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KEVIN COSTNER (Garret Blake / Producer) has exhibited exceptional filmmaking abilities by producing, directing and starring in "Dances With Wolves," which won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. Most recently he produced, directed and starred in "The Postman."
In 1996, Costner re-teamed with his "Bull Durham" director, Ron Shelton, for the romantic comedy "Tin Cup," which provided the filmmaker with a totally different type of role than in his previous effort, as the Mariner in the action epic "Waterworld." Prior to "Waterworld," Costner worked with Lawrence Kasdan in the historical Western "Wyatt Earp." He had previously worked with Kasdan on the gunslinger saga "Silverado" and, early in his career, co-starred in the contemporary comedy-drama "The Big Chill," from which his role was later edited out.
As an action hero, Costner played the title character in "The Bodyguard," which he produced from a script by Kasdan. He received critical praise for his performance as an escaped convict opposite Clint Eastwood in the drama "A Perfect World," and starred with Elijah Wood in the Vietnam parable "The War."
His other notable roles in both action and drama include New Orleans prosecutor Jim Garrison in Oliver Stone's "JFK," the legendary "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," the stoic lawman Elliott Ness in Brian DePalma's "The Untouchables" and the enigmatic Pentagon attaché in "No Way Out."
A natural athlete, Costner has applied those talents prior to "Tin Cup" in the baseball comedy "Bull Durham," the comedy-drama "Field of Dreams" and the bicycle racing saga "American Flyers." His upcoming projects include the role of Billy Chappel, a pitcher re-examining his career, in "For Love of the Game"; the film is directed by Sam Raimi and also stars Kelly Preston.
Since her motion picture debut in "The Princess Bride," ROBIN WRIGHT PENN (Theresa Osborne) has enjoyed a distinguished career, garnering worldwide acclaim as one of the most interesting and versatile actresses in the industry.
In 1997, Wright Penn received prestigious award recognition for her leading roles in two films: for "She's So Lovely" (co-starring Sean Penn and John Travolta), she earned a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture; for "Loved" (starring opposite William Hurt), which was a special presentation at the Toronto Film Festival, Wright Penn won the Best Actress Award at the Seattle Film Festival and received an Independent Spirit Award nomination.
Wright Penn was most recently seen in the independent film "Hurlyburly," directed by Anthony Drazen and co-starring Sean Penn, Kevin Spacey, Meg Ryan, Chazz Palminteri and Anna Paquin. Prior to her performance in "Moll Flanders," Wright Penn co-starred with Tom Hanks and Sally Field in the international box office hit "Forrest Gump," which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. Her other film credits include "Toys" (directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robin Williams), "The Playboys" (directed by Gilles MacKinnon and starring Albert Finney and Aidan Quinn), "State of Grace" (directed by Phil Joanou and starring Sean Penn, Ed Harris and Gary Oldman), "The Crossing Guard" (directed by Sean Penn) and "Denial" (starring Jason Patric).
JOHN SAVAGE (Johnny Land) appeared in Off-Broadway and Broadway productions before he graduated from New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his feature film debut in 1973's "Steelyard Blues," opposite Jane Fonda, and continued his film career working with acclaimed directors in starring roles in such landmark films as Michael Cimino's Academy Award-winning "The Deer Hunter," Milos Forman's adaptation of the Broadway musical "Hair," Harold Becker's "The Onion Field," Richard Donner's "Inside Moves," Oliver Stone's "Salvador," Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather, Part III" and Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing."
At of the top of his acting career, Savage left Hollywood in 1988 and moved to South Africa, where he dedicated the next six years to working with Nelson Mandela for the anti-apartheid movement. In 1992, he served as production manager on Spike Lee's location filming of "Malcolm X" before returning to the U.S. in 1994. Since his return, he has not stopped working. Most recently seen in Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line," his current credits include "Primary Motive," "The Crossing Guard," "White Squall" and "The Mouse." His television credits include the NBC miniseries "Tom Clancy's 'OP Center,'" HBO's "Hostile Intent" and Oprah Winfrey's "Before Women Had Wings." His upcoming projects include Spike Lee's "Summer of Sam" (his third appearance in a Lee film) and "Little Boy Blue."
ILLEANA DOUGLAS (Lina Paul) has been able to bridge a career in independent and studio films with a series of acclaimed performances: as singer/songwriter Denise Waverly in Allison Anders' highly acclaimed musical drama "Grace of My Heart" (which Douglas helped produce and earned her a London Film Critics Award nomination); her memorable role in Martin Scorsese's "Cape Fear"; and the cult classic screwball tragedy "Search & Destroy" (which was directed by famed artist David Salle and Douglas helped develop). Douglas' additional film credits include "Picture Perfect," "Quiz Show," "GoodFellas," "Alive," "Wedding Bell Blues" and "Grief." Most recently seen starring opposite Stephen Rea in the independent comedy "Hacks," she will next star in another independent comedy, "Happy, Texas" (premiering at Sundance), opposite William H. Macy, Steve Zahn and Jeremy Northam; David Koepp's "A Stir of Echoes," opposite Kevin Bacon; and HBO's "Meyer Lansky," opposite Richard Dreyfuss. Her upcoming projects include "The Last Treasure" (a romantic comedy opposite Denis Leary and directed by Tom DiCillo) and "Life Without Dick."
