- Notes provided by Sony Pictures Classics. -

A wry blend of dark humor, romantic deception, and stylish melodrama-with an invigorating dash of suspense-Married Life is an unconventional fable for grown-ups about the irresistible power and utter madness of love.
After decades of marital contentment, Harry (Chris Cooper) concludes that he must kill his wife Pat (Patricia Clarkson) because he loves her too much to let her suffer when he leaves her. Harry has fallen hard for the young and lovely Kay (Rachel McAdams), but his best friend Richard (Pierce Brosnan) wants to win Kay for himself.
As Harry implements his maladroit plans for murdering his wife, the other characters are entangled with their own deceptions. Like Harry, they race towards their passions but trip over their scruples, seemingly well-intended towards all, but truthful to none.
Married Life is an uncommonly adult film that surprises and confounds expectations. While it plays with mystery, comedy, and intrigue, its ultimate concern is: "What is married life?"
In its sly way, Married Life poses perceptive questions about the seasonal discontents and unforeseen joys of all long-term relationships.
Notes from Ira Sachs, Director and Co-Writer
When I set out to make Married Life, I wrote myself a few notes about what I intended to put on the screen. I hope I got most of it right.
MARRIED LIFE is....
A comedy of manners. Entertaining, sad, funny in the right places. If it works people won't notice its deeper tones until after they left the theater, once they're back in the lives, homes, bedrooms.
A contemporary film. The late 1940s should feel only like yesterday. No dark hues or "period" browns, no overly precious idea of what the period was like. It's a modern movie set in another time. Though the customs might be different, the dilemmas are not. The characters could be our grandparents, our parents, ourselves.
A suspense film. Psychological, emotional, and driven by a murder in the making, love affairs in progress, and the hopelessly selfish pursuit of marital happiness.
A character drama. Our alliances shift in every scene until we don't know what we want to happen. We empathize with all four of these people. Their mistakes, their ambiguity, their desire to love and be loved, are ours as well.
A glamorous throwback. The music will be rich, cinematic, not all period, not all within the past. Keep the audience involved through both plot and character, but also through the image itself. Don't be afraid of shadows, of montage, of rich colors!
MARRIED LIFE is an intimate story played out in bold. Focus on the emotion, tension, drama, heart.
About the Production:
Sachs, Cooper, Brosnan, McAdams and Clarkson Talk Marriage
Writer/director Ira Sachs is swiftly emerging as a notable and versatile film talent. His last film, Forty Shades of Blue, was the Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner in 2005, while his first feature, The Delta, was a dark, uncompromising film of the most independent kind. With Married Life, he surprises expectations again, making a star-studded ensemble film with the craft and the care that recalls the elegantly entertaining films made during the Hollywood studio system. Again showing his skills as an "actors' director," Sachs has made a film that in its defiance of any one genre is as contemporary, and emotionally precise, as any of his earlier, more character driven, work.
Sachs is an ardent film lover, with a particular admiration for 40s and 50s movies (bonus points for Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, as well as Hitchcock and Preminger), but Married Life is not primarily a film buff's film. " I wanted to make a film," says Sachs, "that spoke gently and honestly about the complexities and intricacies of marriage and intimate life, and here was a plot
-- however outrageous it might seem -- that in the end could do so in a way both direct and metaphoric.
To find the story, Sachs pored over stacks of little-known mystery and pulp novels, until he came upon John Bingham's Five Roundabouts to Heaven (Bingham, incidentally, was both a writer and a spy; John Le Carre based the character of Smiley on Bingham, his friend and mentor in the MI5, the British secret service). "It was exactly what I was looking for-a really great story that at its heart is about the complex nature of any long term relationship," he says. "I thought this story could be a very intriguing vehicle for me to explore both the intimacy and the distance that arises between any two people who share a bed over a long period of time."
A Sense of Whimsy
When Sachs began working with his co-writer, Oren Moverman, they agreed that the film should have a playful tone. "From the opening credit sequence,", says Sachs, " we signal to the audience that there is whimsy in the rather serious things to follow. I wanted the audience to understand that they don't need to take every action too literally. Now, that doesn't deny the dramatic nature of what happens between these characters, and I certainly don't want to undercut the effect of going through these experiences with them. But I want the audience to experience the pleasure of a well-told tale without trying to think about it too hard. In that way, it is like some of the older films I loved as a kid: it's a movie, a fantasy, and yet on another level its about some things that to me are very real, and personal."
"Every time I describe the film in a one-sentence line-people smile," Sachs continues. "And there's a reason for that. It's over-the-top. A gentle, middle-aged man who falls in love decides to kill his wife because divorce would cause her too much pain. And he thinks he's doing the conscientious thing! You could maybe find it hard to understand the decision our protagonist, Harry (Chris Cooper) makes, but that's looking at the story too literally. I find Harry very familiar. All too many people have difficulty differentiating their individual selves from the bonds of a long marriage. All the same, he's not an easy character to make sympathetic, and I needed someone to play him that the audience could empathize with. And Chris Cooper makes a very good Everyman."
The Trouble with Harry
Harry's assumption that his wife Pat (Patricia Clarkson) can't live without him is based on a stark misunderstanding of who she is. "There's immense narcissism to his actions," says Sachs. "He thinks Pat would be better off dead than divorced-and he's totally wrong. In today's terms, he might be called "co-dependent." He's lost and he doesn't know his way out, but instead of choosing an honest way, he creates a world of trouble. As it turns out, Harry's not a particularly good murderer (his conscience takes root), or we'd have a very different balance of humor and melodrama."
