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AARON ECKHART:
“I look at Nick Naylor as one of the few remaining soldiers from an almost bygone era. I look at this role the way I think George C Scott looked at Patton: He never apologized for the stance he took, and that’s where I think the audience will find the enjoyment in the film.”
ROB LOWE on his role as a Hollywood agent Jeff Megall:
“He’s based on a various group of people; it’s not one person. Obviously, all of the Asian influence stuff is an homage to Mike Ovitz who was one of my agents at a point in my career and I’ve always loved Mike, but the rest of it is a combination of people – it’s fun to have people guessing.”
WILLIAM H MACY on his character of Senator Ortolan Finistirre:
“I don’t think it’s based on anyone. I’ve always subscribed to the notion, with a few exceptions, that everything you need is on the page. The Senator has a complicated relationship with Nick Naylor because politicians like to think they’re always telling the truth. But in reality, they spend so much time massaging the truth, trying to figure out how they can slip their agenda in and at the same time please everyone. On that level, Nick and the Senator are more alike than they’d care to admit.”
LOWE on whether he feels the movie is too real to be a satire:
“I think the more real it is, the better the satire is and the easier it is to do. I like that the movie has something to say, that it’s smart. But at the end of the day, it’s funny. When you see it with an audience, they’re not sitting there going, ‘Hmm, what an interesting concept.’ They’re just laughing their asses off.”
ECKHART:
“Nick Naylor can be charming, he’s fast-talking, and he’s passionate. He loves women. He’s sort of a rogue. I have all of that in me.”
MACY:
“I like to smoke. But I don’t. I’m one of those annoying actors who can go on a movie shoot and smoke for four months and then stop at the end of it. I’m addicted to almost every other thing in this world but not that.”
MACY on whether it is the role of the actor to teach:
“No, heaven help us from projects where their goal is to teach. It’s got to be entertainment. But having said that, everything is political – if you’re really going to act something well it’s got to be political to you. You’ve got to tell the truth, so it’s got to be something that’s close to you.”
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THE CONCEPT:
