Alec Newman is a Scottish stage, television and film actor. He was born in Glasgow on 27 November 1974. Prior to joining the National Youth Theatre in London at age 17, he considered becoming a professional footballer. He trained at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

He has appeared in film and television roles both in the UK and the US and maintained a presence on the British stage.

Newman starred as Paul Atreides in the Sci Fi Channel 2000 miniseries adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune and reprised the role in its 2003 sequel, Children of Dune. Newman has had guest appearances on U.S. television series Angel, Star Trek: Enterprise and Tru Calling. He also guested on the British spy drama Spooks and played the Rebus-inspired Jim Buchan in BBC 4's Reichenbach Falls. He took the title role of "Victor Frankenstein" in the 2004 Frankenstein US TV miniseries, opposite Donald Sutherland and William Hurt.

On film in the UK, Newman played the lead role in Penny Woolcock's 2003 "Principles Of Lust", nominated for a British Independent Film Award and selected for competition at the Sundance Film Festival. Other British films include Long Time Dead for Working Title, G;MT (produced by Taylor Hackford), and the Stephen Fry directed "Bright Young Things".

Franklin Patrick Herbert, Jr. (October 8, 1920 – February 11, 1986) was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. Though also a short story author, he is best known for his novels, most notably Dune and its five sequels. The Dune saga, set in the distant future and taking place over millennia, deals with themes such as human survival and evolution, ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics and power. Dune itself is the "best-selling science fiction novel of all time," and the series is widely considered to be among the classics in the genre.

Frank Herbert was born on October 8, 1920, in Tacoma, Washington, to Frank Patrick Herbert Sr. and Eileen McCarthy Herbert. Due to a poor home environment, he ran away from home in 1938 to live with an aunt and uncle in Salem, Oregon. There he enrolled in high school at Salem High School (now North Salem High School) where he graduated the next year. In 1939 he lied about his age in order to get his first newspaper job at the Glendale Star. Herbert then returned to Salem in 1940 where he worked for the Oregon Statesman newspaper (now Statesman Journal) in a variety of roles, including photographer.

Amy Lou Adams (born August 20, 1974) is an American actress and singer. Adams was born in Vicenza, Italy to American parents, and began her performing career on stage in dinner theaters, before making her screen debut in the 1999 black comedy film Drop Dead Gorgeous. After a series of television guest appearances and roles in B movies, she was cast in the role of Brenda Strong in 2002's Catch Me If You Can, but her breakthrough role was in the 2005 independent film Junebug, playing Ashley Johnsten, for which she received critical acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Adams subsequently starred in Disney's 2007 film Enchanted, a critical and commercial success, and received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance as Princess Giselle. She received her second Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations the following year for her role as a young nun, Sister James, in Doubt. Though she has appeared in a range of dramatic and comedic roles, Adams has gained a reputation for playing characters with cheerful and sunny dispositions. Adams starred in Sunshine Cleaning with Emily Blunt and Alan Arkin, and the following year appeared as Amelia Earhart in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. She appeared in Julie & Julia in 2009 portraying writer Julie Powell followed by Leap Year in 2010. Her recent role as Charlene Fleming in The Fighter earned Adams her third Academy Award nomination, her third Golden Globe Award, second BAFTA Award, and fifth Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. In 2011, Adams appeared in the critically acclaimed musical film The Muppets alongside Jason Segel. She is scheduled to play Lois Lane in the upcoming Superman reboot Man of Steel in 2013.

Marc Warren (born 20 March 1967) is an English actor, known for his British television roles as Danny Blue in Hustle, Dougie Raymond in The Vice, Dominic Foy in State of Play and Rick in Mad Dogs.

Warren has worked in film, television, theatre and radio. He was a member of the National Youth Theatre and trained at the East 15 Acting School (although he did not graduate). Marc played the part of Billy Casper in "Kes" at Birmingham rep studio and National small scale and schools tour directed by John Herriman for Snap Theatre Company and continued his career with a role in a 1988 production of Godspell which he won by writing to the producers, and went unrepresented until the following year.

Warren helped in the production of digital storyboards (as a stand-in for Ewan McGregor) in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

Warren had his first major film breakthrough with the 1992 BBC film An Ungentlemanly Act, in which he played Falklands Islands' Governor, Sir Rex Hunt's son, Tony.

He played Dougie Raymond in the British television series The Vice and Albert Blithe in HBO's mini-series Band of Brothers. His first recurring television role was in the British television series Grange Hill. In 1995, Warren starred in the British film Boston Kickout.