Jamie Bell
Born: March 14 1986
Where: Billingham, England
The young actor is carving out an impressive career following his award-winning breakthrough in Billy Elliot.
He landed a BAFTA best actor award when he was just fourteen for his portrayal of the gritty youngster in the 2000 northern drama.
Subsequent high-profile appearances have included Thomas Vinterberg's Dear Wendy and Peter Jackson's £130m remake of King Kong.
After his toolmaker father left home when he was a baby, Bell was raised by his mother Eileen, herself a keen dancer along with her mother and sister.
Nick-named "Ballerina Boy" at school, he kept his interest in tap dancing secret (like Billy Elliot) from his fellow pupils.
Aged nine he decided he wanted to act and landed a role in the London stage production of Bugsy Malone in 1998.
He beat off the challenge of 2,000 other hopefuls to land the part of Billy Elliot and was taken under the wing of director Stephen Daldry, who became his surrogate father.
The film was a huge success and Bell followed it with the supernatural war film Deathwatch in 2002 alongside Matthew Rhys and Andy Serkis.
The same year he played Smike in the big screen adaptation of Charles Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby.
In 2004, he starred in David Gordon Green's Southern Gothic thriller Undertow with Delmot Mulroney and Josh Lucas.
He also played the leader of teenage gang The Dandies in Thomas Vinterberg's surreal drama Dear Wendy.
Recent work includes the role of cabin boy Jimmy in the remake of King Kong.
