“A Beautifully Crafted, Absorbing Look At Life in the American West.” -Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter
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SYNOPSIS
When three women living on the edge of the American frontier are driven mad by harsh pioneer life, the task of saving them falls to the pious, independent-minded Mary Bee Cuddy (Hilary Swank). Transporting the women by covered wagon to Iowa, she soon realizes just how daunting the journey will be, and employs a low-life drifter, George Briggs (Tommy Lee Jones), to join her. The unlikely pair and the three women (Grace Gummer, Miranda Otto, Sonja Richter) head east, where a waiting minister and his wife (Meryl Streep) have offered to take the women in. But the group first must traverse the harsh Nebraska Territories marked by stark beauty, psychological peril and constant threat.
“Tommy Lee Jones Is Magnificent.” -Sasha Stone, The Wrap
“Hilary Swank Gives a Truly Great Performance.” -Leonard Maltin, IndieWire
TOMMY LEE JONES (George Briggs, Director and Writer) is an Oscar winner who made his feature film debut in Love Story and since then has built a career spanning four decades. Most recently, he portrayed Thaddeus Stevens in Steven Spielberg’s historical drama Lincoln. For this performance, Jones won the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for Best Supporting Actor and received Best Supporting Actor nominations for the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award® and Critics’ Choice Award.
In 1994 Jones won both the Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the uncompromising U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard in the highly successful action-thriller The Fugitive. Three years earlier, Jones received his first Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Clay Shaw in Oliver Stone’s JFK. In 2007 Jones starred in the critically acclaimed drama In the Valley of Elah, for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
In 2005 Jones starred in the Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, which he also directed and produced. The film debuted in competition at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, garnering Jones the award for Best Actor and screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga the prize for Best Screenplay. The film was also nominated for the Palme d’Or. Subsequently, it received four Independent Spirit Award nominations (Best Feature, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Supporting Male).
Other film credits include The Eyes of Laura Mars, Coal Miner’s Daughter (for which Jones received his first Golden Globe nomination), Stormy Monday, The Package, Under Siege, Heaven and Earth, The Client, Natural Born Killers, Blue Sky, Cobb, Batman Forever, the Men in Black trilogy, U.S. Marshals, Double Jeopardy, Rules of Engagement, Space Cowboys, The Hunted, The Missing, A Prairie Home Companion, In the Electric Mist, The Company Men, Captain America: The First Avenger, Hope Springs, The Emperor and The Family.
Hilary Swank
HILARY SWANK (Mary Bee Cuddy and Producer) is a versatile artist with a wide range of projects spanning her more than twenty years in the entertainment industry.
After beginning her professional acting career as a teenager, Swank quickly rose through breakout roles and has gone on to work with such leading filmmakers and actors including Kathy Bates, Robert De Niro, Brian De Palma, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Tom Hooper, Tommy Lee Jones, Richard LaGravenese, Gary Marshall, Mira Nair, Christopher Nolan, Philip Noyce, Al Pacino and Sam Raimi.
Swank’s upcoming films this fall include You’re Not You, which she stars in as well as produces with Molly Smith through their production company 2S Films.
Swank had been working for nearly a decade as an actress in film and television when her breakout role as Brandon Teena in the 1999 drama Boys Don’t Cry earned her an Academy Award® for Best Actress. Her much lauded performance also earned her a Golden Globe Award, a Critics’ Choice Award, as well as New York Film Critics, Los Angeles Film Critics, Chicago Film Critics, and National Society of Film Critics Awards in the same category. Additionally, the National Board of Review recognized Swank’s work with the Breakthrough Performance of the Year Award, and she earned BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award® nominations.
In 2005, Swank won her second Academy Award® for her starring role opposite Clint Eastwood in his Oscar®-winning Best Picture Million Dollar Baby. In addition, she won her second Golden Globe Award and a SAG Award®, as well as the National Society of Film Critics and Critics’ Choice Awards for Best Actress. That same year, she also earned Golden Globe and SAG Award® nominations for her starring role in HBO’s Iron Jawed Angels, about the American women’s suffrage movement.
Other credits include starring in and executive producing three films: Conviction, based on the true story of Betty Anne Waters, a single mother who worked tirelessly to become a lawyer to exonerate her wrongly accused brother, which Swank received a SAG Award® nomination; Mira Nair’s Amelia, the story of the legendary aviatrix; and Freedom Writers, directed by Richard LaGravenese based on the inspiring story of teacher Erin Grumell and her “at-risk” class at Woodrow Wilson High School.
