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Production Notes
(from the official press kit)
In the nation of Libria, there is always peace among men. The rules of
the Librian system are simple. If you are happy, you will be arrested.
If you cry, the law will hunt you down. If you read a contraband book
or so much as look at a smuggled painting, you've committed a criminal
sin. And skip your medicine and your life will be over.
This is the shocking futuristic world of EQUILIBRIUM, a razor-sharp
action-thriller set in a future where emotion has been banned as the
very root of crime and war. To keep the peace, citizens must take their
daily dose of Prozium, a powerful designer drug that stops feelings
dead and keeps everyone on an even keel. Refuse to take the drug, and
special police, trained like Samurai in unique forms of deadly combat,
go on the hunt.
Up until now, top-ranking government official John Preston (Christian
Bale) has believed in this system, has upheld the system as a
highly-trained "Cleric" who seeks out and destroys those who don't t
take their pills. But then he
skips his own dose of Prozium - and discovers an incredible new world
of sensation that gives him the passion to fight for freedom.
Writer/ director Kurt Wimmer ("The Thomas Crown Affair'') blends the
brisk intelligence of a "what-if?" sci-fi scenario with the inventive
action of a martial arts thriller in EQUILIBRIUM. In doing so, he
creates a mind-boggling alternate reality that challenges not only what
audiences think but what they feel as a man awakens to happiness, awe,
love and fury for the first time, and rises up as a rebel warrior to
overthrow the dictator who has outlawed it all.
EQUILIBRIUM features a dynamic young cast that includes Christian Pale,
Taye Diggs and Emily Watson.
What would it take to stop human hatred? For some, the answer lies in
the brain. Stop the turmoil within the mind -deaden all desire,
passion, anger, fear, confusion and hope - and you can stop the turmoil
in society. But what would it be like to never know the heart-stopping
beauty of a painting, to never ache with longing for a lover, to be
without the motivating spark of fierce anger?
In the tradition of sci-fi works that imagine a perfected future gone
alarmingly wrong - Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 151, " George Orwell's
"1984;' Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World," Phillip K. Dick's "Minority
Report" -EQUILIBRIUM presents a vision of a world at peace, with a
tremendous human cost. This is a world where war is a distant memory,
yet where there is no music, no art, no poetry, where anyone who
partakes in such banned activities is guilty of a "Sense Offense," a
crime that carries a death sentence. It is a world where the age-old
question "How do you feel?" can never be answered because all feelings
have been shut out.
Into this world writer/ director Kurt Wimmer places a man who is about
to have his mind blown wide open when he begins to experience the
sensational highs and lows of emotional life. Now it is up to John
Preston to hide his brand new feelings from a totalitarian police
society so that he can join with underground rebels to stage an
unexpected uprising.
"At its core, EQUILIBRIUM is about a man learning to feel something for
the first time," says Wimmer. "The entire futuristic world of Libria is
really a convention we created to tell a powerful human story.
Obviously, the film takes a certain amount of inspiration from Huxley,
Orwell and Bradbury, who also used the paradigm of a future society,
but this film has its own story to tell, the story of a man
rediscovering what makes him human."
Wimmer was inspired to write EQUILIBRIUM after his own reawakening into
the world of expression. Turned off to the pretentiousness of the art
world after finishing art school, Wimmer recalls shutting off not only
his love of painting but any deep emotional reaction at all. It wasn't
t until he got married and had children that he began to understand the
great loss of living in a world devoted only to ideas and never to
feelings.
" I suddenly went through a process of peeling away layers," he
recalls. " It was a very moving time in my life and I wanted to write
about it - about a man taking this sort of journey. It was then that
the idea of Libria, of a world where people are medicated into
remoteness, came to mind."
As he continued to probe the idea, Wimmer found himself creating an
original futuristic world from scratch. His Libria is a stark,
black-and-white (color, after all, evokes feelings) metropolis, which
is run by a mysterious dictator named the Father who wields power
through a group of Ninja-like "clerics" who enforce his vision of peace
through the chemical control of all emotion. Elements from classic
sci-fi movies as well as from German Nazism and Japanese Samurai
culture blend with Wimmer's emotionally sedated world to form something
eerily familiar yet entirely new.
