This Day in Indie History

Sandra Oh

As everyone’s favorite overly-ambitious surgical intern, Sandra Oh, born on this day in 1971, has been welcomed into millions of American living rooms each week on “Grey�(tm)s Anatomy.” But the native Canadian began her career long before landing that prime role on the hit medical drama. Oh had her stage debut at the age of 10 and by 1993 broke through on the small screen with the made-for-television movie “The Diary of Evelyn Lau.” Two years later the young actress had her feature breakthrough and earned a Best Actress Genie Award (Canada�(tm)s Oscar equivalent) for her lead role in Double Happiness. The following year introduced Oh to American audiences with her supporting role on the HBO comedy “Arli$$.” Supporting players in popular features The Princess Diaries and Under the Tuscan Sun paved the way for meatier roles in indies such as Sideways, Hard Candy and 3 Needles, plus eventually showcasing her talent to the producers over at “Grey�(tm)s.”

Factoid: Sandra Oh has received the most critical acclaim to date with her award-winning role as Dr. Christina Yang on “Grey�(tm)s Anatomy,” but previously the actress had been honored with awards from SAG (Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for 2004�(tm)s breakout hit Sideways) and by the Milan International Film Festival (Best Acting for 2000�(tm)s Dancing at the Blue Iguana).

July 19th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Tadpole

Five years ago today, Tadpole was released in New York and Los Angeles. The independent feature was written by Niels Mueller (The Assassination of Richard Nixon) and Heather McGowan, with Gary Winick (Puccini for Beginners) in the director’s chair. The entire film was pulled together in two weeks for $150,000 and then sold to Miramax for $5 million. Shot entirely on digital video, Tadpole depicts the confrontation between 15-year-old Oscar Grubman and his adolescent hormones. Itâ€(tm)s on his Thanksgiving weekend break from boarding school that Oscar discovers the feminine wiles of older women (especially those of his new stepmother, played by Sigourney Weaver). Bilingual and educated in the classics, the cross-generational attraction is mutual for an older female member of his fatherâ€(tm)s social circleâ€"making the holiday season just a little bit awkward.

Awards: Tadpole, also starring Bebe Neuwirth and the late John Ritter, won the Directing Award and a Grand Jury Prize nomination at Sundance 2002.

July 18th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Hunter S. Thompson

Legendary Gonzo journalist and independent film inspiration Hunter S. Thompson was born on this day in 1937. As a young man Thompson joined the U.S. Air Force and spent his time on the Florida military base as sports editor for its paper, The Command Courier. Over the years he would attend Columbia University and write for TIME and Rolling Stone, but it was his later experiences with the Hells Angels bicycle gang and on the campaign trail that led to infamous books and filmic interpretations. His general misadventures have since become fodder for many a popular movie, including 1980’s Where the Buffalo Roam and the cultish Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, starring Johnny Depp as the Gonzo writer himself. In February 2005 Thompson committed suicide at his home in Colorado and left a legacy of free spirit and maniacal schemes that have inspired many moviemakers to honor his legacy. Since his death, there have been no less than four documentaries made about his life, including: Blasted!!! The Gonzo Patriots of Hunter S. Thompson, Road to Hunter, Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film and 2007’s Hunter.

Factoid: To prepare for his 1998 role as Hunter S. Thompson, Johnny Depp moved into the basement of the writerâ€(tm)s Aspen home. While living in what the two deemed “the dungeon,” Depp even allowed his new landlord to shave off his hairâ€"in the kitchen, with no mirror and a mining helmet atop the writerâ€(tm)s head. Nothing was ever conventional with Thompson around.

July 17th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Polish Wedding

It was on this day in 1998 that Polish Wedding was released to U.S. audiences. The only movie by writer-director Theresa Connelly, Polish Wedding stars Claire Danes as Hala, a young woman dealing with her large Polish family and its small Detroit community. Things get complicated when Hala, slated to have her virginity honored at the church festival, becomes pregnant. The soon-to-be parents are forced to marry--the inevitable celebration referred to in the title. Also starring a high caliber supporting cast with Lena Olin and Gabriel Byrne as Hala’s complicated parents, Polish Wedding has its national and international festival premieres that same year at Sundance and Berlin, respectively.

