TONI COLLETTE (Michelle) also appeared with Samuel L. Jackson in Paramount’s hit thriller “Shaft.” She will next be seen opposite Hugh Grant in the comedy “About a Boy” and in Stephen Daldry’s “The Hours.” Last year, Collette received a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut in the Michael John LaChiusa/George C. Wolfe musical “The Wild Party.” Born and raised in Australia, Collette gained instant international recognition with her performance in P.J. Hogan’s 1994 Australian film “Muriel’s Wedding.”

Her breakthrough American film was M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Sixth Sense,” in which she played the mother of Haley Joel Osment. Her performance brought her an Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Her other films include “Emma,” “The Boys,” “Velvet Goldmine,” “Hotel Splendide,” “The James Gang,” “Clockwatchers,” “The Pallbearer,” “Lilian’s Story” and Mark Joffe’s “Spotswood” and “Così.”
Collette was a student at Australia’s prestigious National Institute of Dramatic Art, and went on to perform for the Velvoir Street Theatre and the Sydney Theater Company.
Collette currently divides her time between Australia, London and the United States.

SYDNEY POLLACK (Delano) has distinguished himself as a director, producer and actor. His movies have been box office smashes, won Oscars® and provided a framework for performances by some of the major actors of our era.

Pollack himself won an Academy Award® as Best Director for his l985 film “Out of Africa,” which also received the Best Picture award. He was previously nominated for “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” and “Tootsie.” Among his other honors are the New York Film Critics Award, two Golden Globes, the National Society of Film Critics Award, the NATO Director of the Year Award, and prizes at the Moscow, Taormina, Brussels, Belgrade and San Sebastian film festivals.

Pollack made his directorial debut with “The Slender Thread,” starring Sidney Poitier and Anne Bancroft, in l965. Among the best known of his many films, in addition to “Tootsie,” “Out of Africa,” and “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” are “The Firm” and “Sabrina” (both produced with Scott Rudin), “The Way We Were,” “The Electric Horseman,” “Jeremiah Johnson,” “Absence of Malice” and “Three Days of the Condor.”

Born in Lafayette, Indiana, Pollack went to New York after graduating high school. He studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse, eventually becoming Meisner’s assistant, and then a teacher there. Soon he began to work professionally as an actor on stage and television. Following two years of military service, he began to direct as well. In l965, he received an Emmy for “The Game,” starring Cliff Robertson.

Pollack has produced his own films under the Mirage Enterprises banner since l975, and has increasingly begun producing the films of other directors. Among the films to bear the Mirage/Pollack imprint are “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” “Sense and Sensibility,” “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” “White Palace,” “Presumed Innocent,” “Searching for Bobby Fischer” and “Iris” (the latter two produced with Scott Rudin).
Pollack has also become more visible as a screen presence of late, and his performances are usually met with critical raves. Audiences have enjoyed him in “Tootsie,” “The Player,” “Death Becomes Her,” “Eyes Wide Shut” and Woody Allen’s “Husbands and Wives.” He has also appeared in guest starring roles in such series as “Will & Grace,” “Just Shoot Me” and “Mad About You.”

WILLIAM HURT (Doyle’s Sponsor) trained at Tufts University and New York’s Julliard School of Music and Drama. He spent the early years of his career between schooling, summer stock, regional repertory and Off Broadway, appearing in more than fifty productions including “Henry V,” “5th of July,” “Hamlet,” “Richard II,” “Hurlyburly” (for which he was nominated for a Tony Award), “My Life” (winning an Obie Award for Best Actor), “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Good.”

Hurt most recently completed production on the independent film “Rare Birds,” co-starring Molly Parker and directed by Sturla Gunnarson; and also was recently seen in Steven Spielberg’s “A.I.” and will soon be seen in Disney’s “Tuck Everlasting,” directed by Jay Russell.

Hurt also starred in the prestigious TV film “The Flamingo Rising,” for CBS, based on the novel by Larry Baker and directed by Martha Coolidge.
In 2000, Hurt delivered memorable performances in “Sunshine,” directed by Istvan Szabo; “The Simian Line,” with Lynn Redgrave; and “Dune,” for the Sci-Fi Channel.

