Mark Strong is an actor I have long admired for his beautiful voice and uncanny ability to make evil attractive and enticing.  His body of work of course is far more varied than playing evil – but it is what he does best in my view.

Born to an Austrian mother and Italian father he was named Marco Giuseppe Salussolia but his mother changed his name by deed poll when he was young in a bid to help him fit in. Originally he held the ambition of becoming a lawyer but this soon changed after a year studying in Munich convinced him to change direction. He returned to London and studied English and Drama at Royal Holloway before going on to attend the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

He was a familiar face on television long before he crossed over into film – recently playing wonderfully vibrant (and evil) characters in Sherlock Holm es, Kick-Ass and Robin Hood