Atlantica - 01.11.2000, Side 17

A T L A N T I C A 15
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Cast of characters
Finding Forrester is a drama centring on the surprising
relationship between an eccentric novelist named William
Forrester (Connery) and a young, gifted basketball star, played
by newcomer Robert Brown. When the novelist discovers that
the teenager shows remarkable talent as a writer, he reluc-
tantly takes the athlete on as a protégé.
What makes Finding Forrester attractive are the relation-
ships between the characters. “A problem with the first few
drafts was that the characters’ growth paths were stagnant. I
had to step back and ask myself, ‘what are these characters
willing to do at the end of the movie that they weren’t ready
to do at the start?’”
After numerous rewrites, and after Rich had holed up in
New York for a long weekend with Connery and Van Sant, the
problems were resolved. “We went through the script line by line,
scene by scene. They were intent on making it as strong as pos-
sible before we started shooting.”
Bringing Rich’s fictional creations to the screen is a celebrated
cast of actors, many of whom have tasted past Oscar glory:
Connery (The Untouchables), F. Murray Abraham (Amadeus) and
Anna Paquin (The Piano). Unlike most screenwriters, Rich spent a
great deal of time on the set and he rather enjoyed watching
these esteemed actors read his words. “It was wonderful to see
Sean and Murray; they never changed a word, which was an
enormous sense of praise. To see them perform was a joy. To see
them make my characters better by bringing them to life was a
magical experience.”
I knew my life had made a surreal turn shortly after I signed
my first deal. My son knocked on the shower door and said,
‘Dad, Sean Connery is on the phone’.
(Mike Rich)
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