THE GAMBLER Production Notes SYNOPSIS Jim Bennett (Academy Award®-­‐nominee Mark Wahlberg) is a risk taker. Both an English professor and a high-­‐stakes gambler, Bennett bets it all when he borrows from a gangster (Michael Kenneth Williams) and offers his own life as collateral. Always one step ahead, Bennett pits his creditor against the operator of a gambling ring (Alvin Ing) and leaves his dysfunctional relationship with his wealthy mother (Academy Award®-­‐winner Jessica Lange) in his wake. He plays both sides, immersing himself in an illicit, underground world while garnering the attention of Frank (John Goodman), a loan shark with a paternal interest in Bennett’s future. As his relationship with a student (Brie Larson) deepens, Bennett must take the ultimate risk for a second chance… 1
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION Rupert Wyatt’s The Gambler charts the seven-­‐day turning point in the life of nihilistic college professor Jim Bennett. Fearless and unfiltered, Jim turns his back on his wealthy upbringing, ridicules his students and pits his illicit patrons against each other. Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, who produced the 1974 film on which The Gambler is based, turned to screenwriter William Monahan (The Departed) to take on the adaptation after Martin Scorsese gave the writer a ringing endorsement. Winkler recalls his first meeting with Monahan, when they formed the beginnings of Jim Bennett: “We talked about a potential opportunity to show a character in a modern society that's somewhat self-­‐
destructive, but incredibly smart and intelligent and poetic.” Monahan notes that exploring Jim’s unorthodox journey of self-­‐discovery through the backdrop of a criminal underworld offered unique narrative possibilities. “Gambling in this adaptation is only one manifestation of a more general move toward self-­‐destruction. He’s a man who wants to strip himself down and start again.” Monahan says of Jim. “Like any complicated person, he can’t be easily expressed. If somebody is ever easily defined, they haven’t been defined.” Monahan’s screenplay found its way to two-­‐time Academy Award®-­‐winner Mark Wahlberg, who agreed to produce and star in The Gambler based on the strength of the script alone. “Most actors want to have a director attached. That is a rare show of enthusiasm,” producer David Winkler says. Wahlberg, who received his first Academy Award® nomination for The Departed, was eager to re-­‐team with Monahan. “I just fell in love with the idea of playing a part like this. He’s extremely unapologetic. He doesn’t care whether he lives or not until he meets Amy, who gives him a reason to get out of his situation. It’s difficult at that stage of the game because he is in so deep with so many people. He finally finds a purpose in something to motivate him to want to have a fresh start in life.” Director Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) found that the personal, character-­‐driven narrative of The Gambler set it apart from other contemporary crime thrillers. “It’s a really rare beast in modern Hollywood,” Wyatt says. “It’s a freewheeling story about a man searching for his own identity and coming up with a plan to expose who 2
he truly is. He’s a true outsider raging against the machine and looking for his individuality.” Wyatt was intrigued by the prospect of directing Mark Wahlberg as Jim. “I could see the strength that Mark Wahlberg as an actor could marry with this material,” Wyatt recalls. “He’s one of a few actors that has this amazing ability as a comedian, and he’s an action star, and he’s a dramatic actor. In this movie, there is all of that. Jim has a love of life and also this distain for it. He has the ability to make these sharp, fast, off-­‐the-­‐cuff remarks that many of us would could only dream of saying in the moment, and of course he has the ability to do it.” Irwin Winkler agrees that Wahlberg adds a sympathetic dimension to the role that might have been missing in the hands of a less capable actor. “He has a great, great charm about him,” Irwin Winkler says of Wahlberg. “In spite of the character being self-­‐
destructive, you’re pulling for him all the time. I think that's where Mark’s great character comes in.” “I like seeing Mark in anything,” Monahan agrees. “I think he can do anything. He’s a phenomenally talented man. And he’s from Boston, which gives him a good edge in my book.” Jim Bennett spends his days on the campus of a California university, and his nights tucked away in the seedy, less-­‐traveled corners of Los Angeles. Wyatt explains the dangerous duality that defines The Gambler’s central character: “It’s a Clark Kent story in a way, because by day he’s a literature professor working in a California university, and by night he’s this nocturnal animal that inhabits and explores these very hidden behind-­‐closed-­‐
doors worlds of high society, elitist, exclusive gambling houses up in Hollywood Hills, as well as the criminal enterprises that go on downtown and underground. He manages to find his way into these unlikely places and, by day, he goes back to what some might consider a very normal conventional life.” Jim’s nihilism strips him of his fear, leaving the professor an acerbic, cynical perspective that is often unfiltered. “He’s someone who has no qualms about saying what he thinks, regardless of the consequences,” Wyatt comments. “He’s an appealing character in many ways because he gets to do and say the things that I think we all would like to.” Brie Larson, breakout star of 2013’s Short Term 12, joined the cast as Amy, Jim’s most promising student, after an extensive audition process. Wahlberg appreciated the intelligence Larson brought to her audition. “We got in the room with pretty much with 3
every young actress in town,” Wahlberg remembers. “They were all talented, but Brie had a different level of understanding of the material and pushed and challenged me in ways the others hadn’t.” Larson notes that Wahlberg’s immersive performance brought out the best in her, too: “Every single take was unique and different. Mark really listens. You can tell when someone’s listening because of their micro-­‐expressions, like a pupil that dilates because it registers something that has been said. When you’re working so close with someone it’s incredibly important that you feel like they’re there in that moment, and I felt that all the way through.” Wyatt found that Larson has an ability to live in the moment of each scene, and to adapt and experiment. “I think she’s an incredibly natural actress,” Wyatt says of Larson. “She has an amazing ability with timing. She’s also very intelligent, so she has that ability to understand how to react in a moment. If there is a gear shift in the other performer’s emotions, she can really run with it.” Amy’s relationship with Jim intensifies after a chance encounter in an underground casino leads to a standoff in a college lecture hall. “They have this interaction at the college on ‘day one’ where he’s incredibly exposing of her,” Wyatt explains. “He really pulls all of her own insecurities out of her right in front of the class, and it both shocks her and brings her closer to him. She starts to ask questions of him and finds out more about him and then, when invited, she gets sucked into his world and goes along for the ride. They’re both outsiders, and they’re both individuals operating in a very conformist, rigid society.” Wyatt agrees that Amy can see Jim’s long-­‐forgotten potential. The student becomes a lifeline at the moment when circumstances might bring about Jim’s demise. “She’s the only character in the movie that actually manages to remove this mask. He’s a guy who always hides behind his ability with language, and his look, and his sunglasses, and all of these different props. She’s the one character in the film that actually pulls the curtain aside and shows him for who he truly is,” Wyatt says. Amy is sensitive to Jim’s outlook and his distaste for the hypocrisy of the people who surround him. Says Larson, “What’s amazing about the film is his point of view. There isn’t really anybody other than Amy’s character that really understands or sees where he’s coming from. Everyone else -­‐-­‐ especially in the casino environment and his mother -­‐-­‐ they’re all wrapped up in money. He’s struggling to deal with that, and to find his place in 4
