Cast

ADRIEN BRODY

(HENRY BARTHES)

Adrien Brody won the Academy Award® for Best Actor for his portrayal of real-life Holocaust survivor Wladislaw Szpilman in Roman Polanski’s THE PIANIST. He is to date the youngest person to have received the Oscar in that category. His performance also earned him Best Actor honors from the National Society of Film Critics and the Boston Society of Film Critics, and nominations for Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA Awards. He was also bestowed with the Cesar Award, France’s equivalent of the Oscar – the only non-French citizen to do so.

Adrien’s most recent films include MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, HIGH SCHOOL, and WRECKED.

Brody was born and raised in New York City, where he studied drama at LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He first came to prominence when he played a leading role in Steven Soderbergh’s KING OF THE HILL, and for starring performances in two features for director Eric Bross: TEN BENNY and RESTAURANT. The latter earned Brody an Independent Spirit Award nomination.

He has worked with some of the most prominent film directors in the industry: Roman Polanski (THE PIANIST), Peter Jackson (KING KONG), Ken Loach (BREAD AND ROSES), Wes Anderson (THE DARJEELING LIMITED), Barry Levinson (LIBERTY HEIGHTS), Spike Lee (SUMMER OF SAM), Terrence Malick (THE THIN RED LINE), and Woody Allen (MIDNIGHT IN PARIS).

Some other films in his filmography include: HARRISON’S FLOWERS, LOVE THE HARD WAY, THE JACKET, HOLLYWOODLAND, CADILLAC RECORDS, THE BROTHERS BLOOM, SPLICE, and PREDATORS.

CHRISTINA HENDRICKS

(MS. SARAH MADISON)

Christina Hendricks is best known for her portrayal of Joan Harris (formerly Holloway) on AMC’s critically acclaimed series “Mad Men.” Hendricks’ portrayal of Joan earned the actress two Emmy nominations in the category of Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. “Mad Men” won the 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 Emmy Award for outstanding drama series, the 2009 Golden Globe for Best Television Series – Drama as well as the 2009 and 2010 Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.
This winter, Christina can be seen in the fifth season of “Mad Men” as Joan Harris.

Hendricks can currently be seen in two feature films: The Weinstein Company’s comedy, I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT, in which she stars opposite Sarah Jessica Parker and Pierce Brosnan, and the critically acclaimed independent feature DRIVE. DRIVE, a joint production between OddLot Entertainment and Bold Films, for producer Marc Platt, also stars Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan.

Christina recently wrapped production for STRUCK BY LIGHTNING, starring opposite Chris Colfer, Dermot Mulroney and Sarah Hyland. Directed by Brian Dannelly, the film is slated for release in 2012. She will begin production on Neil LaBute’s SECONDS OF PLEASURE later this year. The film is slated for release in 2012. She will star opposite Julia Stiles, Brendan Fraser, Matt Dillon, and Kristin Scott Thomas.

Hendricks’ additional film credits include the independent feature LEONI, Warner Bros.’ LIFE AS WE KNOW IT, LA CUCINA, SOUTH OF PICO and DRIVING LESSONS. Her television credits include Showtime’s “Beggars and Choosers,” TNT’s “The Big Time,” NBC’s “ER,” ABC’s “The Court,” UPN’s “Kevin Hill,” CBS’s “Without a Trace” and “Cold Case,” and recurring roles on Joss Whedon’s “Firefly,” “Notes From the Underbelly,” and “Life.”

Hendricks recently earned rave reviews on stage while seen in Stephen Sondheim’s production of Company for the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center. She received rave reviews for her performance as flight attendant April. The New York Daily News stated, “The big yearning question: when can we get Christina Hendricks on Broadway? As the sex kitten ‘April,’ she proved herself a natural on stage.”

Christina currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband, Geoffrey Arend.

MARCIA GAY HARDEN

(PRINCIPAL CAROL DEARDEN)

Award-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden has forged a remarkable body of work, always staying true to her chameleon style of “becoming the character.” Her character portraits have been described by critics as “searing”, “heartbreaking”, “inventive”, “pure and profane simultaneously”, “astonishing”, “authentic”, and “sensuous”. From the glamorous Ava Gardner in SINATRA, to the artist Lee Krasner in POLLOCK (for which she won Best Supporting Actress Oscar), to the down and out Celeste in MYSTIC RIVER (another Academy Award© nomination) Marcia has created a signature style based in character transformation. Her versatility and wide-range have been praised in such films as MILLERS CROSSING, THE FIRST WIVES CLUB, MEET JOE BLACK, MONA LISA SMILE, THE HOAX, and USED PEOPLE.

