Finding Nemo 2003 (UK) premiere

Geoffrey Roy Rush was born on July 6, 1951, in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, to Merle (Bischof), a department store sales assistant, and Roy Baden Rush, an accountant for the Royal Australian Air Force. His mother was of German descent and his father had English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. He was raised in Brisbane, Queensland, after his parents split up.

Rush attended Everton Park State High School during his formative years. His early interest in the theatre led to his 1971 stage debut at age 20 in "Wrong Side of the Moon" with the Queensland Theatre Company.

Known for his classical repertory work over the years, he scored an unexpected hit with his Queensland role as Snoopy in the musical "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown". A few years later he moved to France to study but subsequently returned to his homeland within a short time and continued work as both actor and director with the Queensland company ("June and the Paycock," "Aladdin," "Godspell," "Present Laughter," "The Rivals"). In the 1980s Rush became a vital member of the State Theatre Company of South Australia and showed an equally strong range there in such productions as "Revenger's Tragedy," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Mother Courage...and Her Children," "Blood Wedding," "Pal Joey," "Twelfth Night" and as The Fool in "King Lear".

Rush made an inauspicious debut in films with the feature Hoodwink (1981), having little more than a bit part, and didn't carry off his first major role until playing Sir Andrew Aguecheek in a movie production of Twelfth Night (1986). Yet, he remained a durable presence on stage with acclaimed productions in "The Diary of a Madman" in 1989 and "The Government Inspector" in 1991.

Rush suffered a temporary nervous breakdown in 1992 due to overwork and anguish over his lack of career advancement. Resting for a time, he eventually returned to the stage. Within a few years film-goers finally began taking notice of Geoffrey after his performance in Children of the Revolution (1996). This led to THE role of a lifetime as the highly dysfunctional piano prodigy David Helfgott in Shine (1996). Rush's astonishing tour-de-force performance won him every conceivable award imaginable, including the Oscar, Golden Globe, British Film Award and Australian Film Institute Award.

"Shine" not only put Rush on the international film map, but atypically on the Hollywood "A" list as well. His rather homely mug was made fascinating by a completely charming, confident and captivating demeanor; better yet, it allowed him to more easily dissolve into a number of transfixing historical portrayals, notably his Walsingham in Elizabeth (1998) and Leon Trotsky in Frida (2002). He's also allowed himself to have a bit of hammy fun in such box office escapism as Mystery Men (1999), House on Haunted Hill (1999), The Banger Sisters (2002), Finding Nemo (2003) and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). More than validating his early film success, two more Oscar nominations came his way in the same year for Quills (2000) (best actor) and Shakespeare in Love (1998) (support actor) in 2000. Geoffrey's amazing versatility continued into the millennium with his portrayal of the manic, volatile comedy genius Peter Sellers in the biopic The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004). He also merited attention as Lionel Logue in The King's Speech (2010), Basil Hunter in The Eye of the Storm (2011), Hans Hubermann in The Book Thief (2013), artist/sculptor Alberto Giocometti in Final Portrait (2017) and Michael Kingley Storm Boy (2019).

Rush's intermittent returns to the stage have included productions of "Marat-Sade," "Uncle Vanya," "Oleanna," "Hamlet" and "The Small Poppies". In 2009 he made his Broadway debut in "Exit the King" co-starring Susan Sarandon. His marriage (since 1988) to Aussie classical actress Jane Menelaus produced daughter Angelica (1992) and son James (1995). Menelaus, who has also performed with the State Theatre of South Australia, has co-starred on stage with Rush in "The Winter's Tale" (1987), "Troilus and Cressida" (1989) and "The Importance of Being Earnest" (as Gwendolyn to his Jack Worthing). She also had featured roles in a few of his films, including Quills (2000) and The Eye of the Storm (2011).

His father was a well-to-do builder. Barry was a highly intelligent boy who attended Melbourne University. There, he began acting in revues and doing impersonations. He moved to London in 1959 and began his professional performing career on the West End and Broadway stages as Mr Sowerby in Oliver!, and in Peter Cook's Establishment nightclub. He has created numerous characters including Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson.

