Miko Otomo in NBC's Heroes Reborn. Following her first major success, Kiki has stayed active in the industry, booking roles in various television shows and films including Lost in Space (Netflix), Westworld (HBO), Earthquake Bird (Netflix), and lead character, Yuko Tanabe, in The Terror: Infamy (AMC.)

Julianne Moore was born Julie Anne Smith in Fort Bragg, North Carolina on December 3, 1960, the daughter of Anne (Love), a social worker, and Peter Moore Smith, a paratrooper, colonel, and later military judge. Her mother moved to the U.S. in 1951, from Greenock, Scotland. Her father, from Burlington, New Jersey, has German, Irish, Welsh, German-Jewish, and English ancestry.

Moore spent the early years of her life in over two dozen locations around the world with her parents, during her father's military career. She finally found her place at Boston University, where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) degree in acting from the School of the Performing Arts. After graduation (in 1983), She took the stage name "Julianne Moore" because there was another actress named "Julie Anne Smith". Julianne moved to New York and worked extensively in theater, including appearances off-Broadway in two Caryl Churchill plays, Serious Money and Ice Cream With Hot Fudge and as Ophelia in Hamlet at The Guthrie Theatre. But despite her formal training, Julianne fell into the attractive actress' trap of the mid-1980's: TV soaps and miniseries. She appeared briefly in the daytime serial The Edge of Night (1956) and from 1985 to 1988 she played two half-sisters Frannie and Sabrina on the soap As the World Turns (1956). This performance later led to an Outstanding Ingénue Daytime Emmy Award in 1988. Her subsequent appearances were in mostly forgettable TV-movies, such as Money, Power, Murder. (1989), The Last to Go (1991) and Cast a Deadly Spell (1991).

She made her entrance into the big screen with 1990's Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990), where she played the victim of a mummy. Two years later, Julianne appeared in feature films with supporting parts in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992) and the comedy The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag (1992). She kept winning better and more powerful roles as time went on, including a small but memorable role as a doctor who spots Kimble Harrison Ford and attempts to thwart his escape in The Fugitive (1993). (A role that made such an impression on Steven Spielberg that he cast her in the Jurassic Park (1993) sequel without an audition in 1997). In one of Moore's most distinguished performances, she recapitulated her "beguiling Yelena" from Andre Gregory's workshop version of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya in Louis Malle's critically acclaimed Vanya on 42nd Street (1994). Director Todd Haynes gave Julianne her first opportunity to take on a lead role in Safe (1995). Her portrayal of Carol White, an affluent L.A. housewife who develops an inexplicable allergic reaction to her environment, won critical praise as well as an Independent Spirit Award nomination.

Later that year she found her way into romantic comedy, co-starring as Hugh Grant's pregnant girlfriend in Nine Months (1995). Following films included Assassins (1995), where she played an electronics security expert targeted for death (next to Sylvester Stallone and Antonio Banderas) and Surviving Picasso (1996), where she played Dora Maar, one of the numerous lovers of Picasso (portrayed by her hero, Anthony Hopkins). A year later, after co-starring in Spielberg's The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), opposite Jeff Goldblum, a young and unknown director, Paul Thomas Anderson asked Julianne to appear in his movie, Boogie Nights (1997). Despite her misgivings, she finally was won over by the script and her decision to play the role of Amber Waves, a loving porn star who acts as a mother figure to a ragtag crew, proved to be a wise one, since she received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. Julianne started 1998 by playing an erotic artist in The Big Lebowski (1998), continued with a small role in the social comedy Chicago Cab (1997) and ended with a subtle performance in Gus Van Sant's remake of Psycho (1960). 1999 had Moore as busy as an actress can be.

As the century closed, Julianne starred in a number of high-profile projects, beginning with Robert Altman's Cookie's Fortune (1999) , in which she was cast as the mentally challenged but adorable sister of a decidedly unhinged Glenn Close. A portrayal of the scheming Mrs. Cheveley followed in Oliver Parker's An Ideal Husband (1999) with a number of critics asserting that Moore was the best part of the movie. She then enjoyed another collaboration with director Anderson in Magnolia (1999) and continued with an outstanding performance in The End of the Affair (1999), for which she garnered another Oscar nomination. She ended 1999 with another great performance, that of a grieving mother in A Map of the World (1999), opposite Sigourney Weaver.

