cameron diaz movies
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 Chapter 3 - Unexpected ways from the actors
“When Anna Fitzgerald first stepped into my office, I thought she was selling Girl Scout cookies.” – Campbell Alexander
Coming to Anna’s legal aid is Campbell Alexander, the charismatic lawyer who takes Anna’s case. Alec Baldwin stars in the role, and though much of his screen time takes place during the highly charged courtroom scenes, in between takes he often regaled his director and castmates with jokes and stories. Ironically, one of the movie’s main draws for Baldwin was that it was not a comedy.
“Well, I’m doing a TV show that is a comedy, so the chance to do a tough, emotional drama was very attractive.” Baldwin describes his character as “a larger-than-life attorney with billboards all over town, who has a very self- promoting quality. Interestingly enough, that’s all it takes for Anna to hire him: she says, ‘You’re the guy on the bus.’ More discerning people might not hire him, but 11-year-old girls? He’s got that demographic,” the actor laughs.
Perhaps Baldwin does as well. Picoult visited the set several times but, on one occasion, she had her 12-year-old daughter with her. The author recalls, “At the time, his daughter was also 12. And during the breaks, when he wasn't on camera, his entire modus operandi was to make my daughter giggle—anything he could do to make her laugh. And I loved that.”
Mark Johnson agrees. “Alec makes me laugh, not just because he’s funny, but because he’s funny in such an original, unexpected, idiosyncratic way. And I so embrace his work because what you want an actor to do more than anything is surprise you. He’s just one of those actors that, as a producer, you sit off to the side of the set watching him work and you say to yourself, ‘I can’t believe we got him.’”
When Anna’s emancipation case brings the Fitzgerald family’s predicament into the courtroom, they meet Judge De Salvo, who presides over the trial. De Salvo has been dealing with her own heartache, so the timing of Anna’s lawsuit is particularly challenging for the character. Joan Cusack stars in the role, which, Johnson reveals, was originally written for a man.
“Bringing in Joan as Judge De Salvo was an inspired bit of casting by Nick,” the producer says. “Obviously, Joan is known for her comedies. But Nick is so good at finding the unconventional but entirely appropriate actor, and that’s what makes his work interesting to watch.”
Rounding out the cast are Thomas Dekker as Taylor, another cancer patient who becomes romantically involved with Kate, and David Thornton as Dr. Chance, Kate’s longtime oncologist at the hospital.
Johnson sums it up. “Nick is so good at the unconventional. Often I’ll read a script and say, well, this person’s right and that person’s right. But Nick will say the fact that they’re right makes them inappropriate, find somebody who’s not right and have him or her make that part work, it’ll be better. And I think we’ve done a lot of that in this movie.”
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