Biography: John Cusack

John Cusack  has evolved into one of the most accomplished and respected actors of his generation, garnering prestigious accolades for his dramatic and comedic roles. Cusack will next be seen in Mikael Håfström’s Shanghai, a period piece in which he stars opposite Gong Li and Chow Yun-Fat. In this remake of the 1935 thriller of the same name, Cusack plays an American man who explores a corrupt, Japanese-occupied Shanghai four months before Pearl Harbor in order to solve the murder of his friend.

Cusack recently starred in Hot Tub Time Machine, a comedy co-starring Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson and Clark Duke about friends who return to the ski lodge where they partied as youths and are transported back in time to 1987. Cusack produced the film through his New Crime Productions banner, which has produced several of his recent cinematic outings.

He also starred in Roland Emmerich’s apocalyptic epic 2012. This international blockbuster, which grossed more than $766 million worldwide, co-starred Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover, Amanda Peet and Oliver Platt. Read more

SXSW Interview: Matthew Lillard Talks About Making His Directorial Debut With ‘Fat Kid Rules The World’

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:05 — 13.1MB)

Matthew Lillard makes his directorial debut with the charming new film, Fat Kid Rules the World.

It’s the story of Troy Billings (Jacob Wysocki), who at seventeen is overweight and suicidal. As the poor kid is about to jump in front of a bus, he’s saved by Marcus (Matt O’Leary), a high school dropout and street musician. The two become friends when Marcus asks the musically challenged Troy to become the drummer his punk rock band. But the more the two bond, the more concerned Troy’s father becomes.

Matthew is having a great couple of months. He starred in the Oscar nominated film, The Descendants, was cast opposite Clint Eastwood and Amy Adams in Trouble with the Curve and Fat Kid debuted at this years SXSW festival to great reviews.

I talked to Matthew at SXSW and man, he was great. I could have chatted with him for hours. He sat and two of its stars, Lili Simons and Dylan Arnold,  sat down to talk to me at SXSW about what its like to be on the other side of casting, his directing style and why he choose to make Fat Kid his debut. Read more

Biography: Donald Sutherland

Donald Sutherland is one of the most prolific and versatile of motion picture actors, with an astonishing resume of well over one hundred and thirty films, including such classics as Robert Aldrich’s “The Dirty Dozen;” Robert Altman’s “M*A*S*H;” John Schlesinger’s “The Day of the Locust;” Robert Redford’s “Ordinary People;” Bernardo Bertolucci’s “1900;” Philip Kaufman’s “Invasion of the Body Snatcher;”  Nicolas Roeg’s “Don’t Look Now” with Julie Christie; Alan Pakula’s “Klute” with Jane Fonda; Federico Fellini’s “Fellini’s Casanova” and  in Brian Hutton’s “Kelly’s Heroes” with Clint Eastwood, who later directed him in “Space Cowboys.”

Sutherland has appeared as Nicole Kidman’s father in Anthony Minghella’s “Cold Mountain,” as Charlize Theron’s father in F. Gary Gray’s “The Italian Job,” and as ‘Mr. Bennett,’ Keira Knightley’s father, in “Pride and Prejudice.”  For the latter he received a Chicago Film Critics nomination.

Recently he starred in the highly-successful long form adaptation of Ken Follett’s best-seller, “The Pillars of the Earth;” in the Roman epic adventure, “The Eagle,” opposite Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell for director Kevin Macdonald; in Simon West’s “The Mechanic” with Jason Statham and Ben Foster; in Seth Gordon’s “Horrible Bosses” as Colin Farrell’s father; in Mary McGuckian’s “Man on the Train” with U2’s Larry Mullen, Jr.; and  in a new film adaptation of “Moby Dick,” with William Hurt, Ethan Hawke and Gillian Anderson. Read more

Full Casting Announced for the New Broadway Production of ‘Harvey’

The casting details have been finalized for the Roundabout Theatre Company’s new Broadway production of Harvey.

As has been previously announced, Jim Parsons will star as Elwood P. Dowd alongside Jessica Hecht (Veta Louise Simmons) and Charles Kimbrough (William R. Chumley, M.D.).