Sally Margaret Field was born November 6, 1946 in Pasadena, California, to actress Margaret Field (née Morlan) and salesman Richard Dryden Field. Her parents divorced in 1950 and her mother then married stuntman Jock Mahoney, and they had a daughter, Princess O'Mahoney. She also has a brother, Richard Field. Sally attended Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, California.

Her acting career began in 1965, when she landed the role of Frances Elizabeth 'Gidget' Lawrence in Gidget (1965); it was canceled after only one season because of bad ratings. She went on to star in The Flying Nun (1967), which ran for three seasons. She also appeared in her first film in 1967, The Way West (1967) opposite Kirk Douglas. In the next few years she appeared in numerous TV movies and TV shows such as Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring (1971), Marriage: Year One (1971), The Girl with Something Extra (1973), and Sybil (1976). In 1977 she starred alongside then-boyfriend Burt Reynolds in the box office hit Smokey and the Bandit (1977), which led to a less successful sequel in 1980. In 1979 she starred in the popular film Norma Rae (1979) and she received her first Oscar for that role.

In the years that followed she starred in films such as Absence of Malice (1981), Kiss Me Goodbye (1982), Places in the Heart (1984) (she received her second Oscar for her role), Murphy's Romance (1985), Punchline (1988) and Steel Magnolias (1989). In 1993 she starred alongside Robin Williams and Pierce Brosnan in the popular comedy Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). A year after, she played the role of Tom Hanks character's mother (even though she's only ten years older than he is in real life) in Forrest Gump (1994). The film was a huge commercial success and won six Academy awards.

Since then she has appeared in TV movies and miniseries such as A Woman of Independent Means (1995), Merry Christmas, George Bailey (1997), From the Earth to the Moon (1998) and David Copperfield (2000). In 2000 she appeared in the film Where the Heart Is (2000) with Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd, and in 2003 she starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003). She also appeared in 12 episodes of ER (1994) from 2000 to 2006. From 2006 to 2011, she played the role of matriarch Nora Walker in the hit television show Brothers & Sisters (2006), which earned her an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Getting back into film, she earned her third Oscar nomination for Lincoln (2012) and played Aunt May in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and its blockbuster sequel.

Sally has been married twice, first to Steven Craig from 1968 to 1973. They had two sons together, Peter Craig and Eli Craig. Her second marriage was to film producer Alan Greisman from 1984 to 1994. They had one son together, Samuel Greisman. Between marriages, from 1976 to 1980, she was in a relationship with Burt Reynolds.

Neve Campbell was born and raised in Guelph, Ontario, to Marnie (Neve), a Dutch-born psychologist and yoga instructor (from Amsterdam), and Gerry Campbell, a Scottish-born teacher (from Glasgow). Campbell first came to our TV screens in the hit drama series Party of Five (1994). Described as TV's most believable teenager, her first major film role came in the form of innocent victim Sidney Prescott in Scream (1996), the film that redefined the slasher genre.

She joined the cast of the acclaimed series House of Cards (2013) In 2016, playing Leann Harvey; shortly afterward, in 2018, she starred opposite Dwayne Johnson in the action movie Skyscraper (2018).

Many film offers came Neve's way but, as she was filming Party of Five (1994) for nine months of the year, the filming schedules often clashed. So in 2000, she announced that she was to leave the award-winning show to concentrate on a film career. Working in many genres, her film credits include the romantic comedy Three to Tango (1999), alongside Matthew Perry, and the erotic thriller Wild Things (1998), with Denise Richards and Matt Dillon, though she has turned to more of an art house approach with the critically acclaimed Panic (2000) and, more recently, Last Call (2002), both directed by Henry Bromell.

She is an animal lover and describes herself as having a dry, often offensive sense of humor.

