LAY THE FAVOURITE

EEN FILM VAN

STEPHEN FREARS

WILD BUNCH WILLEMSSTRAAT 24 B – 1015 JD – AMSTERDAM WWW.WILDBUNCH.NL [email protected] WILDBUNCHblx LAY THE FAVOURITE –

PROJECT SUMMARY

EEN PRODUCTIE VAN RUBY FILMS, EMMETT/FURLA FILMS & WILD BUNCH IN SAMENWERKING MET JACKSON INVESTMENT GROUP, LIPSYNC & RANDOM HOUSE FILMS TAAL ENGELS LENGTE 94 MINUTEN GENRE DRAMA LAND VAN HERKOMST USA REGISSEUR STEPHEN FREARS HOOFDROLLEN BRUCE WILLIS, REBECCA HALL, CATHERINE ZETA-JONES VINCE VAUGHN & JOSHUA JACKSON GEBASEERD OP HET BOEK: ‘LAY THE FAVOURITE: A MEMOIR OF GAMBLING’ VAN BETH RAYMER DVD RELEASEDATUM 18 JUNI 2013

KIJKWIJZER

SYNOPSIS Vrolijke dromer Beth besluit aan een nieuwe carrière te beginnen en vertrekt naar Las Vegas om serveerster te worden. Eenmaal daar wordt ze al snel opgemerkt door Dink, een van de meest succesvolle gokkers van de stad. Als hij haar een baan aanbiedt, blijkt Beth een natuurtalent te zijn en een aanwinst voor zijn team. Het snelle leven in de gokwereld bevalt haar goed en dat ze ondertussen voor Dink gevallen is lijkt het alleen maar beter te maken, totdat zijn vrouw -de prachtige maar jaloerse Tulip- ten tonele verschijnt.

CAST DINK BRUCE WILLIS BETH REBECCA HALL TULIP CATHERINE ZETA-JONES JEREMY JOSHUA JACKSON ROSIE VINCE VAUGHN DARREN JOEL MURRAY HOLLY LAUREN PREPON FRANKIE FRANK GRILLO DAVE GREENBERG JOHN CARROLL LYNCH MARCIA GREENBERG ANDREA FRANKLE

CREW DIRECTOR STEPHEN FREARS SCREENWRITER D.V. DEVINCENTIS PRODUCERS ANTHONY BREGMAN RANDALL EMMETT EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS AGNÈS MENTRE JAMES W. SKOTCHDOPOLE RICHARD JACKSON CURTIS JACKSON D.O.P. MICHAEL MCDONOUGH EDITOR COSTUME DESIGNER CHRISTOPHER PETERSON MUSIC JAMES SEYMOUR BRETT CASTING VICTORIA THOMAS LAY THE FAVOURITE – STEPHEN FREARS

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

Luck, as anyone who has ever dropped a coin into a slot machine knows, can be a tricky dance partner. But then there are people like Beth Raymer, who, against the odds, seem to be able to make their own luck when they need it most. Only a few years ago, Raymer was a private dancer whose greatest ambition was becoming a cocktail waitress; now she is a best-selling author with a masters degree from Columbia and the subject of the film “Lay the favourite,” based on her memoir Lay the favourite: A Memoir of Gambling.

Directed by Oscar- nominated veteran Stephen Frears (“”, “The Queen,” “Dirty Pretty Things,” “The Grifters”), Lay the favourite” casts Rebecca Hall (“Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” “Please Give”) as Beth Raymer, and features a star-studded cast including Bruce Willis, Vince Vaughn, Catherine Zeta Jones, Laura Prepon, Joshua Jackson and Corbin Bernsen.

Screenwriter D.V. DeVincentis (who co-wrote “High Fidelity” directed by Frears, and “Grosse Point Blank”) was immediately intrigued by both the subject and the main character. “I’ve never met anyone like her,” he says of the real-life Beth Raymer. “She’s one of the most confident people I’ve ever met. It’s very innate. She had to have been born the way she is. And she’s just completely sweet and has a really intriguing outlook on the world. She can always find really interesting things to think about and to laugh about.” Curiously, DeVincentis was initially only given Raymer’s book proposal. “D.V. was actually writing the script simultaneously with Beth writing her memoir,” explains producer Anthony Bregman. “He would call her up and ask her, ‘Well, what happened in this situation?’ I’m not sure who came out ahead in the game, but they both ended up finishing about the same time.”