Additional acting credits include Christopher Nolan’s Insomnia, opposite Al Pacino; Richard LaGravenese’s romantic drama P.S. I Love You, opposite Gerard Butler and Kathy Bates; Philip Noyce’s inspiring Mary and Martha, opposite Brenda Blethyn; Brian De Palma’s The Black Dahlia, with Aaron Eckhart and Scarlett Johansson; the historical drama, The Affair of the Necklace; Sam Raimi’s suspense thriller, The Gift; Jon Amiel’s space adventure, The Core; Stephen Hopkins’ thriller The Reaping, produced by Joel Silver; and Gary Marshall’s ensemble New Year’s Eve, opposite Robert De Niro.
Swank also served as a producer on the romantic comedy Something Borrowed, the first film under the banner of her production company with Molly Smith, 2S Films.
In addition to her talents and work within the film industry, Swank recently expanded her reach in the philanthropy world with the launch of her own charity, The Hilaroo Foundation. Through her efforts, the foundation will bring youth, who have been given up on, and animals, who have been abandoned, together to help heal one another through Rescue, Rehabilitation, Animal Adoption and Responsibility Training.
William Fichtner
WILLIAM FICHTNER (Vester Belknap) Having appeared in a wide range of films along with television and theater roles over the course of his career, William Fichtner continues to carve out a distinctive reputation as one of our most versatile and talented actors, whether in comedy or drama, action or character study. He is one of Hollywood’s most distinct and familiar faces.
In 2014, Fichtner will star opposite Megan Fox and Will Arnett as the villainous ‘Shredder” in Paramount’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot. The feature is slated to hit theaters on August 8th. Also in 2014, Fichtner will star alongside Tommy Lee Jones, Hilary Swank, Hailee Steinfeld and Meryl Streep in the upcoming Tommy Lee Jones directed American drama The Homesman.
In the past year, Fichtner could be seen in starring roles in director Gore Verbinski’s The Lone Ranger, as the infamous ‘Butch Cavendish’ opposite Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, for producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney; Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium, opposite Matt Damon and Jodie Foster for Sony Pictures; writer-director Todd Robinson’s thriller Phantom, opposite Ed Harris and David Duchovny; and director-producer Danny DeVito’s thriller St. Sebastian.
Segueing between television and feature films, Fichtner is currently in production on the 2nd season of the international crime series Crossing Lines produced by formal Criminal Minds show runner Ed Bernero. He had a recurring role on HBO’s Entourage from 2009-2011 and played ‘FBI Agent Alexander Mahone’ for three seasons on Fox’s hit drama series, Prison Break. Fichtner also starred with Paul Newman and Ed Harris in HBO’s critically acclaimed adaptation of Richard Russo’s Empire Falls. Other television credits include roles on NBC’s The West Wing, and ABC’s Invasion.
Fichtner co-starred in writer-director Paul Haggis’ Academy Award-winning Crash. For his performance in that film, he shared a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble Cast in a Feature Film. His other film credits include the John Stockwell-directed Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden, based on the true events surrounding the U.S. Navy SEALS mission to capture Osama bin Laden, opposite Nicholas Cage in Drive Angry for director Patrick Lussier and alongside Antonio Banderas in The Big Bang for director Tony Krantz. He also was seen opposite Steve Carell and Tina Fey in director Shawn Levy’s Date Night; Blades of Glory with Will Ferrell; Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight; the remake of The Longest Yard with Adam Sandler; the comedy The Amateurs with Jeff Bridges; Rodrigo Garcia’s Nine Lives; Arie Posin’s The Chumscrubber; Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down; What’s The Worst Thing That Could Happen; Wolfgang Peterson’s The Perfect Storm; Drowning Mona; Ultraviolet and Equilibrium, both for writer-director Kurt Wimmer, Armageddon; Michael Mann’s Heat; Robert Zemeckis’ Contact; Doug Liman’s Go; Katherine Bigelow’s Strange Days; Passion of Mind; Steven Soderbergh’s The Underneath; Switchback; Agnieszka Holland’s Julie Walking Home; The Settlement with John C. Reilly; Kevin Spacey’s directorial debut Albino Alligator and First Snow with Guy Pearce.
As a member of the Circle Repertory Theatre, Fichtner won critical acclaim for his role in The Fiery Furnace, directed by Norman Rene. Other stage credits include Raft of the Medusa at the Minetta Lane Theatre, The Years at the Manhattan Theatre Club, Clothes for a Summer Hotel at the Williamstown Theatre festival and Machinal at The Public Theatre.