Gabriella Wilde was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. She is descended from the aristocratic Gough-Calthorpe family. Her mother, Vanessa Mary Teresa (Hubbard), is the former wife of socialite Sir Dai Llewellyn, 4th Baronet. Her father, businessman John Austen Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe, is a former chairman of the Watermark Group, and the grandson of baronet Fitzroy Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe. Her ancestry includes English, as well as some Scottish and Irish.

Vanessa is a former model who sat for David Bailey and John Swannell. Wilde attended Heathfield St Mary's School, Ascot, and St Swithun's School, Winchester, before leaving to pursue a course in art while continuing with her modeling career. She studied fine art at the City and Guilds of London Art School but dropped out to pursue acting.

Cynthia Preston is an actor, producer, Co-founder of Cyndicate VR Productions, and Co-founder of Dame 51, a writer's collaborative. She is both Canadian and American. She is known for her roles in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, Carrie, Total Recall 2070, and she starred in Whale Music which was the opening film at TIFF that year and was nominated for Best Picture in Canada. She has appeared in 41 films, played the lead in 19, and has been in more than 240 episodes of television. Among her many credits, Cynthia is the voice of Princess Zelda in The Legend of Zelda animated series. Recently, the short film Mute, which Cynthia produced and stars in, was on the festival circuit and won awards at the Imagine This Women's Film Festival, Worldfest Houston International Film Festival, the Toronto International Women Film Festival, and The Blue Ridge Film Festival. Cynthia was nominated for Best Performance at the Hollywood North Film Awards for her portrayal of Stephen King's Monette. Cynthia is writing a feature film and a series, producing a VR project, and has signed on to direct two short films.

Ansel Elgort is an American actor, known for playing Augustus Waters in the romance The Fault in Our Stars (2014) and the title character in the action thriller Baby Driver (2017). He was born in New York City to photographer Arthur Elgort and opera director Grethe Holby. His father is of Russian-Jewish heritage, while his mother has Norwegian and British Isles ancestry.

As a child, Ansel tried out for the School of American Ballet, and attended Stagedoor Manor summer camp and Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School. He began his professional acting career on stage, appearing in Matt Charman's play "Regrets," which was performed off-Broadway. Ansel made his film debut in the horror remake Carrie (2013), and co-starred with Shailene Woodley in both the science-fiction tale Divergent (2014) (playing her character's brother) and the romantic drama The Fault in Our Stars (2014) (playing male lead Augustus Waters, who is Woodley's character's love interest). The film was based on the book by 'John Green' (XII). Ansel also had a role in Jason Reitman's drama film Men, Women & Children (2014), and returned for the sequels to Divergent, Insurgent (2015) and Allegiant (2016). He had a cameo in Paper Towns (2015), also based on a teen drama book by author Green.

Ansel played the title role in Baby Driver (2017), director Edgar Wright's action film, starring opposite Lily James and Kevin Spacey. Baby Driver was critically acclaimed, and emerged as a box office hit in the summer of 2017. Ansel also starred in the 2017 book adaptation November Criminals (2017), a crime thriller. His upcoming roles include the indie films Jonathan, Billionaire Boys Club (2018), and The Goldfinch (2019).

Dreama Walker was born in Tampa, Florida. She graduated from Henry B. Plant High School in 2004, and in 2006 she made her screen debut. In 2012 she starred as "June," a small-town girl with great ambition, on the ABC comedy series Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 (2012), opposite Krysten Ritter and James Van Der Beek. Previously, she appeared on the CBS drama, The Good Wife (2009) (2009-2011) and the CW's Gossip Girl (2007) (2008-2009). On the big screen, Walker appeared in the films Goodbye Baby (2007), Sex and the City (2008), Lifelines (2008), Gran Torino (2008), The Invention of Lying (2009), Chlorine (2013), and many more. She also guest-starred on Law & Order (1990), Ugly Betty (2006), Royal Pains (2009), and Mercy (2009). She resides in Los Angeles.

Actress and philanthropist Rooney Mara was born on April 17, 1985 in Bedford, New York. She made her screen debut in the slasher film Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005), went on to have a supporting role in the independent coming-of-age drama Tanner Hall (2009), and has since starred in the horror remake A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), the biographical drama The Social Network (2010), the thriller remake The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), and the romantic drama Carol (2015).