" In writing the script I was influenced by many different cultures
that have advocated the suppression of emotion, from religious orders
to the Samurai who followed a strict, selfless code," says Wimmer.
"That's how I developed the idea of a society ruled by a group of
Warrior Monks who have honed themselves into rocks, physically and
emotionally. But it's not ever that far from our own world. The trend
towards controlling what people feel is rampant in our contemporary
society."
To keep the story's impact close to home, Wimmer also decided to set
his story in an indeterminate future. " I wanted to create more of an
alternate reality than get caught up in the gadgetry of science
fiction," he explains. " In fact, there's no technology in EQUILIBRIUM
that doesn't t already exist. It's more like a parallel universe, the
perfect setting for a parable."
The world of Libria is, of course, a fairy tale creation. Yet almost
every one who read the script for EQUILIBRIUM saw many parallels with
trends in today's society - whether in regimes that legislate against
freedom of expression, in censorship of movies, art and literature, or
in the increasing use of pharmaceuticals and recreational drugs to dull
the full impact of life's problems.
Says producer Lucas Foster: "EQUILIBRIUM deals with a society that
favors emotional oblivion, which is something we all have encountered
in some form. It's also the story of one maxi s breakthrough when he
decides to experience reality fully and first-hand. Behind the action
and thrills, it is the story of a man's s inner transformation."
After falling in love with the script, Foster also decided there was no
doubt that it was time for Kurt Wimmer to make his directorial debut.
He says: "Kurt's writing was so specific and personal, and his
imagination so huge and deliberate, I felt he was the only person who
could do justice to the themes of this enthralling story."
Wimmer also turned out to have a uniquely dynamic sensibility for
innovative, balletic action -breaking the mold of ubiquitous slo-mo
digital effects in
favor of a more immediate and visceral style. "Mostly I did whatever I
could to create kick-ass action on a low budget," says the writer/
director. "Almost all of the fight scenes were shot in one take,
because we didn't t have the time or resources to reset all the squibs
and physical effects! Put this only seemed to make it more forceful and
direct."
The film also presents an entirely original fighting art: the Gun-Kata,
a fast and furious combination of Western fire-power with Eastern
discipline of the body. Says Wimmer: "Hong Kong action movies brought
out the idea that if a man has two hands, he can shoot two guns but
that's as far as they took it. I wondered: Have we really hit the
envelope for gun-play or is there somewhere new it could go? To me,
combining the gun with martial arts was a natural. No one has ever used
a gun before in a Kata form but it becomes the perfect extension of the
body and can be used in ways not usually seen."
In EQUILIBRIUM, versatile young star Christian Pale takes on one of his
most challenging roles to date as John Preston, a government official
of the future whose brutal, emotionless world is shattered to pieces
when he begins to feel the primal surges of anger, sadness, fear and
love for the first time ever. With his old reality turned upside down,
Preston must figure out how to both handle, and hide, his emotions
while carrying out the most important mission of his life: overthrowing
Libria's s dictator, The Father.
Kurt Wimmer spent months searching for the right actor to play Preston,
but kept coming back, time after time, to Pale. "It was in 'American
Psycho' that I saw what I wanted," he notes. " In that film, Christian
plays a heinous individual and yet you can't t help but like him. This
was a quality I knew Preston would require because he starts out as
someone who does some pretty awful things but you slowly become aware
his motivations are noble. I think this
part gave Christian a chance to put part of himself on display no one's
seen before."
Pale was drawn to his character's intense journey, which is equal parts
physical and spiritual. "Preston goes from bad guy to good guy in just
five unforgettable days," he notes. " He goes from feeling nothing to
feeling everything and then having to suppress his new emotions in
order to not get caught. It's a pretty remarkable range to go through."