the world. I think a lot of people can relate to feeling like you’re living in a world that you don’t relate to.” Jim’s precarious economic situation ultimately forces him to manipulate the worlds of three criminals: Frank (John Goodman), Neville (Michael Kenneth Williams) and Mister Lee (Alvin Ing). “There are three stakers, as we call them in the gambling world, in this film,” Williams explains. “We are all, in a way, intrigued by Jim. We are the planets that are revolving around him trying to engage with this planet in the middle of us that is spinning out of control.” When Jim exhausts his borrowing options, he turns to Frank, a loan shark intent on making an impact on Jim’s future. Unlike Neville and Mister Lee, Frank wants to see Jim end his self-­‐destructive pattern. “He’s trying to carve his own way in the world but I don’t know if he’s doing it the right way,” Goodman says of Jim’s predicament. “Frank seems to me like a pretty smart guy, probably self-­‐educated. Very controlling, low key, and he likes to make money. He’s, he’s a smart guy, but he has an edge to him,” Goodman says. For Goodman, working with Wahlberg was the major impetus for joining The Gambler. “I’ve always liked Mark Wahlberg. He’s really interesting to watch, and I really liked the dialogue in the script. I thought it was it was great and it’s an interesting compelling story about compulsion,” Goodman says. Goodman and Wahlberg enjoyed performing Monahan’s original, surprising interpretation of the relationship between a loan shark and his client. For Goodman, Monahan’s dialogue came easily: “Really good dialogue is easier to memorize. It wasn’t a chore: it was a labor of love. They were easy words to say and there was a lot behind them.” Goodman also sacrificed his hair specifically for this role: “It’s still a shock. Every time I look in a mirror I see Elmer Fudd with a beard,” Goodman jokes. Michael Kenneth Williams is familiar to audiences for his memorable work on HBO’s “The Wire” and “Boardwalk Empire,” which is executive produced by Wahlberg. Unlike Frank, Neville looks at Jim as a curiosity who has squandered a life rich with opportunity. “In a lot of ways Neville likes Jim, but also despises him because of his easy upbringing. They share this chess game between each other. Neville enjoys watching the show that is Jim,” Williams says. David Winkler believes that Williams imbued a distinct charm in Neville. Says David Winkler, “He has a great combination of being so intimidating, but then he smiles, and he’s 5
the most charming, warm, funny guy you’ll ever meet. That combination keeps you on your toes. You don’t know whether he is going to kill you or put his arm around you.” When Jim rejects the loan terms initially established by Frank, he turns to his mother, played by two-­‐time Academy Award®-­‐winner Jessica Lange, for support. Irwin Winkler, who produced Music Box with Lange and directed the actress in Night and the City, saw Lange as the only choice for the role of Roberta. “She’s somebody I'm obviously very, very fond of. When we started thinking about casting, we thought about one actress, and that was Jessica,” Irwin Winkler muses.
As with Goodman, the prospect of collaborating with Mark Wahlberg was a draw for Lange, as was the intriguing disconnect between Jim and Roberta’s perspectives on wealth and responsibility. “There is a reticence and a sullenness in his attitude toward his mother. It’s a little bit of a cat-­‐and-­‐mouse game between the two of them,” Lange says of Jim’s relationship with Roberta. Lange notes that Roberta is introduced at the end of a challenging relationship with her son. “I think her feelings about it are very layered. There’s the maternal thing of seeing your child in that kind of situation, there’s the sorrow of it, the grieving, but there’s also the rage and the anger. She’s run the gamut of whatever emotions she can muster and she’s finished,” Lange explains. Adds Wyatt, “While she lives this very wealthy life, she’s lost all of the relationships in her life, including with her own son. They have a dysfunctional relationship, and she can’t understand why Jim would possibly want to get out of his life of privilege where everything’s offered on a plate, but he sees it as this gilded cage. That’s where, where their dysfunction comes from.” “She can’t understand why he doesn’t embrace this privileged life the way that she does,” Wahlberg says. “Jim wants nothing to do with it, and she doesn’t even realize the reason he’s doing all these things because of that and he wants to strip himself of all those things.” Academy Award®-­‐winner George Kennedy appears briefly in The Gambler as Jim’s ailing grandfather, Ed. Wahlberg, a longtime fan of Kennedy, was grateful to have the legendary actor join the production. “My dad wasn’t around to see me working with George Kennedy,” Wahlberg says. “He would have really got a kick out of that, having shown me Cool Hand Luke and many of his other movies, starting at a very young age of seven or eight years old.” 6
Kennedy was also happy to take the role, all too aware that there aren’t often parts written for senior citizens. Says Kennedy: “The most honest reason really is that, after a certain age, the work isn’t there. When you get older, and I’m over ninety, you do not expect doors to be knocked down and people saying, ‘Hey, we can’t shoot this without you.’ The physical George Kennedy, who rode all the horses and had all the fistfights does not exist anymore. He might exist in my mind, but he does not exist.” David Winkler, for one, disagrees with Kennedy, noting that the actor remains a formidable presence. “When we did the table reading, and he read it, it’s like he’s a force. Bent over, he’s still six-­‐foot-­‐three,” David Winkler jokes. Wahlberg greatly impressed Kennedy: “His timing for a young man – wow. Wonderful,” Kennedy says. As Jim creates a plan to absolve himself of his debt, he reaches out to two of his star athlete students: Lamar (Anthony Kelley), a basketball player with an uncertain future, and Dexter (Emory Cohen), a top-­‐ranked tennis player who also instructs Roberta. Kelley, who makes his feature debut in The Gambler, was a star high school basketball player himself. As with Amy, Lamar finds a way to see beyond Jim’s apathy. “Lamar actually opens up to his professor, and just lets the floodgates just pour about everything that is going on in his life. He ended up telling him everything.” By all accounts, Rupert Wyatt brought a collaborative spirit to the set of The Gambler. Says Larson, “Rupert respects everybody that he works with. Nobody’s voice is too small. He created a team of people that are all very thoughtful.” “Rupert and I were such a great match for each other,” Wahlberg agrees. “We saw the piece in the same way. It has to have a lot of color, it has to have a lot of energy. I found a lot of humor in those moments.” “I’ve never been challenged in this sort of way, and that’s what I love. I love dismantling and then putting it all back together again, and I want to be questioned about every decision,” Larson says. “It’s been me and, and Mark and Rupert in a room questioning it and talking about it. Having that freedom has brought a lot I think to the film because it’s not just accepting what’s on the page, we make sure that it’s the right decision. “Becoming the Gambler” 7