Patricia Rooney Mara is one of four children of Kathleen McNulty (née Rooney) and NFL football team New York Giants executive Timothy Christopher Mara. Her grandfathers were Wellington Mara, co-owner of the Giants, and Timothy Rooney, owner of Yonkers Raceway, and her grand-uncle is Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney, the former Ambassador to Ireland. She is the great-granddaughter of Art Rooney, the founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers football franchise. Her father has Irish, German, and French-Canadian ancestry, and her mother is of Irish and Italian descent.

After graduating from Bedford's Fox Lane High School, she went to Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia in South America for four months as part of the Traveling School, an open learning environment. She attended George Washington University for a year and then transferred to New York University, where she studied international social policy psychology and nonprofits. She took her degree from New York University in 2010. Her studies focused on non-profit organizations, as her family has a tradition of involvement in philanthropic causes.

She had thought of acting after watching old movies and attending musical theater, but did not think of it as a serious vocation and was afraid she might fail at this. As a result of her reservations, she appeared in only one play while in high school.

She began seriously focusing on acting when she was at New York University, appearing in student films. Inspired by her older sister, actress Kate Mara, she began to pursue the craft, auditioning for acting jobs at age 19. She appeared with her sister Kate in the video horror movie Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005), billing herself as "Patricia Mara". As "Tricia Mara", she had guest roles on television and won her first lead in the movie Tanner Hall (2009), which was shot in the fall of 2007.

She originally auditioned for the supporting role of Lucasta in "Tanner Hall", a $3-million independent film, but director Tatiana von Fürstenberg was so impressed by the young actress, she had her return to audition for the lead role of Fernanda, which Mara won. Furstenberg was delighted with her nuanced performance, saying, "Still waters run deep".

Continuing to call herself Tricia Mara, this was during the making of "Tanner Hall" that she considered changing her professional name to Rooney Mara, soliciting the advice of the cast and crew. After premiering at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, her performance in "Tanner Hall" brought the rechristened Rooney Mara a "Rising Star" award at the 2009 Hamptons Film Festival and a "Stargazer Award" at the 2010 Gen Art Film Festival.

She received her first lead role in a major feature, in the $35 million remake A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010). The movie proved disappointing at the box office, grossing only $63 million domestically and racking up a worldwide gross of just under $116 million. However, she was noticed by critics in the small but pivotal role of the Boston University undergrad Erica Albright who dumps Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network (2010). Director David Fincher subsequently cast her as the lead, Lisbeth Salander, in his thriller remake, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), based on Stieg Larsson's Millennium book series. She received critical acclaim for her performance, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama.

She starred in the thriller film Side Effects (2013), the independent drama Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013), and the acclaimed sci-fi romantic drama Her (2013). The following year, she starred in the adventure drama Trash (2014). She garnered further critical acclaim for her performance in Todd Haynes' romantic drama Carol (2015), for which she won the Best Actress Award at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama and the SAG, BAFTA, and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In the spirit of her family's philanthropic endeavors, Rooney created Faces of Kibera, a charity that provides food, medical care and housing to orphans in Nairobi, Kenya's Kibra district, a small slum that houses a million people. There are many orphans as AIDS is rampant in the slum.

With her expressive blue eyes, soft, Southern-tinged voice and an acting range that can carry her from hysterically funny to terrifying in seconds, Patricia Arquette is one of the most underrated and talented actresses of her generation. Though she has been working for years, she's always stayed just under the radar of true stardom, despite a 1995 marriage to Nicolas Cage.

Patricia was born in Chicago, though the family soon moved to a commune near Arlington, Virginia. Her parents, Lewis Arquette, an actor, and Brenda Denaut (née Nowak), an acting teacher and therapist, had 4 other children: Rosanna Arquette, Richmond Arquette, Alexis Arquette, and David Arquette, all actors. Her paternal grandfather, Cliff Arquette, was also an entertainer. Patricia's mother was from an Ashkenazi Jewish family (from Poland and Russia), while Patricia's father had French-Canadian, Swiss-German, and English ancestry.