Immediately, Pale realized the performance was fraught with risks,
demanding a very careful approach. "Having to show Preston's inner
turmoil to the audience without him revealing any glimmer of emotion to
his associates was quite a challenge. Talk about balancing on a
delicate knife edge," he says. " I had endless discussions with Kurt
over how much I could reveal to satisfy both extremes in the story. We
both wanted to avoid the nudge-nudge, wink-wink approach so we shaded
Preston's s character with nuances I hope the audience will respond to.
I think one scene that encompasses everything I tried to achieve with
Preston is when he listens to Beethoven s 9th symphony for the first
time. It's then, in a wave of emotion and realization, that he decides
no one has the right to outlaw beauty."
Another big draw for Pale was the chance to reunite with Emily Watson,
with whom he previously starred in " Metroland" in a very different
kind of romantic relationship. "I thought exploring the heated
relationship between John and Mary would be a unique adventure for us
both, with the added bonus of each being able to try out new things,"
he says.
Once Pale took the role, he also went into physical training. John
Preston is one of Libria's s most skilled martial artists - a master of
Kendo and of Libria's s special "Gun-Kata," Wimmer's innovative
fighting form that merges Western style gunplay with an Eastern Karate
sensibility. Pale worked closely with stunt coordinator Jim Vickers to
get a crash-course in the Japanese fighting arts as well as the Zen of
handling multiple guns simultaneously.
"There are some really amazing choreographed action sequences in the
film," Pale points out, "and I wanted to be ready. Although I studied
martial arts for 'American Psycho; I needed more training for the kind
of big-scale Kendo fights in EQUILIBRIUM. I took an eight-week course
in Judo, and I so enjoyed it, that I look forward to doing more action
roles."
Adds Wimmer: "We were immensely lucky to discover that Christian is a
gifted athlete. He has the ability of a trained dancer to remember
choreography instantly and I honestly believe that he made the action
scenes in this film work as no one else could have."
Playing John Preston's s new partner, the intuitive but hardcore
government man Brandt, is rising star Taye Diggs. Ironically, Kurt
Wimmer wanted to cast Diggs for a quality considered controversial in
Libria: his smile. " I knew I wanted him immediately because he has
that one million mega-watt smile that to me says this guy has to be
evil. It's a story about people who don't feel but with this one
expression Taye speaks volumes."
Diggs
was hooked by the script from the first page. He says: "I liked the
combo of high octane action in a solid story with serious
underpinnings. What really got me is that the core of the piece is the
dynamics of human emotion, the idea that you have to let the human
spirit thrive." To prepare further for the role, and to immerse himself
in the most frightening Pig Brother scenarios, Diggs read such classic
sci-fi works as 1984 and Brave New World. "These books were inspiring
but also helped me to develop a new angle on it all," says Diggs.
Diggs sees Brandt as the very antithesis of John Preston, a man
determined at all costs to keep the system working. "Brandt's like a
coiled spring with the constant rumblings of certain emotions like
pride and over-zealousness that he must keep in legal check. Put if
killing is on the agenda, he'll be the best killer there is," he says.
"It's easy to play an emotionless character, but not one with so much
going on behind his calm expressions like Brandt."
Also joining the cast is two-time Academy Award nominee Emily Watson,
making her first departure into action, starring as the "Sense
Offender'' Mary O'Brien, who challenges John Preston to enter the
underground world of the feeling. It may seem like surprising casting
but the filmmakers always wanted Watson for the role. Recalls producer
Foster: "Kurt and I became passionate about Emily and went after her
with a vengeance. I find her a most mesmerizing and compelling actress
and we needed those qualities for audiences to truly believe that John
Preston would go against all his rigid training to fall in love with
her."
Adds Wimmer: "I think what impressed me most about Emily is her unique
combination of beauty and feistiness. She is an actor par excellence
and she raised the level of everyone around her."