Wahlberg began preparing for The Gambler long before principal photography commenced in January of 2014. “Intellectually, it was extremely challenging, being a high school dropout and playing a professor in college,” Wahlberg says. “It was a bit of a stretch, but something that I was excited about. I’m never one who shies away from a challenge. I jump at the opportunity to do something different and unexpected, but I’m going to make sure that I’m prepared.” In order to familiarize himself with the character, Wahlberg met with the head of the English department at the University of Michigan, sat in on lectures at universities in Southern California, and read Monahan’s screenplay twice a day. Wahlberg’s dedication paid off when he surprised a group of unsuspecting background actors when he filmed his first scene as a professor. “Without prompting, he delivered an eight minute monologue uninterrupted in one single take to a student body of about three hundred. I watched them as much as I watched him. I could just see in their faces this kind of look of complete awe,” Wyatt remembers. In addition to extensive character research, Wahlberg chose to lose weight to properly embody Jim. “I was going to try to get as heavy as possible, but the studio didn’t like that idea all that much,” Wahlberg jokes. “I changed my diet completely. Jim is the kind of guy who’s not very concerned with his appearance. He is not the kind of guy who would be exercising or eating right, so it made sense for the role.” Wyatt agrees that an underfed pallor made sense for the character. Says Wyatt, “We made the decision early on that Mark should lose the muscular frame that he has had in so many roles. We wanted to create a wolf like physicality about him. He’s still very much the handsome movie star that he’s always been, but he has this amazing, haunted look.” “Los Angeles as a Character” The Gambler was filmed entirely in greater Los Angeles, with brief stops to Palm Springs and Joshua Tree. Massachusetts native Monahan wrote the script specifically for the City of Angels: “I have a twisted and conflicted relationship with Los Angeles,” Monahan says. “When I came out here as a kid, it struck me as an alien planet. However much I've been exposed to it since, it still strikes me as alien. There’s something about Los Angeles that disturbs me, in a way, and appeals to me in an almost equal measure.” 8
Production designer Keith Cunningham comments on the opportunities that the Los Angeles’s sunny veneer offered in telling Jim’s story: “Most people know blue skies and palm trees, but we’re really looking to find the back doors and the dark alleys, which is both seductive and also dangerous at the same time.” Cunningham brought the production to as many practical locations as possible, knowing Wyatt’s preference for locations over sets that have been constructed on soundstages. “When you go into a location, there is so much there for you already in the in the textures in the wall, even the smell. It changes the way actors work and the way I work. We got to explore locations that haven’t been shot in years,” Wyatt says. The Gambler’s location manager Chris Baugh agrees: “A location evokes a tone and a feeling. Rupert was looking for realism and authenticity.” The production took residence in about forty different locations over the forty-­‐day shoot, and each location required several weeks of preparation. “It’s kind of like throwing a full scale wedding with two hundred guests every day for forty days. It’s a lot to handle,” Chris Baugh says. At Wyatt’s request, Baugh sought out rarely used, unfamiliar spaces. The Gambler’s tour of Los Angeles included locations in Beverly Hills, Pacific Palisades, Downtown Los Angeles, Koreatown, Pasadena an Dana Point. Jim’s confrontation with Neville at the bottom of an empty swimming pool was filmed at the Pasadena YMCA, which was designed by architect Julia Morgan, who also designed Hearst Castle. For the desert casino scenes, the production moved into Casino Morongo, just outside of Palm Springs, beginning at 5:00 a.m. on a Monday morning, typically the casino’s least active time. The production also enjoyed the rare opportunity to shoot at the Playboy Mansion, which doubled as Roberta’s home. (When Baugh suggested the Playboy Mansion to the producers, they feared that the building might be too recognizable. Baugh showed the producers a group of photos of various Southern California homes and asked them to pick out the photograph of the Playboy Mansion. Stumped, the producers relented.) “I found so many different corners of this city that are just fascinating and in a way belong to their own their own city. There are so many cities in this one city. I tried to bring that into the film,” Wyatt says. Although there was a narrative draw to set the film in Los Angeles, Wahlberg points out that filming in the city has become an anomaly. “Los Angeles is definitely a character in the movie. Hopefully, we’ll be taking the audience to places that they’re not familiar with in 9
LA. To shoot in LA, to be home with my family, was really important to me. I moved to LA to make movies and they don’t do that that often so it was really nice to be able to experience it here,” Wahlberg says. Larson also laments the shift of film production to other states. “It’s so rare that we get to make movies in Los Angeles, and it’s a shame,” Larson comments. “We’re all surprised by the locations because they’re so historical and none of us have ever seen them. It’s been a fun adventure to discover all of these new secret, hidden and sometimes dark parts of Los Angeles.” “The Look of the Gambler” Costume designer Jacqueline West enhanced the film’s distinct design by dressing Wahlberg in clothing that matched his character’s dual identity. West explains: “I didn’t want to make him a cliché academic in cords or tweeds or chambray shirts. He had to have a foot in both worlds, the world of the night and the daytime world of the campus, and he had to look almost out of place in both but yet be able to navigate through both.” Cognizant of Jim’s wealthy background, West chose Armani suits for Wahlberg and employed a palate that goes from dark to light as Jim’s story progresses. Unfortunately for West, Wahlberg’s diet continued during the holiday hiatus between his fittings and the start of production. “He lost even more weight, and when it came time to do a camera test right after the holidays, the suits were already loose on him,” West says. “Everybody loved that. It really shows somebody who no longer cares about taking care of themselves.” West, who worked with John Goodman on Argo, enjoyed finding a signature look for Frank. “He’s so collaborative and keen to think outside of the box. He looks different than he does in any other movie, not only because of his shaved head. I based him on Frank Sinatra -­‐-­‐ not young Frank Sinatra the teen idol, but more the Palm Springs, Las Vegas look -­‐
-­‐ from the white shoes to the powder blue coat. I think he really pulled it off,” West says. 10
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS Born and raised in the south of England, RUPERT WYATT (Director) was educated at the Dragon School, Oxford and Winchester College, Hampshire. Rupert is a founder of Picture Farm; an award winning London & New York based production collective and Commercials company, which includes film makers Ben Freedman, Damian Lewis and Gareth Lewis, and Marc Singer. In its 15 year history Picture Farm has produced short films, documentaries, and features including the Sundance award-­‐
winning documentary Dark Days (2000), the award winning Short Film “Get The Picture,” starring Brian Cox. The Baker (2007), starring Damian Lewis. And multiple award-­‐winning The Escapist (2008). Rupert studied Film in Paris, France and while at University began screenwriting for producers Claudie Ossard (Amelie) and Jean-­‐Pierre Ramsay (Total Eclipse). This was followed by five years of writing and developing features in New York for companies Shooting Gallery, Miramax and Radical Media. Between 2000 and 2005 Rupert worked in London and Liverpool directing episodic television and developing his own scripts through UK Film Council lottery funded the Film Consortium and with producers Adrian Sturges, Simon Relph and Michael Kuhn. Wyatt co-­‐wrote and directed the British prison escape thriller The Escapist (2008) starring Brian Cox, Damian Lewis, Dominic Cooper and Joseph Fiennes. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008, was nominated for eight international film awards and won two. In March of 2010 Wyatt signed onto direct 20th Century Fox’s Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes starring Andy Serkis; the reboot of the Planet of the Apes franchise. Since its release, the film has seen enormous success worldwide, both critically and commercially. Wyatt currently lives in Venice Beach, California with his wife Erica Beeney; a screenwriter, and their two children. WILLIAM MONAHAN (Writer/Executive Producer) won the Academy Award®, the Writer's Guild of America Award, and received a BAFTA nomination for his second produced screenplay, The Departed, which earned four Oscars®, including Best Picture. His first produced original screenplay was Ridley Scott’s literary spectacular Kingdom of 11
