Bangkok--23 Sep--Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
ABOUT THE CAST
BRUCE WILLIS (FBI Agent Greer) has demonstrated incredible versatility in a career that has included such diverse characterizations as the prizefighter in Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” (1994 Palme D’Or winner at Cannes), the philandering contractor in Robert Benton’s “Nobody’s Fool,” the heroic time traveler in Terry Gilliam’s “12 Monkeys,” the traumatized Vietnam veteran in Norman Jewison’s “In Country,” the compassionate child psychologist in M. Night Shyamalan’s Oscar?-nominated “The Sixth Sense” (for which he won the People’s Choice Award) and his signature role, Detective John McClane, in the “Die Hard” series.
Following studies at Montclair State College’s prestigious theater program, the New Jersey native honed his craft in several stage plays and countless television commercials, before landing the lead role in Sam Shepard’s 1984 stage drama “Fool for Love,” a run which lasted for 100 performances off-Broadway.
Willis next won international stardom and several acting awards, including Emmy and Golden Globe honors, for his starring role as private eye David Addison in the hit TV series “Moonlighting,” winning the role over 3,000 other contenders. At the same time, he made his motion picture debut opposite Kim Basinger in Blake Edwards’ romantic comedy “Blind Date.”
In 1988, he originated the role of John McClane in the blockbuster film “Die Hard,” one of the highest-grossing releases of the year. He later reprised the character in three sequels: “Die Hard: Die Harder” (1990), “Die Hard: With a Vengeance” (1995’s global box-office champ) and “Live Free, Die Hard” (one of the box-office hits of summer 2007)
His wide array of film roles includes collaborations with such respected filmmakers as Michael Bay (“Armageddon”), M. Night Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense” and “Unbreakable”), Alan Rudolph (“Mortal Thoughts,” “Breakfast of Champions”), Walter Hill (“Last Man Standing”), Robert Benton (“Billy Bathgate,” “Nobody’s Fool,”), Rob Reiner (“The Story of Us”), Ed Zwick (“The Siege”), Luc Besson (“The Fifth Element”), Barry Levinson (“Bandits,” “What Just Happened”), Robert Zemeckis (“Death Becomes Her”) and Robert Rodriguez (“Sin City,” “Grind House”) .
Other motion picture credits include “The Jackal,” “Mercury Rising,” “Hart’s War,” “The Whole Nine Yards” (and its sequel “The Whole Ten Yards”), “The Kid,” “Tears of the Sun,” “Hostage,” “16 Blocks,” “Alpha Dog,” “Lucky Number Slevin” and “Perfect Stranger.” He also voiced the character of the wise-cracking infant, Mikey, in “Look Who’s Talking” and “Look Who’s Talking Too” as well as the lead character RJ & Spike in the animated hit features “Over the Hedge” and “Rugrats Go Wild!”
Willis most recently completed work opposite Tracey Morgan in the Kevin Smith directed action/comedy feature “A Couple of Dicks.”
In addition to his work before the cameras, Willis produced “Hostage” and “The Whole Nine Yards” and executive produced “Breakfast of Champions,” adapted from Kurt Vonnegut’s best-selling novel. With brother David Willis and business partner Stephen Eads, he co-founded Willis Brothers Films, a film production company based in Los Angeles.
Willis also maintains a hand in the theater. In 1997, he co-founded A Company of Fools, a non-profit theater troupe committed to developing and sustaining stage work in the Wood River Valley of Idaho, and throughout the U.S. He starred in and directed a staging of Sam Shepard’s dark comedy “True West” at the Liberty Theater in Hailey, Idaho. The play, which depicts the troubled relationship between two brothers, was aired on Showtime and dedicated to Willis’ late brother Robert.
An accomplished musician as well, Willis recorded the 1986 Motown album “The Return of Bruno,” which went platinum and contained the No. 5 Billboard hit “Respect Yourself.” Three years later, he recorded a second album “If It Don’t Kill You, It Just Makes You Stronger.” In 2002, he launched a U.S. club tour with his musical group, Bruce Willis and the Blues Band and he traveled to Iraq to play for U.S. servicemen.
RADHA MITCHELL (FBI agent Peters) recently starred in Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Children of Huang Shi,” opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Chow Yun-Fat, as well as “Henry Poole Is Here” for director Mark Pellington. She starred in the Lakeshore Entertainment romantic comedy “Feast of Love” alongside Morgan Freeman and Greg Kinnear. Mitchell has also been seen in films such as the lead role in “Silent Hill” with Sean Bean; “Finding Neverland,” starring opposite Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet and Dustin Hoffman; “Man on Fire” with Denzel Washington; the innovative feature film “Phone Booth,” opposite Colin Farrell; and “Pitch Black,” starring Vin Diesel. Mitchell will be seen in “The Crazies” with Timothy Olyphant, opening February 26, 2010.