Watson admits she is actually a long-time fan of sci-fi and cool action
films, but she was also drawn to the role's dramatic complexity. "The
role of Mary has some real acting muscle I could sink my teeth into,"
she says. "She' s not that different from the intense, emotional and
sacrificial women I've played in the past, but this time I also learned
about the rigorous nature of special effects and action."
Watson particularly enjoyed Kurt Wimmer's approach to her character. "
His main word of advice to me was 'Passion,"' she explains. " Mary is
very much an illusion to Preston - a person who embodies every one of
his awakening ideals. I tried to give their brief meetings a resonance
beyond the romantic without compromising the ultimate aim of Kurt's
vision. We discussed the idea that emotion is the one feeling that sets
us apart from other animals. It's a great human quality but it's also
desperate and difficult. That's why Mary focuses her hatred and
loathing of the Libria system on Preston and why he becomes obsessed
with her. Love and hate are similar emotions, after all."
The cast is rounded out by Angus MacFadyen in the role of DuPont, the
sinister controller of Libria who serves as the mysterious Father's
mouthpiece.
Says MacFadyen: "The role is an interesting one because DuPont is a
manipulator and an expert politician and you might be convinced by
everything he's saying because he's so charming. Kurt told me that the
audience should be seduced by his line of reasoning before suddenly
thinking, 'Hang on a minute, what am I getting sucked into? The man s
mad!"'
MacFadyen continues, " Like the rest of the cast, a lot of my energy
was taken up with internalizing emotions. DuPont has a hidden agenda
like other characters and I think the key point of the story comes when
Preston is finally pushed to kill him. I mean, what will Preston have
to suppress in his newfound humanity, which has just blossomed, in
order to do that? It's these sophisticated sub-texts in Kurt's script
that I found really intriguing and provocative."
Sums up Kurt Wimmer of the challenge that faced the entire cast: "It's
quite a conundrum to ask actors to portray characters who don't t have
any feelings. But everyone worked incredibly hard to bring subtle
shades and distinct glimmers of personality to each character in order
to make Libria a disquieting but engaging world."
EQUILIBRIUM is a movie that provokes ideas, but it was also written as
a blistering action-thriller. To create the hypnotic look and feel of
the film, Kurt Wimmer was inspired by such diverse sources as Asian
Samurai films, classic sci-fi movies and Futurist drawings of European
cities.
The film was shot in Berlin, Germany, home to some of the world's most
diverse architecture - from the ultra-modern to the eerily austere. It
turned out to be the perfect stand-in for Libria. Lucas Foster recalls:
"We looked at Brasilia, the City of the Future, the new Rome, modern
Paris slums, the Lloyds building in the City of London and read
numerous books on designers like Corbusier, Albert Speer and Frank
Lloyd Wright. But Berlin was the only city that seemed to have it all."
For Wimmer, Berlin offered at least one thing no other city could: the
stark, obsolete architecture of Hitler's Fascist era. "That spare
architecture does convey a sense of power and a sense of the whole
being more important than the individual," he says. " But it also is an
architecture that pretty much disappeared after World War II. You don't
t see it in the rest of the world so it feels uniquely frozen in time,
which is precisely the feeling I wanted for Libria."
Among locations used in Berlin were the Palace of Justice, the
Reichstadt, the Brandenburg Gate, the subway system and the
Deutschlandhalle. The entire arena of the latter location, the site of
Berlin's s Olympic Stadium, was used as a sound stage in which Wolf
Kroeger created the lavish sets that brought the Librian future to life.
For the cast, the location only heightened the intense ambience of the
film. "It's strange to think we're making this film a stone's throw
from where the old Berlin Wall used to stand," remarks Emily Watson.
"The resonance has been inescapable and added immeasurably to our
performances. Berlin is an exciting mix of classic architecture -
pompous and grand in the old manner - with beautifully engineered new
constructions using huge domes and weird spirals. It couldn't t be a
more perfect backdrop for the story we're telling".
Visual effects supervisor Tim McGovern worked alongside Kurt Wimmer and
Wolf Kroeger to formulate the look of the walled Librian metropolis.