Connections: This was the second time Polish Wedding co-stars Claire Danes and Gabriel Byrne appeared in the same film. Four years previous both had significant roles in Gillian Armstrong’s Little Women.

July 16th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Maria Full of Grace

It was on this day in 2004 that the United States was first confronted about Colombian drug smugglers through the eyes of the fictional and desperate young María in Maria Full of Grace. Inspired by the Colombian community in his Brooklyn neighborhood, director Joshua Marston wrote the story of 17-year-old María, down on her luck and willing to do anything to escape her home life. The title role landed then-unknown Catalina Sandino Moreno a Best Lead Actress Oscar nomination after winning the Silver Berlin Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. The movie itself won the Audience Award at Sundance and was nominated for the festâ€(tm)s Grand Jury Prize.

Quotable: “There are over a billion people on the planet that are living on a dollar a day or less; theyâ€(tm)re not all drug mules. So the question poses itself: What does cause a person who is in desperate straits to become a drug mule? Well, there are as many answers as there are people who do it.â€? â€"Director Joshua Marston

July 15th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Cameron Crowe

It is a rare chance that by the age of 16 an aspiring writer would find himself dropping out of school to become an editor at one of the nationâ€(tm)s most popular magazines, but that is exactly what happened to Cameron Crowe, who was born on this day in 1957. If the story sounds familiar, thatâ€(tm)s because his road to the top inspired the Oscar-winning 2000 film, Almost Famous.
Along the way to becoming a writer-director, Crowe profiled such legends as Bob Dylan, David Bowie and more. In 1979 he returned to high school as research for a book, which instead resulted in the popular screenplay that launched the career of future Oscar winners Sean Penn and Forest Whitaker: Fast Times at Ridgemont High. His second directorial feature, Say Anything…, is iconic in its romantic comedy imagery (John Cusack wooing his young love by holding up a boom box outside of her window), as have become moments in his other films, including Singles, Jerry Maguire and Vanilla Sky.

Quotable: “You cannot make friends with the rock stars… You will get free records from the record company. And theyâ€(tm)ll buy you drinks, youâ€(tm)ll meet girls, theyâ€(tm)ll try to fly you places for free, offer you drugs. I know, it sounds great. But they are not your friends. These are people who want you to write sanctimonious stories about the genius of the rocks stars, and they will ruin rock and roll and strangle everything we love about it.” --Philip Seymour Hoffman as passionate rock journalist Lester Bangs in Almost Famous.

July 12th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

German director Tom Tykwer began shooting Perfume: The Story of a Murderer on this day in 2005. With cast members Ben Wishaw, Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman and Rachel Hurd-Wood in tow, the production began at Bavaria Studios in Munich and followed with shoots throughout Spain. To achieve the feeling of 18th Century France, Tykwer employed more than 50 young men and women he called the “Dirt Unit” to disperse and remove all dirt used in a scene. Perfume, based on the novel of the same name by Patrick Suskind, is about young orphan Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Wishaw) and his innate talent for scents. As the child matures, so do his abilities until he discovers the ultimate perfume: The scent given off by a young girl after death. To complete his growing collection, Grenouille must gather a sample from a redhead (Hurd-Wood) before her father (Rickman) or the authorities catch up to him. Perfume premiered in Munich, Germany on Sept. 7, 2006 and went on to a limited U.S. opening on December 27.

Factoid: Director Tykwer employed cinematographer Frank Griebe to recreate all that was gritty and vibrant in Grenouilleâ€(tm)s life. Take notice: When the main character starts off in a sad state at a tannery, Griebe kept the movie muted and devoid of much color, but as the young artist gains control of his talent, things start looking a bit brighter all around.