Other recent film credits include “When Strangers Appear” with Josh Lucas; the independent feature “Dead Heat,” opposite Kiefer Sutherland and Anthony LaPaglia; Woody Allen’s “Melinda and Melinda”; “Nobody’s Baby” with Gary Oldman and Skeet Ulrich; Rodrigo Garcia’s “Ten Tiny Love Stories”; and “Mozart and the Whale,” opposite Josh Hartnett. On television, she starred with Hank Azaria and Donald Sutherland in NBC’s critically acclaimed mini-series “Uprising” for director Jon Avnet. Mitchell gave a memorable performance as Syd, the young editorial assistant who falls in love with Ally Sheedy’s heroin-addicted photographer character in Lisa Cholodenko’s critically acclaimed drama “High Art.” Her role in Emma-Kate Croghan’s romantic comedy “Love and Other Catastrophes” was highly praised at both the Cannes and Sundance film festivals.
Originally hailing from Australia, Mitchell currently resides in Santa Monica, Calif.
ROSAMUND PIKE (Maggie Greer) began her career at the age of 16 when she discovered her love of the stage while starring as “Juliet” in “Romeo and Juliet.” After starring in many other stage productions such as “The Taming of the Shrew” and “The Libertine,” she eventually found herself starring in her first BBC production “Wives and Daughters,” opposite Michael Gambon, in which she received critical acclaim for her performance.
Pike’s first blockbuster appearance was in the MGM / James Bond film “Die Another Day,” alongside Halle Berry and Pierce Brosnan. After Bond, Pike returned to the London stage starring in the Royal Court Theatre production of “Hitchcock Blonde,” directed by Terry Johnson. Due to its enormous success, the play eventually moved to the Lyric Theater in the West End, which was quite an achievement.
In 2004, she began work on Laurence Dunmore’s film version of “The Libertine,” opposite Johnny Depp. She portrayed Elizabeth Malet, wife to Depp’s Earl of Rochester. The film also starred John Malkovich and Samantha Morton. Pike was rewarded for her extraordinary performance in this film with a 2005 British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor/Actress.
Pike then starred alongside Keira Knightley, Brenda Blethyn and Judi Dench in the Focus Features’ film adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel, “Pride & Prejudice,” directed by Joe Wright. Pike earned rave reviews as well as a 2006 London Film Critics Circle Award for her portrayal of Jane Bennett.
In 2007, Pike was seen opposite Ryan Gosling and Anthony Hopkins in the New Line legal thriller “Fracture,” directed by Gregory Hoblit. She also starred in the Jeremy Podeswa-directed independent film “Fugitive Pieces,” which opened the 2007 Toronto Film Festival. She then starred in the independent film “Devil You Know,” directed by James Oakley and co-starring Lena Olin.
Pike returned to the theater, starring at the Old Vic Theater in Patrick Hamilton’s Victorian thriller “Gaslight,” directed by Peter Gill. She followed that performance by starring in the independent film “An Education,”directed by Lone Scherfig, which was well-received at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009. Pike was also featured in the independent film “Burning Palms,” directed by Christopher Landon, about five vignettes of life in Los Angeles.
Pike then starred at The Wyndham Theater’s “Madame de Sade,” opposite Judi Dench. Shortly after completing this production, she began pre-production on the independent film “Dagenham Girls,” opposite Sally Hawkins and directed by Nigel Cole.
Next up for Pike is the independent film “Barney’s Version,” opposite Paul Giamatti and Dustin Hoffman.
JAMES CROMWELL (Older Canter) received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his memorable performance as Farmer Hoggett in the smash-hit, “Babe.” Cromwell’s recent motion picture work includes Oliver Stone’s “W.,” Stephen Frears’ “The Queen,” Clint Eastwood’s “Space Cowboys,” Frank Darabont’s critically acclaimed “The Green Mile,” “The General’s Daughter,” “Snow Falling on Cedars,” “The Bachelor,” “The Sum of All Fears,” DreamWorks SKG’s “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,” “Star Trek: First Contact,” “The People vs. Larry Flynt,” “Becoming Jane” and “Spider-Man 3.”