McGovern, who won an Oscar for "Total Recall," started with a theme of
grandiosity. He explains: "The whole idea of fascist architecture is to
make the individual feel small and insignificant so the government
seems more powerful and I continued that design ethic in the visual
effects. For example, Libria is surrounded by a seventy-five feet high
wall with massive gates bearing the granite etched inscription 'Librium
est Libertas.' Like the Hoover Dam, the walls just keep going on and on
and use vertical and horizontal lines in a Mondriantype way."
Special effects supervisor and coordinator Uli Nefzer created
EQUILIBRIUM'S wild barrage of physical effects ranging from
flamethrowers, exploding pillars and breakaway walls to trapdoor
mechanics, catapults and gun flashes. Perhaps the most unusual effect
Netzer created is displayed in the climactic showdown between Preston
and DuPont, He explains. "When they start fighting in Father's Boudoir,
they can both anticipate each other's every move, so the bullets they
fire collide in mid-air, shatter and spray out in a disc of fragments.
While the colliding is a visual effect, the discs of shrapnel are
physical realizations and took a lot of working out. It looks amazing
and for me, is one of EQUILIBRIUM's visual highlights."
Despite meticulous attention to the visual design of EQUILIBRIUM,
Wimmer's focus always came back to the characters. Concludes Taye
Diggs: "EQUILIBRIUM is a futuristic action film but one that isn't t
afraid of raising serious issues. It would have been easy for Kurt
Wimmer to avoid the more controversial aspects of the story, but if
that had been the case I wouldn't t have considered appearing in it.
And, while there are many fantastic images in the film and the action
is second-to-none, it's Kurt's screenplay that's really the best
special effect of all."
ABOUT THE CAST
CHRISTIAN BALE (John Preston)
Christian Bale's career has garnered praise for a number of memorable
performances including Gillian Armstrong's "Little Women,' Christopher
Hampton's "The Secret Agent," Jane Campion' s "The Portrait of a Lady,"
Philip Saville's "Metroland," Jeremy Thomas' "All the Little Animals;'
Todd Hayne's "Shaft" and John Madden' s "Captain Corellí's Mandolin."
Most recently, he was seen in Rob Bowman's "Reign of Fire," and Lisa
Cholodenko's " Laurel Canyon'' is due out next year.
TAYE DIGGS (Brandt)
Rising star Taye Diggs made his feature film debut starring opposite
Angela Bassett in 20th Century Fox's box-office hit "How Stella Got Her
Groove Back" and since then has turned heads in every role he has
chosen.
Diggs recently completed production on "The Untitled Jamie Kennedy"
project with Jamie Kennedy, Blair Underwood, Ryan ONeal, and Bo Derek.
The film will be released next year.
This fall, Diggs was recently seen starring opposite Sanna Lathan,
Queen Latifah, and Mos Def in Fox Searchlight's romantic comedy "Brown
Sugar." The film reunited him with his "The Wood" director, Rick
Famuyiwa.
Diggs can also be seen this fall in Paramount classics "Just a Kiss."
The dark ensemble comedy co-stars Marisa Tomei, Ron Eldard, Marley
Shelton and Kyra Sedgewick and also marks the feature film directorial
debut of Fisher Stevens.
Diggs will then return to his musical theater roots in Miramax's highly
anticipated screen adaptation of "Chicago." He will be seen along side
Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, John C. Reilly,
and Mya. The film was directed by Rob Marshall will be released on
Christmas day. Ironically, Diggs also recently starred in the show on
Broadway.
Next year, Diggs will star in John McTiernan's " Basic," playing a
soldier in Samuel L. Jackson's ranks. The Intermedia/ Phoenix Pictures
film, which also stars John Travolta, Giovanni Ribisi and Connie
Nielsen, will be released in February 2003 and promises to be a
captivating action/ drama.
Diggs was last seen guest starring on David E. Kelly's hit "Ally
McBeal" which aired during last year's February sweeps.