Eric Bana was born Eric Martin Andrew Banadinovic on August 9, 1968, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He is the younger of two brothers. His father, named Ivan Banadinovic, came from Zagreb, Croatia, and worked as a manager for Caterpillar Inc. His mother, named Eleanor Banadinovic, came from a German family and was a hairdresser.

Young Bana grew up in suburban Melbourne. He was popular among his schoolmates for his talent of making comic impressions of his teachers. At that time, he was fond of Mel Gibson in Mad Max (1979) and also decided to become an actor. He moved to Sydney and worked odd jobs to support himself. In 1991, he began a career as a stand-up comedian, while working as a barman at Melbourne's Castle Hotel. In 1993, Bana made his television debut on Steve Vizard's Tonight Live with Steve Vizard (1990) talk show, then joined the Full Frontal (1993) TV-series. He gained popularity for making impressions of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Cruse and "Columbo". In 1996, he started his own show titled Eric (1997), then launched a comedy series titled The Eric Bana Show Live (1997). The show was canceled for the lack of substantial audience. However in 1997, Bana received the Logie Award for "Most Popular Comedian" for his work on The Eric Bana Show Live (1997).

He made his film debut in The Castle (1997), in a supporting comic role. That same year, he was cast to portray Mark "Chopper" Read, the notorious Australian underworld figure. For the role, Bana gained 30 pounds, by eating junk food; he also spent a few days with Read in prison, in order to perfect his mimicry. Bana completely transformed himself into a bald, plump, disturbed criminal. He would arrive on the film set at four in the morning, spending several hours in makeup, being tattooed exactly like Read. Chopper (2000) became an international success and won three Australian Film Institute Awards. Bana won the Best Actor at the 2000 Stockholm Film Festival and also the AFI 2000 Best Actor Award. Then he co-starred in Black Hawk Down (2001), then starred in Hulk (2003). In 2002, he was cast as the Trojan Prince Hector in the historical epic Troy (2004), after being recommended by Brad Pitt, who admired Bana for his work in Chopper (2000). In 2005, Bana co-starred with Daniel Craig and Geoffrey Rush in the political drama Munich (2005) directed by Steven Spielberg.

In 1995, he began dating Rebecca Gleeson, a publicist and daughter of The Honourable Murray Gleeson, the 11th Chief Justice of Australia. The following year, he was named "Bachelor of the Year" by Cleo magazine, and won a trip for two to the United States. He invited Gleeson, and proposed to her during that romantic trip. In 1997, the two were married; their son, Klaus, was born in 1999, their daughter, Sophia, was born in 2002. He currently resides in Melbourne with his wife and their two children. Bana is a passionate supporter of Australian football. He was appointed Member of the Order of Australia (AM) at the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to the performing arts, and to charitable organisations.

Bruce Spence was born on September 17, 1945 in New Zealand. When he was growing up in Henderson, just out of Auckland, the last thing he ever expected to be was an actor. Bruce's family were winemakers, and he worked in the family winery from a very tender age, later attending Henderson High School then Massey University, where he studied horticulture. From this background he retained a passion for growing things, and has created a succession of beautiful gardens for himself and friends. At 20, Bruce moved to Australia, where to his surprise he was accepted into the National Gallery of Victoria Art School. Bruce's mother, Olga, was a painter and potter. In 1969 Bruce joined a ragtag group working at the tiny La Mama theatre in Melbourne. The group became the revolutionary Australian Performing Group, and Bruce's talent for acting was discovered. Forced to choose between art and acting, he decided to try his luck at the latter. He went on to perform in numerous plays with the group, then the Melbourne Theatre Company, the Sydney Theatre Company, the South Australian Theatre Company and several other companies, even the National Arts Centre of Canada where he played the lead in the award-winning "The Floating World" by John Romeril. He now lives in Sydney, where his recent acting credits with the Sydney Theatre Company include "The Secret River", "The Harp in the South", "Endgame" and "Rules for Living". Bruce has appeared in close to 100 films, including Mad Max 2 ("The Road Warrior") and 3 ("Beyond Thunderdome"), "Ace Ventura" Part II, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King", "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith", "Finding Nemo", "The Matrix Revolutions" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell no Tales". He has also appeared in numerous television roles. When starring as the wizard Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander in the cult series "Legend of the Seeker", which was filmed in New Zealand, Bruce found he had come full circle, working directly opposite his old high school in Henderson. At home in Sydney he lives quietly with his wife, Jenny and an adoring tabby cat. They have two children and four grandchildren. Between jobs Bruce works on his own burgeoning garden and as a volunteer at the Royal Botanic Garden, where he and his group propagate plants. He is also currently chair of the NSW Actors' Benevolent Fund.