Chris Cooper, who embodies the wayward spouse, says, "I think Harry's big flaw is that he expects too much. In Noel Coward's words, he's looking for that `first, fine careless rapture.' I think he had it with his wife, but it didn't last, and now Harry is carried away by Kay, and his curious need for something more. `Mid-life crisis' is the cliché, but rapturous love is the feeling."
"Harry starts out in the film like a young man in love," says Sachs. "He's like a kid in a candy store. And then things get more serious for him because adult life is not like that adolescent joy from first love-there are too many complications that spring from all the history that's come before."
A Cad, but a Loveable Cad?
Sachs sees Harry's friend Richard (Pierce Brosnan) as the most fun character in the film. "He's intelligent, he's charming, he has a wicked, dry sense of humor-if the movie had actually been made in the 40's, Richard would be a terrific role for Cary Grant. And Pierce Brosnan brings lightness and a mischievous energy to Richard, while also showing you his vulnerability. Pierce makes Richard a cad you can love-bad behavior and all."
Richard is involved in what might be seen as the biggest betrayal in the film: trying to seduce and steal away Kay (Rachel McAdams), his best friend's dream romance. "I'm not going to try to defend what Richard does," says Sachs, "but this story is about how people pursue their desires, and each of these characters pursues them with great passion. That's not necessarily when people are the most kind to everyone around them. And to be honest, haven't we all done things for ourselves at some point, rather than for the people we love?"
Pierce Brosnan sees another motive for Richard's double-dealing, beyond his intoxication with Kay: "Harry and Pat are Richard's only true friends-they really know him. And if Harry goes off with Kay, and breaks up his marriage, Richard loses everything-he loses the girl, he loses his friends, he's the odd man out twice over."
The Girl in the Cloud Room Door
For the role of Kay, Sachs needed an actress who would leave no doubt about her ability to enchant Harry and Richard. "The whole drama turns on Kay," says Sachs. "She's the star in the middle of the universe between these two men. When Kay walks into the restaurant in the opening of the movie, we have no trouble believing that these two men fall in love with her in an instant. Obviously Rachel McAdams has the loveliness, but more importantly, she has a certain mystery about her as well, something unattainable, and that's what holds your interest. She's very touching and sympathetic, but at the same time, she holds things back. There's always something going on just under the surface"
Kay is a character who has suffered an incredible amount of loss-her father died when she was young, and she recently lost both her mother and her husband. "She's spent a lot of time with herself, and I think she's lost touch with reality a little bit," says McAdams. "I think she's drawn to Harry because they're both a little bit broken, and need mending-and they comfort each other. Kay sees Harry as someone who can give her a home, security and love," says Sachs, "And that means economic security, strength, consistency, and a kind of paternal comfort."
Rachel McAdams, though, homes in on another side of Kay: "When Richard comes along, Kay starts to feel the wind in her hair and the leather seats (what is this implying?) in his car. He brings her out of her shell. Things would have been good for her and Harry, but when she meets Richard, it suddenly seems the world could be not only safe, but big."
Sex and Sensibility
Harry's wife, Pat (Patricia Clarkson), is also someone who's trying to find her way in life. Patricia Clarkson-shares her insights: "Pat has lived a rather conventional life, but she isn't conventional herself. She thinks people have a self-deceiving attitude about love, and that it's really only about sex. So if she fulfills that, she's fulfilling her wifely duties. I do think she has a real relationship with Harry-it isn't some false marriage-but I don't think it was ever a deep, romantic love. And there's something to be said for a woman, particularly at that point in her life when she has to look down the barrel of growing old with her husband, wanting that as well." Yet for all Pat's pragmatic attitude towards love and sex, Pat and Harry find a companionable depth of feeling despite their tribulations.
"A lot of people, particularly women, identify with Pat more than any of the other characters in the movie," says Sachs. "She seems like someone you know. And Patty imbues her with an earthiness, and a wry, loving nature. Pat's full of life, passion and tenderness, and that gives her such poignancy-as she is the woman whom Harry is plotting to kill."
Let's Hear It For Marriage
"The most important thing for me was that the tone of Married Life not be a cynical one," says Sachs, "because I don't feel cynical at all about long-term relationships. I just feel that they're always a great, even noble, challenge. Everyone has some level of good, bad, and beauty in them."
"Marriage is a struggle, and it takes work," says Brosnan. "You may be challenged in life when you least expect it. And this film makes you ask yourself: `Can you do the honorable thing?'"
"Harry's put Pat and his relationship with her in a box," says Cooper. "He just settled and didn't really appreciate how much he had. It's a fatal flaw in a lot of relationships. Couples have to constantly work at keeping their relationships interesting and fresh. And I think Harry lost sight of that."
"This film sheds a lot of light on the complications of relationships," says McAdams. "You don't always feel what you're supposed to feel, and you're not always the person that other people think you are. You're not even always the person you think you are, until push comes to shove and your character is tested."
"What I hope the movie does is make people feel less alone," says Sachs. "When you're in bed and you're feeling slightly alienated from your wife or loved one, you can feel a certain kind of distance that is painful. And I hope that people will realize that they are just like the person in the next house, who's also coping with these kinds of questions."