At 15, Patricia ran away from home to live with her sister Rosanna and, after initial insecurity, got her start in Pretty Smart (1987). A year later, she gained attention for her starring role in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), considered by many to be the best film of the Nightmare series. In 1989, Patricia's son, Enzo (father is Paul Rossi), was born. Soon after, her career took off, and she has since appeared in such critically acclaimed movies as True Romance (1993), Beyond Rangoon (1995), Ethan Frome (1993), Lost Highway (1997) and Flirting with Disaster (1996). She won a CableACE award in 1991 for her portrayal of a deaf epileptic in Wildflower (1991). In 1997, after her mother died of breast cancer, Patricia took the lead in the fight against the disease. She has run in the annual Race for the Cure and in 1999 was the Lee National Denim Day spokesperson.

Meagan Monique Good was born on 8 August 1981 in Panorama City, California, USA, to Tyra Wardlow-Doyle, who worked as her manager, and Leondis "Leon" Good, an LAPD officer. She began appearing on commercials at the age of four. Then she started guest-starring on series like The Parent 'Hood (1995), Touched by an Angel (1994), Moesha (1996), The Steve Harvey Show (1996) and The Division (2001). She also starred in Raising Dad (2001) with Bob Saget.

Chelan Lauren Simmons was born in Vancouver, Canada. One of three children (one older brother and an older sister), she has been a natural performer since the age of 2. Her first movie role was as the title creature's first victim, Laurie Ann Winterbarger, in Stephen King's It (1990). Her most recognizable roles are in Final Destination 3 (2006) as Ashley Freund, and in Carrie (2002) and Monster Island (2004). She has also guest-starred in episodes of Smallville (2001) and Supernatural (2005).

Christopher Chace Crawford was born in Lubbock, Texas, the son of Dana (Plott), a teacher, and Chris Wayne Crawford, a dermatologist. He grew up in Plano, Texas, and has a younger sister, Candice Crawford Romo, who studied broadcast journalism and won the Miss Missouri USA title in 2008. Chace played football and golf in high school, and is a talented artist. He graduated from Trinity Christian Academy in 2003. Although he worked as a model in Dallas, he never pursued acting. He moved to Malibu, California, to attend Pepperdine University after high school where he was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. He struggled to identify a career path, vacillating between advertising, business and communications majors. Midway through his second year, his mother encouraged him to pursue acting. He credits her for initiating this move. She stated that "it was a practical move," based on a career aptitude test he had taken in high school, which revealed he was best suited for a career in the performing arts. He was signed by the first talent agent that interviewed him and then committed full-time to acting studies.

In 2006, Chace appeared in Lifetime's television movie Long Lost Son (2006), where he plays the son of Gabrielle Anwar's character. That same year, he starred alongside Steven Strait, Taylor Kitsch, Sebastian Stan and Toby Hemingway in the horror/thriller movie, The Covenant (2006). The year 2007 was a big break for Chace. He became one of the leads in CW's drama, Gossip Girl (2007). Among his cast members on the show are Penn Badgley, Leighton Meester & Ed Westwick. In the year 2008, Chace was seen in the movie Loaded (2008), opposite Jesse Metcalfe. He also got involved in the independent movie, The Haunting of Molly Hartley (2008) with Haley Bennett. His other guest appearance includes a stint on the Family Guy (1999) episode The Former Life of Brian (2008). Other than being involved in more acting projects, the year 2008 proved to be an even better year for Chace as he won the Choice TV Breakout Star Male at the Teen Choice Award.

Cory Monteith was born on May 11, 1982 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada as Cory Allan Michael Monteith. He was an actor, known for playing the singing jock Finn on the American TV show Glee (2009) and films such as Monte Carlo (2011), and Final Destination 3 (2006). He died on July 13, 2013 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Dakota Blue Richards, was born at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in South Kensington, London but grew up in Brighton with her mother. She is of Prussian heritage on her Grandmother's side, and Irish on her father's. The name Dakota Blue was inspired by her mother's time spent with Native Americans while studying and traveling in USA. At school, she enjoyed drama, dance and the arts, was an active participant in school plays and attended a local amateur dramatics group in her spare time.