Heaven, which became available in its acclaimed full version some time after its theatrical release. As a literary and comic essayist, Monahan was the star writer for New York Press in the period of its success in the 1990s, an editor at the legendary Spy and other magazines, and was awarded a Pushcart Prize for short fiction. His comic novel Light House: A Trifle has been republished by Odyssey Editions, an imprint devoted to modern classics, in the company of Saul Bellow, Salman Rushdie, and Phillip Roth. He has written and directed two independent films, London Boulevard, with Colin Farrell, and Mojave, with Garrett Hedlund and Oscar Isaac. He recently adapted Sympathy For Lady Vengeance, to star Charlize Theron, which he will produce with Theron and Megan Ellison. He has also adapted the African adventure novel The Wild Geese, which he will produce with Patrick Milling Smith and Greg Shapiro, along with his new adaptation of Becket from the play by Jean Anouilh. He will next write and produce the Boston-­‐based thriller-­‐drama The Throwaways, the first project under his first-­‐look deal with Paramount Pictures. STEPHEN LEVINSON (Producer) is the recipient of a Producers Guild of America Award, a BAFTA and two Peabody Awards. His work has garnered, three Emmy nominations, and seven Golden Globe nods. Levinson owns Leverage Management, a talent management and production company, where he executive produced the award winning, HBO series Entourage. His other credits include, In Treatment, How to Make It in America and Boardwalk Empire. Levinson grew up in Manhasset Hills, New York, and earned his bachelor’s degree from Tulane University. He moved to Los Angeles in 1991 to begin a career in entertainment, having previously worked as an accountant and founding a clothing company. His first job was in the mailroom at Inter Talent (now know as UTA). He founded Leverage Management in 1996 to assist a select group of accomplished artists further develop their careers. As Leverage clients found more and more success, Levinson was able to grow the production side of the company, which took off in 2004 with the premiere of Entourage. The show was partly inspired by the real life of Levinson’s longtime friend, client and business partner Mark Wahlberg, who serves as an executive producer on all Leverage television projects. Levinson now has an active feature slate, which includes The Gambler, Lone 12
Survivor, Broken City, Contraband, and Kissing a Fool, to name a few. He is also in production on his new television show for HBO, Ballers, starring Dwayne Johnson which airs 2015. In 2000, Levinson created, WhoRepresents.com, as a free Internet database of talent representatives in the fields of film, television, music, pro sports and other media. WhoRepresents.com is now one of the most popular subscription-­‐based services of its kind, used by professionals in all areas of entertainment and media. In 2010, Levinson launched TheQuickList.net, a site custom-­‐designed for viewing, creating and sharing casting ideas online. IRWIN WINKLER’s (Producer) career as a producer, director and writer encompasses popular and influential movies that have impacted contemporary culture. With a passion for big, bold, meaningful stories, his films include an array of true screen classics, garnering among them 12 Academy Awards® and 45 Oscar® nominations. Winkler’s most recently produced film, the Academy Award® and Golden Globe nominated The Wolf Of Wall Street, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, illustrates his continual presence as one of Hollywood’s most prolific producers making an indelible impact with his ability to showcase emotional storytelling with hard hitting relevance. Continuing his legendary collaboration with Martin Scorsese, Winkler will produce Silence written by Scorsese and Jay Cocks and based on the book by Shusaku Endo. Scorsese will direct with production slated to begin January 2015 starring Andrew Garfield, Liam Neeson and Adam Driver. 2015 will also see Winkler producing the next installment of his Academy Award®-­‐
winning franchise Rocky with Creed for MGM Studios starring Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan to be directed by Ryan Coogler scheduled for release Christmas of 2015. Among Winkler’s multiple nominations include four Best Picture nominations, each for a pioneering film: the tale of underdog sports triumph, Rocky, which forged one of most globally recognizable movie characters and themes in history; Raging Bull, which turned the biopic into a gritty, lyrical work of art; the history-­‐capturing look at the U.S. space program, The Right Stuff; and the iconic gangster tale, Goodfellas. Winkler is the only producer honored with three films on the American Film Institute’s list of the “Top 100 Films.” For Winkler, success has come from his constant instinctual draw to fresh, current, even controversial subjects and visionary talents. As a storyteller he has been fascinated by both the dangers of corruption and the beauty of courage and compassion. 13
Winkler first made a resounding impact producing a series of raw, edgy human dramas that helped to define the gritty landscape of 70s and 80s cinema. These the fiercely original They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, about the desperate contenders in a Depression-­‐era dance contest, starring Jane Fonda and Michael Sarrazin, which would seal Winkler’s reputation with 9 Academy Award® nominations and status as a Hollywood classic. Other highlights from his Gotham period include New York, New York, starring Liza Minnelli and Robert De Niro, which produced one of the most recognizable songs in pop culture; the enduring masterpiece, Raging Bull, considered by many to be among the great cinematic works of the 20th Century and highlighted by DeNiro’s Oscar winning performance; and Goodfellas, which was honored with numerous critics’ awards and has become etched in filmgoers’ consciousness as the paragon of the American crime drama. In that era, Winkler also produced the Mafia comedy The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight; the timely comedy Up The Sandbox, starring Barbra Streisand; The Gambler, a penetrating look at gambling addiction, starring James Caan; the stirring modern Western, Comes A Horseman, teaming Caan with Jane Fonda; the atmospheric period mystery, True Confessions starring Robert DeNiro and Robert Duvall; the critically-­‐acclaimed suspense thriller about a woman who discovers her father is an accused Nazi war criminal, Music Box, which earned an Oscar® nomination for star Jessica Lange and the homage to the Jazz Era, Round Midnight. In 1989, Winkler made an auspicious directorial debut from his own potent screenplay, Guilty By Suspicion, which brought to the fore a fictional tale about Hollywood’s all-­‐too-­‐real blacklisting era. Starring Robert DeNiro as a prominent director asked to “name names” and Annette Benning as his wife, the film presaged a writing and directing career that would, like Winkler’s producing career, be focused on taut human drama and politically-­‐charged themes. Winkler’s next directorial outing reunited him with both Robert DeNiro and Jessica Lange in a stylish update of the noir crime drama, Night and the City, which would close the prestigious New York Film Festival in 1992 and become a rousing critical success. He went on to direct and produce At First Sight, a romantic drama based on a true story by Dr. Oliver Sacks, starring Val Kilmer, Mira Sorvino, Nathan Lane, Steven Weber and Kelly McGillis; and the prescient cyber-­‐crime thriller The Net, starring Sandra Bullock, one of the big box-­‐office hits of 1995. 14