July 11th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Junebug

The family reunion ended today in 2004 when director Phil Morrison wrapped production on his independent movie, Junebug. Featuring a stand-out performance by Amy Adams as the well-intentioned, cheerfully naive Ashley, the movie was nominated for major awards (Best First Screenplay by Angus McLachlan, Producerâ€(tm)s Award for Mike S. Ryan and the Grand Jury Prize [Dramatic] for Morrison) at both the Independent Spirit and Sundance ceremonies. As the pregnant Ashley eagerly awaiting her first child, “Junebug,” Adams earned Oscar and SAG nominations for supporting actress, after winning awards from Film Independent and Sundance. Junebug is an unconventional take on the conventional concept of meeting the in-laws. When George brings his prim and proper city wife to meet his Southern Comfort family in North Carolina, both sides must adjust to being from opposite sides of the track. Ashley turns out to be the glue that seeks to bind.

Quotable: “God loves you just the way you are. But He loves you too much to let you stay that way.” --Amy Adams as the devout Ashley.

July 10th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Chiwetel Ejiofor

Although he has played a native African in films such as Dirty Pretty Things, Chiwetel Ejiofor was born in London on this day in 1974. The actorâ€(tm)s parents had left their Nigerian homeland before the birth of their son, giving him the benefit of beginning his career early. By the age of 13 Ejiofor had taken the lead in the U.K.â€(tm)s National Youth Theatre productions of “Julius Caesar” and “Othello.” After attending the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, Ejiofor graduated to the larger stage performing at the Royal National Theatre. Sometime during his schooling, the 19-year-old landed his first major role in Steven Spielbergâ€(tm)s Amistad, but it is only since his Golden Globe-nominated performance in Kinky Boots, as Lola, a shoe-designing drag queen, that Ejiofor has received international recognition. Before then he took turns in Spike Leeâ€(tm)s She Hate Me and Woody Allenâ€(tm)s Melinda and Melinda. Since then his minor roles have turned into important supporting players in Leeâ€(tm)s Inside Man and Kasi Lemmons’ upcoming Talk to Me.

Connections: Chiwetel Ejiofor is so good it seems some of cinemaâ€(tm)s top talent have returned for seconds. Spike Lee has worked on both She Hate Me and Inside Man with the London actor, while two of his Inside Man co-stars, Clive Owen and Denzel Washington, can be seen alongside him in Children of Men and American Gangster respectively.

July 9th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Chris Cooper

Chris Cooper is much more than the stereotypical cowpoke from Missouri. Because, while he started his career designing and building sets there, the young actor found his first acting roles in New York City and soon crossed the pond to play opposite Lauren Bacall in "Sweet Bird of Youth" on the London stage in 1985.

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July 8th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Geoffrey Rush

The city of Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia welcomed Geoffrey Rush into the world on this day in 1951. As a young man, the aspiring actor studied the dramatic arts (and miming) at the L’Ecole internationale de théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris and upon returning to his native land, conquered the stage with turns in “The Diary of a Madman,” “Uncle Vanya” and David Mamet’s “Oleanna.” Rush’s first walk-on role in a feature was 1981’s Hoodwink, starring fellow Australian thespian Judy Davis. His first significant screen role was for Dad and Dave: On Our Selection (1995), but it was his portrayal of pianist David Helfgott in Shine (1996) that began his international recognition and acclaim.
Rush pillaged the SAG, Golden Globe and Academy Awards that season for his leading role. Since that momentous year, the actor has sunk his teeth into such varied historical characters as Sir Francis Walsingham (Elizabeth, 1998) and Leon Trotsky (Frida, 2002) as well as fictional ones such as Inspector Javert (Les Misérables, 1998) and Captain Barbossa (in all three Pirates of the Caribbean movies). The actor would twice more visit the Academy Awards as a nominee for his lead in Quills (2001) and supporting role in Shakespeare in Love (1999). Next he adds another piece to the Elizabeth I puzzle when he reprises his role as Walsingham alongside Cate Blanchett in The Golden Age this fall.

Factoid: At the age of 14, Geoffrey Rush gave up his piano lessons in pursuit of other arts. But upon receiving the role in Shine, the actor once again took up lessons. It is his hands that appear on screen eccentrically pounding away on the keys.