She made her professional acting debut age 12, starring alongside Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig as Lyra Belaqua in the film adaptation of Phillip Pullman's The Northern Lights (The Golden Compass). Ten thousand girls turned up for open auditions in Cambridge, Oxford, Exeter and Kendal for the role; Richards was awarded the part after the casting directors Lucy Bevan and Fiona Weir took a shine to her at the Cambridge auditions. Richards, who was a fan of the books from an early age and had seen the stage adaptation at The National Theatre, said of her character 'I feel like I can relate to her. I like to think I'm quite brave. I stand up for myself. And I don't let other people tell me what to do. Well, unless it's my mum.'

She has been nominated for two best actress awards for her portrayal of popular character Franky Fitzgerald in E4's BAFTA-winning drama Skins, and a multitude of awards, including a Saturn award, for her role in The Golden Compass.

Richards took up screenwriting during her time as WPC Shirley Trewlove in ITV's Endeavour and has since completed a short and a feature length film. She described the experience of writing her first piece as 'In many ways more personal than acting. It was quite cathartic.'

Richards was photographed by RANKIN as part of Ocean 2012, a campaign to prevent over fishing, alongside the likes of Sir Ben Kingsley, Terry Gilliam and Lily Loveless. In 2013 she modelled for fashion designer SORAPOL's AW13 campaign 'Immortal'. She has also been photographed by noted fashion photographer Kate Bellm and was the first woman to appear on the cover of 7th Man magazine.

In her personal life, Richards takes a keen interest in politics and global issues. In 2008, she attended a two-week camp in the Lake District organised by the Equality and Human Rights Commission which aimed to bring together teenagers from different backgrounds to discuss discrimination. Since 2010, she has supported Action for Children, a charity in the United Kingdom helping vulnerable young people overcome injustice and deprivation. In 2011, she fronted an advertising campaign to promote the charity's new project. She is a long time supporter of Good Gifts. Richards is also a vegan.

Judy Greer was born and raised outside of Detroit, Michigan, as Judith Therese Evans. She is the daughter of Mollie Ann (née Greer), a hospital administrator and former nun, and Richard Evans, a mechanical engineer. She has German, Irish, English, Welsh, and Scottish ancestry. After training for nearly ten years in classical Russian ballet, Greer shifted her interest to acting and was accepted into Chicago's prestigious Theatre School at DePaul University.

After a variety of odd jobs during college, from telemarketer to oyster shucker, Greer landed her first on-screen role just three days after graduation -- a small part in the Jason Lee-David Schwimmer comedy Kissing a Fool (1998). She flew to Los Angeles for the film's premiere and never left. Greer quickly landed a role in the dark comedy Jawbreaker (1999), with Rose McGowan and Rebecca Gayheart. Greer starred as a school wallflower-turned-babe in a story about high school girls who accidentally kill their best friend and try to cover up the murder.

She went on to play a news correspondent in David O. Russell's Three Kings (1999), landing a memorable opening love scene with George Clooney. Her performance caught the eye of Hollywood, and she appeared next in Mike Nichols's What Planet Are You From? (2000) as a flight attendant opposite Garry Shandling. Her television credits include a recurring role as Jason Bateman's assistant Kitty on Fox's Arrested Development (2003), as well as guest-starring roles on Love & Money (1999), Maggie Winters (1998), and Early Edition (1996).

Greer starred opposite Jennifer Garner in Columbia Pictures' romantic comedy 13 Going on 30 (2004), directed by Gary Winick. Greer played an office colleague alongside Garner's character, with whom she shares a checkered past.

She co-starred in writer-director M. Night Shyamalan's The Village (2004), opposite Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sigourney Weaver, and William Hurt. Set in 1897, the film revolves around a close-knit community that lives with the knowledge that a mythical race of creatures resides in the woods surrounding them. The Village (2004) was released July 30, 2004, by Touchtone Pictures. Greer also co-starred in director Wes Craven's Cursed (2005), a modern twist on the classic werewolf tale written by Kevin Williamson. The busy actress also landed a co-starring role opposite Orlando Bloom and Susan Sarandon in writer-director Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown (2005), playing the sister of Bloom's character and daughter of Sarandon's character.

