My looks: Andrew Garfield



Andrew Garfield: 'I was rejected for the role of Prince Caspian – they said I wasn't handsome enough.' Photograph: Reuters

"As an adolescent, Spider-Man was what got me through tough times in terms of being a skinny kid. I would be mugged on the street and I wouldn't be able to do anything because there'd be three or four of them and they'd take my wallet, and I'd come home feeling so disempowered and so angry... I was rejected for the role of Prince Caspian – they said I wasn't handsome enough... And when I auditioned for Robert Redford's Lions For Lambs, I was physically not what he had in mind. I remember saying, "I know you want a football player, a frat boy, but I'll eat more, I'll work out." I enjoyed going down the gym with a personal trainer. I've done sport, but I've never been interested in the gym. It made me feel different… I love the image of a skinny kid beating the shit out of big guys. That's always been my fantasy, and every other skinny boy's fantasy."

My looks: Chris O'Dowd



Chris O'Dowd: 'As guys, we have an easy time. The Hollywood body-conscious thing doesn’t really affect my life.' Photograph: Contour/Getty Images

"I'm 6ft 4in and I like being tall now, but it wasn't so great when I was growing up. I was 6ft when I was 11 and my features hadn't grown around that yet. So I had this big nose, big lips and a giant big rubbery head. I was a foot taller than everyone else, so there was certainly a Quasimodo situation going on. I figured out girls like laughing. So thank God for that physical abnormality. I would walk girls home who would ask about my friend. I was the funny best friend. In terms of stuff I don't like, I don't know where to start. I could get rid of this spare tyre for a start.

My acting heroes are people like John C Reilly, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Will Ferrell. In comedy, the body fascism thing is not as present. And, as guys, we have an easy time. The Hollywood body-conscious thing doesn't really affect my life. We talk about LA like, "They're crazy!", but I don't mind going running sometimes. I'm about to shoot in Ireland, so I know that's an extra stone.

When I was younger, I thought Stephen Dorf was the perfect male specimen. In terms of rugged stars, Tom Hardy is a good-looking fella: I'd only fancy a man if I thought I'd lose in a fight to him.

I get quite a lot of female attention. There's a lot of hugging. I guess it's a mix of geek-chic girls who like The IT Crowd and women who like Bridesmaids, which is basically everyone who's ever enjoyed a glass of warm chardonnay."

My looks: Benedict Cumberbatch



Benedict Cumberbatch: 'I look in a mirror and I see all the faults I’ve lived with for 35 years, and yet people go kind of nuts for certain things about me.' Photograph: Spencer Murphy for the Guardian

"Do I like being thought of as attractive? I don't know anyone on Earth who doesn't, but I do find it funny. It's new to me, and I'm sure I'll get used to it and find a way of dealing with it, but at the moment it is quite odd. I look in a mirror and I see all the faults I've lived with for 35 years, and yet people go kind of nuts for certain things about me. It's not me being humble. I just think it's weird. I dislike the size and shape of my head. I've been likened to Sid the sloth from Ice Age… I have a long face, retroussé nose and have been known to be quite camp… I know I don't fit into some archetype. I'm comfortable with it. People have a hindrance if they are extraordinarily beautiful. It can be a problem. You are not given the challenges and then, when you are, all eyes are on you to see if you can pull anything off other than being beautiful to look at."

My looks: Matt Smith



'Sex symbol? I don't quite know what to do with it apart from smile and say, "Hurrah!" ' Photograph: Frederike Helwig for the Guardian

"Am I really a sex symbol? I'll take that as a compliment. What can you do about it apart from enjoy the compliment? It's not like it's a tangible thing. "Sex symbol." I don't quite know what to do with it apart from smile and say – if that is indeed the case – "Hurrah!" I shall embrace it with open arms… I don't think I'm handsome enough, I think I'm more of a Bond villain."

My looks: Stephen Mangan



Stephen Mangan: 'I was always self-conscious and could never understand why any woman would find me attractive.' Photograph: Corbis

"My parents were from a village on the west coast of Ireland and I look like a lot of people from that area. It's the black Irish look. The way I look has opened a lot of doors. People ask if I'm Greek or Italian, and I've played a lot of Jewish parts. At Rada, we did a showcase for casting directors; one of them dropped their notes and I saw next to my name, "weird/foreign-looking". I did Saturday Live and someone rang in with a question: "Please ask Stephen Mangan if he bursts out laughing every time he looks in the mirror, because his face is so funny!" I suppose I could take that either way. I don't consider myself good-looking, I don't think I am ugly – I am somewhere in the middle.

I am much happier now than I was in my 20s. I was always self-conscious and could never understand why any woman would find me attractive. I am approaching 40 and acutely aware of the passing of time, but only in the sense that it is finite – I lost my mum to cancer when she was 45. I feel the ticking of the clock strongly. Once you have children, they become your marker of time, and they grow bigger and taller at an alarming rate. My eldest, Harry, is four and has almost exactly the same hair as me. People openly chuckle as we walk down the street together, because he is a mini-me."