He starred as Grandpa in “The Education of Little Tree,” and Police Captain Dudley Smith in “L.A. Confidential.”
Cromwell has earned Emmy nominations for his work on the HBO original series “Six Feet Under,” the HBO movie “RKO 281,” and the NBC drama “ER.” His body of work encompasses dozens of miniseries and movies-of-the-week, including a starring role in TNT’s “A Slight Case of Murder,” a cameo appearance in HBO’s “Angels in America,” “West Wing,” “Picket Fences,” “Home Improvement,” “L.A. Law” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
Cromwell has also performed in many revered plays, including “Hamlet,” “The Iceman Cometh,” “Devil’s Disciple,” “All’s Well That Ends Well,” “Beckett” and “Othello” in many of the country’s most distinguished theatres, including the South Coast Repertory, the Goodman Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, the American Shakespeare Festival, Center Stage, the Long Wharf Theatre and the Old Globe. He recently played A. E. Houseman in the American premiere of Tom Stoppard’s “The Invention of Love” at A.C.T. in San Francisco. He is currently working on a production of King Lear.
Cromwell has directed at resident theatres across the country and was the founder and Artistic Director of his own company, Stage West, in Springfield, Mass. He also co-directed a short film, which was shown at the London Film Festival.
Born in Los Angeles, Cromwell grew up in New York and Waterford, Conn., and studied at Carnegie Mellon University (then Carnegie Tech). His father, John Cromwell, an acclaimed actor and director, was one of the first presidents of the Screen Directors Guild. His mother, Kay Johnson, was a stage and film actress.
MICHAEL CUDLITZ (Colonel Brendon) stars in the highly acclaimed new NBC series “Southland,” which is executive produced by John Wells, who also produced “ER.” Cudlitz portrays Senior Officer John Cooper in this new spin on a police drama set in Los Angeles, where he plays an experienced 20-year veteran assigned to train a young rookie, Ben McKenzie’s Officer Ben Sherman.
Born and raised on the east coast, Cudlitz graduated from the California Institute of the Arts Theatre program and has established himself as a versatile actor in both television and film. Although his first love was the stage, Cudlitz found early success working in front of the camera.
Since then, Cudlitz has appeared in more than 20 films, including “A River Runs Through It,” “Gross Point Blank,” “Running Scared,” “The Mighty Ducks: 3,” “The Liars Club,” “The Negotiator” and “Crossing Over,” starring Harrison Ford and directed, written and produced by Wayne Kramer. Some of his notable television credits include roles on “Life,” “Lost,” “Prison Break,” “24,” “Without a Trace,” “Standoff” and “Beverly Hills, 90210.” He is most known for his role as Sgt. Denver “Bull” Randleman on HBO’s Emmy Award-winning miniseries “Band of Brothers.”
Cudlitz will next be seen in “Tenure,” a comedy with Luke Wilson and directed by Mike Million.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS JONATHAN MOSTOW (Director) made his motion picture debut as writer and director on 1997’s “Breakdown,” the taut thriller starring Kurt Russell as a man whose wife mysteriously vanishes in the desert after their car breaks down. The critically acclaimed film debuted atop the U.S. box office its opening weekend. He followed with another No. 1 box office success—the WWII submarine action-thriller “U-571,” starring Matthew McConaughey and Harvey Keitel. The film, which he also wrote, garnered two Academy Award nominations, winning an Oscar for Best Sound Editing. Mostow next directed “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, which earned $450 million in global receipts in the continuation of one of Hollywood’s most fruitful franchises. He executive produced David Fincher’s 1997 thriller “The Game” (on which he also developed the script with longtime collaborators and Harvard classmates John Brancato and Michael Ferris), then returned to the director’s chair for the Emmy award-winning HBO miniseries, “From the Earth to the Moon,” directing Tom Hanks in the finale segment entitled “La Voyage Dans La Lune.” In 2004, Mostow was voted “Action Director of the Year” by the World Stunt Association. Most recently, he served as executive producer on the blockbuster Will Smith superhero drama, “Hancock.” Mostow began his filmmaking career as a student at Harvard University, where he directed numerous award-winning shorts and documentaries. His first writing and directing breakthrough was the 1991 Showtime television thriller “Flight of Black Angel,” which earned him a Cable ACE nomination for Best International Movie or Special. In addition to his film and television work, Mostow also recently created, for Virgin Comics, The Megas, a four-issue graphic novel series set in an alternative reality, in which the United States is ruled by a monarchy. DAVID HOBERMAN (Producer) is one of the leading producers in the entertainment industry today, having made his mark on more than 100 movies. In 2002, after three years at MGM, Hoberman re-formed Mandeville Films and Television at The Walt Disney Studios. Hoberman produced the recent hit film “The Proposal,” starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds.