New additions are Larry Bryggman (Judge Omar Gaffney), Carol Kane (Betty Chumley), Peter Benson (E.J. Lofgren), Tracee Chimo (Myrtle Mae Simmons), Holley Fain (Ruth Kelly, R.N.), Angela Paton (Mrs. Ethel Chauvenet), Rich Sommer (Duane Wilson) and Morgan Spector (Lyman Sanderson, M.D.).

I played Sommer’s part – Duane Wilson – in my Elementary School’s production of Harvey. I was brilliant! A 12 year old playing the part of a 35-year-old male orderly. Acting! Read more

Leonardo DiCaprio: “I really am motivated by being able to work with great people and create a body of work that I can look back and be proud of”

Though Clint Eastwood‘s J. Edgar didn’t do the business — or get the critical acclaim — as many of the director’s recent films, there was significant praise for Leonardo DiCaprio‘s performance as the enigmatic J. Edgar Hoover.  With the film finally be released in England, DiCaprio gave an interview to the Guardian about the film, touching upon playing a man over forty years and how working with his co-stars motivates him.

One of the challenges was that DiCaprio played Hoover over the FBI Director’s decades-long career.  He confesses, “The ageing was difficult, that was a huge challenge. It’s a constant adrenaline rush every day – you have so much pressure and stuff to accomplish.”  Nonetheless, DiCaprio says that it was all worth it, saying, “This was one of the most challenging characters I’d ever seen on the page, and it was terrific to breathe life into this person, because he was such a mystery.”

Armie Hammer Defends the Makeup in ‘J. Edgar’

Though Clint Eastwood‘s J. Edgar has gotten praise for some impressive performances, there has been some criticism about the quality of the movie’s makeup. 

Armie Hammer — who is one of the praised actors — portrays FBI Associate Director Clyde Tolson from his 20s to his 70s, with layers of makeup increasing as the decades pass.  Speaking with USA Today, Hammer claims that anyone who complains about the makeup is missing the point of what Eastwood’s team was trying to accomplish in the film.  Read more

Angelina Jolie: “As a director, I hoped that I was able to help the actors by giving them the space and the respect they need and the trust”

Superstar actress Angelina Jolie has flipped behind the camera writing, producing, and directing her first feature film In the Land of Blood and Honey. 

Following the footsteps of many other actors-turned-directors, like her Changeling director Clint Eastwood (but unlike her partner Brad Pitt, who has disavowed any interest in directing), Jolie took on the daunting production casts and the film has since been nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film (although the film is considered a United States production, it is set during the Bosnian War, was shot in Hungary, and the cast primarily speaks Serbo-Croatian). 

Jolie admits that while working on the production side was difficult, her acting background tremendously assisted her in both the filmmaking and casting process.  Read more

Jim Parsons to Star in the New Broadway Production of ‘Harvey’

How cool is this? Jim Parsons will star as Elwood P. Dowd in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of Harvey.

Here’s the synopsis: “Elwood P. Dowd, Charming and kind, Elwood has only one character flaw:  an unwavering friendship with a 6-foot-tall, invisible white rabbit named Harvey.  In order to save the family’s social reputation, Elwood’s sister Veta (Jessica Hecht) takes Elwood to the local sanatorium. But when the doctors mistakenly commit his anxiety-ridden sister, Elwood — and Harvey—slip out of the hospital unbothered, setting off a hilarious whirlwind of confusion and chaos as everyone in town tries to catch a man and his invisible rabbit.”

The show, directed by Scott Ellis, will also star Jessica Hecht and Charles Kimbrough.

I remember when I was in 9th grade, our school did a production of Harvey and I played Wilson. From what I remember, he was some sort of handyman. No word on who is playing this pivotal role.

Performances of will begin on May 18^th, 2012 with the official opening set for June 14^th, 2012.  The limited engagement is scheduled to run through August 5^th, 2012 to accommodate Parsons’ Big Bang Theory schedule.