July 5th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Maria Full of Grace

July 5th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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She’s Gotta Have It

It was on this day in 1985 that Spike Lee got the cameras rolling for his first feature, She’s Gotta Have It. The completed movie premiered to international audiences at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival and returned home with the Award of the Youth for Foreign Film. Later that year it opened to U.S. audiences, who equally embraced it by honoring Lee, also one of the movie’s co-stars and its sole writer, with a Spirit Award for Best First Feature. She’s Gotta Have It tells the story of Nola, a graphic artist from Brooklyn, who simultaneously dates three men, unwilling to commit and choose just one. Problems arise when the men decide they each want her to themselves. Shot in 15 days on a budget of $175,000, the movie eventually grossed over $7 million and, according to The New York Times, ushered in the independent film movement of the late 1980s.

Connections: Spike Lee has a rival in Tommy Redmond Hicks when they compete for the love of one woman in She’s Gotta Have It. But in real life, the men obviously work well together as Hicks had previously starred in Lee’s short Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983).

July 4th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Louis B. Mayer

Legendary studio chief Louis B. Mayer considered himself a patriot for the United States—despite being born in the Ukraine and growing up in Canada. It was for this reason that he chose to maintain his birthday was the same as that of the country he loved (the real date is widely thought to be the 12th of the month). Throughout his career Mayer preserved his brand of conservative patriotism by stumping for Herbert Hoover’s presidential bids and naming names before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947. “Mr. Motion Picture,” as William R. Wilkerson of The Hollywood Reporter used to call him, began modestly with one Massachusetts movie theater to his name in 1907. By 1924 Mayer had merged his own thriving studio enterprise with those of Samuel Goldwyn and Marcus Loew of Metro Pictures to form Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. During his reign as head of the studio, he became the highest paid executive in the country and made stars out of Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Jimmy Stewart and Spencer Tracy, understanding that Hollywood was a “business of making idols… Everything else was secondary.”

Factoid: Louis B. Mayer’s empire was built on a foundation laid by The Birth of a Nation (1915), which he purchased a copy of after pawning his wife’s wedding ring.

Photo courtesy of AMPAS.

July 3rd, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Patrick Wilson

Stage and screen actor Patrick Wilson, born in Norfolk, VA on this day in 1973, was that oh-so-familiar friendly face swinging around this season’s Gap ads with Claire Danes. Before that Wilson was largely known as a two-time Tony Award nominee for his lead roles in “The Full Monty” and the Broadway revival of “Oklahoma!” But in 2003 he ventured a turn on-screen as the bisexual Mormon in HBO’s “Angels in America” and took a chance that paid off with nominations at both the Golden Globe and Emmy Awards. The Carnegie Mellon grad then transitioned from small screen to big with roles in Joel Schumacher’s The Phantom of the Opera and 2005’s Hard Candy. The following year Wilson’s recognition grew after playing the adulterous Brad Adamson in Little Children—alongside Oscar nominees Kate Winslet and Jackie Earle Haley. Most recently he re-teamed with his Gap partner, Toni Collette, Meryl Streep and a host of other acclaimed actresses in the June release Evening and can be seen in the Edward Burns feature, Purple Violets.

Quotable: “Does it make any difference that I might be one thing deep within? No matter how wrong or ugly that thing is so long as I have fought with everything I have to kill it?”—Patrick Wilson as Joe Pitt in “Angels in America”.

July 2nd, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Before Sunset

It was on this day in 2004 that Richard Linklater’s Before Sunset was first released to a limited number of U.S. theaters. Co-written by Linklater with stars Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke, the feature became the type of rare sequel that critics adored and awards committees embraced. The screenplay was nominated in Best Screenplay categories at the Writers’ Guild, Independent Spirit and Academy Awards. Like its predecessor (1995’s Before Sunrise), Before Sunset follows Parisian Celine (Delpy) and American Jesse (Hawke) as they walk the streets of Europe bonding. Their deadline this time around: Sunset. Movie’s running time: 80 minutes. To address the timing discrepancy, Linklater employed many long takes, only a few unique scenes and an open ending--thereby achieving a feeling of real time and granting the audience access to the timeless tale of kindred spirits.