"Harry starts off in the beginning of the movie knowing the least about the other characters," Sachs continues, "and by the end he knows the most. He's the one who knows all the secrets. He has come to wisdom, and through that wisdom has the ability to love."
ABOUT THE CAST
CHRIS COOPER (Harry Allen)
One of the most respected character actors of our time, Chris Cooper was recognized in 2003 with an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of John Laroche in Columbia Pictures Adaptation (2002), written by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich - 1999) and directed by Spike Jonze. The film, loosely based on Susan Orlean's novel, The Orchid Thief, featured Cooper as the eponymous orchid expert. Cooper was also recognized for his performance in the film by numerous critics' associations, including the Broadcast Film Critics, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and Toronto Film Critics Association.
2007 saw Cooper starring alongside Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, and Jason Bateman in the Universal film The Kingdom (2007), directed by Peter Berg, which tells the story of a team of
U.S. government agents who are sent to investigate the bombing of an American facility in the Middle East.
Most recently, Cooper starred in the Universal Pictures film Breach (2007), playing the title role of Robert Hanssen, a renowned operative for the FBI who was found guilty of spying for the Russians. Cooper received extraordinary praise from movie critics around the country for his deft performance. The film was directed by Billy Ray (Shattered Glass - 2003) and co-stars Ryan Phillipe.
In 2006, Cooper also had strong supporting roles in Sony Classics' Capote (2006), directed by Bennett Miller; Universal's Jarhead (2006), for director Sam Mendes; and Warner Bros.' Syriana (2005), for writer and director Stephen Gaghan.
In 2005, Cooper re-teamed with director and friend John Sayles in New Market Film's Silver City (2005), a political drama and murder mystery which chronicled the story of a small town in Colorado and the events leading up to a local election. The impressive cast included Maria Bello, Thora Birch, Richard Dreyfuss, Tim Roth, Daryl Hannah and Billy Zane. The film was screened at the Toronto Film Festival.
In 2003, Cooper starred in the Universal Pictures film Seabiscuit (2003), based on the best-selling novel. Cooper was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award for his portrayal of Seabiscuit's trainer, Tom Smith. Seabiscuit was directed by Gary Ross and also starred Tobey Maguire and Jeff Bridges. In the same year, Cooper was nominated for an Emmy Award for his supporting performance in the HBO film My House in Umbria starring Maggie Smith.
In 2002, Cooper was seen in The Bourne Identity (2002) for Universal Pictures, in the strong supporting role as the mastermind of the CIA's controversial clandestine operation, Treadstone. In 2004, he appeared in the flashback scenes in the second installment, The Bourne Supremacy (2004).
In 2000, Cooper portrayed Colonel Burwell opposite Mel Gibson in Sony Pictures The Patriot (2000), a Revolutionary War epic directed by Roland Emmerich. In the same year, Cooper appeared with Jim Carrey in the comedy Me, Myself and Irene (2000), for directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly.
In 1999, Cooper received a Screen Actor's Guild Award for his supporting performance alongside Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening in Dreamworks' Academy Award winning film, American Beauty (1999). In a stunning and dramatic display, Cooper portrayed a stern ex-Marine Colonel who persistently monitored his son's every move.
Also in 1999, Cooper starred as the father of an amateur rocket enthusiast in the acclaimed coming-of-age drama October Sky (1999), which was screened at the 1999 Venice and Deauville Film Festivals to great acclaim. He had previously earned a Best Actor nomination in 1997 from the Independent Spirit Awards for his work in John Sayles' Lone Star. Nearly a decade earlier, Cooper made his feature film debut in Sayles' Matewan (1987).
Among his other film credits are The Horse Whisperer (1998), Great Expectations (1998), A Time to Kill (1996), Money Train (1995), This Boy's Life (1993), Guilty by Suspicion (1991) and City of Hope (1991).
On the small screen, he has had roles in a number of long form projects, including the miniseries Lonesome Dove, and Return to Lonesome Dove. He most recently starred in HBO's Breast Men, and includes among his other credits Alone, One More Mountain, Ned Blessing, Bed of Lies, Darrow, In Broad Daylight, A Little Piece of Sunshine, Law and Order and Journey to Genius.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Cooper attended the University of Missouri School of Drama and started his professional career on the New York stage. His theater credits include "Of the Fields Lately" on Broadway, "The Ballad of Soapy Smith" and "A Different Moon."
Cooper resides in Massachusetts.
FILMOGRAPHY 2008 Married Life 2007 The Kingdom 2007 Breach 2005 Syriana 2005 Jarhead 2005 Capote 2004 The Bourne Supremacy 2004 Silver City 2003 Seabiscuit 2002 Adaptation. 2002 The Bourne Identity 2002 Interstate 60 2000 The Patriot 2000 Me, Myself & Irene 1999 American Beauty 1999 October Sky 1999 The 24 Hour Woman 1998 The Horse Whisperer 1998 Great Expectations 1997 Breast Men 1996 A Time to Kill 1996 Lone Star 1996 Boys 1995 Money Train 1995 Pharaoh's Army 1993 This Boy's Life 1991 City of Hope 1991 Thousand Pieces of Gold 1991 Guilty by Suspicion
PIERCE BROSNAN (Richard Langley)
Recognized internationally as one of the most dashing and skilled dramatic actors in Hollywood today, Golden Globe Award nominee Pierce Brosnan will next star opposite Meryl Streep in the film adaptation of the Broadway hit Mamma Mia! (2008).
