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Travolta has been honored twice with Academy AwardŽ nominations, most recently for his riveting portrayal of a philosophical hit man in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. He has also received a Golden Globe nomination for the highly acclaimed role and was named Best Actor by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, among other distinguished awards. He was equally praised as a Mafioso-turned-movie-producer in the comedy sensation Get Shorty, singled out by many critics as one of the best performances of the year and garnering a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy.
He previously starred in some of the most momentous films of our generation. He earned his first OscarŽ and Golden Globe nominations for his role in the blockbuster Saturday Night Fever, which launched the disco phenomenon of the late 1970s. He went on to star in the mega-hit screen version of the long-running musical Grease and the wildly successful Urban Cowboy. Additional film credits include the Brian DePalma thriller Carrie and Blow Out, as well as Amy Heckerling's hit comedy Look Who's Talking.
Travolta has starred in Michael and Phenomenon and took an equally diverse turn as an action star in John Woo's top boxoffice thriller Broken Arrow. He has also starred in Face/Off, co-starring Nicolas Cage and in She's So Lovely with Sean Penn and Robin Wright as well as in Mad City, co-starring Dustin Hoffman.
Travolta is currently in production on A Civil Action with director Steve Zaillian.
As Susan Stanton, Jack Stanton's wife and partner, EMMA THOMPSON stars as a woman who longs to become a part of history.
Thompson made Academy AwardŽ history as the first OscarŽ -winning actor (for her role in Merchant Ivory's Howard's End) to also win an Academy AwardŽ for Best Screenplay Adaptation (for Sense and Sensibility). The script also won Thompson the Golden Globe Award, the USC Scripter Award and Best Screenplay awards from the Writers Guild, the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Broadcast Film Critics, the Chicago Film Critics, the Los Angeles Film Critics, the New York Film Critics and National Board of Review. Additionally, her performance in Sense and Sensibility earned her a BAFTA award and OscarŽ , Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations as Best Actress.
In addition to the Academy AwardŽ , Thompson's performance in Howard's End won her Golden Globe, BAFTA, the New York Film Critics, the Los Angeles Film Critics and the National Society of Film Critics awards.
Before graduating from Cambridge University with a degree in English literature, Emma Thompson performed for three years with Cambridge Footlights. She appeared in twelve revues, one of which, The Cellar Tapes won the Perrier Pick of the Fringe at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Thompson made her West End debut in 1985 in Me and My Girl, starring opposite Robert Lindsay. In 1988, she was directed by Dame Judi Dench in John Osborne's Look Back in Anger, co-starring Kenneth Branagh. Following her own comedy series, Thompson, she appeared alongside Robbie Coltrane in John Byrne's BAFTA award-winning comedy drama series Tutti Frutti. Thompson won a BAFTA award for Best Actress for her roles in Tutti Frutti and in the 1986 seven-hour BBC series Fortunes of War.
In her second collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, Thompson starred with Anthony Hopkins in The Remains of the Day, for which she earned an Academy AwardŽ nomination for Best Actress. That same year, Thompson was nominated for an Academy AwardŽ and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in Jim Sheridan's In the Name of the Father. In 1994, she co-starred with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito in the comedy Junior, and then switched gears to star opposite Jonathan Pryce in Christopher Hampton's biographical drama Carrington.
Thompson most recently co-starred with her mother, Phyllida Law, in Alan Rickman's The Winter Guest, a cinematic adaptation of Sharman Macdonald's original play. Her numerous additional feature film credits include Henry V, The Tall Guy, Impromptu, Dead Again, Peter's Friends, and Much Ado About Nothing.
BILLY BOB THORNTON stars as Stanton's political advisor Richard Jemmons.
Academy AwardŽ -winning writer, actor and director, Thornton has an extensive and impressive career in motion pictures, television and theatre. Charismatic and uniquely talented, Thornton has established himself as one of the most sought-after filmmakers of his generation.
The 1996 release of the critically acclaimed and phenomenally popular feature film Sling Blade, which he starred in and directed from a script he wrote, firmly secured Thornton's status as a preeminent filmmaker. For his efforts, he was honored with both an Academy AwardŽ nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay and an Academy AwardŽ nomination for Best Actor. The film was produced by The Shooting Gallery, was released by Miramax and in addition to Thornton, starred Robert Duvall, J.T. Walsh, Dwight Yokam and John Ritter.
Prior to Sling Blade, Thornton had an already extensive motion picture credit list. He wrote and starred in the thrilling character drama, One False Move, which brought him immediate critical praise. Thornton's powerful script (co-written with Tom Epperson), was enhanced by his intense performance as a hunted criminal. The film, directed by Carl Franklin, was an unheralded sleeper success.