Winkler’s directorial career would continue to take intriguing turns. He broached the thought-­‐provoking question of what happens when a man suddenly faces his own mortality in the poignantly complex Life as a House, featuring a landmark performance by Kevin Kline and cast that included Kristin Scott Thomas, Mary Steenburgen, as well as rising young stars Hayden Christensen and Jena Malone. Radically switching gears, Winkler next directed one of his most distinctive features, an enchanting and elegantly stylish musical biography of the legendary composer Cole Porter: De-­‐Lovely. Featuring colorful, Golden Globe-­‐nominated performances from Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd, as well as knock-­‐out performances from some of today’s hottest pop and rock music talents, including Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette, Elvis Costello, Robbie Williams, Natalie Cole, and Diana Krall, all performing Porter’s classic songs, the film was selected as the closing night gala event at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Winkler became one of the very first American filmmakers to turn his camera on an issue currently of vital significance -­‐-­‐ the return of U.S. veterans from the war in Iraq – when he directed and produced the provocative drama Home of the Brave, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Jessica Biel and Brian Presley. Winker’s motion picture producing career began in the late 1960s when he left his successful management company behind. His made his first film, the Elvis Presley movie Double Trouble, with the legendary director Norman Taurog. Soon after, he entered into a legendary partnership with Robert Chartoff, producing such films as the classic revenge thriller Point Blank. In 1970, an eclectic trio of Winkler/Chartoff films each made a splash at the Cannes Film Festival: Leo The Last won the Best Director prize, the counter-­‐culture cult film, The Strawberry Statement received the Jury Award and They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? garnered the closing night honors. For his enormous contributions to the popular culture, Winkler has been the proud recipient of numerous American and international honors, including the Commandeur des Arts et Lettres, the French government’s highest decoration for contribution to the arts. In 1989, the British Film Institute saluted him with a retrospective of his work and in 1995, Winkler became the first producer to be honored with a showcase screening of ten of his films at the Deauville Film Festival. He has also received a Lifetime Achievement award from the Chicago Film Festival, a star on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame and retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which had not honored a producer since their tribute to David O. Selznick in 15
1980. Winkler also received the National Board of Review’s highest honor for Career Achievement in Producing, which Kevin Kline presented to him at their annual gala in January 2007 in New York. ROBERT CHARTOFF (Producer) produced alongside Irwin Winkler, two of the films on AFI’s top 100 films of the last 100 years: ‘Raging Bull’ and ‘Rocky.’ AFI also ranks these films as the two best sports films of all time. Mr. Chartoff won the Best Picture Oscar for ‘Rocky’ and was nominated for ‘Raging Bull’ and ‘The Right Stuff.’ Among his dozens of films, he produced such classics as ‘They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?’ ‘Point Blank, ‘New York, New York’ and ‘The Gambler.’ Chartoff produced the John Boorman directed film, ‘In My Country,’ starring Juliette Binoche and Samuel L. Jackson. The film received the Diamond Cinema for Peace Award at the Berlin Film Festival, as well as the Common Ground Award for Film, in honor of its depiction of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa. Upon viewing the film, Nelson Mandela thanked the filmmakers for their “gift to the South African people.” Chartoff also produced Julie Taymor’s ‘The Tempest’ starring Helen Mirren, Russell Brand and Felicity Jones. ‘The Tempest’ was honored as the Closing Night Film of the Venice Film Festival and as the Centerpiece Selection of the New York Film Festival. It received an Oscar nomination for Costume Design. He also produced ‘Rocky Balboa,’ the sixth installment of the ‘Rocky’ franchise, as well as re-­‐makes of his cult classics, ‘The Mechanic,’ starring Jason Statham, and ‘The Gambler,’ starring Mark Wahlberg. Chartoff most recently produced Julie Taymor’s film version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” as well as the highly anticipated Lionsgate release of ‘Ender’s Game,’ alongside Bob Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Gigi Pritzker. It was directed by Gavin Hood, and stars Harrison Ford, Viola Davis, Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Abigail Breslin and Hailee Steinfeld. It debuted at number one in North America on November 1, 2013. Although Mr. Chartoff is one of the highest grossing producers of all time, it is equally important to him that his films reflect issues of social and cultural significance. Among his many philanthropic activities, Robert has a lifelong passion for the protection and nurturing of children. In 1990, he founded, and continues to solely support, the Jennifer School in Bodh Gaya, India, educating hundreds of disadvantaged children who were once known as “untouchables.” 16
DAVID WINKLER (Producer) is a producer, director and writer who began his film career writing screenplays for Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment and RKO Films. His feature directorial debut was Finding Graceland starring Harvey Keitel and Bridget Fonda. David has produced the following films: Rocky Balboa in 2006 starring Sylvester Stallone for MGM Studios, the 2011 remake of The Mechanic, starring Jason Statham for CBS Films and the 2011 Nicole Kidman starrer Trespass for Millennium Films. Next up David will produce Creed, starring Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan for MGM Studios and The Mechanic II for Millennium Films. Prior to The Gambler, DAVID CROCKETT (Executive Producer) served as Executive Vice President of Production at Graham King’s GK Films. During his tenure there, he executive produced Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award-­‐nominated Hugo as well as supervised the making of such films as the Academy Award-­‐winning Argo and World War Z. Crockett met King while producing The Town in Boston for Warner Brothers and GK Films in 2009. The Town was directed by Ben Affleck and was nominated for Best Picture by the Producers Guild of America. The Town marked Crockett’s second collaboration with Ben Affleck, as he executive produced Affleck’s directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone, starring Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, Casey Affleck and Amy Ryan. Amy Ryan received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as the mother of the kidnapped girl in the critically acclaimed crime thriller. Prior to The Town, Crockett executive produced Seven Pounds, starring Will Smith, and The Great Debaters, which was directed by Denzel Washington and was honored with a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture. Crockett is also credited with executive producing the Disney gymnastics film Stick It, the hit horror remake of The Amityville Horror, starring Ryan Reynolds, and with co-­‐
producing Bad Santa, starring Billy Bob Thornton, and The Guru, a romantic comedy produced for Working Title Films. Crockett began his career working on such films as Frequency (starring Dennis Quaid), Scream (Wes Craven) and Music of the Heart (with Meryl Streep), to name a few. KEITH CUNNINGHAM (Production Designer) most recently designed the upcoming Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy for director Bill Pohlad. Prior to that, he was production designer on Nicole Holofcener’s critically acclaimed film Enough Said, starring 17