“Altered States” marked Hurt’s film debut in 1980. He was nominated for Best Actor Oscars® for “Broadcast News” and “Children of a Lesser God.” His performance in “Kiss of the Spider Woman” received a Best Actor Oscar®, plus the BAFTA and Cannes acting awards.
Among his other films are “Body Heat,” “The Big Chill,” “Eyewitness,” “Gorky Park,” “Alice,” “I Love You to Death,” “The Accidental Tourist,” “The Doctor,” “The Plague,” “Trial by Jury,” “Second Best,” “Smoke,” “Confidences à un Inconnu” “Jane Eyre,” “Michael,” “Dark City,” “The Proposition” “The Big Brass Ring” and “One True Thing.”

In 1988, Hurt was awarded the first Spencer Tracy Award from U.C.L.A.

AMANDA PEET (Cynthia Banek) can currently be seen in the popular WB series “Jack and Jill,” as Jacqueline “Jack” Barrett, a small-town girl in love with David “Jill” Jillefsky (Ivan Sergei). She recently was seen opposite Jason Biggs, Jack Black and Steve Zahn in the comedy “Saving Silverman” directed by Dennis Dugan; and also appeared opposite Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry in “The Whole Nine Yards.” Most recently, she completed Carl Franklin’s “High Crimes,” with Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd.
Her other films include “Isn’t She Great,” “Simply Irresistible,” “Body Shots,” “Whipped,” “Take Down,” “Jump,” “Southie,” “She’s the One” and “One Fine Day.” On television, she appeared in a recurring role in “Central Park West” and in guest shots on “Seinfeld,” “The Single Guy,” “Law & Order” and “Spin City.”

A native of New York, Peet graduated from Columbia University with a degree in American history. She has studied acting under Uta Hagen, and currently, she resides in Los Angeles.

KIM STAUNTON (Valerie Gipson) has an extensive film, television and theater career. Her film credits include the newly released “Dragonfly,” opposite Kevin Costner, “Heat,” starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, “Holy Man,” opposite Eddie Murphy and “Deceived, opposite Michael Caine. Currently, Staunton stars opposite Whoopi Goldberg in Disney’s California Adventure Theme Park’s “Golden Dreams.”
On the small screen, Staunton’s credits include guest starring roles on “Judging Amy, “Law and Order,” “City of Angels,” “New York Undercover,” “Feds” and “Crime Story.” She also starred opposite Delroy Lindo in the telepic “Glory and Honor,” and she has appeared in recurring roles on the daytime dramas “As the World Turns,” “One Life to Live” and “Another World.”
On stage, Staunton has performed at some of the nation’s most prestigious regional theaters including the Denver Center Theater, South Coast Repertory, The Shakespeare Theater, Arena Stage, Hartford Stage Company and the Eugene O’Neill Center.
A Washington, D.C. native, Staunton is a distinguished Julliard graduate.

RICHARD JENKINS (Arnell) has established a most impressive list of film and television credits including the recent “The Man Who Wasn’t There,” starring Billy Bob Thornton and the critically acclaimed HBO series “Six Feet Under.” Nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for the 1996 comedy, “Flirting With Disaster,” Jenkins’ additional film credits include “Me, Myself and Irene,” with Jim Carrey, Mike Nichols’ “What Planet Are You From?” with Garry Shandling, “One Night at McCools,” “Say It Isn’t So,” “There’s Something About Mary,” “Snow Falling on Cedars,” “The Indian and the Cupboard,” “Trapped in Paradise,” “It Could Happen to You,” “How to Make an American Quilt,” “The Witches of Eastwick” and “Stealing Home.”

On the small screen, Jenkins has starred in the television movies “Into Thin Air: Death on Everest,” “The Boys Next Door” and “And the Band Played On.”

Release Date: 1 Nov
Distributor: UIP
Cert: 15
Running Time: 98 minutes

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