She also joined Jeff Bridges and Jeanne Tripplehorn in the independent film The Amateurs (2005) by writer-director Michael Traeger. The film revolves around a motley group of friends who band together to make an amateur porn film. Greer plays a young temptress at the local mattress store who secures a role in the movie by allowing the store to be used as a film location.

Greer wrapped production in New York on a co-starring role opposite Tom McCarthy ("The Station Agent") in Danny Leiner's The Great New Wonderful (2005) for Serenade Films/Sly Dog Films. The dark comedy tells five different stories against the backdrop of an uncertain post-September 11 New York. The cast also includes Maggie Gyllenhaal, Edie Falco and Tony Shalhoub.

She also appeared in writer-director Adam Goldberg's psychological drama I Love Your Work (2003), opposite Giovanni Ribisi. The film is about a fictional movie star (Ribisi) and his gradual meltdown and increasing obsession with a young film student and his girlfriend. The stellar cast also included Franka Potente, Christina Ricci, and Jason Lee and debuted at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival. In the film, Greer plays Samantha, the personal assistant of Ribisi's character.

Greer had a starring role as the female lead role in the comedy The Hebrew Hammer (2003) as the feisty, fearless Esther, who joins forces with an Orthodox Jewish Blaxploitation hero (Adam Goldberg) to save Hanukkah from an evil son of Santa Claus (Andy Dick). The Hebrew Hammer (2003) debuted at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and premiered on Comedy Central followed by a theatrical release.

She also appeared in Adaptation. (2002), from director Spike Jonze. In the film, Nicolas Cage stars as self-loathing writer Charlie Kaufman (and twin brother Donald) as he attempts to adapt the novel "The Orchid Thief" for the big screen. Greer played Alice, the waitress with whom he becomes obsessed -- the object of his fantasies.

Greer turned in a scene-stealing comedic performance in The Wedding Planner (2001), with Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey, in which she played Penny, Lopez's sweet but ditsy assistant who tries hard, but often falls a little short. Equally adept at more dramatic roles, Greer gave a standout performance opposite Mel Gibson in What Women Want (2000), playing a suicidal file clerk rescued by the one man who can hear women's thoughts. Greer's pivotal scene with Gibson is the heart of the film.

With a genuine gift for comedy and an engaging on-screen presence, Judy Greer has quickly become one of Hollywood's most captivating talents. Having appeared in such diverse films as Jawbreaker (1999), What Women Want (2000), The Wedding Planner (2001), Adaptation. (2002), and Wilson (2017) as well as a number of upcoming feature film projects, Greer turns in scene-stealing performances opposite some of the industry's biggest stars.

Jamia Suzette Mays was born in Bristol, Tennessee, to Susan (Norris) and James Mays, and was raised in Grundy, Virginia with her older brother and sister. Her father was a high school teacher at Grundy Senior High School for seven years, before spending 25 years working in the coal-mining industry. He is now retired and lives with Jayma's mother in Bristol.

At school, Jayma enjoyed Math and singing. She graduated from high school in 1997. She then went on to get an Associate degree from Southwest Virginia Community College. She then did a year at Virginia Tech, transferring to Radford University. After earning her degree in Theatre in 2000, she moved to California.

She started out with an internship with actor Timothy Busfield, of the television series Thirtysomething (1987). In 2004, she had her screen television debut on Joey (2004). Her first feature film came, a year later, in Red Eye (2005). Her breakthrough role came when she won the role of "Emma Pillsbury" on the hit show Glee (2009).