Brosnan received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture for his role as Julian Noble in the critically acclaimed film The Matador (2005). Additionally, he received a nomination for this performance for Best Actor in a Lead Role from the Irish Film & Television Academy.
Most recently he starred opposite Liam Neeson in Seraphim Falls (2007). The film, about a colonel who hunts down an officer to settle a wartime grudge at the end of the Civil War, was shot entirely on location in New Mexico and Oregon.
In addition to his work in front of the camera, Brosnan has always had an interest in the art of filmmaking. Having achieved international stardom as an actor, Brosnan expanded the range of his film work by launching his own production company, Irish DreamTime in 1996, along with producing partner Beau St. Clair.
Apart from The Matador, Irish DreamTime has produced four other films to date: The Nephew (1998), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Evelyn (2002) and Laws of Attraction (2004). The company's first studio project, The Thomas Crown Affair, was a critical and box-office success and one of the best-reviewed and highest-grossing romantic thrillers in years. Evelyn, directed by Bruce Beresford, opened to critical acclaim at the Toronto and Chicago Film Festivals and also garnered rave reviews. Laws of Attraction (2004), a romantic comedy, which teamed Brosnan with Julianne Moore, focused on dueling divorce attorneys who fall in love.
Shooting recently wrapped on Irish DreamTime's sixth production, Butterfly on a Wheel (2008), in which Brosnan stars with Maria Bello and Gerard Butler. The psychological thriller, which shot on location in Vancouver and Chicago, centers on a happy couple with a seemingly perfect life whose daughter is abducted. Over the course of a day, the kidnapper dismantles the family's lives with brutal efficiency.
Perhaps best known worldwide as James Bond, Brosnan reinvigorated the popularity of the Bond legacy in box-office blockbusters such as Goldeneye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1999), The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002). Brosnan's first three Bond films earned over a billion dollars at the international box-office and Die Another Day alone garnered almost a half-billion dollars worldwide.
In addition to his four Bond films, three other Brosnan films-The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Dante's Peak (1997) and The Lawnmower Man (1992) combined have earned hundreds of millions of dollars internationally, cementing him as one of the world's most bankable stars.
Brosnan's other film credits include John Boorman's critically acclaimed film from the John LeCarre novel, The Tailor of Panama (2001), Bruce Beresford's Mr. Johnson (1990) and Sir Richard Attenborough's Grey Owl (1999). In addition to The Matador, Brosnan has also shown his comedic skills in such films as Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) and Mars Attacks (1996). He also had a supporting role alongside Barbra Streisand in The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996).
Some of his many accolades include the 2007 Goldene Kamera Award for his environmental work, a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2002 Chicago Film Festival, the International Star of the Year at the Cinema Expo in Amsterdam, an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the Dublin Institute of Technology, an Honorary Doctorate from the University College Cork and an Order of the British Empire bestowed by Her Majesty the Queen.
Brosnan was born in County Meath, Ireland and moved to London at age 11. He enrolled in drama school at age 20 and while in London, performed in several West End stage productions including Franco Zeffirelli's Fulimena and Tennessee Williams' The Red Devil Battery Sign at the York Theater Royal.
Brosnan relocated to Los Angeles in 1982 and immediately landed the role of private investigator Remington Steele on the popular ABC television series of the same name first marking his worldwide recognition.
FILMOGRAPHY 2008 Mamma Mia 2008 Married Life 2007 Butterfly on a Wheel 2006 Seraphim Falls 2005 The Matador 2004 After the Sunset 2004 Laws of Attraction 2002 Die Another Day 2002 Evelyn 2001 The Tailor of Panama 1999 The World Is Not Enough 1999 Grey Owl 1999 The Match 1999 The Thomas Crown Affair 1998 The Nephew 1998 Quest for Camelot 1997 Tomorrow Never Dies 1997 Robinson Crusoe 1997 Dante's Peak 1996 Mars Attacks! 1996 The Mirror Has Two Faces 1995 GoldenEye 1994 Love Affair 1993 Ms. Doubtfire 1993 Entangled 1992 Live Wire 1992 The Lawnmower Man 1990 Mister Johnson 1988 Taffin 1987 The Fourth 1986 Nomads
PATRICIA CLARKSON (Pat Allen)
The roles Patricia Clarkson plays are as varied as the platform in which she plays them. Her comfort in taking on roles from motion pictures, television and the theater has earned her great accolades and success, and she has become one of today's most respected actresses in the entertainment industry.
Clarkson most recently has been seen in Lars and the Real Girl (2007) opposite Ryan Gosling and Emily Mortimer. Lars, the story of a timid man (Gosling) whose life changes dramatically when an Internet (and inanimate) friend comes to visit, has garnered much critical acclaim and word-of-mouth popularity.
In early 2008, Clarkson will appear in Elegy (2008) opposite Sir Ben Kingsley and Dennis Hopper. Directed by Isabel Coixet, the film is based on the novel by Philip Roth about a cultural critic, played by Kingsley, whose life is thrown into disarray after an encounter with a student.
Clarkson recently wrapped production on several films, including Stanley Tucci's Blind Date (2008); Daniel Banz's directorial debut Phoebe in Wonderland (2008): and Woody Allen's Untitled Spanish Project (2008) in Barcelona opposite Scarlett Johanson, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.
