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Bullock has received numerous awards and nominations for her work, including: two Blockbuster Entertainment Awards and two MTV Movie Awards for her role in
"Speed"; a Golden Globe nomination, an American Comedy Awards nomination, two People’s Choice Awards and two Blockbuster Entertainment Awards for her role in "While You Were Sleeping"; and a People’s Choice Award and a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for her role in "A Time To Kill." In 1996, Bullock was voted NATO/ShoWest "Female Star of the Year."
Bullock’s debut as a writer/director was marked with the short film "Making Sandwiches," in which she also starred with Matthew McConaughey. The short debuted at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. Bullock marked her feature film producing debut with "Hope Floats," directed by Forest Whitaker and starring Bullock, Harry Connick, Jr. and Gena Rowlands. "Practical Magic" is a Di Novi Pictures production in association with Bullock’s company, Fortis Films. Bullock next stars opposite Ben Affleck in the comedy "Forces of Nature" and will be heard as the voice of Miriam in the upcoming animated feature "Prince of Egypt."
Her additional feature film credits include "Wrestling Ernest Hemingway," "The Thing Called Love," "The Vanishing," "Demolition Man" and "Two If By Sea."
Nicole Kidman (Gillian Owens) was already an acclaimed actress in her native Australia when she came to the notice of American audiences in the Phillip Noyce thriller "Dead Calm." Her subsequent starring roles include "Days of Thunder," "Billy Bathgate" (for which she received a Golden Globe nomination), "Far and Away," "My Life," "Malice," "Batman Forever" and Jane Campion’s adaptation of "The Portrait of a Lady." Her starring role in Gus Van Sant’s acclaimed black comedy, "To Die For," brought her a Golden Globe for Best Actress, along with Best Actress awards from the Boston Film Critics, National Broadcast Film Critics, London Film Critics and the Seattle Film Festival; she was also nominated by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and the American Comedy Awards.
Born in Hawaii, Kidman grew up in Australia, where she enrolled in drama school at age 10. She made her professional debut in an Australian film, "Bush Christmas," at 14 and began to mix her schoolwork with working in film and theater. Her theater credits include starring roles in Wedekind’s "Spring Awakening" for the Australian Theater for Young People and "Steel Magnolias" at the Sydney Seymour Center, for which she was nominated "Best Newcomer" by the Sydney Theater Critics.
Kidman’s role in the much-lauded 1985 Kennedy-Miller mini-series "Vietnam" made her a virtual overnight star in Australia. Only 17 at the time, she was voted Best Actress of the Year by the Australian public and the Australian Film Institute for her performance. In addition to public and critical acclaim, her performance in the series also attracted the attention of filmmakers throughout Australia. Her subsequent portrayal of the terrorized wife in "Dead Calm" was praised by critics in Australia and abroad.
Following the success of "Dead Calm," Kidman reunited with the production team of Kennedy-Miller for a second critically acclaimed mini-series, "Bangkok Hilton," and, once again, was voted Best Actress of 1989 by the Australian public.
Most recently she starred with George Clooney in "The Peacemaker" for director Mimi Leder. Her upcoming projects include Stanley Kubrick’s film, "Eyes Wide Shut"; Kidman will also be starring in David Hare’s play, "The Blue Room" (at London’s Donmar Warehouse Theatre), to be directed by Sam Mendes and co-starring Iain Glenn.
Dianne Wiest (Aunt Jet) has appeared in five Woody Allen films including "The Purple Rose of Cairo," "September," "Radio Days," "Hannah and her Sisters" and "Bullets Over Broadway." Wiest received her first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for "Hannah and her Sisters." In 1995, she was recognized by virtually every critics association as well as the Motion Picture Academy for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Helen Sinclair in "Bullets Over Broadway"; this was Wiest’s second Oscar and third nomination.
In 1996 Wiest was honored at the Sundance Film Festival with the Piper Heidseick Award. Also that year she co-starred in the Mike Nichols hit "The Birdcage," with Robin Williams, Nathan Lane and Gene Hackman.
Her additional credits include starring roles in 1983’s "Independence Day," "I’m Dancing As Fast As I Can," "Falling In Love," "Edward Scissorhands," "Little Man Tate" and "Parenthood," for which she received her second Academy Award nomination.
Wiest, who began her career touring with the American Shakespeare Company, earned the Obie, Clarence Derwent and Theatre World Awards as Best Actress for her performance in "The Art of Dining" in 1983. She made her stage directing debut with "Not About Heroes" at the Williamstown Playhouse in 1985 and starred in "The Summer House" at Lincoln Center. She was recently seen in Robert Redford’s "The Horse Whisperer."
Stockard Channing’s (Aunt Frances) talent has been recognized through the many awards she has won. Most recently, the film version of "Six Degrees of Separation" earned her an Oscar nomination, while the stage version earned her a Tony nomination, an Obie, the Distinguished Performance of the Year from the New York Drama League and an Olivier Award nomination.
Channing was recently seen in Robert Benton’s "Twilight," opposite Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon and Gene Hackman, and in David Jones’ "An Unexpected Life" for the USA Network (the sequel to "An Unexpected Family," for which she received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Special). Her upcoming projects include Showtime’s "Baby Dance" (produced by Jodie Foster), the biopic "Isn’t She Great" (starring Bette Midler as Jacqueline Susann) and a starring role in "The Red Door."