James Gandolfini. He also designed Gavin O’Connor’s pilot Cinnamon Girl, as well as Amazon Studios’ first pilot Browsers, marking his second collaboration with director Don Scardino. The two previously teamed up on New Line’s comedy The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, starring Steve Carell and Steve Buscemi. Other design credits include Jonathan Kasdan’s The First Time, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and the pilot for the hit series Suburgatory, directed by Michael Fresco and executive produced by Emily Kapnek for ABC. As an art director, Keith has worked with some of today’s most respected production designers. With his involvement, the following films were nominated for Excellence in Production Design Awards from the Art Directors Guild: The Social Network, Angels & Demons, Star Trek and Ocean’s Eleven. Other art direction credits include Bridesmaids, Zodiac, Van Helsing, Solaris, Signs and Traffic. Born and raised in Chicago, Cunningham attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-­‐Champaign where he studied fine arts and architecture. His first job after relocating to California was designing scenery for exhibitions and theme parks for an industrial design firm in Costa Mesa. He later moved to Los Angeles to pursue film studies at the American Film Institute (AFI) under the mentorship of legendary production designer, Robert Boyle. In between projects, he enjoys family time with his wife and two daughters. JACQUELINE WEST (Costume Designer) earned Academy Award® nominations for her work on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Quills. For Benjamin Button, she also received a BAFTA nomination and a Costume Designer Guild Award nomination. West received another Costume Designer Guild Award nomination for Argo. After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, West followed in the footsteps of her mother, a popular avant-­‐garde fashion designer in the 1940’s and 50’s. From 1988 to 1997, West ran her own company and designed a nationally acclaimed line of clothing. West went on to own retail stores in the Bay Area and contemporary departments in Barney’s New York and Tokyo. West’s first foray into film, as a creative consultant on Henry and June, was the start of a long relationship with award-­‐winning director Phillip Kaufman and led to future projects with such illustrious filmmakers as Terrence Malick David Fincher, Alejandro González Iñárritu, and Ben Affleck. She has done five films with Malick starting with The 18
New World and including The Tree of Life, To the Wonder, Knight of Cups, and his upcoming Project V. West is currently designing The Revenant for Iñárritu. West serves on the Advisory Board of the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, and spends her time between Los Angeles and her ranch in Deadwood, South Dakota. GREIG FRASER (Cinematographer) has collaborated with some of the industry’s top directors, bringing his unique aesthetic to numerous feature films, short films, music videos and commercials. Beginning his career in Australia as a stills photographer, Greig further explored his craft behind the camera at production company Exit Films before relocating to Los Angeles to work internationally. Some of his features include the Oscar winning Zero Dark Thirty for Kathryn Bigelow, Bright Star for Jane Campion that earned him Cinematographer of the Year from the Australian Cinematographers Society, Snow White and the Huntsmen for Rupert Sanders, and most recently Bennett Miller’s Cannes winner Foxcatcher. The short film Crackerbag shot for Glendyn Ivin won the Cannes Palme d’Or and his music videos include working alongside Bob Dylan, Arcade Fire and Trent Reznor Over the past 15 years Greig has amassed 35 film credits, collected 11 award wins and 12 nominations, and his work has been featured in over 50 film festivals worldwide. Upcoming projects will team Greig with director Garth Davis for Lion, then with Gareth Edwards for the Untitled Star Wars Film. PETE BEAUDREAU (Editor) is a graduate of the Film Conservatory at SUNY Purchase. He began editing feature films with the cult classic The American Astronaut, which was an official selection at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. His credits include the independent films XX/XY, Sympathy For Delicious and My Week With Marilyn, which earned Michelle Williams an Academy Award Nomination in 2011. That same year, Beaudreau worked on the critically acclaimed and Oscar nominated Margin Call with JC Chandor. The New Yorker described Margin Call as “one of the strongest American films of the year and easily the best Wall Street movie ever made.” Beaudreau and Chandor continued their successful partnership with the powerful and bold All Is Lost, a wordless, elemental survival film starring Robert Redford. A smash hit at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, many hailed All Is Lost as the best performance of Redford’s 19
legendary career. He and Beaudreau were included on numerous Academy Award short lists. Los Angeles magazine singled out Beaudreau's work for Oscar consideration, noting that "with Beaudreau's cutting... what's left is a montage at its most pure." In addition, Beaudreau has taught editing technique and theory at both Harvard and Columbia Universities. This fall, Beaudreau’s work can be seen in two exciting projects: the pilot of Showtime’s new Rashomon-­‐
style series The Affair and Paramount Picture’s hotly anticipated The Gambler, directed by Rupert Wyatt and starring Mark Wahlberg. 20
ABOUT THE CAST Mark Wahlberg (Jim Bennett/Producer) earned both Academy Award® and Golden Globe nominations for his standout work in the family boxing film The Fighter and Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed drama The Departed. Wahlberg has played diverse characters for visionary filmmakers such as David O. Russell, Tim Burton and Paul Thomas Anderson. His breakout role in Boogie Nights established Wahlberg as one of Hollywood’s most sought-­‐after talents. Wahlberg’s remarkable film career began with Renaissance Man, directed by Penny Marshall, and The Basketball Diaries, with Leonardo DiCaprio, followed by a star turn opposite Reese Witherspoon in the thriller Fear. He later headlined Three Kings and The Perfect Storm, with George Clooney, and The Italian Job, with Charlize Theron. Wahlberg then starred in the football biopic Invincible, with Greg Kinnear, and Shooter, based on Stephen Hunter’s best-­‐selling novel, “Point of Impact.” Wahlberg reunited with The Yards director James Gray and co-­‐star Joaquin Phoenix for We Own the Night, which he also produced. Most recently, Wahlberg collaborated with Pain & Gain director Michael Bay for Transformers: Age Of Extinction. Wahlberg’s additional credits include 2 Guns, with Denzel Washington, Peter Berg’s Lone Survivor, The Lovely Bones, The Other Guys, Contraband and Ted. An accomplished film and television producer, Wahlberg produced The Gambler, Lone Survivor, Broken City, Contraband, The Fighter (for which Wahlberg was nominated for an Oscar® for Best Picture) and We Own the Night. For television, Wahlberg executive produced HBO’s “Entourage” through its impressive eight-­‐season run. In addition to “Entourage,” Wahlberg executive produced HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire,” “How To Make It In America” and “In Treatment,” as well as A&E’s “Wahlburgers.” For his work in television, Wahlberg has received a BAFTA, a Peabody, five Emmy nominations, six Golden Globe nominations and a Golden Globe Award for “Boardwalk Empire” in 2011. A committed philanthropist, Wahlberg founded The Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation in 2001 to benefit inner-­‐city children and teens. BRIE LARSON (Amy Phillips) has built an impressive career as one of the more versatile young actresses working today. Most recently, she garnered numerous 2014 Best Actress award wins and nominations for her performance in Short Term 12, directed by 21