Blind Date centers around a couple (Tucci and Clarkson) who have lost a child. They try to rebuild their relationship by pretending to be other people meeting on blind dates.
In Phoebe in Wonderland, she stars opposite Felicity Huffman, Bill Pullman and Elle Fanning. Clarkson plays the role of an unconventional drama teacher who tries to guide a rebellions little girl (Fanning).
In 2003, Clarkson's work in two independent films earned her unparalleled recognition. She was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe, SAG Award, Broadcast Film Critics Award and an independent Spirit Award for her role in Pieces of April (2003). In addition, the Sundance Film Festival awarded her the Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance in Pieces of April, The Station Agent (2003) and All the Real Girls (2003). Her performance in The Station Agent earned her a SAG Award nomination for Best Actress and Best Ensemble Cast. The National Board of Review and the National Society of Film Critics named her Best Supporting Actress of the Year for her work in Pieces of April and The Station Agent.
She also won best-supporting-actress awards from the New York Film Critics Circle and National Society of Film Critics for her performance in Todd Haynes' Far From Heaven (2002). That role also earned her a nomination from the Chicago Film Critics.
Her performance as Greta in Lisa Cholodenko's High Art (1998) earned her a nomination for an IFP Independent Spirit Award.
On television, Clarkson won an Emmy in 2006 and 2002 for her guest-starring role on HBO's acclaimed drama, Six Feet Under.
Clarkson made her professional acting debut on the New York stage. Her theatre credits include "Eastern Standard" (on and off-Broadway), "Maidens Prayer" (for which she received Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Award Nominations), "Raised in Captivity", "Oliver Oliver", "The House of Blue Leaves", and "Three Days of Rain". Her regional credits include performances at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, South Coast Repertory, and Yale Repertory."
Born and raised in New Orleans, Clarkson began acting in school plays in her early teens. After studying speech at Louisiana State University for two years, she transferred to Fordham University in New York, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in theatre arts. She earned her MFA at the prestigious Yale School of Drama, where she appeared in "Electra", "Pacific Overtures", "Pericles", "La Ronde", "The Lower Depths", and "The Misanthrope".
FILMOGRAPHY 2008 Married Life 2007 Lars and the Real Girl 2007 No Reservations 2006 All the King's Men 2006 The Woods 2005 Good Night, and Good Luck. 2005 The Dying Gaul 2004 Miracle 2003 Dogville 2003 The Station Agent 2003 Pieces of April 2003 All the Real Girls 2002 The Baroness and the Pig 2002 Heartbreak Hospital 2002 Far from Heaven 2002 Welcome to Collinwood 2001 The Safety of Objects 2001 Wendigo 2001 The Pledge 2000 Joe Gould's Secret 2000 Falling Like This 1999 The Green Mile 1999 Wayward Son 1999 Simply Irresistible 1998 Playing by Heart 1998 High Art 1995 Jumanji 1995 Pharaoh's Army 1990 Tune in Tomorrow... 1988 Everybody's All-American 1988 Rocket Gibraltar 1988 The Dead Pool 1987 The Untouchables
RACHEL MCADAMS (Kay Nesbitt)
One of the most sought after new actresses, McAdams has gained a solid reputation as an actor's actor.
McAdams was first recognized as the character Regina George in Mean Girls (2004). She followed Mean Girls with the film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' novel The Notebook (2004), alongside Ryan Gosling.
In 2005, she played Owen Wilson's love interest in Wedding Crashers (2005), and then starred in the suspense thriller Red Eye (2005) with Cillian Murphy. Her most recent role was in the comedy The Family Stone (2005), in which she starred in an ensemble cast alongside Diane Keaton, Craig T. Nelson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dermot Mulroney, Luke Wilson, Brian J. White and Claire Danes.
McAdams was born in London, Ontario. At the age of thirteen she took up acting at a summer theatre camp. She later graduated from York University with honors and a BFA in Theatre.
McAdams currently lives in Toronto, Canada.
FILMOGRAPHY 2008 State of Play 2008 The Time Traveler's Wife 2008 The Lucky Ones 2008 Married Life 2005 The Family Stone 2005 Red Eye 2005 Wedding Crashers 2004 The Notebook 2004 Mean Girls 2002 The Hot Chick 2002 Perfect Pie 2002 My Name Is Tanino
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
IRA SACHS (Writer/Director/Producer)
Married Life is the third feature from the writer and director Ira Sachs. His previous film, Forty Shades of Blue, winner of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize starred Rip Torn and Dina Korzun in a story about a fading record producer in Memphis, Tennessee, and his Russian bride. His first feature, The Delta (1996), was screened at the Toronto, Sundance and Rotterdam film festivals and distributed in the U.S. by Strand Releasing. Sachs was the recipient of the Emerging Talent Award at the 1997 Los Angeles Outfest, and was awarded a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship in 1999. He was also a 2001 Fellow at the MacDowell Artist Colony, and has made several shorts, including Lady (1994).
Sachs was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee and has been a resident of New York City since 1988.
FILMOGRAPHY 2007 Married Life 2005 Forty Shades of Blue 1996 The Delta 1994 Lady -- Short 1992 Vaudeville - Short
OREN MOVERMAN (Writer)
Oren is a New York based screenwriter who is currently writing Empire for Warner Brothers and Silver Pictures. He wrote The Big Blow for Ridley Scott and Scott Free Productions, and The Man Who Fell To Earth for Warner Independent and Cherry Road Films. He also wrote The Messenger, which he will also direct, with Alessandro Camon for producers Mark Gordon and Ben Goldhirsch.