Bill Hunter was one of Australia's acting legends, having worked with almost every notable Australian director and actor of the last thirty years - evidence of his genuine popularity among the public and acting fraternity alike.

He started out in Australian television in the '60s (a hotbed of well written and directed drama), and rapidly became a favorite of directors during the boom in the Australian movie industry in the '70s. He has often played the strong, opinionated, stereotypically gruff Australian who ultimately betrays a softer heart.

Some of his notable movie roles include the Australian officer Major Barton, who will only ask his troops to do as he would, in Gallipoli (1981), Peter Weir's groundbreaking movie starring the young Mel Gibson; the meddling Barry Fife in Strictly Ballroom (1992), Baz Luhrmann's first international hit; scheming politician and failure as a father and husband Bill Heslop in Muriel's Wedding (1994), P.J. Hogan's first international hit; the lovable country battler in the international megahit The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), starring Terence Stamp, Guy Pearce, and Hugo Weaving.

Lisa Butcher was born in 1971 in London, England, UK.

Lawrence Dallaglio was born on 10 August 1972 in Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK.

Myleene Klass was born on 6 April 1978 in Norfolk, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Igor (2008), My Family (2000) and Lemon La Vida Loca (2012). She was previously married to Graham Quinn.

Alan lived in Loughton, Essex for most of his life, until he left to pursue a career in comedy. He now lives in Islington in north London. He is the second of three children, born in Essex, and has an older brother and a younger sister. He was raised by his father, an accountant when his mother died when he was just 6 years old.

In 1982 he left Bancroft's School in Woodford Green with 8 O-levels. He then attended Loughton College of Further Education and got 4 GCSEs and two A levels, in Theatre Studies and Media Studies. He was taught theatre skills by Piers Gladhill.

Alan is best known for playing the title role in Jonathan Creek (1997) written by David Renwick, as a man who designs magic tricks for Adam Klaus but he also teams up with Maddy Magellan to solve baffling crimes. He is also known from the Abbey National adverts. Since 2003, he has appeared in a panel game show QI (2003).

Lorraine Kelly is a Scottish television presenter known for her strong accent and her constantly chirpy and giggly personality. She presents the early morning chat show Lorraine (2001), was one of the original presenters of GMTV (1993), and went on to present its magazine section for the final forty minutes of the broadcast, known as LK Today. Previously, Lorraine was a reporter and main presenter of TVam's Good Morning Britain (1983), one of the UK's original breakfast television news programmes. She was then perfectly cast in a studio role presenting the Eurovision Song Contest Istanbul 2004 (2004). Lorraine is one of the UK's most prominent supporters of LGBTQ+ issues and has described herself as "a gay man trapped in a woman's body".

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Danny Baker was born on 22 June 1957 in Deptford, London, England, UK. He is a writer and actor, known for Wimbledon (2004), Cradle to Grave (2015) and The Football Factory (2004). He has been married to Wendy Baker since 30 August 1988. They have three children.

Bonnie Baker is known for Cradle to Grave (2015) and The Glorious Return of Own Goals & Gaffs (2009).

Jo Whiley was born on 4 July 1965 in Northampton, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Love Actually (2003), Fisherman's Friends (2019) and Boyz Unlimited (1999). She has been married to Steve Morton since July 1991. They have four children.