Marcia has chosen a life away from mainstream Hollywood, crossing between independent and studio films, and television and theatre. This spring Harden reprised the role she originated on Broadway in the Tony Award© winning play God of Carnage along with the original cast with a tremendously successful stage run at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles. In 2009, it was her exceptional Broadway performance in this starring role that garnered her the Best Actress Tony Award©. Her fellow-nominated co-stars in the play included James Gandolfini, Hope Davis and Jeff Daniels. Additionally, she received an Outer Circle Critics Award for her performance, as well as nominations from the Drama Desk and Drama League. That same year, she was nominated for an Emmy© Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for her role in “The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler.”

Other nominations include a Tony© nomination for Tony Kushner’s Angels in America (for which she won the Drama Desk and Theatre World Awards), an Emmy© nomination for her guest appearance on “Law and Order: SVU,” also an Independent Spirit Award nomination for AMERICAN GUN.

Marcia recently finished production on three indie feature films, SOMEDAY THIS PAIN WILL BE USEFUL TO YOU, co-starring Peter Gallagher and Ellen Burstyn and IF I WERE YOU co-starring Aidan Quinn and Valerie Mahaffey. She also recently reprised her Emmy© Award nominated role on NBC’s “Law and Order: SVU.” Earlier this year, Marcia starred in Lifetime’s “The Amanda Knox Story,” portraying Amanda’s mother Edda Mellas opposite Hayden Panettiere. Recent films include Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut WHIP IT, in which her daughter Eulala Scheel also had a co-starring role, THE MAIDEN HEIST with William H. Macy, Morgan Freeman, and Christopher Walken, CANVAS, RAILS AND TIES, Stephen King’s THE MIST (for which she won a Saturn Award,) Sean Penn’s INTO THE WILD, and THE CHRISTMAS COTTAGE with Peter O’Toole. On the television front Marcia co-starred in the critically acclaimed FX drama “Damages” opposite William Hurt and Glenn Close.

Marcia graduated from the University of Texas with a B.A. in Theatre and an MFA from the Graduate Acting program at New York University.

JAMES CAAN

(MR. CHARLES SEABOLDT)

One of the most versatile actors in motion pictures, James Caan is best known for his Academy Award nominated performance as Sonny Corleone in THE GODFATHER and for his Emmy-nominated portrayal of football star Brian Piccalo in “Brian’s Song.”

Appearing in more than 50 feature films over the course of his career, Caan also earned great recognition starring in Rob Reiner’s highly successful and critically acclaimed film MISERY, a psychological thriller based on the novel by Stephen King and in FOR THE BOYS, a romantic drama co-starring Bette Midler. He was equally praised for his performance as a brain damaged football star in Francis Ford Coppola’s THE RAIN PEOPLE, garnering him the Best Actor Award from the San Sebastian Film Festival. He also received the Actor of the Year honor from the National Association of Theater Owners for his role in THE GAMBLER.
Born in the Bronx and raised in Queens, New York, Caan knew early on that he did not want to follow in his father’s footsteps and work in the family meat business. He entered Michigan State University at age sixteen to study economics and to play football.

Caan transferred to Hofstra University to study law and during a spring break was interviewed by, and accepted to Stanford Meisner’s Neighborhood Playhouse. He then won a scholarship to study with Wynn Handman, and went on to get the first four jobs he auditioned for in the theater.

Caan began his career on stage in the 1961 off-Broadway production of La Ronde. He followed with a powerful slate of guest appearances in virtually every major television series of the day.

In addition to the previously named titles, Caan’s other film credits include CINDERELLA LIBERTY, FUNNY LADY, A BRIDGE TOO FAR, THIEF, T.R. BASKIN, SLITHER, SILENT MOVIE, ROLLERBALL, THE KILLER ELITE, ANOTHER MAN, ANOTHER CHANCE, COMES A HORSEMAN, GARDENS OF STONE, ALIEN NATION, FLESH AND BONE, THE PROGRAM, HONEYMOON IN VEGAS, ERASER, and MICKEY BLUE EYES.

He also starred in THE YARDS, for Miramax Films, opposite Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Whalberg and Charlize Theron, Artisan Entertainment’s THE WAY OF THE GUN, in which he co-starred with Benecio Del Toro, New Line Cinema’s mega-hit comedy ELF, in which he co-starred with Will Ferrell, Lars von Trier’s DOGVILLE, co-starring Nicole Kidman, and the NBC drama “Las Vegas.” He also directed as well as starred in the critically acclaimed film HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT.