In 2008, Hoberman released the popular family adventure film “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” and international spy thriller “Traitor,” starring Don Cheadle. “Kill Point,” a TV series starring John Leguizamo and Donnie Wahlberg, premiered in summer 2007 for Spike TV. In 2006, Hoberman released the arctic adventure “Eight Below,” starring Paul Walker, and “The Shaggy Dog,” starring Tim Allen.
In 2005, “Beauty Shop” starring Queen Latifah was released. In 2003, Mandeville released the box-office hits “Bringing Down the House,” “Raising Helen,” starring Kate Hudson, “The Last Shot,” starring Matthew Broderick and Alec Baldwin, and “Walking Tall,” starring The Rock at MGM.
The award-winning “Monk,” a one-hour series for USA Network, is currently shooting its eighth and final season.
In 1999, while at MGM, Hoberman co-financed and produced “Antitrust,” “What’s the Worst That Could Happen?,” and the critically acclaimed “Bandits.” Prior to this, Hoberman was the founder and president of Mandeville Films, where he produced “The Negotiator,” and signed an exclusive five-year pact with The Walt Disney Studios. During this time, Hoberman produced “George of the Jungle,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “Senseless,” “The Other Sister,” “Mr. Wrong” and “The Sixth Man.”
Prior to forming Mandeville Films, Hoberman served as president of the Motion Picture Group of Walt Disney Studios, where he was responsible for overseeing development and production for all feature films for Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures. During Hoberman’s tenure, Disney was the No. 1 studio, “Pretty Woman” was the No. 1 picture and the studio released the No. 1 soundtrack of the year. Hoberman was also behind the releasing of major blockbusters including “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “Father of the Bride,” “What About Bob?,” “Good Morning, Vietnam,” “Dead Poets Society,” “Crimson Tide,” “The Jungle Book,” “Ed Wood,” “Dangerous Minds,” “Ruthless People,” “Beaches,” “The Rocketeer,” “The Doctor,” “Sister Act,” “Alive,” “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” “Cool Runnings,” “Three Musketeers,” “Tin Men,” “Stakeout,” “When a Man Loves a Woman,” “Cocktail,” and “Three Men and a Baby.” He broke through the Disney live-action ceiling with “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” and championed the first-ever stop-motion-animated full-length feature, Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
Today, Hoberman is also a professor with UCLA’s Graduate School in the Producers Program. He’s been a member of the Board of the Starlight Starbright Foundation for more than 10 years, is a member of the Board of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, and sat on the Board of the Los Angeles Free Clinic for six years. He is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Hoberman began his career in the mailroom at ABC and quickly ascended in the entertainment business, working for Norman Lear’s Tandem/T.A.T. in television and film. He worked as a talent agent at ICM before joining Disney as a film executive in 1985.
TODD LIEBERMAN (Producer) oversees more than 30 film and television projects for Mandeville’s ever-growing slate. He recently produced hit films “The Proposal,” starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds; “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” directed by Raja Gosnell and starring Piper Perabo and the voices of Drew Barrymore, Andy Garcia and George Lopez; “Traitor,” starring Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce; “The Lazarus Project,” starring Paul Walker; “Wild Hogs,” starring Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy (the film generated more than $250 million worldwide); and Spike TV’s hit show “The Kill Point,” starring John Leguizamo and Donnie Wahlberg. Lieberman also executive produced “The Shaggy Dog” with Tim Allen, Robert Downey Jr. and Kristin Davis and directed by Brian Robbins, “Eight Below,” starring Paul Walker and directed by Frank Marshall, and the independent political thriller “Five Fingers,” written by Laurence Malkin and Chad Thumann, directed by Malkin and starring Laurence Fishburne and Ryan Phillipe.
Lieberman executive produced “Beauty Shop,” starring Queen Latifah, Djimon Hounsou, Kevin Bacon and Alicia Silverstone, and Jeff Nathanson’s directorial debut “The Last Shot,” starring Matthew Broderick and Alec Baldwin. He co-produced “Bringing Down the House,” starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah, and “Raising Helen,” starring Kate Hudson and directed by Garry Marshall.
Lieberman is currently producing “The Fighter,” starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale and directed by David O. Russell for Paramount Pictures.