Gwyneth Kate Paltrow was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of noted producer and director Bruce Paltrow and Tony Award-winning actress Blythe Danner. Her father was from a Jewish family, while her mother is of mostly German descent. When Gwyneth was eleven, the family moved to Massachusetts, where her father began working in summer stock productions in the Berkshires. It was here that she received her early acting training under the tutelage of her parents. She graduated from the all-girls Spence School in New York City and moved to California where she attended the UC Santa Barbara, majoring in Art History. She soon quit, realizing it was not her passion. She made her film debut with a small part in Shout (1991) and for the next five years had featured roles in a mixed bag of film fare that included Flesh and Bone (1993); Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994); Se7en (1995); Jefferson in Paris (1995); Moonlight and Valentino (1995); and The Pallbearer (1996). It was her performance in the title role of Emma Woodhouse in Emma (1996) that led to her being offered the role of Viola in Shakespeare in Love (1998), for which she was awarded the Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Her roles have also included The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Shallow Hal (2001), Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004), Proof (2005), Iron Man (2008), Two Lovers (2008), and Country Strong (2010). She has two children with her former husband, English musician Chris Martin.

Demetrius Joyette entered the professional world of acting at the young age of 8. Starring alongside Billy Ray Cyrus, Demetrius was a regular on the long-running series, Doc, a role that earned him two Young Artist nominations in L.A. He has also had principal roles in several feature films including The Pacifier with Vin Diesel, Honey, Blizzard (which earned him a nomination for Best Performance in T.V. Movie at The Young Artists Awards in 2003), Roxy Hunter: Mystery of The Moody Ghost, Roxy Hunter: Secret Of The Shaman and Owning Mahoney. His TV credits include roles in the MOWs Addicted.com, Under the Dragon's Tail and Kojak. He has also acted in many TV series including: The Latest Buzz, Little Mosque On The Prairie,and Darcy's Wildlife. In addition to playing Porter on Family Channel's Wingin' It, Demetrius also guest star in a multi-episode arc in the upcoming Family Channel series What's Up, Warthogs! Additionally,he just completed filming the lead role in the digital media series Totally Amp'd. Demetrius is currently filming the long running show Degrassi playing Mike Dallas.

When he's not acting, Demetrius also enjoys swimming, cycling, baseball, football, karate, ice hockey and playing the guitar.

Traoré began acting at a young age. She attended classes at the Young People's Theatre. She later graduated from the Etobicoke School of the Arts, and completed a Bachelor of Arts and Science at the University of Toronto. Traoré's most notable roles are Crystal Markes on Rookie Blue, and Rebecca James on Murdoch Mysteries.

In 2017, she starred in the short film The Drop-In, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Also in 2017, she starred in the Afro-futurist feature film Brown Girl Begins, opposite Emmanuel Kabongo. The film was released theatrically in 2018 and screened at several film festivals.

Mouna Traoré is the co-founder of a production company, The Mini Films, for which she has written and produced two short films.

Barry Shabaka Henley was born on 15 September 1954 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Collateral (2004), The Terminal (2004) and Rush Hour (1998).

Connor Price's career began at the young age of six years old. Price accumulated an impressive number of credits during his youth, known to audiences worldwide for his portrayal of "Jay Braddock," the eldest son of Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger in the Ron Howard Academy Award Nominated feature 'Cinderella Man'. Most recently, he portrayed the lead role of "Harry James" in three seasons of the World War II spy Drama 'X Company'. He played along-side Patrick Dempsey, Virginia Madsen and Damon Wayans Jr. in the dramatic event-series 'The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair'. Price also appeared as "Kenny," the leader of the Boston vampire clan for two seasons of SyFy's 'Being Human'. Recurring and guest star roles include 'Supernatural', 'Alphas' (starring David Strathairn), 'Carter' (starring Jerry O'Connell), 'Flashpoint', and 'The Haunting Hour' to name a few.

Stephen King's fans will recognize Price for his role of "J.J. Bannerman" in the last season of 'Dead Zone' for the USA Network opposite Anthony Michael Hall in which Price won a Young Artists Award for Best Recurring Young Actor. Other credits include the feature films 'Carrie' starring Chloë Moretz and Julianne Moore, 'Good Luck Chuck' as a young Dane Cook, David Cronenberg's 'A History of Violence' starring Viggo Mortensen, and the screen adaptation of 'The Stone Angel' starring Ellen Burnstyn and Ellen Page.

Price has also lent his voice to numerous characters in a variety of animated series over the years.

A native of Toronto, ON, Price now resides in Los Angeles with his wife.

Connor Price is a dual citizen of Canada & USA.