ABOUT THE CAST ARLISS HOWARD: "There is one thing I can never hate about the reality of the multiplex theater. I hate that it exists, but I will never forget the day I was leaving whatever forgettable film I was seeing, and in my need to have my trip to the cinema not be totally fruitless, I wandered into another darkened room on my way to the exit. I know this is illegal but when you have sat through two hours of pre-digested imagery parading as a movie, you will resort to illicit activities to get a fix. I stood in the back of a full theater. Jessica Lange was on screen looking appropriately shocked and fragile as the newly widowed mother of two boys. Until the boyfriend arrives. When the boyfriend arrives, we, as an audience see what we have somewhere trusted all along was inside of her waiting, yearning to be set free. I guess I feel like I am sometimes on the receiving end of Charles' gifts from "Men Don't Leave." If women I know have referred to that portrayal as 'the best boyfriend award', I guess I could take it one step further. I know most of the ways that actors get messed with. So far inside of a character that the radar does not get disturbed. The effect is delivered somewhat like a cruise missile. The life lived in such creations as Cowboy in "Full Metal Jacket" and Parnell in "I Know My Name Is Steven" is much more resonant than flashy. Leon Barlow in "Big Bad Love" gives us the depth and breath of Arliss' work and I'm just now able to go back to being his real life wife and appreciate it not only for the thing itself but for the fact that while writing and directing he occasionally stepped in front of the camera and left it all behind to live. It was kind of like showing a card trick to a speeding freight train." -DW Selected Filmography: A Map of the World, Scott Elliot dir. (1999) Amistad, Steven Spielberg dir. (1997) The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg dir. (1997) "Old Man" (TV), John Kent Harrison dir. (1997) Johns, Scott Silver dir. (1996) Natural Born Killers, Oliver Stone dir. (1994) Wilder Napalm, Glenn Gordon Caron dir. (1993) CrissCross, Chris Menges dir. (1992) Ruby, John Mackenzie dir. (1992) Men Don't Leave, Paul Brickman dir. (1990) Tequila Sunrise, Robert Towne dir, (1988) Full Metal Jacket, Stanley Kubrick dir. (1987) The Lightship, Jerry Skolimowski dir. (1985) DEBRA WINGER: "She walked away in 1995. There was this movie in Ireland with Brando, and some guy with his hand in the till pulled it out full of money and split. So did everybody else. She stayed until who could be paid was, stood on a street corner with the heartbroken producer and paid for some people's trouble, signed copies of her face and turned to her family and said, "I'm done." Nobody should be blamed for not believing her. What actor of her stature walks away at the top of the game? But she did. She got married. Accepted a fellowship with Dr. Robert Coles at Harvard. Had a baby. Then the husband invoked a little known marital clause, dragged it out and flung it in her face. Come work. She sighed. She packed. She packed a wallop. Is there a man alive who doesn't remember her on that danged bull? Jim Bridges said that when they hit the switch on that ride, the traffic lights went out all over West Texas. If you look at "Terms of Endearment," really look at the miracle of that young woman carrying and mothering those kids, navigating the evolution of that part to its bitter triumphant conclusion and avoiding every single trap and soft spot along the way, well, what is better than that? In the time since, nothing. Take that and "A Dangerous Woman" and hey, you can walk away. And so, I guess, she did. To direct her would be unfathomable. I told her stories. When I hear that she's Difficult, I think of Isaac Newton, sitting under that tree. When the apple hits his head, he eats it." -AH Selected Filmography: Wilder Napalm, Glenn Gordon Caron dir. (1993) Shadowlands, Richard Attenborough dir. (1993) A Dangerous Woman, Stephen Gyllenhaal dir. (1993) The Sheltering Sky, Bernardo Bertolucci dir. (1990) Everybody Wins, Karel Reisz dir. (1990) Betrayed, Costa-Gavras dir. (1988) Black Widow, Bob Rafelson dir. (1986) Legal Eagles, Ivan Reitman dir. (1986) Mike's Murder, James Bridges dir. (1984) Terms of Endearment, James L. Brooks dir. (1983 An Officer and a Gentleman, Taylor Hackford dir.