Off-screen, William is an avid hockey fan and car lover. In 2011, he showcased his racing talents at the Toyota Pro/ Celebrity Race at the Grand Prix of Long Beach. Fichtner took first place overall, finishing ahead of pro driver Ken Gushi and securing $5,000 for the Kyle Busch Foundation, a non-profit focused on helping less fortunate kids throughout the United States."
Grace Gummer
GRACE GUMMER (Arabella Sours) was recently seen in Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha, recurred on the series “Smash” and wrapped a seven-episode arc on HBO’s “The Newsroom.” Her latest TV credits include “Extant” and “American Horror Story.”
Gummer made her stage debut in Kristjan Thor’s Off Broadway project “The Sexual Neuroses of Our Parents.” After starring in the TeenNick series “Gigantic,” Gummer completed her run as Hero in “Much Ado About Nothing” at the Kirk Douglas Theater in Los Angeles. She debuted on Broadway as Chloë Coverly in Tom Stoppard’s “Arcadia.” For her performance, Gummer won a Theatre World Award.
Most recently Gummer starred opposite John Lithgow in Daniel Sullivan’s “The Columnist,” on Broadway."
John Lithgow
JOHN LITHGOW (Reverend Alfred Dowd) is a highly versatile and acclaimed actor who has appeared in more than 30 films. He was most recently seen in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the political comedy The Campaign and Judd Apatow’s This Is 40. On the small screen, he won his second Golden Globe and fifth Emmy Award® for his turn as the Trinity Killer in a 12-episode arc on Showtime’s long-running series “Dexter.”
Lithgow’s roots are in the theater. In 1973 he won a Tony Award® three weeks after his Broadway debut in David Storey’s “The Changing Room.” Since then, he has appeared on Broadway 20 more times, earning another Tony (and four more Tony nominations), four Drama Desk Awards and induction into the Theater Hall of Fame.
In the early 1980s Lithgow began to make a major mark in films. He was nominated for Oscars in back-to-back years for The World According to Garp and Terms of Endearment. His subsequent credits include All That Jazz, Blow Out, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Footloose, 2010, Buckaroo Banzai, Harry and the Hendersons, Memphis Belle, Raising Cain, Ricochet, Cliffhanger, Orange County, Shrek, Kinsey and a flashy cameo in Dreamgirls.
For his work on television, Lithgow has been nominated for 11 Emmy Awards. He has won five of them, one for an episode of “Amazing Stories” and three for what is perhaps his most celebrated creation, the loopy alien High Commander Dick Solomon, on the hit NBC comedy series “3rd Rock from the Sun.” In that show’s six-year run, Lithgow also won the Golden Globe, two SAG Awards, The American Comedy Award and, when it finally went off the air, a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame."
Tim Blake Nelson
TIM BLAKE NELSON has appeared in over fifty films including Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, Louis Letterier’s The Incredible Hulk, Jay Roach’s Meet the Fockers, Steve Gaghan’s Syriana, 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.
Nelson recently completed principal photography on Fox’s Fantastic Four opposite Kate Mara, Miles Teller, Jamie Bell and Michael B. Jordan. In the film, directed by Josh Trank, Nelson plays one of the lead villains, Harvey Elder. This summer Nelson completed a film that he wrote, directed, and produced called Anesthesia. The film is an ensemble piece which follows the disparate stories of New Yorkers whose lives come together after the violent mugging of a Columbia University professor. The cast includes Kristen Stewart, Corey Stoll, Sam Waterston, Glenn Close, and Michael K. Williams. Nelson also has a supporting role in the film.
Prior to Anesthesia, Nelson completed work on Tommy Lee Jones’s The Homesman which stars Hilary Swank, Grace Gummer, James Spader, and Tommy Lee Jones. Nelson has also collaborated on a handful of films directed by James Franco. He plays “Henry Bukowski” in the upcoming Bukowski. He stars opposite Franco in The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying, both of which are based on William Faulkner novels. As I Lay Dying was nominated in the “Un Certain Regard” category at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. He also appeared in Franco’s Child of God. In 2013, Nelson starred in Alexandre Moors’s Beltway sniper thriller Blue Caprice with Isaiah Washington and Joey Lauren Adams. Blue Caprice premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival to much critical acclaim. The film was nominated for a 2014 Independent Spirit Award in the category, “Best First Feature”.