Channing earned a Golden Globe nomination for her role in "Smoke" and won a People’s Choice Award for her role in "Grease." Her other film credits include "The First Wives Club" (opposite Diane Keaton and Bette Midler), Matthew Irmas’ "Eddie and Pen" (for HBO), "Moll Flanders," "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar," "Married To It," "Meet the Applegates," "Staying Together," "Destiny," "Heartburn" (opposite Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep), "The Men’s Club," "The Fortune," "The Cheap Detective," "Sweet Revenge," "The Big Bus" and "Without A Trace."
One of the country’s leading stage actresses, Channing most recently starred as Regina Giddens in Lillian Hellman’s "The Little Foxes" at Lincoln Center Theater. She won a Tony Award for her work in "A Day in the Life of Joe Egg," which also earned her nominations for a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics’ Circle Award. She earned additional Tony nominations for both John Guare’s "House of Blue Leaves" and "Four Baboons Adoring the Sun." Her other stage credits include "Hapgood" (Drama Desk nomination), "Love Letters," "Woman in Mind" (Drama Desk Award), "The Rink," "The Golden Age" and "They’re Playing Our Song."
In television, Channing received Emmy nominations for her work in the Disney Channel’s "The Road to Avonlea," "Perfect Witness" for HBO Premiere and "David’s Mother" and "Echoes in the Darkness" for CBS. She also received a CableACE Award for her work in HBO’s "On Tidy Endings." Other television credits include NBC’s "The Prosecutors," Showtime’s "Lily Dale," the Hallmark Hall of Fame production of "The Room Upstairs," Lou Antonio’s "Silent Victory: The Story of Kitty O’Neal," CBS’s "The Stockard Channing Show" and Lee Philips’ "The Girl Most Likely To..."
Aidan Quinn (Gary Hallett) was born in Chicago and made his stage debut there in "The Man in 605" and played the title role in a modern-day "Hamlet," directed by Robert Falls, which won the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Production of the Year. In New York, he appeared Off-Broadway in Sam Shepard’s "Fool For Love" and then went on to perform in the original production of Shepard’s play, "Lie of the Mind," which won the 1985 Drama Desk Award. Quinn also starred as Stanley Kowalski in a Broadway production of Tennessee Williams’ "A Streetcar Named Desire."
In 1985, Quinn starred in the motion picture "Reckless" and, since then, has appeared in more than 19 feature films, including "Desperately Seeking Susan," "Stakeout," "The Playboys," "Benny & Joon," "Avalon" and "At Play in the Fields of the Lord." He starred opposite Liam Neeson, Julia Roberts and Stephen Rea for director Neil Jordan in "Michael Collins" and with Anthony Hopkins, Brad Pitt and Julia Ormand in "Legends of the Fall." He also starred in a dual role (as the terrorist Carlos Sanchez and his impersonator) in "The Assignment," opposite Donald Sutherland and Ben Kingsley.
In Ireland last summer, Quinn produced and starred in the upcoming "This Is My Father," written and directed by his brother, Paul Quinn; their brother, Declan Quinn ("Leaving Las Vegas") was the cinematographer, and all three brothers served as executive producers. "This Is My Father" stars James Caan, Stephen Rea, John Cusack and Colm Meaney. Quinn recently completed production on Neil Jordan’s "In Dreams," opposite Annette Bening.
Quinn’s television credits include the telefilms "An Early Frost" (Emmy nomination), "A Perfect Witness" (CableACE nomination), "A Private Matter," the PBS/American Playhouse production of Arthur Miller’s "All My Sons" and Hallmark Entertainment’s "Stanley and Livingston."
Goran Visnjic (Jimmy) made his American motion picture debut in the critically acclaimed drama "Welcome to Sarajevo." Visnjic gained popularity in his native Croatia when, at the age of 21, he was cast as Hamlet in the prestigious Dubrovnik Summer Festival’s staging of Shakespeare’s play. The production received rave reviews, with Visnjic’s own performance earning him three national Best Actor awards, including the Orlando (the Croatian equivalent of a Tony). He has starred in three Croatian movies since that time and had a featured role in "The Peacemaker," opposite George Clooney and Nicole Kidman.
His other theater credits include "les Fourberies de Scapin," "l’Ecole des femmes," "Miss Julie," "Ivanov," "The Brothers Karamazov" and "le Baruffe chiozotte."
Visnjic grew up in a small town off the Adriatic Sea, where he decided early on that he wanted to be an actor. He first performed in local theater groups and then entered the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb.
Ten-year-old Evan Rachel Wood (Kylie) recently starred in the feature films "Digging to China" and "Detour." Her television credits include the telefeatures "Get to the Heart: The Barbara Mandrell Story," "A Father for Charlie," "In the Best of Families," "Search for Grace" and "Death in Small Doses," as well as a recurring role on the series "American Gothic" and a starring role in the pilot "Touched By an Angel." Her theater experience includes an appearance as Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker," as well as a soloist in the musical "A Christmas Carol" and the role of Cobweb in the Shakespeare in the Park production of "A Midsummer Night’s Dream."
Eight-year-old Alexandra Artrip (Antonia) began her career at the age of seven, when, two weeks after obtaining both an agent and a manager at an I.M.T.A. convention, she was signed for a national commercial. That led to a leading role in the pilot for a series spin-off from "Walker, Texas Ranger" entitled "Sons of Thunder." More commercial work followed, along with a guest-starring role on the series "Touched By an Angel," before being cast in "Practical Magic."
The Tucson, Arizona-native performed in church musicals and local children’s theater productions before embarking on her professional career.
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