In addition, he has been featured in such films as The Winner for director Alex Cox, Paramount Pictures' Indecent Proposal, directed by Adrian Lyne, Deadman for director Jim Jarmusch for Miramax and Tombstone, directed by George Cosmatos for Buena Vista Pictures.
Thornton has also appeared in the Warner Bros. Picture On Deadly Ground, directed by Steven Seagal, Bound By Honor for director Taylor Hackford, For The Boys, directed by Mark Rydell for 20th Century Fox and The Stars Fell on Henrietta, directed by James Keach for Warner Bros.
As a writer, Thornton has worked on numerous projects for United Artists, Miramax, Universal Studios, Warner Bros., Touchstone, Island Pictures, David Geffen Productions and HBO. He also scripted A Family Thing, a highly regarded feature film that starred Robert Duvall and James Earl Jones for United Artists.
Thornton has also appeared on television, including a role as a regular on the CBS comedy series Hearts Afire and the Fox series The Outsiders. Thornton's stage work has included performances in such productions as Lone Star and A Streetcar Named Desire.
Thornton was most recently seen opposite Sean Penn in U-Turn, directed by Oliver Stone for Columbia TriStar Pictures and in Homegrown, directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal for Lakeshore Entertainment.
ADRIAN LESTER stars as Henry Burton, a young, idealistic African American who joins the campaign as Jack Stanton's deputy campaign manager.
Lester marks his American feature film debut with Primary Colors.
Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, Lester received the 1996 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his turn as "Bobby" in Company. For his performance in As You Like It at the Albery Theatre in London, he garnered nominations for the Olivier, Time Out, TMA and Ian Charleson awards for Best Actor. Lester was also nominated for the London Critics Circle Award for Most Promising Newcomer in the Royal Court Theatre production of Six Degrees of Separation opposite Stockard Channing. For his performance in that production, he was awarded the Time Out Award. His stage credits also include Sweeny Todd (Olivier nomination for Best Supporting Actor), Antigone, Caste, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Fences, Winter's Tale, Hanging the President and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Lester has appeared in the films Les Souers Solier and Up On the Roof. For British television, he has appeared in Silent Witness, Soldier Soldier, Ball & Chain, Teaching Matthew, In the Dark and The Bill.
MAURA TIERNEY stars as Daisy, Jack Stanton's media advisor.
Tierney will next be seen in the upcoming film, Instinct, starring opposite Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding, Jr. for director John Turtletaub. Tierney previously starred opposite Jim Carrey in Liar, Liar. Her filmography also includes Primal Fear and White Sands.
Tierney currently stars as "Lisa Miller" on NBC's critically acclaimed NewsRadio. She attended New York University's Circle in the Square Theatre School.
KATHY BATES stars as campaign trouble-shooter Libby Holden, Stanton's private confidante and personal dust buster.
Bates earned an Academy AwardŽ for her performance in Rob Reiner's film adaptation of Stephen King's best-seller Misery (1990), for which she also won a Golden Globe Award and Chicago Film Critics Award. She followed this tremendous performance with critically acclaimed performances in Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), for which she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress, and Used People (1992). Her other extensive feature film credits include Diabolique, Dolores Claiborne, The War at Home, Men Don't Leave, White Palace, At Play in the Fields of the Lord, Dick Tracy, Prelude to a Kiss, The Road to Mecca, Shadows and Fog, A Home of Our Own, North and Angus. Bates most recently portrayed "Molly Brown" in James Cameron's critically-acclaimed boxoffice hit Titanic and will next be seen in the upcoming Swept From the Sea.
A Tennessee native, she made her feature film debut with 1971's Taking Off and her off-Broadway debut several years later in Vanities. In 1978, she had her first big hit as the fantasizing sister in Crimes of the Heart. She then went on to create the roles of the loudmouthed Stella May in Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982) for film and stage; garnered a Tony Award nomination as well as the Outer Critics Circle Award and a Dramalogue Award for her performance as the suicidal daughter in Marsha Norman's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, 'night, Mother (1983); and played the weary waitress in Frankie and Johnny at the Clair de Lune (1987-88) for which she won an Obie Award as well as the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for Best Actress.
For television, Bates recently won a Golden Globe Award for her starring performance in HBO's The Late Shift. She also appeared in HBO's Hostages (1993), as "Peggy Say" whose brother was held captive in Beirut, recreated her stage role in The Curse of the Starving Class for Showtime (1995) and The West Side Waltz (1995), starring as a homeless woman who crosses paths with Shirley MacLaine and Liza Minnelli, among many others.
LARRY HAGMAN co-stars as Freddy Picker, a no-nonsense former governor of Florida.
Hagman starred for 13 seasons as millionaire "J.R. Ewing," the man you love to hate, on the hit series Dallas. In 1980, over 350 million fans in 57 countries were glued to their television sets to find out "who shot J.R." The episode remains the second highest rated hour in the history of television.
