Rebel in the Rye

Presents REBEL IN THE RYE A film by Danny Strong (106 min., USA, 2017) Language: English Distribution Publicity Bonne Smith Star PR 1352 Dundas St. West Tel: 416-488-4436 Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M6J 1Y2 Twitter: @starpr2 Tel: 416-516-9775 Fax: 416-516-0651 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] www.mongrelmedia.com @MongrelMedia MongrelMedia SYNOPSIS The world of legendary writer J. D. Salinger is brought vividly to life in this revealing look at the experiences that shaped one of the most renowned, controversial, and enigmatic authors of our time. Set amidst the colorful backdrop of mid-20th century New York City, Rebel in the Rye follows a young Salinger (Nicholas Hoult) as he struggles to find his voice, pursues a love affair with famed socialite Oona O'Neill (Zoey Deutch), and fights on the frontlines of World War II. It’s these experiences that will inform the creation of his masterpiece, The Catcher in the Rye, bringing him overnight fame (and notoriety) and leading him to withdraw from the public eye for the rest of his life. Costarring Kevin Spacey and Sarah Paulson, Rebel in the Rye offers a tantalizing window into the life and times of a little-understood genius who broke the rules and redefined American literature. DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT Strong’s first experience with Salinger was at age 14, when he read “The Catcher in the Rye. “It was the first time I had read anything that reflected how I felt,” he recalls, “the voice of the character felt so real and truthful to me in a way other books didn’t feel. And it was also the funniest book I had read at that time. It still might be.” The story and its author stayed with him through the years, and he eventually bought the rights to Kenneth Slawenski’s book “J.D. Salinger: A Life,” a biography of the famously elusive author turned American icon. “I related to many of Salinger’s experiences as a writer: trying to find an idea, using your own life for inspiration, dealing with rejection, getting notes, and how writing effects your personal life” Strong says, referring to the process of adapting the book into a screenplay. “There are many universal experiences for many writers in telling his story. At the same time, the events of his life were extremely dramatic and unique.” Strong teamed up with Jason Shuman to produce the film, who had been made aware of the project while the screenplay was still being written. “I was boiling over with excitement to read it and see how we could get the movie made,” says Shuman, and together they sought out powerhouse producers Bruce Cohen (AMERICAN BEAUTY, MILK, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK) and Black Label Media, comprised of Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill, and Thad Luckinbill. Black Label Media (SICARIO, DEMOLITION, LA LA LAND) immediately got to work to secure financing and diving head-first into the casting process. CASTING FOR THE FILM Known for being as reclusive as he was enigmatic, REBEL IN THE RYE introduces Salinger as an anxious yet very charming twenty-year-old. He is struggling to find his place in New York City’s literary scene, but nevertheless is full of life, outgoing, and completely unafraid. As Salinger’s character comes of age, he is thrust into the horrors of World War II, an event that would have a lasting impact on his writing career and overall quality of life. In adapting Slawenski’s biography to a screenplay, Strong came to understand how the events in Salinger’s life (both bad and good) impacted his creative process and shaped his body of work. “I was looking for someone that could exude brilliance, and Nicholas Hoult was the young genius that I was looking for to bring this character alive” says Strong, who wanted to show audiences the rebellious, angry side of Salinger and how that contributed to his work. The producers agreed that Nicholas Hoult was the right choice, after reviewing his past works and testing a few other actors. “In his short career, Nick has already shown such tremendous range,” says Shuman. “He really embodies the spirit of J.D. Salinger – he’s charming, he’s sarcastic, he’s brilliant. Nick was far and above the best choice and the clear choice,” Thad Luckinbill adds. “He’s so passionate and committed to this role.” There are a few rare photos of Salinger and several biographies, but there is no video footage or recordings. While challenging, the lack of known information about Salinger also provided Hoult with the freedom to create his own vision of the character based on the biographies he read and the screenplay itself. Though Hoult was a fan of Salinger’s work prior to joining the project, preparing to play his character proved to be a daunting task. “To bring someone to life who’s a real person with so much intensity and passion and who’s wonderful at what they do, it’s exciting, but also very scary,” Hoult says. “He’s uncompromising in his style, what he wants to do, and how truthful he wants his writing to be,” Hoult says of the icon he portrays. “He is unrelenting and unforgiving with people who either don’t agree with him or don’t want to help him.” After being kicked out of a few schools and doubting his place as a writer, Salinger enrolls at Columbia and meets Whit Burnett, a professor who immediately understands him and helps refocus his energy towards something productive. Strong describes Whit Burnett’s character and the decision to cast Kevin Spacey for this: “The story between Whit and Jerry Salinger is so fascinating – the interest he took and the tough love he gave him – when you wrap all that up, there is really no better actor to portray it than Kevin Spacey,” he says. “He can play tough, but he can also do it with such sincerity and genuine passion.” While Whit is in many ways a larger than life character, he also knows what he hasn’t accomplished. “Spacey has the range of bringing this bravado to the role while also being able to go in reverse and become very small, having regrets about his life and how it came out,” Shuman says. “It’s wonderful to see Kevin play that kind of range in a supporting role.” Whit is responsible for helping shape J.D.’s voice and starting his writing career, but Dorothy Olding, his agent, kept pushing Salinger’s career forward. Like Salinger, Olding is in many ways ahead of her time: she is running a company in a nineteen forties male-dominated publishing world. It was decided almost unanimously that dynamo actress Sarah Paulson was perfect for the intensity of this role. “We got lucky we got Sarah,” Strong says. “She brings that tough grit, and she doesn’t take anything from anyone.” Shuman adds his praise by noting, “She’s so perfect – her look, her mannerisms, how she plays off people like Nick and Kevin to bring that character to life was just genius.” While Salinger becomes romantically involved with several different women over the course of the film, the relationship that he is most effected by in the movie is with his first love, Oona O’Neill (Zoey Deutch). “It was more serious than he expected, a very tumultuous relationship where she broke his heart,” Hoult says. O’Neill, the beautiful young daughter of the famous playwright Eugene O’Neill, was in fact seeing several people at the time that Salinger meets and falls in love with her. Salinger expects to come home to her after the war, but instead finds out that she has married famed actor Charlie Chaplin while he’s away. Though he gets into other relationships afterward, he remains deeply affected by Oona’s betrayal and incorporates this heartbreak into his work. Thad Luckinbill describes the decision to cast Zoey for the role by saying, “Zoey is fantastic and such a great young actress. I was fortunate to be in one of the casting sessions and I got to watch her read and play with the role, which was phenomenal. She just brings that old-world New York that we haven’t seen in a while, and for such a young person to be able to do that is amazing.” Another tumultuous relationship that provides insight into Salinger’s work is that with his father, Sol, played by Victor Garber. Sol is hard on Salinger and has trouble understanding his decision to become a writer. Their relationship is complicated and nuanced, and Garber is able to artfully master the character and his relationship with his son. “Victor did a fantastic job of balancing the character out. Sol makes Salinger very unhappy in ways, but Victor managed to keep the character from becoming the bad, evil father and instead showed that he was still caring and kind,” Hoult says. “There is a very complex but interesting evolution of their relationship that I find one of the most intriguing of the whole movie,” added Strong. “Garber really brings an authoritative figure right away. His presence is felt even if he isn’t saying anything - he commands the screen.” Though Salinger struggles to see eye to eye with his father, he and his mother Miriam (Hope Davis), share an extremely close relationship. “The Miriam character is really a lot of the heart of the movie because it’s that mother son relationship that is the one consistent thing throughout Jerry’s whole life,” notes Strong.” She was completely behind him as a writer, even through the war, and she stood by his side.

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