cameron diaz movies
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 Chapter 3 - The Supporting Cast
Tom Cruise's Roy is a man with a lot of people after him. From U.S. agents to foreign spies, he is an extremely wanted man - all of which provided an opportunity for Knight and Day's filmmakers to cast a stellar group of actors in the film's additional starring and supporting roles. Chief among those in pursuit of Roy is Fitzgerald, the agency boss who tries to convince June that Roy is a spy-gone-bad. To play Fitzgerald, Mangold chose one of today's most versatile actors: Peter Sarsgaard, fresh off critical acclaim for his portrait of a charming con man in An Education.
"Roles like Fitzgerald can either be cardboard or they can be made to live," notes Mangold. "Peter had the ability to bring a real spice to a character who is, in a sense, a mirror to Roy Miller - a light mirror or a dark mirror, depending on how you see things."
Sarsgaard was attracted to the story's blend of sophistication and playfulness. "Knight and Day has quite a mix: old-school spy elements, as well as action and comedy," he says. "I loved the freewheeling lightness."
Sarsgaard ultimately found an inspiration for Fitzgerald in an unlikely place: the cartoon skunk Pepe Le Pew, who never gives up the chase no matter how futile. "Pepe Le Pew has that quality where he just keeps going and going and he never changes modes, and that's Fitzgerald," he says.
The role required not just dramatic skill but courage as well - especially to keep up with the enthusiastic fearlessness and risk-taking of Cruise and Diaz. "The things that only look like they're happening in other movies were actually happening in this movie," Sarsgaard says: "There wasn't a lot of green screen [necessary to shoot scenes with CGI]. The risks I saw Tom Cruise take during production were often incredible. He and Cameron are both just so confident and they always figure out just the right thing to do in the moment - even if the moment is jumping across a rooftop."
Those kinds of pure adrenaline moments were also a draw for another Academy Award nominee: Viola Davis, who garnered honors for her supporting role in Doubt opposite Meryl Streep. Here, she got to flex some muscle and power as CIA Director Isabel George, who oversees U.S. counterespionage efforts, and has her own vendetta against Roy Miller.
"Viola is a terrific actress and it was so important to have somebody with her gravity, weight and authenticity in a tricky role that is all about whether you can really believe what this character is saying," says Cathy Konrad.
Like her cast mates, Davis could not resist the screenplay. "I love big, splashy movies," she says. "I love watching them and I especially love being a part of them. Knight and Day also interested me because it's such a hybrid, it has everything we all want to see in movies -- from comedy to romance to action -- which gives us as actors a lot to play with. Making this movie was a rush."
As Director George, Davis also had the pleasure of being a woman in charge. "I liked the fact that Isabel is the big authority, because I don't always feel that way in my life, so it was fun to pretend to be that. Director George is also the one person who enters the story and appears to be trustworthy and that's all I'm going to say about that!"
At the core of Knight and Day's around-the-world pursuit is an international battle to control a game-changing new energy technology designed by a barely post-adolescent inventor. This is Simon Feck, a brilliant ueber-geek portrayed by Paul Dano whose award-winning roles include Little Miss Sunshine and There Will Be Blood. Dano was instantly attracted to the fun of the project. "I've never been in this kind of film before so for me it was very exciting, especially to have the chance to do action sequences with Tom Cruise," says Dano, "all while playing a brilliant young scientist who has invented something that is a magnet for every spy agency and bad guy in the world. There's a lot of comedy to Simon Feck and it was fun to play a boy genius."
Also joining the cast is top Spanish star Jordi Molla (Blow, Bad Boys II) who takes on the role of the nefarious weapons kingpin Antonio Quintana. He, too, fell in love with the script. "It's a fantastic ensemble of very appealing concepts and styles all in one movie," he says.
As for his character, Molla sums his many devious sides up as "a classy, dangerous, sexy, charming, intense, dark, funny guy who wants one thing: power." He says the key, though, was never to take Quintana over the top. "Jim Mangold always wanted to keep it real, and this is the most difficult thing," he says. "Jim is always trying to get the best out of his actors and out of the moment."
Rounding out the supporting cast of Knight and Day are rising actress Maggie Grace (Lost) as June's betrothed sister April; and Marc Blucas (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) as June's firefighter former boyfriend Rodney, who unexpectedly finds himself in competition with a super-spy.
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