Tania Bryer is an accomplished British television broadcaster with a wealth of experience.

As Presenter and Executive Producer working with International Business Television Network CNBC, her critically acclaimed series 'CNBC Meets..', profiles the world's most inspirational figures and reveals how their philanthropy transforms lives. Amongst many others for the series she has interviewed President Bill Clinton, Sir Richard Branson, President Jimmy Carter, Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Boris Johnson, Tony Blair, will.i.am, HRH The Duke of York, Maria Sharapova and Dolly Parton.

She also presents 'The CNBC Conversation' series meeting headline-makers including rare interviews with HSH Prince Albert of Monaco, Former South African President F.W. De Klerk, Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and fashion titan Tom Ford.

With NBC Universal she presents 'The Best Advice' series interviewing entertainment industry heavyweights including Ron Meyer, Jeff Shell and Michael Edelstein.

Tania appears weekly on Sky News Sunrise as a newspaper reviewer and regularly contributes on CNBC's flagship programmes SquawkBox, Worldwide Exchange and Closing Bell. She has also contributed on Radio 4's Today programme, ITV's This Morning and appeared in the series finale of US television drama, The Royals.

Tania presented and co-produced the acclaimed 'Newsmakers' series and a six-part series on the fashion industry for Sky News. She has also hosted a 12-part series on human behaviour for Sky One.

A highly skilled presenter and moderator, Tania hosts a wide variety of international events including the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Awards, the Women of the Future Awards, The British Lebanese Society Awards in Beirut, The European Film Awards and The Women's Forum in Deauville.

She moderates debates at The World Economic Forum in Davos and chairs numerous panels for charities and organisations including Invest Africa, Intelligence Squared and the Women of the World Festival. During the General Election 2015, she hosted a Dementia Hustings panel with the UK's three main political parties including Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt.

Tania hosts the King Hussein Cancer Foundation's Hope Galas for His Majesty King Abdullah II and Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan. She also hosts the Angels Ball in aid of Action on Addiction.

Tania is the Chair of the National Events Committee for Cancer Research UK and a Patron of the Alzheimer's Society and The Miscarriage Association. She supports Marie Curie Cancer Care and Caudwell Children and is an Ambassador for The Health Lottery.

Tania holds a B.Sc. in International Politics from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.

Julia Sawalha was born in London. She has received due honor for her acting talents. Starring as Lynda Day in Press Gang (1989) winning the BAFTA award for Best Drama series. She played the role of Saffy in Absolutely Fabulous (1992), for which she won the RTS award for Best Actress, Lydia Bennett in the miniseries of Pride and Prejudice (1995) and the role of Dorcas Lane in the BBC costume drama Lark Rise to Candleford (2008), for which she was nominated Best Actress for the RTS Awards. She created and voiced the character Ginger in Aardman's Oscar nominated feature film Chicken Run (2000), which is the highest grossing stop-motion animated film in history. She has completed two projects for mainstream TV due to be broadcast in 2024.

In his youth, Hirst was already considered a rebel, but his artistic talent also emerged. After graduating from school with a high school diploma, Hirst studied fine art at Goldsmiths College in London from 1986 to 1989. In 1988, while still a student, he was given the responsibility of planning an exhibition that took place in a warehouse on London's waterfront entitled "Freeze" and featured works by Hirst and his fellow students. These student exhibitions are a welcome opportunity for gallery owners, collectors and art supporters to find out about the talents of tomorrow and their potential. During "Freeze" Charles Saatchi became aware of Damien Hirst and began to promote him. Damien Hirst had his first solo exhibition in 1991 at the Woodstock Street Gallery in London with the title "In and Out of Love".