Douglas has written, produced and directed three short films - "The Perfect Woman" (Best Short Film at the Aspen Short's Festival and CableACE-nominated), "Boy Crazy, Girl Crazier" and "Everybody Just Stay Calm" (a comedic documentary about independent filmmaking) - which play regularly on Bravo and the Independent Film Channel. Her television credits include "The Larry Sanders Show" (starring as Gary Shandling's girlfriend on the final season), her memorable role as 'Carrot Girl' on "Seinfeld," the CBS miniseries "Bellas Mafia," HBO's "Weapons of Mass Destruction" and TNT's "Rough Riders."
ROBBIE COLTRANE (Charlie Toschi) has enjoyed a distinguished career on screen, stage and television. The Scottish-born Coltrane's recent film credits have included "Frogs for Snakes," "Buddy," "Montana" and the 007 adventure "GoldenEye." Moviegoing audiences are perhaps most familiar with his comedic performances in the British-made films "The Pope Must Diet" and "Nuns on the Run" (which garnered Coltrane the Peter Sellers Award for Comedy) and as Falstaff in Kenneth Branagh's "Henry V." His other feature film credits include "Bert Rigby, You're a Fool," "Mona Lisa," "The Adventures of Huck Finn" and "Caravaggio."
A popular television presence in Britain, Coltrane received a CableACE award and three successive BAFTA awards (for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series) for his portrayal of Fitz in Granada Television's "Cracker." His additional television credits include the award-winning series "Tutti Frutti," "Blackadder Christmas Special," "Alive and Kicking" and "The Robbie Coltrane Special." He will next be seen in the NBC version of "Alice in Wonderland."
JESSE JAMES (Jason Osborne) has, at the age of eight, already amassed an impressive list of feature and television credits and is becoming one of the industry's promising young actors. James most recently appeared on the motion picture screen opposite Oscar-winners Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt in James L. Brooks' comedy-drama, "As Good As It Gets," and opposite Kenneth Branagh in Robert Altman's thriller, "The Gingerbread Man." Spotted at a photo shoot for his actor-father Shane James, Jesse soon landed his first acting jobs on PBS's "Sesame Street" and the CBS drama "Walker, Texas Ranger." His other feature film credits include the short "Puppies for Sale," opposite Jack Lemmon. James recently completed production on the independent drama "Gods and Monsters," starring Sir Ian McKellan and Brendan Fraser, and his upcoming projects include "A Dog of Flanders," which stars Richard Harris and Jon Voight.
PAUL NEWMAN (Dodge Blake) is one of the film industry's most accomplished stars. An eight-time Academy Award nominee, Newman received a special honorary Oscar in 1985 and a Best Actor Oscar the following year for his performance in "The Color of Money." The films for which he received Oscar nominations as an actor include "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," "The Hustler," "Hud," "Cool Hand Luke," "Absence of Malice," "The Verdict" and "Nobody's Fool." He also received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture for "Rachel, Rachel," which he produced.
Newman has additionally distinguished himself as a director with such films as "Rachel, Rachel" (for which he received a New York Film Critics Circle Award), "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds," "Harry and Son," "Sometimes a Great Notion," "The Glass Menagerie" and the television adaptation of Michael Cristofer's "The Shadow Box."
Newman's recent screen credits include "Nobody's Fool," the Coen brothers' "The Hudsucker Proxy," James Ivory's "Mr. and Mrs. Bridge" (with Joanne Woodward), "Fat Man and Little Boy," "Blaze" and the recent "Twilight."
One of Newman's first feature roles brought him to American moviegoers' attention, that of boxing champ Rocky Graziano in "Somebody Up There Likes Me." Some of his other screen credits include "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "The Sting" and "Slapshot" (all three directed by George Roy Hill), "The Rack," "The Left-Handed Gun," "Exodus," "From the Terrace," "Paris Blues," "The Prize," "Lady L," "Torn Curtain," "Harper," "Hombre," "Winning," "Pocket Money," "WUSA," "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean," "The Towering Inferno," "Buffalo Bill and the Indians," "The Drowning Pool" and "Fort Apache, The Bronx."
In 1992, Newman and his wife, Joanne Woodward, received the Kennedy Center Honors and, in 1994, he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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