Connections: To date, Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater have completed six films together, including The Newton Boys (1998), Tape (2001), Waking Life (2001) and Fast Food Nation (2006).

July 1st, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Bernard Herrmann

Legendary film composer Bernard Herrmann was born in New York City on this day in 1911 . His original, innovative scores have brought some of the most important films of our time to life. After writing music for Orson Welles’ radio shows in the 1930s, including the infamous “War of the Worlds” broadcast, Herrmann went on to compose the score for Citizen Kane (1941). Herrmann produced nine scores for Alfred Hithcock, including The Birds (1963), Psycho (1960), North by Northwest (1959) and Vertigo. In 1942 he won the Academy Award for Best Music for The Devil and Daniel Webster. He died just hours after recording the score for Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976), for which he received an Oscar nomination.

Factoid: Bernard Herrmann’s posthumous Oscar nomination for Taxi Driver was not his final nod. He received a second nod in the same year for Brian De Palma’s Obsession but ultimately lost out to Jerry Goldsmith for his ominous Omen score.

June 29th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Krzysztof Kieslowski

Influential Polish writer-director Krzysztof Kieslowski was born on this day in Warsaw in 1941. His career started out by accident, when he dropped out of firemen’s training school at 16 after just three months. With no clear direction in life he entered the College for Theatre Technicians in Warsaw in 1957 because it was run by a relative. To avoid military service, Kieslowski briefly became an art student. After several months of successfully avoiding the draft, he was accepted to the Lodz Film Academy on his third attempt, the same school that produced Roman Polanski and Andrzej Wajda. Although he wasn’t overtly political, Kieslowski’s documentaries, like Workers ‘71, caused him much conflict with Polish authorities. Most famous are his foreign made films such as The Double Life of Veronique (1991) and his Trois Couleurs trilogy. In 1994 he was nominated for two Academy Awards for Three Colors: Red . Kieslowski died on March 13, 1996, at the age of 54, during open-heart surgery following a heart attack.

Factoid: Kieslowski was considered part of the “Cinema of Moral Anxiety,” a loose movement which grouped together several Polish directors, including Andrzej Wajda, who aimed to depict the conditions of Poles under communism.

June 26th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Paul Thomas Anderson

Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson was born on this day in Studio City, California in 1970. He briefly attended Emerson College and NYU, but both stints were short-lived. Instead of a traditional education, Anderson chose the school of real life--working as a production assistant on TV movies, videos and game shows. Anderson’s first film, Cigarettes & Coffee, was a hit at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival. Anderson is best known for his large casts and complex independent film inspirations with interweaving storylines. His breakout film, Boogie Nights (1997), was critically acclaimed as the best film of the year by many film critics and one of the finest examinations of the porn industry. Later, his ensemble piece Magnolia (1999) received three Academy Award nominations, including Best Original Screenplay. In 2002 Anderson wrote and directed Punch-Drunk Love, starring Adam Sandler in his first serious role. His newest film, There Will Be Blood, an adaptation of the Upton Sinclair novel Oil!, is scheduled for release this fall.

Factoid: Boogie Nights was based on a 30-minute mockumentary which Anderson produced in high school. It was inspired by an article he had read on porn star John Holmes.

June 25th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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8 1/2

On this day in 1963, Italian director Federico Fellini released his classic film 8 1/2 in the United States. Considered by film critics to be one of the greatest cinematic achievements of all time, 8 1/2 was nominated for five Academy Awards, and won two: Best Foreign Language Film and Best Costume Design. Fellini’s semi-autobiographical film, starring Marcello Mastroianni, tells the story of a film director who, lacking inspiration for his next movie, retracts into his dreams, bemusing over his past and the women he has loved and lost. The film was shot in black and white by influential and innovative cinematographer Gianni Di Venanzo and features a soundtrack by Nino Rota.

Factoid: The broadway musical Nine, with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston, is based on Fellini’s 8 1/2.