At this time, Hirst also showed his first "animal installation": "A Thousand Years" consisted of a large glass box containing a decaying cattle head on which maggots and flies feasted. Reactions were controversial, from euphoria about the innovation to disgust and disgust. Saatchi remained convinced of Hirst's extroversion and rebelliousness. In 1992, the first Young British Artists exhibition took place at the Saatchi Gallery in north London, where Hirst exhibited "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living", probably his best-known work, alongside "A Thousand Years". He preserved a tiger shark in formaldehyde in a glass tank. This work received increased public interest again in 2006 as the shark began to decompose in its formaldehyde bath and the question arose as to whether it would reduce the value of the exhibit if it were replaced, since it would no longer be that Original would act.

Hirst continued to work on installing animals preserved in formaldehyde, creating the sheep entitled "Away from the Flock" in 1994, which was shown in the exhibition "Some Went Mad, Some Ran Away". A lobby of animal rights activists began to protest against Hirst's work, and an unknown person put black ink in the basin with the sheep, severely damaging the work of art, which cost £250,000 at the time. The controversial public discussion about his "animal installations" was fueled even more in 1995 when Damien Hirst was awarded the "Turner Prize". From then on, exhibitions around the globe followed. The extremism in his work also reached its peak in 1995 in the work "Two Fucking and Two Watching." Hirst wanted to exhibit a rotting cow and a rotting bull in New York, but the American health authorities stopped this because they feared that the smell of decay would cause nausea and vomiting among visitors.

In 1996, Damien Hirst began to branch out his creativity into different areas. He opened the restaurant "Pharmacy" in London's Notting Hill district, released his first short film "Hanging Around" and produced a pop music album called "Vindaloo". Hirst married the American Maia Norman, with whom he had two sons in 1995 and 2000. His autobiography "I Want to Spend the Rest of My Life Everywhere, with Everyone, One to One, Always, Forever, Now" followed in 1998. In the years that followed, Hirst continued to focus on new installations, music, and also charity work. The "New York Show" in 2000 became one of his greatest exhibition successes. Here he exhibited the work "Hymn", which Charles Saatchi purchased for 1 million pounds.

Questions or doubts about the authenticity of Hirst's works have repeatedly arisen, as he relies on helping hands for almost all of his exhibits and often there is not much more than his idea in the pieces. This is also the case with his "spin paintings" and "spot paintings", of which he is said to have painted just five of them himself. On June 1, 2007, he presented the platinum cast of a human skull entitled "For the Love of God" set with 8,601 diamonds at the White Cube in London. There is a 52 carat diamond on the forehead. The work was sold in August 2007 for 75 million euros. According to media reports, the object was the most expensive work of contemporary art. He achieved international attention with the auction of the work "Lullaby Spring" at Sotheby's (2007). At a price of around 14.5 million euros, it achieved the highest price ever achieved for a work by a living artist.

In the following years, Hirst became one of the richest artists ever. His fortune has already been estimated at a billion dollars in the media. In 2020 he received a solo exhibition at the Fondation Cartier in Paris for his new paintings of "Cherry Blossoms"; from June to November 2020 it was the artist's first museum exhibition in France.

India Whiley-Morton is known for Britain's Best Home Cook (2018), Big Zuu's Big Eats (2020) and Britain's Top Takeaways (2022).

Sarah Cawood was born on 7 August 1972 in London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Velvet Goldmine (1998), Fat Slags (2004) and The Basil Brush Show (2002).

Linford Cicero Christie OBE is a Jamaican-born British former sprinter. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 meters at all four major competitions open to British athletes. He stars in several TV shows including BBC TV Show Hustle S3 E1.

Brian Connolly was born on 5 October 1945 in Govanhill, Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He was an actor and composer, known for Dazed and Confused (1993), Lords of Dogtown (2005) and Detroit Rock City (1999). He was married to Denise and Marilyn Walsh. He died on 9 February 1997 in Slough, Berkshire, England, UK.

Maia Norman is known for Savage Waters (2022), Hanging Around (1996) and Damien Hirst: The First Look (2012).

Connor Hirst is known for Idol Eyes (2010) and Hanging Around (1996).

Jason Leonard was born on 14 August 1968 in Barking, London, England, UK. He is married to Sandra. They have two children.