Oren co-wrote Todd Haynes' Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There (2007), starring Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, Michelle Williams, Julianne Moore and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Oren wrote Touti In Harlem, a Senegalese/American musical film for Danny Glover's Louverture Films, with singer Angelique Kidjo to star and John Akomfah directing.
He penned Interrupted -- currently casting for a 2008 shoot-- about legendary director Nicholas Ray, for City Lights Pictures with Phillip Kaufman directing; Daddy Cool for director Ernest Dickerson and Content Films; and William Burroughs' Queer for actor/director Steve Buscemi.
Oren adapted the historical epic The Second Wife, from A Journey to the End of the Millennium by A.B. Yehoshua, for Anthony Bregman of Likely Story and Focus Features.
He served as screenwriter of Face (2002), a Beech Hill film starring Bai Ling, Treach and Kristy Wu. Directed by Bertha Bay-Sa Pan, Face premiered in competition at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and screened at the NYC 2002 GenArt film festival (Audience Award), Urbanworld Film Festival (Grand Jury Award), Cinevagas (Critics Award), and the San Francisco International Film Festival, among many others.
Oren was also co-screenwriter and associate producer of Jesus' Son (2000), directed by Alison Maclean, the film stars Billy Crudup, Samantha Morton, Jack Black, Holly Hunter & Dennis Hopper. Jesus' Son was screened in competition at the 1999 Venice Film Festival (Baby Lion Award and the Ecumenical Prize). The film also screened at the 1999 Telluride film festival, 2000 New Directors/New Films festival in New York and at the 1999 Toronto, London and Paris film festivals, among many others.
PETER DEMING (Director of Photography)
Peter's credits include Sam Raimi's Evil Dead II (1987), Hollywood Shuffle (1987), Hudlin Brotheres House Party (Sundance Film Festival, Best Cinematography Winner - 1990), My Cousin Vinny (1992), Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery (1997) and Mystery, Alaska (1999) The last two films with director Jay Roach and four films with director Wes Craven including the Scream (Scream - 1996, Scream 2 - 1997, Scream 3 - 2000) series and Music of the Heart (1999) with Meryl Streep.
Peter's collaborations with director David Lynch include the feature films Mulholland Drive (Independent Spirit Award Winner, Best Cinematography 2002) and Lost Highway (1997), the HBO series Hotel Room and numerous commercials. He was also cinematographer on the David Lynch produced series On the Air. Additional recent credits include the Hughes Brothers' Jack the Ripper saga From Hell (2001), the third Austin Powers installment, Goldmember (2002), People I Know (2002) with Al Pacino and Kim Basinger from Miramax Films, Philip Kaufman's Twisted (2004) with Ashley Judd for Paramount Pictures, David O Russell's film I Heart Huckabee's (2004) released by Sony Classics, the Warner Independent release The Jacket (2005) with Keira Knightley and Adrian Brody and Curtis Hanson's Lucky You (2007).
DICKON HINCHLIFFE (Original Music)
Dickon is a founder member of the English band Tindersticks. He began composing for film after being approached by the French film director Claire Denis to work on her feature film Nenette et Boni (1996). The collaboration continued with Denis' next film Trouble Every Day (2004), a thriller starring Beatrice Dalle and Vincent Gallo and then Vendredi Soir (2002). Dickon's work with Denis brought him to the attention of Ira Sachs who asked him to score his feature film Forty Shades of Blue (2005), which won the Grand Jury prize at the Sundance film festival 2005. Following this, he composed the soundtrack and a song for the British hit film Keeping Mum (2005), a black comedy starring Maggie Smith, Rowan Atkinson and Kristin Scott. He then returned to work with Sachs on his period drama Married Life, starring Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson and Rachel McAdams.
Since 1993, Tindersticks have released six critically acclaimed studio albums - the first of which was Melody Maker's Album of the Year - two live albums and two soundtrack albums on both Island Records and Beggars Banquet. They have toured consistently throughout the world on a regular basis and have an international fan base. Additionally they've sold out The Royal Albert Hall, been the resident band at Chelsea's Royal Court Theatre, played Central Park in New York, held a residency at New York's St Ann's Arts Centre and played dates in Russia, Australia and the Balkans.
HUGO LUCZYC-WYHOWSKI (Production Design)
Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski has worked on such acclaimed features as Guy Ritchie's Snatch (2000), Jonathan Demme's The Truth About Charlie (2002) and Guy Ferland's Dirty Dancing Havana Nights (2004). He was also production designer on Gary Oldman's directorial debut Nil By Mouth (1997).
Born in Scotland and raised in the south of England, Luczyc-Wyhowski obtained a degree in fine arts at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne. An accomplished painter, Luczyc-Wyhowski began his career art-directing rock music videos and TV commercials.
It was after working with Stephen Frears on a commercial that Luczyc-Wyhowski was offered the chance to design his first feature film, Frears' multi award winning My Beautiful Laundrette (1985). He went on to collaborate with Frears on such films as Prick Up Your Ears (1987), Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1997), Dirty Pretty Things (2002) and Mrs Henderson Presents (2005).