Hagman first emerged as a television star with the popular series I Dream of Jeannie in 1965. His television credits also include Orleans, Dallas: JR Returns, Staying Afloat, Deadly Encounter, Battered, Last of the Good Guys, The President's Mistress, The Good Life, Here We Go Again and the adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Applause, with Lauren Bacall. Hagman also hosted Lone Star for PBS, an eight-part documentary that traces the history of Texas.
On screen, Hagman has appeared in Oliver Stone's Nixon, S.O.B., Superman, The Eagle Has Landed, Mother, Jugs and Speed, Stardust, Harry and Tonto, Three in the Cellar, The Group, In Harm's Way, The Cavern, Ensign Pulver and Fail Safe.
Dallas: War of the Ewings will air this spring on CBS.
PAUL GUILFOYLE co-stars as Stanton campaign manager Howard Ferguson.
Guilfoyle, a renowned character actor, most recently appeared in L.A. Confidential and Air Force One. His filmography also includes Steven Spielberg's Amistad, Extreme Measures, Path to Paradise, Striptease, Celtic Pride, Night Falls on Manhattan, Searching for Richard, Manny & Lo, A Couch in New York, Quiz Show, Little Odessa, Hoffa, Final Analysis, Cadillac Man, True Colors, Mothers' Boys, Dealers, Three Men and a Baby, Beverly Hills Cop II, Wall Street, The Night We Never Met and Heaven's Prisoners. Guilfoyle can also be seen in the soon to be released Neil Jordan film, In Dream opposite Annette Bening.
Guilfoyle recently starred off-Broadway in Death Defying Acts, written by David Mamet, Woody Allen and Elaine May. He also starred in David Rabe's Those the River Keeps, collaborated with Martha Clarke on Endangered Species at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival, and co-starred with Al Pacino in the film version of the play The Local Stigmatic. On Broadway, Guilfoyle appeared in The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel, Richard III, Glengarry Glen Ross and Search and Destroy.
A member of the Actors' Studio, Guilfoyle's credits also include the Irish television series September and, for the BBC, Unnatural Pursuits, written by Simon Grey.
CAROLINE AARON co-stars as Lucille Kaufman, Susan Stanton's old friend and law school classmate who assumes herself part of the inner circle.
Aaron was most recently seen as Woody Allen's sister, for the third time, in Deconstructing Harry. She previously worked with Mike Nichols on the films Working Girl and Heartburn, as well as on Broadway in Social Security. Her filmography also includes Big Night, House Arrest, Nick of Time, White Lies, Sleepless in Seattle, The Pickle, This Is My Life, Edward Scissorhands, Alice, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Brother From Another Planet, O.C. & Stiggs, Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean and Baby It's You.
Her Broadway credits also include I Hate Hamlet, The Iceman Cometh with Jason Robards, and Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.
On television, Aaron has appeared on Law & Order, Mad About You, Wings, The Cube and Urban Anxiety.
REBECCA WALKER portrays Henry Burton's lover March Cunnigham, a writer for Black Advocate Publications.
Walker, discovered by Mike Nichols at a dinner party 10 years ago, makes her feature film debut in Primary Colors. Considered one of the most audible voices of the young women's movement and recently named one of the future leaders of America by Time, Walker was born in 1969 in Jackson, Mississippi. She grew up in San Francisco and New York and graduated cum laude from Yale University in 1992. Following graduation, Walker founded Third Wave Direct Action Corporation, a national non-profit organization devoted to cultivating young women's leadership and activism. In their first summer, Third Wave initiated a historic emergency youth drive which registered over 20,000 new voters in inner cities throughout the United States.
Walker is also a writer and has been a contributing editor to Ms. since 1989. Her writing, which engages such issues as reproductive freedom, domestic violence and sexuality, has been published in Essence, Mademoiselle, Spin, Harper's Bazaar, The Black Scholar, Sassy, New York Daily News and various women's and black studies anthologies including Listen Up and Testimony. Most recently, she has edited an anthology exploring young women's struggles to reclaim and redefine feminism entitled, To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism. Walker is currently at work on a book of autobiographical non-fiction entitled Morphology: Memoir of a Shifting Self, which Riverhead Books will publish in 1999.
She has hosted a television forum on inner city teen violence, pregnancy and drug abuse for WGBH, Boston, and has produced segments for young adult programming which focus on youth activism among homeless teens, and the youth response to nuclear weaponry for KRON, San Francisco.
A recipient of the Feminist of the Year Award from the Fund for the Feminist Majority, the Paz Y Justica Award from the Vanguard Foundation and the Champion of Choice Award from the California Abortion Rights Action League, Walker currently speaks about Third Wave feminism and the many forms of activism at colleges and conferences across the United States and Canada.
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