For DeVincentis, the challenge was focusing Raymer’s memoir (which includes more incidents from her unusual life than could be featured in the film) and capturing her unique writer’s voice and personality. “I just stole as much of her as I possibly could,” he admits, “because it’s so good. The way Beth makes decisions, the way she looks at the world and her moral compass.”

Creating the movie version of Beth, for the writer, meant fashioning someone who is an “extremely intelligent, inventive, passionate person with no direction, and seemingly not a lot of self-control. She’s kind of a wonderfully positive mess who is a bad-decision-making machine,” says DeVincentis of Beth in the early part of the story. “But she’s someone who has a sense that there is a better way to live. Because she is a force of nature, she has to overreach – sometimes to her detriment – but it draws her out into the world, and eventually it allows her to meet Dink.”

Meeting Dink – a successful but neurotic professional gambler who has started to let his unusual career affect his marriage – sets of an unusual (by Hollywood standards) relationship that is flirtatious and romantic, though ultimately unrequited, which evolves into a deep friendship and mutual respect from two very unlikely people. “The idea that these two people found each other is so extraordinary because they make no sense at all together,” says DeVincentis.

It was that relationship and Raymer’s unusual rags-to-riches story that drew the interest of Stephen Frears. DeVincentis had mentioned the project to Frears very casually, but the director seemed to have Beth Raymer-like instincts for a winning bet. As the script moved towards production, DeVincentis was grateful to have Frears’ sure hand at the helm. “I just do what he tells me to do,” remarks the writer. “He’s so extraordinary and intuitive….he loves actors and trusts them to do what they do. He is the same way about writers, which is so inspiring because you feel valued and like what you do is important. He’s unlike anyone else I’ve ever met or worked with, and the writing never stops.” Frears echoes that thought, and explains that his method of collaboration continues even when the cameras start rolling. “I know that other directors are terrified of writers being on the LAY THE FAVOURITE – STEPHEN FREARS set,” he says, “but to me it’s the most natural thing in the world. All you are doing is making a film, nothing more mysterious than that. You need another craftsman to do some of the work, and we’re constantly fiddling around with the script, so to me it was an absolutely natural choice to have D.V. involved all the way through.”

Finding someone to play the part of Beth Raymer proved to be one of Frears’ most daunting challenges – he says that he put off casting the part for over a year, desperate to find the perfect actress, and naturally assuming that the role would go to a young American woman. “I wanted an American because, like a child, I thought ‘if it says American, I better get an American.’ But Rebecca Hall’s agent, a long time ago, suggested her. I finally met her and her agent nagged me for an audition, and with a great deal of grumpiness on my part, I agreed. She was dazzling, so what an idiot I am. I remember when I cast Anjelica Huston for ‘The Grifters’ I spent a year refusing to cast her and she was wonderful, too, so I have a good record of stupidity!”

“I knew the moment that I read the script that it was going to be really special, a great experience to work on,” remembers Rebecca Hall. “I also knew that it was highly unlikely anyone would think of me for this role. Stephen pretty much laughed in my face when I said I wanted to do it, and his words at first were, literally, ‘I will never cast you.’ Which just turned me into a dog with a bone. He eventually let me audition, so from the beginning, my problem was knowing I desperately wanted to do this role, now how do I convince everyone else?”

The role of Dink does not immediately suggest one of Hollywood’s better known action hero stars – Dink, after all, chugs Pepto Bismol to calm his nervous stomach and has put aside the chaos and danger of his early criminal life as a bookie in New York for a relatively safe (and completely legal) existence as a Las Vegas gambler. He’s also married to a beautiful but controlling wife and operates more on impulse than cold calculation. But everyone involved with the production enthuses about the choice of Bruce Willis to play the part.

LAY THE FAVOURITE – STEPHEN FREARS

Veteran producer Randall Emmett, who has worked with Willis before, is stunned at the actor’s work in “Lay the favourite.” “I’ve done movies more in the genre people have seen him in – action hero, leading man – and then when I came onto the set the first day I was completely in shock. He’s this smaller man, this very emotional man. I grew up with Bruce Willis watching him in ‘Die Hard,’ and here he is in tube socks and khaki shorts. He really took this character and became this guy, it’s just something I’ve never seen before.” “The truth is he is a great romantic actor,” says Stephen Frears. “A very graceful man, and he’s been very generous. When he performs, it is done with such realism and such depth and conviction. It’s been an absolute treat to work with him.”