Prior to joining Mandeville, Lieberman acted as senior vice president for international finance and production company Hyde Park Entertainment, which produced and co-financed such films as “Antitrust,” “Bandits” and “Moonlight Mile.”
Lieberman established himself at international sales and distribution giant Summit Entertainment, where he moved quickly up the ranks after pushing indie sensation “Memento” into production and acquiring the Universal box-office smash “American Pie.”
In 2001, Lieberman was named one of the “35 under 35” people to watch in the business by The Hollywood Reporter. He holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.
DAVID NICKSAY (Executive Producer) has served in a variety of production capacities (independent producer, studio production exec, executive producer, assistant director) in his three decades in the entertainment arena. A native of Massachusetts, Nicksay graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, where he was a performing arts major. Following an affiliation with one of America’s oldest entertainment institutions, Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus, he began his career in Hollywood as part of the Director’s Guild of America training program. As an assistant director, he honed his skills on such projects as “Raid on Entebbe,” “Rich Man, Poor Man,” “Oh God!,” “The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training” and the TV series “How the West Was Won,” among others, quickly moving up to unit production manager. In 1986, Nicksay joined Paramount Pictures as Vice President of Production, graduating to Senior V.P. the following year. During his tenure at Paramount, he oversaw a diverse slate of films including “Scrooged,” “Coming to America,” “Ghost,” “The Two Jakes,” “The Untouchables” and “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.” Three years later, he joined Morgan Creek Productions as President and Head of Production, departing the company three years later to return to the freelance production ranks. His affiliation with Morgan Creek resulted in executive producer duties on “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” starring Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman, “Pacific Heights” with Michael Keaton, Matthew Modine and Melanie Griffith, “Young Guns II,” “Freejack,” “Stay Tuned” and “White Sands.” On the big screen, Nicksay produced the coming-of-age film, “Lucas,” the drama “Up Close and Personal” starring Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer, the true-life period drama, “Mrs. Soffel,” with Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson, the contemporary thriller “Antitrust” starring Tim Robbins and Ryan Phillippe, the romantic comedy, “A Guy Thing,” the hit sequel, “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde,” and “Agent Cody Banks” and the sequel “Agent Cody Banks: Destination London.” As executive producer, his credits include “The Addams Family Values,” “Legally Blonde,” the Robin Williams hit comedy, “Flubber,” the highly acclaimed police thriller “The Negotiator” with Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey, “The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle,” “What’s the Worst That Can Happen?,” the recent thriller “Married Life” with Pierce Brosnan and Chris Cooper, and the recent hit sequel, “Step Up 2: The Streets.” Stitt, who has compiled over 20 years in the editing room, has also collaborated with such filmmakers as Mel Gibson (“Apocalypto”), John Badham (“Drop Zone,” “Nick of Time,” “Another Stakeout”), Brian Helgeland (“A Knight’s Tale,” “The Order,” “Payback”), John Woo (“Paycheck”), Richard Donner (“Lethal Weapon 4,” “Conspiracy Theory”), Brian Singer (“X-Men”) and Peter Berg (“The Kingdom”). Over the past decade, Stitt has also edited such feature films as Renny Harlin’s “Deep Blue Sea” (additional editor), Rod Lurie’s “The Last Castle,” Rob Bowman’s
“Elektra” and former editor (and mentor) Stuart Baird’s directorial debut, “Executive Decision,” which marked his first collaboration with longtime editor Frank Urioste. He most recently completed work on the hit horror film, “Cloverfield.” The Los Angeles native majored in communications at Cal State Northridge before beginning his career in the 1980s (“Twilight Zone: The Movie”) in an era he calls “the golden age of Hollywood action movies.” He cut his teeth as an assistant editor, apprenticing with the likes of Frank Morriss (“Romancing the Stone,” “Short Circuit,” “Point of No Return”), Donn Cambern (“Big Trouble,” “Harry and the Hendersons”) and Stuart Baird (“Lethal Weapon 2,” “Maverick,” “The Last Boy Scout”). KNB EFX Group founding partner HOWARD BERGER (Special Makeup Prosthetics) won the 2005 Academy Award? for Best Achievement in Makeup (shared with Tami Lane) for his innovative character creations, animatronics and creature prosthetics on Andrew Adamson’s “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” With partner Greg Nicotero, the pair also shared the BAFTA Award for the film’s makeup as well as a Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror. Berger most recently returned to C.S. Lewis’ world of Narnia for the highly anticipated second chapter, “Prince Caspian.”