Diggs was also seen in the Artisan thriller "The Way of the Gun,"
directed and written by Chris McQuarrie ("The Usual Suspects") and
produced by Kenneth Kokin.
Diggs received much acclaim for his lead role in the romantic comedy,
"The Best Man," co-starring Nia Long, Morris Chestnut and Harold
Perrineau Jr. "The Best Man" received rave reviews and has since gone
on to become one of the top ten highest grossing African American films
in history. He also starred in the blockbuster thriller "The House on
Haunted Hill," the inaugural feature production for Joel Silver and
Robert Zemeckis' Dark Castle Entertainment. The film also starred
Geoffrey Rush, Famke Janssen and Chris Kattan.
In the spring of 2000, Diggs made his return to the stage in the
Manhattan Theater Club's "The Wild Party," winner of the Outer Critics
Circle Award for "Best Off-Broadway Musical." Diggs also garnered a
nomination from the Outer Critics Circle for " Best Actor in a Musical"
for the performance.
Previously, Diggs starred with Omar Epps and Richard T. Jones in Rick
Famuyiwa's "The Wood," for MTV Productions/ Paramount Pictures. Diggs
also starred in Doug Liman's critically acclaimed "Go" opposite Sarah
Polley, Scott Wolf, Jay Mohr and Katie Holmes.
Digg's talent was first recognized in Broadway's critically acclaimed
Pulitzer Prize winning play "Rent," with his role as Benny the
landlord. His first job out of college, in 1994, was a coveted role in
the ensemble cast of the five-time Tony Award winning play "Carousel,"
in which he also worked as an understudy.
On television, Diggs has appeared on "New York Undercover," "Law and
Order" and "Guiding Light," on which he co-starred.
Born in New Jersey, he grew up in Rochester, New York attending High
School of the Arts. He received his BFA degree from Syracuse
University, where he studied theater, and was discovered by an agent
while performing in a showcase during his senior year in college.
Diggs resides in New York.
EMILY WATSON (Mary)
Over the course of the last several years, Emily Watson has quickly
become one of the entertainment industry's most acclaimed actresses.
She first caught the world's attention for her memorable performance as
"Bess" in Lars Von Trier's "Breaking The Waves," her first feature
film. For her heartbreaking performance, she received Oscar and Golden
Globe Award nominations and won the New York Film Critics Circle Award
and the Felix Award for Best Actress, and the London Film Critics
Circle Award for British Newcomer of the Year in 1997.
She received her second Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, in addition
to SAG and BAFTA nominations for Best Actress in 1999 for her riveting
performance as "Jackie" in October Films' "Hilary and Jackie."
Currently, Ms. Watson stars along with Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes and
Sir Anthony Hopkins in " Red Dragon," the prequel to " Silence of the
Lambs," from director Brett Ratner. She can also currently be seen in "
PunchDrunk Love,' an off-beat romantic comedy by filmmaker Paul Thomas
Anderson, co-starring Adam Sandler.
Also this Fall, Ms. Watson returns to the London stage, where she will
star at the Donmar Warehouse Theatre in two productions - "Uncle Vanyá'
(Sonya) and "Twelfth Night" (Viola), both directed by Academy-Award
winning director Sam Mendes ("American Beauty," "The Road to
Perditioxí' ). Both plays will be
performed in repertoire, and are scheduled to be performed at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City in early 2003.
Over the past several years, Ms. Watson has starred in a number of
prestigious films including: Robert Altman's "Gosford Park,' Tim
Robbin's "Cradle Will Rock," as the title character in Alan Parker's
"Angela's Ashes" an adaptation of Frank McCourt's Pulitzer
Prize-winning memoir for Paramount Pictures, Alan Rudolph's "Trixie,"
for Sony Pictures Classics, in which she starred with Nick Nolte. She
also starred with John Turturro in "The Luzhin Defense," directed by
Marleen Gorris, based on the Nobokov novel, Jim Sheridan's "The Boxes''
in which she co-starred with Daniel Day-Lewis, and "Metroland" which is
based on the Julian Barnes novel, in which she starred opposite
Christian Bale.