BLYTHE DANNER

(MS. PERKINS)

Blythe Danner won two Emmy® awards for her role on Showtime’s “Huff” and was nominated twice for roles on “Will & Grace” and Joyce Carol Oates, “We Were the Mulvaneys.” She received a Golden Globe® nomination for Anne Tyler’s “Back When We Were Grownups,” and her list of career accomplishments continues with a Tony® award for her Broadway debut in Butterflies Are Free and nominations for roles in Harold Pinter’s Betrayal, Tennessee Williams’ Streetcar Named Desire and Stephen Sondheim’s musical, Follies.

Her film roles include Woody Allen’s ALICE, THE GREAT SANTINI, the MEET THE PARENTS series, WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER?, and SYLVIA, a film in which she appeared with her daughter, actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Upcoming projects include THE LUCKY ONE AND HELLO I MUST BE GOING.

Danner takes action to support causes that are important to her. She has passionately advocated for environmental concerns for more than 40 years as a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists and other groups, and serves on the national board of Planned Parenthood. Since the death of her husband Bruce Paltrow nine years ago from oral cancer, she has also been helping the Oral Cancer Foundation raise disease awareness.

LUCY LIU

(DR. DORIS PARKER)

Lucy Liu has had great critical and commercial success in film, television and on Broadway. Her next film, THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS, directed by The Rza for Universal Pictures, co-stars Russell Crowe and is slated for a Spring 2012 release. THE TROUBLE WITH BLISS, a comedy co-starring Michael C. Hall and Peter Fonda, premiered on the Festival circuit in Spring 2011, taking away honors at the Newport Beach Film Festival. 2011 also saw SOMEDAY THIS PAIN WILL BE USEFUL TO YOU, Roberto Faenza’s adaptation of the novel by Peter Cameron at the Rome Film Festival. Lucy has joined the cast of the critically acclaimed TV series “Southland” for a season, the series produced by John Wells and stars Regina King, Michael Cudlitz, Shawn Hatosy, and Ben McKenzie. Lucy plays Police Officer Jessica Tang. “Southland” premieres on TNT at the end of January 2012.

Liu made her Broadway debut in March 2010, in the Tony Award-winning play God of Carnage, starring as Annette in a cast that included Jeff Daniels, Dylan Baker and Janet McTeer. In January 2010 she made her directorial debut for the film adaptation of the best-selling novel HALF THE SKY by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. Her debut as a producer, the critically acclaimed film FREEDOM’S FURY, premiered at The Tribeca Film Festival in 2006.

Some of Lucy’s previous film credits include CHARLIE’S ANGELS, CHARLIE’S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE, KUNG FU PANDA 1 and 2 as the voice of Viper, KILL BILL, CHICAGO, CODE NAME: THE CLEANER, RISE, WATCHING THE DETECTIVES, DOMINO, LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN, 3 NEEDLES, SHANGHAI NOON, PAYBACK, PLAY IT TO THE BONE, BALLISTIC: ECKS VS SEVER, and THE YEAR OF GETTING TO KNOW US.

On television, Lucy was nominated for the NAACP award for Outstanding Actress for her starring role in the December 2010 Lifetime Network romantic comedy, “Marry Me.” Liu appeared as the unforgettable Ling Woo in the hit Fox series, “Ally McBeal,” a role for which she earned an Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She has also appeared in starring roles on the hit series “Cashmere Mafia” and “Dirty Sexy Money” and has guest-starred on HBO’s “Sex & The City” and “Ugly Betty.” She has also lent her voice to such animated hits as “The Simpsons,” “Futurama,” and “King of the Hill.”

A passionate human rights advocate, Lucy produced and narrated the powerful documentary REDLIGHT which focuses on the plight of women and children sold into sexual slavery. The film premiered at The Woodstock Film Festival in 2009 and aired on Showtime in 2010. Liu has been a UNICEF ambassador since 2004 and has travelled to Lesotho, Pakistan, Cote D’Ivoire, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Cairo, Peru and Egypt.

A native New Yorker, Liu graduated from Stuyvesant High School, attending NYU and later received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Michigan.