“Bruce did a great job of bringing his ‘Bruce-ness’ to it,” adds Anthony Bregman. “That’s much tougher to bring that stoic character into this place where he has to show all kinds of nervousness and vulnerability, part of the real Dink. It’s a great transformation, and I think it will be a real surprise to a lot of people to see Bruce in this role.”

DeVincentis’ script is also filled with vibrant characters, making the film something of an ensemble piece, and their depth and complexity required the casting of a number of performers who are well- known as leads in supporting roles. Dink’s wife Tulip, a well-kept, stunning woman who grows increasingly jealous of her husband’s young new employee, was portrayed by the formidable Catherine Zeta-Jones. For his part, DeVincentis admits that for dramatic purposes, it was necessary to make Tulip a bit more strong-willed and strident than her real-life counterpart. “The character in the film is much more territorial, not quite as likeable as the real Tulip,” he explains. “But because you have Catherine playing the part, who is so charming, you know you have all of this possibility. You can send this character to a less likeable place, because you know that she is going to remain likeable because of what Catherine does with the part, because she is so funny.” Reuniting with Frears a dozen years after working with him in a supporting role in “High Fidelity” was a welcome assignment for Zeta-Jones, who was instantly intrigued by her character. “I think the name itself kind of sums up the character for me,” she explains. “Tulip – my initial reaction is that she was full of life, there was color in her hair and her clothes and she was bright wherever she went. But obviously there are moments when she’s not so bright. She’s extremely in love with her husband, but she’s very strong- willed and a little combative. I’ve had a ball playing a character with so many layers. She’s seen the ups and downs of her husband’s career; it’s a precarious world, but it’s the only one she knows.” Stephen Frears cites Zeta-Jones’ talent and classic looks as essential to the character of Tulip: “She’s great, very powerful and witty and clever and gorgeous. She’s like a real old-fashioned movie star, like Rita Hayworth, with real class. I think that’s what I needed – that class and poise.”

The part of Rosie – a blustery New York bookie whose ambitions derail Beth’s path after she is forced to leave Vegas and Dink behind – is an original creation of DeVincentis and not based on a real-life character. Having a second “mentor” who wasn’t everything that Dink was became important for fleshing out Beth’s transition from ambitious newcomer to wizened veteran. “I wanted to think, what’s not Dink?” explains DeVincentis. “I thought of a younger, faster, less moral, less cautious, and less controlled person – but not a bad person. Rosie isn’t a bad guy at all, he doesn’t really hurt anybody, but he doesn’t really care about anyone but himself. If you make the grave error of connecting your fate to his, as Beth does, you’re going to wind up in a lot of trouble.” He compares Rosie to the character of Max Bialystock from “The Producers,” an “operatically wild spirit” who is both loveable and dangerous. In that sense, the part is ideal for actor Vince Vaughn, a last-minute addition to the cast and film veteran who has made a career of playing blustery but charming characters who have a penchant for bluffing their way through any situation – in a way, a grown-up and more successful version of the character from “Swingers” that made Vaughn famous fifteen years ago. “Audiences are used to seeing Vince in these big broad comedies, and he has a very loyal audience. But I think they’re going to see a different side and depth to his work that we saw earlier in LAY THE FAVOURITE – STEPHEN FREARS his career, he’s coming back to that with this film. I think Stephen brings that out of the actors, the desire to push themselves even farther away from what others might expect.” Another part crafted by DeVincentis is that of Holly, who initially befriends Beth when she moves to Vegas and introduces her to Dink. “Holly basically introduces Beth to this world of gambling,” says actress Laura Prepon, known for her long stint as the lead in the television series “That 70s Show.” Clad in cowboy boots and aviator sunglasses, Holly reflects confidence, but also a jaded sense about the world that she at times tries to warn Beth about. Prepon, who is herself a dedicated poker player who makes frequent trips to Vegas, was excited to show the other side of America’s gambling capitol. “I didn’t actually get to gamble when we were shooting in Vegas,” she says with playful disappointment, citing her work schedule. “But this film isn’t about the glitz and glamour. It’s the real side of Vegas that nobody every shows, and you get a real feel for the type of people who live their lives mostly away from the strip and the touristy stuff like that.” The final piece of the puzzle in terms of the main characters is Jeremy – “the normal one,” according to actor Joshua Jackson (“Dawson’s Creek”). “He just happens to be there at a bad moment in Beth’s life,” Jackson explains, “and they sort of take advantage of each other, the way people might do in Vegas.” Initially intended to be a fling, Jeremy becomes a much more dominant presence in Beth’s life after she leaves Vegas for New York. “Jeremy is an alternate possibility for Beth,” says Jackson. “She doesn’t have to live this crazy up and down life on the fringes of society, there can be a more stable option with a guy who actually likes her and appreciates her if she’s only willing to be straight up with him as well. But in the beginning, I think he’s just the man of the hour for her.” Indeed, as the story progresses, Jeremy’s generosity at helping Beth with her new job ends up getting him into some serious potential trouble, and it is partially her newfound affection for Jeremy that motivates Beth to take the final steps that are required to save them all from the long arm of the law.