Harvey was first on Broadway stage in 1944 and was directed by Antoinette Perry – who the Tony Award is named after. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1944, and its initial run lasted for four years—1,775 performances.  James Stewart assumed the role of “Elwood” from Frank Fay in the 1944 production and originated the role in the 1970 production as well as the film adaptation in 1950.  Helen Hayes played “Veta” opposite Mr. Stewart in the 1970 production.

The cast and director biographies are below.  Read more

Review: ‘J. Edgar’

Up until a couple of years ago, I really never knew anything about J. Edgar Hoover. When news of him being a possible cross-dresser and gay man, I became interested.

I’m fascinated by contradictions in people, and Hoovers public and private life were just that. The fact that he was keeping files on (and at times, threatening to expose) politicians and entertainers for doing the very same indiscretions he was doing makes him ripe for exploration.

Unfortunately, with Clint Eastwood‘s J. Edgar, this muddled film never really goes deeper than surface level.

Don’t get me wrong, I think you should see it. But only for one reason: Leonardo DiCaprio. He was, as usual, fantastic. His performance propels the mostly by the numbers film as he plays Hoover from his early 20′s to his ultimate death in 1972 at the age of  77.

I lay partial blame on screenwriter Dustin Lance Black. I hate to call out someone with the same name as me (we Lance’s have to stick together) but the script is so lacking in any true emotion that when one does finally happen, you want to laugh. The moment I’m talking about is when Armie Hammer‘s Clyde Tolson lashes out at Hoover for going out on a date with a woman when he thought the two had an ‘understanding’. It’s sudden and loud and the two fight and break things but you just want to chuckle because the scene is so ridiculous. The script seems to hit on the supposed greatest hits of Hoover’s life but never delves deeper into him as a closeted man who despises himself and tries to make the lives of others miserable.

The other half of the blame lies on Eastwood. His directing is fine but it also seems like it’s just a job for him. There’s no passion on the screen. He doesn’t get you to care for any of the characters and in fact, paints Hoover in a mostly good light. As my Dad told me, “He was an asshole.”

As the characters age, the actors begin to have makeup plied upon their faces. With DiCaprio’s makeup, it’s far less intrusive. He still knocks it out of the park, no matter what age he is in the scene but poor Armie Hammer fares less well. His makeup restricts him so much that you just feel sorry for him anytime he plays the elder Tolson.

I wanted to like J. Edgar so much… no, I wanted to love it but all I got was a boring history lesson.

 

Q & A: Stephen Root on Working with His Wife, Choosing Roles and How Shakespeare Training Helped When He Played a Klingon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:33 — 7.9MB)

If someone asked you to name your Top 5 favorite character actors and Stephen Root isn’t on that list, then something is wrong with you.

My keyboard would explode from typing too much if I started to list his credits, but from roles in films like O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Dodgeball, and of course, Office Space, he has never turned in a bad performance. As I told him in the interview, every time he’s on screen he is just so interesting to watch.

In this week’s episode of Fringe, Stephen and his wife, Romy Rosemont, guest star as a couple  who may have answers to the team’s investigation of time loop anomalies.

I got a chance to talk to Stephen about working with his wife for the first time, choosing his roles, how his Shakespeare training helped him when he played a Klingon and more.

Fringe airs tonight at 9/8c on FOX

For the full interview, click the audio link above or download it from iTunes

I walked past you at Actorfest last weekend.

Stephen Root: Yes, I was happy to do that. It’s always good to come and tell your horror stories to the younger actors and tell them not to do it unless they really love it.

I was going to ask you, I’m sure you said this there, but what’s your advice to actors?

Stephen Root: That you shouldn’t be doing it unless you have to do it, not to do it because you think it would be cool, or you think you’re going to make a lot of money, but because this is an artistic expression of yourself that you have to do.

You have to be able to stick it out for a number of years. It’s a hard thing. I think probably determination is the greatest thing and talent isn’t. I’ve seen a lot of talented people go by the wayside who couldn’t stick out the day-to-day. It’s determination and guts and luck—have a lot more to do with it than anything else.  Read more

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