Destin Daniel Cretton. Her dramatic role as Grace, the director of a foster care facility, earned her Best Actress at the Locarno Film Festival, and Best Actress at the Gotham Awards. She was also nominated for a 2014 Critic’s Choice Award. The Los Angeles Times labeled her the “It Girl” of this year’s SXSW film festival, with four films showing. In addition to Short Term 12 (which took home the Grand Jury prize and the Audience Award), she had supporting turns in The Spectacular Now opposite Shailene Woodley, playing Miles Teller’s seemingly perfect girlfriend, as well as Don Jon, Joseph Gordon-­‐Levitt’s directorial debut, playing the cynical/ realist sister of Gordon-­‐Levitt’s character. Both films were also at Sundance and SXSW film festivals. Up next, Larson will star in the film adaptations of two best-­‐selling novels: Matthew Quick’s (“Silver Linings Playbook”) The Good Luck of Right Now, Judd Apatow’s Trainwrecked and Emma Donaghue’s Room. Previously, Larson was seen in the hugely successful film, 21 Jump Street as the love interest to Jonah Hill, and received rave reviews for her supporting role in the Oren Moverman film Rampart, playing the incorrigible, defiant daughter of Woody Harrelson, a dirty cop in the Los Angeles’ Rampart division. Larson is still widely recognized for her portrayal of Kate, Toni Collette’s sarcastic and rebellious daughter, in Showtime’s breakout drama United States of Tara, which was created by Academy Award-­‐winning writer Diablo Cody and based on an original idea by Steven Spielberg. Other notable credits include Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, in which she played the rock star ex-­‐girlfriend of Michael Cera, and Noah Baumbach’s Greenberg as a young temptress flirting with Ben Stiller. She has appeared on stage at the prestigious Williamstown Theater Festival in the role of Emily in “Our Town,” and recurred on the F/X cult favorite series, “The League” as an overly amorous au pair. In addition to acting, Larson is a writer and director. Her short film, “The Arm” won the prize for Best Comedic Storytelling at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. The other “Weighting” was in competition at this year’s SXSW film festival. A native of Sacramento, Larson started studying drama at the early age of 6, as the youngest student ever to attend the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Larson currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. 22
JOHN GOODMAN (Frank) remembers the day in 1975 when he left his native St. Louis for New York, armed only with a degree from Southwest Missouri State University, $1,000 borrowed from his brother and a dream of becoming a professional actor. He didn't want to look back later and say, “I wonder if I could have ...” So he made the rounds, worked at odd jobs and just tried to keep busy. He’s been busy ever since. Goodman most recently starred in the Sony action drama The Monument’s Men and the folk music drama Inside Llewyn Davis which reunited him with the Coen brothers for the sixth time. Goodman also lent his voice to the Disney’s animated feature “Monster’s University.” His upcoming films includeBad Robot’s thriller, Valencia and Jay Roach’s Trumbo. In 2013 Goodman starred in Ben Affleck’s drama Argo, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and in Robert Zemeckis’ thriller Flight. That same year he won the 2013 National Board of Review Spotlight Award for his work in Argo, Flight and Trouble with the Curve. Goodman’s other film credits include the Weinstein Co.’s black-­‐and-­‐white silent feature The Artist which won the 2012 Academy Award for Best Picture. Goodman currently stars in Amazon’s original series “Alpha House,” which recently returned for a second season. His other TV credits include the Starz miniseries “Dancing on the Edge,” DirecTV’s “Damages,” and NBC’s “Community”. Among Goodman’s many accolades are a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and seven Emmy nominations for his role in “Roseanne.” He also won Emmy nominations for his starring roles in TNT’s “Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long,” and in the CBS production of Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire.” In 2007, Goodman won his second Emmy, for Outstanding Guest Actor, on “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.” HBO’s biopic of Jack Kevorikian, “You Don’t Know Jack,” reunited Goodman with Al Pacino (“Sea of Love”) and Susan Sarandon (“Speed Racer”). He won an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie and a SAG nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries. Previous film credits included, Trouble with the Curve, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, In The Electric Mist, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Speed Racer, Bee Movie, Pope Joan, Alabama Moon, Gigantic, Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing and Charm School, Beyond the Sea, Masked and Anonymous, Storytelling, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Coyote Ugly, What 23
Planet Are You From?, One Night at McCool's, Bringing Out the Dead, Fallen, The Borrowers, Blues Brothers 2000, The Runner, The Flintstones, Mother Night, Arachnophobia, Always, Pie in the Sky, Born Yesterday, Matinee, The Babe, Barton Fink, King Ralph, Punchline, Everybody's All-­‐American, Sea of Love, Stella, Eddie Macon's Run, C.H.U.D., Revenge of the Nerds, Maria's Lovers, Sweet Dreams, True Stories, The Big Easy, Burglar, The Wrong Guys, Raising Arizona, Barton Fink and The Big Lebowski. He has lent his voice to many animated films, including Monsters, Inc., The Emperor’s New Groove, Tales of the Rat Fink and The Jungle Book II. He also voiced a main character in NBC’s animated series “Father of the Pride.” Goodman went to Southwest Missouri State intending to play football, but an injury led him to switch his major to drama. He never returned to football and graduated with a degree in Theatre. Goodman starred on Broadway in “Waiting for Godot,” for which he received rave reviews as Pozzo. His other stage credits include many dinner theatre and children's theatre productions, as well as several off-­‐Broadway plays. His regional theatre credits include “Henry IV, Parts I and II,” “Antony and Cleopatra,” “As You Like It” and “A Christmas Carol.” He performed in a road production of “The Robber Bridegroom” and starred in two Broadway shows, “Loose Ends” in 1979 and “Big River” in 1985. In 2001, he starred in the NY Shakespeare Festival Central Park staging of “The Seagull,” directed by Mike Nichols. The following year he appeared on Broadway in the Public Theatre’s “Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui,” Goodman and his family have homes in Los Angeles and New Orleans. Acclaimed as one of the greatest actresses of her generation, two-­‐time Academy Award® winner JESSICA LANGE (Roberta) has dazzled the screen with over 30 credits to her name. Lange made her Hollywood debut in John Guillermin’s King Kong opposite Jeff Bridges and Charles Grodin, winning a Golden Globe® for Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture. She then permanently put her name on the map by receiving dual Academy Award® and Golden Globe nominations in the same year for her challenging performances in Frances and in Sydney Pollack’s memorable comedy Tootsie starring opposite Dustin Hoffman, for which she took home the Oscar® for Supporting Actress. In 1994, Lange won 24
her second Oscar® for Best Actress in Blue Sky, which she starred opposite Tommy Lee Jones. Following her previous dynamic performances, Lange amazed audiences with projects such as Country, which paired her with Frances co-­‐star Sam Shepard, to tell the story of a struggling farmer and his wife. Lange’s performance again earned her Oscar® and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Success continued with Sweet Dreams and Music Box, both which garnered her Academy Award® nominations and an additional Golden Globe nomination for Music Box. In 1996 Lange picked up her first Emmy nomination for the made for TV adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire in which Lange played “Blanche DuBois.” Lange continued to take diverse roles in acclaimed movies which included Martin Scorsese’s Cape Fear alongside Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, and Juliette Lewis; Losing Isaiah opposite Halle Barry; Rob Roy with Liam Neeson; and Tim Burton’s Big Fish alongside an outstanding ensemble cast including Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, and Helena Bonham Carter. Lange also appeared in Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers starring Bill Murray, in which Lange played a former flame of Murray’s character. In 2005, Lange