June 24th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Graham Greene

Today in 1952 actor Graham Greene was born on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, Canada. A graduate of The Centre for Indigenous Theatre’s Native Theatre School program, Greene went on to become a well recognized face, taking on projects that concerned the harsh realities and difficult issues concerning indigenous people. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in Dances with Wolves (1990), and he received the Best Actor Award in 2002 at the Tokyo International Film Festival for Skins, a tale about the relationship between two Sioux Indian brothers living on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation.

Factoid: Along with his film and TV work, Greene also provides the recorded narration for “Tecumseh!” an outdoor drama presented each summer at the Sugarloaf Mountain Amphitheatre in Chillicothe, Ohio. Audiences witness a reenactment of the legendary Shawnee leader as he struggles to defend his sacred homelands in Ohio country during the late 1700s.

June 21st, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Sunshine State

John Sayles’ Sunshine State was released in American theaters on this day in 2002. The indie film, starring Angela Bassett and Edie Falco, was critically acclaimed for the insightful examination of Florida’s historic past and uncertain future. Bassett plays a newly married woman who returns to her hometown in coastal northern Florida, only to deal with family, business and the impending real estate development that threatens to take over the once familiar land.
Quotable: “I won’t try to second-guess what a Hollywood studio would like to see in a low-budget film so that they will hire me the next time around. I know I will always do better work if I do projects in which I really believe. And if I never get to direct again, I will have made some movies I can feel proud of.”

June 20th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Martin Landau

On this day in 1931 American actor Martin Landau was born in Brooklyn, NY. At age 17 he worked as a cartoonist and illustrator for the New York Daily News. Landau attended Lee Strasberg’s Actors Studio in 1955 and eventually went on to coach modern stars like Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Houston. At age 28 he made his major film debut in Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (1959), alongside actors Cary Grant, Eva Saint Marie and James Mason. A few years later Landau landed the role of “Rollin Hand” on the hit television show “Mission: Impossible.” Landau has been nominated for several Oscars, including a win for Best Actor in 1994 for his role as Bela Lugosi, the original Dracula, in Tim Burton’s Ed Wood.

Factoid: Martin Landau has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

June 19th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Kathleen Turner

The famously husky-voiced actress Kathleen Turner was born on this day in 1954 in Springfield, Missouri. The daughter of career diplomats, Turner lived in four foreign countries while growing up (Canada, Cuba, Venezuela and the U.K.). As a young woman she was known for her stunning looks and deep, sexy voice and was often compared to 1940s Hollywood sex symbol Lauren Bacall. Throughout her career, Turner has received numerous award nominations, including five Golden Globes nominations plus an Oscar nod for 1986’s Peggy Sue Got Married. Turner received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Savannah College of Art and Design at the Savannah Film Festival in October 2004 and was also a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004.

Factoid: Turner has opted to do her own stunts in many of her films, including 1991’s VI Warshawski, where she broke her nose while filming.

June 18th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Chris Cooper in Breach

Chris Cooper is much more than the stereotypical cowpoke from Missouri. Because, while he started his career designing and building sets there, the young actor found his first acting roles in New York City and soon crossed the pond to play opposite Lauren Bacall in “Sweet Bird of Youth” on the London stage in 1985. Cooper’s career has since been founded on the small but significant supporting characters in films such as This Boy’s Life, A Time to Kill (1996), The Horse Whisperer (1998) and Alfonso Cuarón’s Great Expectations (1998). His portrayal of a stern (and complex, sexually-confused) military man in Sam Mendes’ American Beauty earned him a supporting actor nomination from SAG--the first of three in four years, he was also nominated in that category for 2002â€(tm)s Adaptation and 2003â€(tm)s Seabiscuit. In fact, it was his performance as an orchid expert in Adaptation that brought Cooper gold in the form of an Academy Award statuette, plus subsequent roles as KBI agent Alvin Dewey in Capote and Robert Hanssen in Breach, his first as a leading man. Next up he reprises his role opposite Matt Damon in The Bourne Ultimatum and acts against Patricia Clarkson in both Hurricane Mary and Married Life.

Connections: Chris Cooperâ€(tm)s first feature film role came courtesy of John Sayles in 1987â€(tm)s Matewan. Since then the men have worked on City of Hope (1991), Lone Star (1996) and Silver City (2004).

June 18th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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