In 2012, Nelson played lobbyist “Richard Schell” in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated Lincoln, with Daniel Day-Lewis, Tommy Lee Jones, and Sally Field. In 2010, Nelson played a marine biologist opposite Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski, and Ted Danson in Ken Kwapis’s Everybody Loves Whales for Working Title. Nelson also worked on David Frankel’s Fox 2000 comedy The Big Year with Owen Wilson, Steve Martin and Jack Black, Sin Bin with Michael Seater and Emily Mead, Flypaper opposite Ashley Judd and Patrick Dempsey and Yelling ToThe Sky, directed by Victoria Mahoney. Yelling To The Sky was nominated for the Golden Berlin Bear at the 2011 Berlin Film Festival.
Nelson wrote, directed, and co- produced Leaves of Grass, which stars Edward Norton, Susan Sarandon, and Richard Dreyfuss. He also played a supporting role in the film, which 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.
Miranda Otto
MIRANDA OTTO (Theoline Belknap) has been seen in both international blockbusters and acclaimed independent films. She recently starred on television as Maddy Deane opposite Greg Kinnear in the dramedy “Rake.” She starred opposite Aaron Eckhart in I, Frankenstein, writer/director Stuart Beattie’s film adaptation of the classic tale.
Otto made her first major film appearance in 1986, playing the title role in Clytie Jessop’s Emma’s War. Other early credits include The Thin Red Line, directed by Terrence Malick, and What Lies Beneath, from Robert Zemeckis.
In 1999 Otto was cast as Éowyn in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. For The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, she shared in a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Other notable credits include Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds and John Moore’s Flight of the Phoenix."
James Spader
JAMES SPADER (Aloysius Duffy) stars as Raymond “Red” Reddington on NBC’s action thriller “The Blacklist.” Previously, he starred in Steven Spielberg’s historical drama Lincoln.
Additional film credits include Steven Soderbergh’s sex, lies and videotape, for which Spader received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival; David Cronenberg’s Crash, which received the Special Jury Prize at Cannes; and Steven Shainberg’s Secretary, which won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature. His other film credits include 2 Days in the Valley, Wolf and Less Than Zero.
On stage, Spader notably starred on Broadway in David Mamet’s “Race” in 2010.
From 2004-08, Spader won three Emmy Awards for his role as Alan Shore on “The Practice” and “Boston Legal,” making him the only actor to win consecutive Emmys playing the same character on two different series."
Sonja Richter
SONJA RICHTER (Gro Svendsen) is a Danish actress best known for her performance in the 2002 film Open Hearts, directed by Susanne Bier. She has been nominated four times for the Danish Academy Award and four times for the Danish Critics’ Association Award. In 2007 she was honored with the highest cultural distinction in Denmark, “The Danish Crown Prince Couple’s Award” for her work in film, theater and television.
At the 54th Berlin International Film Festival in 2004, Richter was one of 10 young European actors presented with the Shooting Stars Award. In 2007 Richter won the Nymph d’Or Award for Outstanding Actress at the 47th Monte Carlo Television Festival. This award honored her performance in the Danish television series “Performances.”
Subsequently, Richter has starred in a number of films produced in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Germany, along with significant work in theater and television."
Hailee Steinfeld
HAILEE STEINFELD (Tabitha Hutchinson) is a young actress on the rise who emerged as a breakout star with her Academy Award-nominated performance in the Coen brothers’ True Grit, opposite Jeff Bridges. Steinfeld was recently seen in 3 Days to Kill, alongside Kevin Costner. She also starred opposite Douglas Booth in William Shakespeare’s classic Romeo & Juliet and appeared in the sci-fi action adventure Ender’s Game opposite Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley and Asa Butterfield.
Meryl Streep
MERYL STREEP (Altha Carter) has portrayed an astonishing array of characters in a 30-year career that has cut its own unique path through American theater, film and television. She recently received her 18th Academy Award nomination for August: Osage County, breaking her own record for total nominations. Previously, she won her third Academy Award for The Iron Lady and was also honored with a Golden Globe and a BAFTA.
Streep is a longtime supporter of human rights and environmental organizations, with a special interest in issues of equality. She has lent her efforts to such advocacy groups as Mothers and Others, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Equality Now, Women for Women International, Partners in Health, The National Women’s History Museum and Women in the World. She is a member of the Academy of Arts and Letters and has been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Film Institute. Streep is also a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors and President Obama presented her with the 2010 National Medal of the Arts."