To a person, the actors enthuse about the freedom given to them by Stephen Frears. “I have such faith in him as a filmmaker, and I believe in his vision for the story,” explains Jackson. “He has the ability to just say, ‘Okay, whatever you want, let’s try and do that’ – that faith and freedom is incredibly liberating.” “Stephen just says ‘go for it,’” echoes Laura Prepon. “It’s so interesting to have a director who says, ‘don’t ask me how to do it, you’re the actor.’ It’s cool.”

LAY THE FAVOURITE – STEPHEN FREARS

“I’ve always been a big fan of Stephen Frears and he has never made a bad movie,” says actor Frank Grillo, who offers comic relief as Frankie, one of Dink’s loyal employees. “He trusts the people he hires implicitly, which means he trusts himself in picking those people. When you come to the set with your idea, he embraces it. He makes little changes, of course, but he fully expects the actors to come ready to rock, which I love.”

Despite her initial difficulty in getting Frears to cast her, Rebecca Hall likewise has nothing but praise for her director. “I adore him. He has such an understanding of how actors work, such incredible intuition on how a scene will play. He’s also got one of the most immaculate eyes of anyone I’ve ever come across. He will stop filming and begin another take because the tiniest thing is out of place: he’s so meticulous and that makes you feel so safe as an actor, because you know he’s got your back in every possible sense.”

Fostering that kind of trust in his ensemble was crucial for Frears, who likens the production to an old-fashioned studio system film, where veteran contract players often worked together playing similar roles in film after film – the kind of ensemble work that made the films of Frank Capra, Preston Sturges, and Billy Wilder such classics. “The studios used to have companies of actors, and I like all that,” he explains. “When I was a child, I would see these American films, and those repertory studio companies were like a family, and this cast is like that.” Film fans might also find something charmingly nostalgic about the pace and contents of the film’s dialogue. “It’s proper dialogue,” states Frears plainly, “and I’m not sure films today honor dialogue, but this is really good stuff. I make the actors talk very fast, I’m a great admirer of those films where people spoke quickly. It covers a lot of ground very fast, and audiences are very quick.”

While the film itself covers a lot of ground – moving from Florida to Vegas to New York and even briefly to the exotic island of Curacao – shooting on location on an independent budget would have been impossible. It was producer Randall Emmett who made the suggestion to shoot most of the film’s interiors in a cost-effective location – and that location turned out to be New Orleans. “Economically, we were able to get a lot more out of our money by shooting in Louisiana,” says Emmett. “I called up Anthony and said, ‘If we want to give Stephen the most amount of shooting days and the most for his value, we need to do this.’ Everyone was shocked at first, but once we went through the exercise of planning the production, everyone understood the value.” “We shot our first week in Vegas, to get some of the exteriors,” explains Anthony Bregman. “But there are more films shooting in New Orleans than Hollywood right now, because they have very favorable production conditions.” It’s been hot, but nothing has gone wrong,” says Stephen Frears about working in the Big Easy. “We haven’t had any problems finding locations or anything like that, so we can shoot bits that take place in all of the film’s needed locations.” The off-set atmosphere also can’t be beat: “You can’t eat any better than in New Orleans – or worse, depending on how you look at it,” jokes D.V. DeVincentis. “We’ve been very blessed with the crew and the city and everything. We sort of parachuted in during the middle of Mardi Gras, which was interesting, to say the least, but working here is fantastic.”

“To me, this is the most feel-good movie I’ve ever written,” concludes DeVincentis. “It’s about this person who has all these talents and amazing qualities but has been given no diea how to focus them and make the most of her life – and she happens to find someone to guide her and help her in the most unlikely place in the world. And it’s a true story – Beth Raymer is out there having an incredible life now, and it wouldn’t have happened if she didn’t work really hard and meet Dink. We’re preposterously lucky to have all these people show up to help us tell this story. I can’t believe how lucky I am.” Lucky, perhaps, but also the residue of faith, hard work, trust – the same qualities that helped Beth Raymer create her own luck in the first place.