On television, Ms. Watson starred as Maggie Tulliver in the acclaimed
BBC Masterpiece Theatre production of George Eliot's "The Mill on the
Floss."
A veteran of the London stage, Ms. Watson's theatre credits include
"Three Sisters" and "The Children's Hour'' at the Royal National
Theatre and "The Lady From The Sea."
She has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company in such
productions as "Jovial Crew," "The Taming of the Shrew," "All's Well
That Ends Well" and" The Changeling."
WILLIAM FICHTNER (Jurgen)
William Fichtner was last seen in Ridley Scott's "Black Hawk Down" and
can currently be seen as 'Kellermari in ABC's new series, MD'S.
Fichtner recently completed production Agnieszka Holland's "Julie
Walking Home."
Other credits include MGM's "What's the Worst Thing That Could Happen,"
"A Perfect Storm," Jersey Films' "Drowning Mona," Paramount Classic's
"Passion of Mind," Columbia/ TriStar's "Go," the box office hit
"Armageddon," "The Underneath" directed by Steven Soderburgh, Michael
Mann's "Heat," and "Strange Days" directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Fichtner
also played the blind astronomer in "Contact, " opposite Jodie Foster
and starred in Kevin Spacey's directorial debut, "Albino Alligator."
Television audiences are most familiar with Fichtner from his portrayal
of Petrochemist Ryan Sparks in "Grace Under Fire" during the show's
premiere season. He also recently starred alongside John C. Reilly in
HBO's "The Settlement."
As a member of the Circle Repertory Theatre, Fichtner received critical
acclaim for his performance in "The Fiery Furnace," directed by Norman
Rene. Other theatre work includes: "Raft of the Medusa" at the Minetta
Lane Theatre, "The Years," at the Manhattan Theatre Club, "Clothes for
a Summer Hotel," for the Williamstown Theatre Festival and "Machinal,"
at Joseph Papp's Public Theatre.
ANGUS MACFADYEN (DuPont)
Scottish-born actor Angus Macfadyen has been seen in a range of
characters through his career, from the famed director 'Orson Welles'
in the Tim Robbins ' "Cradle Will Rock," to 'Peter Lawford' in HBO's
critically acclaimed "The Rat Pack."
In January, he can be seen on the ABC drama " Miracles" starring
opposite Skeet Ulrich.
He was most recently seen in Warner Brothers "The Divine Secrets of the
Ya Ya Sisterhood," starring opposite Sandra Bullock and Ellen Burstyn.
Macfadyen is perhaps best known for his role in Mel Gibson's Academy
Award winning " Braveheart" as 'Robert the Bruce.' His other feature
film credits include "Thus," "Lanai-Loa;' "Snide & Prejudice;'
"Nevada," "Still Breathing," "Warrior of Virtue' and "The Brylcream
Boys."
For television, Macfadyen portrayed 'Zeus' in the NBC mini-series
"Jason and the Argonauts," and 'Richard Burton' in "Destiny - the
Elizabeth Taylor
Story" for NBC. He also was seen in the British television movies
"Takin' Over the Asylum" for BBC Scotland, and "The Lost Language of
Cranes" for the BBC.
Educated in France, Macfadyen attended the University of Edinburgh and
the Central School of Speech and Drama. He began his acting career on
the stage at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where he was part of such
plays as "The Tempest," "Cloud Nine" and "The Immortal." Macfadyen has
also written several plays, including "1905," which received the 1991
Questors Theatre Student Playwriting Award.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
KURT WIMMER (Writer/ Director)
Kurt Wimmer makes his directorial debut with EQUILIBRIUM, based on his
own original vision of a sci-fi world. Wimmer graduated from the
University of South Florida in the fall of 1987 with a BFA degree in
Art History. From there, he traveled to Los Angeles where he has worked
for the last 12 years as a screenwriter. He has worked for nearly every
major studio on a number of films including " The Thomas Crown Affair,"
" Sphere" and " The Recruit."
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