Additional feature credits include the Miramax Nicole Kidman feature Birthday Girl (2001), Cousin Bette with Jessica Lange, Columbia Tristar's Madeline (1998) and Stephen Gyllenhaal's Waterland (1992).
More recent projects include New Line's Martian Child (2007) and Marc Abraham's Flash Of Genius (2008)
MICHAEL "DIXIE" DENNISON (Costume Designer)
Costume designer Michael Dennison has outfitted the cast in numerous critically acclaimed films throughout his career. Michael has a long collaboration with fellow designer Ellen Mirojnick, and recently the two worked together on the latest Keifer Sutherland project Mirrors and last year's King of California with Michael Douglas and Evan Rachel Wood.
Michael recently finished designing Frank Miller's The Spirit. His other Costume Designing credits include Oliver Stone's World Trade Center, Mike Newell's Mona Lisa Smile, David Twohy's The Chronicles of Riddick(Co-Designed), Andrew Waller's Ice Princess, and Menno Meyjes's Martian Child.
Some of Michael's Costume Supervising credits include such hits as Almost Famous, American's Sweethearts, What Women Want, Snow Falling on Cedar, Face Off, Basic Instinct, Jacob's Ladder, Heartburn, Silkwood, Sophie's Choice, and Beaches.
SIDNEY KIMMEL (Producer)
Producer Sidney Kimmel is chairman and CEO of Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, the Los Angeles and New York-based production, finance and distribution company.
Active in the motion picture industry for more than 20 years, Kimmel is responsible for such pictures as Blame It On Rio (1984), 9½ Weeks (1986) and The Emperor's Club (2002). His passion as an independent producer eventually led to the founding of Sidney Kimmel Entertainment in October 2004. Producing up to ten features per year, the company works with esteemed filmmaking talent to create quality, commercial films.
Kimmel and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, in association with Universal Pictures, financed Academy Award nominee Paul Greengrass' critically acclaimed United 93 (2006), as well as executive producing Billy Ray's Breach (2007), starring Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe and Laura Linney. Universal also released Nick Cassavetes' Alpha Dog (2006), the controversial film starring Emile Hirsch, Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone and Justin Timberlake, which Kimmel produced and financed.
Kimmel is producing a diverse slate of films including Frank Oz' Death at a Funeral (2007) starring Matthew Macfadyen and Peter Dinklage; Kasi Lemmons' Talk to Me (2007) starring Don Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor; Jon Poll's Charlie Bartlett (2007) starring Anton Yelcin, Robert Downey Jr. and Hope Davis; Ira Sachs' Married Life (2008) starring Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson and Rachel McAdams; The Kite Runner (2007) directed by Marc Forster and Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut Synecdoche, New York starring Academy-Award winning actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
In addition to his success in filmed entertainment, Kimmel founded Jones Apparel Group in 1975, which has since grown into a $4.5 billion diversified fashion industry empire. Still active as the chairman of Jones' board of directors, he has also established the Sidney Kimmel Foundation and its subsidiary, the Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research, which is one of the nation's largest individual donors to cancer research. Kimmel is extremely involved in philanthropic endeavors benefiting his hometown of Philadelphia as well as Jewish education and continuity. He recently oversaw the opening of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, home of the world-renowned Philadelphia Orchestra. He is also a partner in Cipriani International, the acclaimed international restaurant and catering establishment, and is a part owner of The Miami Heat.
STEVE GOLIN (Producer)
Founder and CEO of Anonymous Content, a multimedia development, production and talent management company in Culver City, California, Steve Golin is an award-winning producer of over 40 films and TV projects distinguished by an original and often quirky sensibility. A driving creative force who takes a strong collaborative approach to projects, his latest is Babel, a suspense-filled contemporary drama starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Gael Garcia Bernal, which was released by Paramount Pictures and Paramount Vantage in 2006.
Golin also produced the feature directorial debut of screenwriter Jon Kasden, In the Land of Women, a co-production with Castle Rock and Warner Independent starring Meg Ryan and Adam Brody. Golin is currently sheperding two films through post-production: Smiley Face directed by Gregg Araki, which stars Anna Farris, John Krasinski and Adam Brody, and All God's Children Can Dance, based on the short story by Haruki Murakami, screenplay by client Scott Coffey, helmed by Anonymous commercial director Robert Logevall, and starring Sonja Kinski and Jason Lew. In addition to Married Life, currently in production is Case 39 starring Renee Zellweger under director Christain Alvart.
Golin has garnered critical acclaim from such films as Being John Malkovich starring John Malkovich, John Cusack and Cameron Diaz and Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet under director Michel Gondry.
Prior to Anonymous, Golin co-founded Propaganda Films in 1986 and served as co-chairman until leaving the company in 1999. During his tenure he produced such films as David Lynch's Wild at Heart, a Cannes Palme D'Or winner starring Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern; Madonna's provocative rockumentary Truth or Dare and David Fincher's The Game starring Michael Douglas and Sean Penn.
Steve Golin attended New York University, graduated from the American Film Institute with an MFA in producing, and is currently a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Producers Guild of America.
JAWAL NGA (Producer)
Jawal Nga founded Tiny Dancer Films, a New York-based production company dedicated to independent film and designed to reflect Nga's desire to follow in the tradition of directors Robert Altman, Terence Malick and Peter Bogdanvich, with carefully-structured, character-driven stories.