LAY THE FAVOURITE – STEPHEN FREARS

SELECTIVE FILMOGRAPHY STEPHEN FREARS 2012 LAY THE FAVOURITE 2010 TAMARA DREWE 2009 CHÉRI 2006 THE QUEEN 2005 2002 DIRTY PRETTY THINGS 2000 LIAM 2000 HIGH FIDELITY 1998 THE HI-LO COUNTRY 1996 THE DRIFTERS 1996 THE VAN 1996 MARY REILLY 1992 HERO 1990 THE GRIFTERS 1988 DANGEROUS LIAISONS 1988 MR. JOLLY LIVES NEXT DOOR 1987 1987 1985 1984 THE HIT 1981 GOING GENTLY 1976 PLAY THINGS

LAY THE FAVOURITE – STEPHEN FREARS

SELECTIVE FILMOGRPAPHY BRUCE WILLIS 2012 THE EXPENDABLES 2 2012 MOONRISE KINGDOM 2012 THE COLD LIGHT OF DAY 2011 CATCH.44 2011 SETUP 2010 RED 2012 THE EXPENDABLES 2009 SURROGATES 2007 PLANET TERROR 2007 NANCY DREW 2007 LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD 2007 PERFECT STRANGER 2006 16 BLOCKS 2006 LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN 2006 ALPHA DOG 2005 SIN CITY 2005 HOSTAGE 2004 OCEAN’S TWELVE 2004 THE WHOLE TEN YARDS 2003 CHARLIE’S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE 2003 TEARS OF THE SUN 2001 BANDITS 2000 UNBREAKABLE 1999 THE SIXTH SENSE 1998 ARMAGEDDON 1998 MERCURY RISING 1995 TWELVE MONKEYS 1995 DIE HARD: WITH A VENGEANCE 1994 PULP FICTION 1993 LOADED WEAPON 1 1991 THE LAST BOY SCOUT 1990 THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES 1990 DIE HARD 2 1988 DIE HARD

SELECTIVE FILMOGRAPHY REBECCA HALL 2011 THE AWAKENING 2011 A BAG OF HAMMERS 2010 EVERYTHING MUST GO 2012 THE TOWN 2010 PLEASE GIVE 2009 DORIAN GRAY 2009 RED RIDING: IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1974 2008 FROST / NIXON 2008 VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA

LAY THE FAVOURITE – STEPHEN FREARS

SELECTIVE FILMOGRAPHY CATHERINE ZETA-JONES 2012 ROCK OF AGES 2009 THE REBOUND 2007 NO RESERVATIONS 2005 THE LEGEND OF ZORRO 2004 OCEAN’S TWELVE 2004 THE TERMINAL 2003 INTOLERABLE CRUELTY 2002 CHICAGO 2001 AMERICA’S SWEETHEARTS 2000 TRAFFIC 2000 HIGH FIDELITY 1999 THE HAUNTING

SELECTIVE FILMOGRAPHY VINCE VAUGHN 2012 THE WATCH 2011 THE DILEMMA 2009 COUPLES RETREAT 2008 ANYWHERE BUT HOME 2007 INTO THE WILD 2006 THE BREAK-UP 2005 WEDDING CRASHERS 2005 MR. & MRS. SMITH 2005 THUMBSUCKER 2004 DODGEBALL: A TRUE UNDERDOG STORY 2004 STARSKY & HUTCH 2003 I LOVE YOUR WORK 2003 OLD SCHOOL 2001 ZOOLANDER 2001 MADE 2000 THE CELL 1998 PSYCHO 1998 RETURN TO PARADISE 1997 THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK 1996 SWINGERS 1994 AT RISK

SELECTIVE FILMOGRAPHY JOSHUA JACKSON 2008 ONE WEEK 2008 SHUTTER 2007 BATTLE IN SEATTLE 2006 BOBBY 2005 THE SHADOW DANCER 2005 AMERICANO 2005 CURSED 2001 THE SAFETY OF OBJECTS 2000 GOSSIP 2000 THE SKULLS 1999 CRUEL INTENTIONS 1998 URBAN LEGEND 1995 MAGIC IN THE WATER