TIM BLAKE NELSON

(MR. WIATT)

Tim Blake Nelson has appeared in over thirty films including Louis Letterier’s THE INCREDIBLE HULK, Jay Roach’s MEET THE FOCKERS, Steve Gaghan’s SYRIANA, Andy Davis’ HOLES, Miguel Arteta’s THE GOOD GIRL, Steven Spielberg’s MINORITY REPORT, Terrence Malick’s THE THIN RED LINE, the Coen Brother’s O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?, and the Emmy-winning HBO movie WARM SPRINGS directed by Joe Sergeant.

In 2010, Nelson acted in five films. He most recently completed principal photography on Working Title’s EVERYBODY LOVES WHALES, directed by Ken Kwapis. Nelson plays a marine biologist opposite Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski and Ted Danson. Prior to this, Nelson worked on David Frankel’s Fox 2000 comedy THE BIG YEAR with Owen Wilson, Steve Martin and Jack Black, the independent film SIN BIN with Michael Seater and Emily Mead, the independent film FLYPAPER opposite Ashley Judd and Patrick Dempsey and YELLING TO THE SKY, directed by Victoria Mahoney. YELLING TO THE SKY was recently accepted to the 2011 Berlin Film Festival.

Nelson’s most recent directing endeavor, LEAVES OF GRASS, stars Edward Norton, Susan Sarandon, and Richard Dreyfuss. In addition to playing a supporting role, Nelson also wrote and co-produced the dark comedy with Edward Norton and Class 5 Films. The film premiered at the 2010 South By Southwest film festival and was released in August 2010.

In addition to LEAVES OF GRASS, Nelson’s directorial credits include THE GREY ZONE, which he wrote and directed. The film stars Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Mira Sorvino, David Arquette, Allan Corduner and Natasha Lyonne. It premiered at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival and opened in October of the following year. Based on his award winning play, it is a dramatic story of the Sonderkommandos, special squads of Jews who processed corpses in the crematoria at Birkenau. The National Board of Review (2002) honored THE GREY ZONE with a Special Recognition of Films that Reflect the Freedom of Expression.

Nelson also directed O, a contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello, which premiered at the 2001 Seattle Film Festival, where Nelson was awarded Best Director. The film stars Martin Sheen, Julia Stiles, Josh Hartnett and Mekhi Phifer. Nelson’s directorial debut was the film EYE OF GOD, based on a play that he wrote. The film, starring Martha Plimpton, Hal Holbrook and Kevin Anderson, appeared at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically in the United States later that year. EYE OF GOD received the top award at the 1997 Seattle Film Festival, as well as the Tokyo Bronze Prize at the Tokyo Film Festival.

Nelson has also acted extensively in New York theatre. His most recent theater endeavor was the critically acclaimed play Beard of Avon, portraying William Shakespeare at the New York Theatre Workshop. Nelson’s other credits include Oedipus, with Frances McDormand and Billy Crudup, Troilus and Cressida, Les Bourgeois Avant-Garde, Mac Wellman’s Dracula, The Amazon’s Voice, An Imaginary Life, The Baltimore Waltz, Mad Forest, The Innocents Crusade, Richard III and Twelfth Night. As a playwright, his produced plays include the award-winning The Grey Zone, Eye of God and Anadarko.

Nelson was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is a graduate of Brown University and the Julliard Theater Center. He resides in New York City with his wife and three sons.

SAMI GAYLE

(ERICA)

Sami Gayle is one of today’s hottest triple threats with a strong list of accomplishments including acting, singing, and dancing. The talented rising star can currently be seen as Nicky Reagan-Boyle, daughter to Bridget Moynahan’s character Erin Reagan, on the hit CBS series “Blue Bloods,” which is currently in its second season.

Sami has completed two other feature films, THE CONGRESS, where she stars alongside Robin Wright and Harvey Keitel, and MEDALLION, where she stars alongside Nicolas Cage.

Gayle had a featured solo and duet with Robert Cuccioli in Byron Janis: An Evening of Song wth Pianist and Composer, and was part of the ensemble for Sondheim: A Birthday Celebration. She also starred as Baby June opposite Patti LuPone in the successful Broadway revival ofGypsy.

Originally from Sunrise, Florida, Gayle spends her time between there and New York. Sami also enjoys being a member of the debate team with her brother.

BETTY KAYE

(MEREDITH)

Betty Kaye has studied acting at various places in New York, such as Lee Strasberg and the prestigious acting camp, Stagedoor Manor. She has participated in numerous commercials including Sears, John Hancock, and a PSA for online predators. DETACHMENT is Betty’s first film. She’s delighted to be a part of such an amazing project and to work alongside such great talent.