Nga served as Associate Producer on The Clearing starring Robert Redford and Helen Mirren and then later went on to producer Ira Sachs' previous film, Forty Shades of Blue. In 2005, Forty Shades of Blue won Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
Tiny Dancer is currently developing the script adaptations of Kevin Canty's novel Into the Great Wide Open with writer Coleman Hough, and Michael Ignatieff's Charlie Johnson in the Flames with writer Justin Haythe, screenwriter for The Clearing.
Nga grew up in Tripoli, Libya and London. He graduated New York University in 1996. Nga currently resides in New York City.
CREDITS
Harry Allen Chris Cooper
Miss Jones Annabel Kershaw
Richard Langley Pierce Brosnan
Pat Allen Patricia Clarkson
Kay Nesbitt Rachel McAdams
Mrs. Walsh Sheila Paterson
Tom David Richmond-Peck
Becky Erin Boyes
Little Charlie Elijah St. Germain
Dr. Anderson Terence Kelly
Alvin Walters Timothy Webber
Photo Store Clerk Rebecca Codling
John O'Brien David Wenham
Ticket Taker Dolores Drake
Well-tailored Man Malcolm Boddington
Operator Carrie Anne Fleming
Policemen Sean Tyson
Ty Olsson
Charades Players Mike Cook
Kathleen Duborg
Dale Floyd
Fred Keating
Suzanne Ristic
Alex Stevens
O'Brien's Girlfriend Anna Williams
CREW
Based on the book
Five Roundabouts to Heaven by John Bingham
Directed by Ira Sachs
Unit Production Managers David Nicksay
Simon Abbott
First Assistant Director Carl Mason
Second Assistant Director Josy Capkun
Casting by Avy Kaufman
Music Supervisor Susan Jacobs
Music by Dickon Hinchliffe
Costume Designer Michael Dennison
Editor Affonso Goncalves
Production Designer Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski
Director of Photography Peter Deming, ASC

Executive Producers William Horberg David Nicksay
Executive Producers Geoff Stier Adam Shulman Matt Littin Alix Madigan-Yorkin Bruce Toll
Produced by Sidney Kimmel Jawal Nga Steve Golin Ira Sachs
Screenplay by Ira Sachs
Oren Moverman Stunt Coordinator Melissa R. Stubbs Stunts David Jacox
Scott Ateah Carolyn Field Ken Kirzinger Gerald Paetz Paul Rutledge Brent Woolsey
Art Director Gwendolyn Margetson Set Decorator Carol Lavallee Set Supervisors Gillian Kieft
Luisa Dalmagro
Costumers Patti Bishop Kevin Harrison Diane Nosella
Sound Design by Damian Volpe Sound Mixer Lindsay Bucknell Key Make Up Artist "Harry" & "Pat" Monica Huppert Key Make Up Artist "Richard" Jayne Dancose Music Editor Suzana Peric Assistant Editors Ron Dulin
Cheryl Buckman Sound Effects Editor Glenfield Payne Assistant Sound Editor Katherine Miller Executive Producer Kyle Cooper Visual Effects Supervisor Gray Marshall Supervising VFX Producer Margaux Mackay Stills Photographer Joseph Lederer I CAN'T GIVE YOU ANYTHING BUT LOVE Performed by DORIS DAY Written by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh
Courtesy of Soundies, Inc. by arrangement with DePugh Music
TRULY YOURS
Performed by PAUL CANTELON
Written by Paul Cantelon
Courtesy of Paul Cantelon
DUET, ACT 2, BARCAROLLE (VOCAL) Performed by OGM CLASSICAL STRINGS Written by Jacques Offenbach Courtesy of OGM Production Music / Ole Georg Music
BLACK TRAIN BLUES Performed by JAY MCSHANN Written by Jay McShann and E.C. Robinson Courtesy of Tuff City Records by arrangement with Ocean Park Music Group
GOT A RIGHT TO CRY Performed by JOE LIGGINS AND HIS HONEYDRIPPERS Written by Joe Liggins Courtesy of Tuff City Records by arrangement with Ocean Park Music Group
TANYA Performed by JOE LIGGINS AND HIS HONEYDRIPPERS Written by Joe Liggins Courtesy of Tuff City Records by arrangement with Ocean Park Music Group
GERONIMO Performed by JAY MCSHANN Written by Jay McShann Courtesy of Tuff City Records by arrangement with Ocean Park Music Group
THINKING ABOUT MY BABY Performed by JAY MCSHANN Written by Jay McShann Courtesy of Tuff City Records by arrangement with Ocean Park Music Group
ALL NITE LONG Performed by JOHNNY OTIS ORCHESTRA Written by Johnny Otis Courtesy of Savoy Jazz
NOBODY KNOWS THE TROUBLE I'VE SEEN Performed by KAY STARR Courtesy of Soundies, Inc. by arrangement with DePugh Music SAY YOU'RE MINE Performed by PAUL CANTELON Written by Paul Cantelon Courtesy of Paul Cantelon
ANY TIME AT ALL Performed by AL LERNER with DICK HAYMES Written by Al Lerner
Courtesy of pigFactory
YOU TURNED YOUR BACK ON ME Performed by JAY MCSHANN Written by Jay McShann Courtesy of Tuff City Records by arrangement with Ocean Park Music Group
DUBIOUS CHARACTER Performed by JIM BLAKE Written by Jim Blake Courtesy of Extreme Music