starred in the independent film Don’t Come Knocking. The film, written and co-­‐starring Sam Shepard, marked their first collaboration after over 15 years. In 2006, she starred alongside fellow award winning actresses Joan Allen and Kathy Bates in Bonneville. The film was written by Daniel Davis and Christopher Rowley and directed by Rowley. Next she dabbed into TV with the remake of the critically acclaimed Sybil. Lange played “Dr. Wilbur,” a psychiatrist who attempts to unravel the abusive childhood which results in Sybil (Blanchard) developing a multiple personality disorder. In 2009, Lange won an Emmy Award for her performance in HBO’s Grey Gardens. She played “‘Big’ Edith Bouvier,” the eccentric aunt of Jackie Kennedy, alongside Drew Barrymore who played her daughter “‘Little’ Edith Bouvier.” Following her Emmy win for Grey Gardens, Lange starred in the TV series American Horror Story with Glee producers Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. She won a Golden Globe, SAG Award, and Emmy Award in 2012 for her portrayal as character “Constance Langdon.” Referred to as a “psycho sexual thriller,” the show premiered its 1st installment on FX in October 2011. For the second installment, FX’s American Horror Story: Asylum, Lange played “Sister Jude,” a no-­‐nonsense nun who runs a mental institution. Yet again, Lange garnered rave 25
reviews for her character portrayal, earning her 2013 Golden Globe and SAG Awards nominations. In the third installment, American Horror Story: Coven, Jessica starred as “Fiona Goode,” Supreme witch of the Salem descendants. Her mesmerizing performance earned her the 2014 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie, as well as 2014 Golden Globe and SAG Awards nominations. Lange was recently seen on-­‐screen in Charlie Stratton’s remake of Emile Zola’s erotic thriller, In Secret. She starred as “Madam Raquin,” the overbearing aunt to Elizabeth Olsen’s character “Therese.” In Secret premiered on February 6, 2014. Lange currently stars in the fourth installment of American Horror Story: Freak Show. Lange is set to play Elsa Mars, a German expatriate who owns one of the last remaining freak shows in America. Michael Kenneth Williams (Neville) is one of television’s most respected and acclaimed actors. By bringing complicated and charismatic characters to life—often with surprising tenderness—Williams has established himself as a gifted and versatile performer with a unique ability to mesmerize audiences with his stunning character portrayals. Williams is best known for his remarkable work on “The Wire,” which ran for five seasons on HBO. The wit and humor that Williams brought to Omar Little, the whistle-­‐
happy, profanity-­‐averse, dealer-­‐robbing stickup man, earned him high praise and made Omar one of television’s most memorable characters. For his work Williams was nominated in 2009 for an NAACP Image Award for “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.” Williams co-­‐starred in HBO’s critically acclaimed series “Boardwalk Empire,” which premiered in 2010 and is currently in its last season. In the Martin Scorsese-­‐produced show, Williams played Chalky White, a 1920s bootlegger and impeccably suited veritable mayor of the Atlantic City’s African-­‐American community. In 2012, “Boardwalk Empire” won a Screen Actors Guild Award for “Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.” In 2014, Michael Kenneth Williams was nominated for a NAACP Image Award for “Outstanding Supporting Actor in Drama Series” for “Boardwalk Empire.” Williams continued to show his versatility by guest starring in “Community,” NBC’s comedy series. His other television credits include “Law & Order,” “CSI,” “The Philanthropist” and “Boston Legal.” He also had a recurring role on “The Sopranos” and J.J. 26
Abrams’ “Alias.” Williams will next be seen starring along John Turturro in Steve Zallian’s series for HBO, “Crime.” Williams made his feature film debut in the urban drama Bullet, after being discovered by the late Tupac Shakur. He also appeared in Bringing out the Dead, which was directed by Martin Scorsese. His other film work includes roles in The Purge 2: Anarchy, The Road, Gone Baby Gone, Life During Wartime, I Think I Love My Wife, Wonderful World, and Snitch opposite Dwayne Johnson and Susan Sarandon, Robocop starring Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman and Michael Keaton and a supporting role in the Academy Award-­‐winning Steve McQueen film 12 Years A Slave with Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt. Williams will next be seen in the features Captive, opposite Kate Mara and David Oyelowo, Kill The Messenger, opposite Jeremy Renner and Anesthesia, opposite Glenn Close, Kristen Stewart and Corey Stoll. He will also be seen opposite Richard Gere in Oren Moverman’s Time Out of Mind, opposite Kate Winslet, Woody Harrelson and Chiwetel Ejiofor in John Hillcoat’s Triple Nine and opposite Joaquin Phoenix in Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, Inherent Vice. Williams will also star opposite Queen Latifah in the HBO Film “Bessie.” Giving back to the community plays an important role in Williams’ off-­‐camera life. He has established Making Kids Win, a charitable organization whose primary objective is to build community centers in urban neighborhoods that are in need of safe spaces for children to learn and play. In 2014, Michael also became the ACLUs Ambassador to end mass incarceration. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Williams began his career as a performer by dancing professionally at age 22. After numerous appearances in music videos and as a background dancer on concert tours for Madonna and George Michael, Williams decided to seriously pursue acting. He participated in several productions of the La MaMA Experimental Theatre, the prestigious National Black Theatre Company and the Theater for a New Generation directed by Mel Williams. Michael Kenneth Williams resides in Brooklyn, New York. A native of Honolulu, ALVIN ING (Mister Lee) has appeared in numerous films and television series, including Smilla’s Sense of Snow, “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Third Watch,” and “Strange Luck.” Ing also appeared in the short films “Love…Older” and “Broken Heart.” 27
ANTHONY KELLEY (Lamar Allen) makes his screen debut in The Gambler. Kelley, a twenty-­‐two-­‐year old Los Angeles native, began playing basketball at the age of three and went on to compete for Taft High. He began acting at the Paige school, where he appeared in numerous school productions. New York City native EMORY COHEN (Dexter) is one of Hollywood's fastest rising young stars. His standout roles include the troubled teen AJ in A Place Beyond the Pines, starring alongside Bradley Cooper and Ryan Gosling. In Beneath The Harvest Sky he played Casper, a loyal friend who finds himself caught up in the illegal prescription drug trade in northern Maine, which screened at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival. In 2015, Cohen will star in 3 upcoming films: Stealing Cars, By Way of Helena, and Brooklyn. In Stealing Cars, Cohen stars opposite John Leguizamo, William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman in the role of Billy Wyatt. The film centers around a rebellious teenager who navigates his way through the juvenile court system. In By Way of Helena, he stars in the role of Isaac, opposite Woody Harrelson, Liam Hemsworth and Alicia Braga. The film is about a Texas Ranger who investigates a series of unexplained deaths in a town called Helena. In Brooklyn, based on the book by Colm Toibin. He plays Tony, the love interest of Saoirse Ronan’s character. Brooklyn tells the story of a young Irish immigrant, Ellis Lacey, who makes her way in New York during the 1950s. His past film and television credits include: NBC’s “Smash,” playing Leo, the son of Debra Messing’s character for two seasons, and “Four,” reviewed as “A Remarkable and Moving Portrait of Solitude.” The cast won “Best Performance in the Narrative Competition” at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2013. Additional credits include “Tess and Nana,” “Afterschool,” “Lucky Dog,” “Nor’easter,” and “Hungry Ghosts.” 28