(1982) Cannery Row, David S. Ward dir. (1982) Urban Cowboy, James Bridges dir. (1980) PAUL LE MAT: There is a videotape of Paul Le Mat standing next to a boxcar reciting William Carlos Williams' Paterson. Verbatim, from memory. It was his idea of a parting gift. He has a way of shooting big things at you like that, sideways. In "American Graffiti," where he looks like he's wearing that car, he keeps clocking MacKenzie Phillips in a gradual, deceptive way; first out of his flabbergastedness, then in muted fury, then on towards a kind of recognition and he does this as effortlessly as he red-lines that coupe up through its tight little gearbox, ahem. There's a moment in "Melvin and Howard" when he realizes he's going to lose all his new stuff; he's got a huge boat parked in his driveway, and this bright shadow of relief passes across his face, boom. He's a longer , too, he yearns. Mickey Hughes, in "The Burning Bed" is longing for something so lost and so bad that it turns on him and then on his wife with an unbearable-to-watch savagery. How is it that a guy can do this kind of work and then seem to be let go of? He turns up in this restaurant for lunch one day and says, I can do all of this. It's his idea of a gift, as I say. -AH Selected Filmography: The Outfitters, Reverge Anselmo dir. (1999) Lonesome Dove (TV), Penelope Buitenhuis/Ken Jubenuil dir. (1995) Hanoi Hilton, Lionel Chetwynd dir. (1987) The Burning Bed (TV), Robert Greenwald dir. (1984) Strange Invaders, Michael Laughlin dir. (1983) Melvin and Howard, Jonathan Demme dir. (1980) More American Graffiti, Bill L. Norton dir. (1979) Handle with Care (Citizens Band), Jonathan Demme dir. (1977) Aloha, Bobby and Rose, Floyd Mutrux dir. (1975) American Graffiti, George Lucas dir. (1973) ANGIE DICKINSON: She's a blonde. Even back before her hair was that color, back in "Rio Bravo," say, when John Wayne looks absolutely stunned for once, as Ms. Dickinson melts to tears. They fill up her eyes there in that hotel room as she tells John Wayne what's what, and the temperature goes up fast. There's a poster of "The Killers" up on the cutting room wall, because the sound of her getting punched is one that should never be forgotten, and boy is she a blonde in that movie, although her hair is not. What kills you is not the famous hair, not even the laugh; in "Pretty Maids All In a Row" she turns that boy inside out with it, the laugh that starts south and rumbles up into the air like a backed-off Softail; no it's not even her stillness or her humor, but it is the diamond-cutter timing. It is something to be in a scene with her, watching her take it apart and put it back together again; to cut a scene on her rhythm; and so there is a scene wholly reincarnated. When they were shooting "Police Woman," Pepper says her hair was flying all over the place because she was so active, it was so windy; it was either move away from the ocean to work, or wear wigs. If they had shaved her head, she'd have been a blonde. You can move from the ocean, but she takes the thing wherever she wants it to go. -AH Selected Filmography: Pay It Forward, Mimi Leder dir. (2000) Duets, Bruce Paltrow dir. (2000) Sabrina, Sydney Pollack dir. (1995) Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Gus Van Sant dir. (1993) "Wild Palms" (TV), Kathryn Bigelow/Keith Gordon dir. (1993) Dressed to Kill, Brian De Palma dir. (1980) Big Bad Mama, Steve Carver dir. (1974) "Police Woman" (TV series), Corey Allen dir. (1974) Pretty Maids All in a Row, Roger Vadim dir. (1971) Point Blank, John Boorman dir. (1967) The Chase, Arthur Penn dir. (1966) Cast a Giant Shadow, Melville Shavelson dir. (1966) The Killers, Don Siegel dir. (1964) The Sins of Rachel Cade, Gordon Douglas dir. (1961) Ocean's Eleven, Lewis Mileston dir. (1960) Rio Bravo, Howard Hawks dir. (1959) China Gate, Samuel Fuller dir. (1957) ROSANNA ARQUETTE: The first time I laid eyes on Rosanna Arquette, I was drinking in a bar in Las Vegas, New Mexico. The television was tuned to a network station and there, high in the corner, I saw this Young Girl climb onto Tommy Lee Jones' lap, kind of swing her way onto him and give him this Kiss. Kissed him like his mouth was hers alone and she was announcing her ownership to the world. I stood up and backed out of there fast, like I'd been stung with some new truth that I knew I was going to have to carry with me down a long road. She played that part in "The Executioner's Song" just like that kiss, and I was then on the lookout for her, from her bruised and longing Jill of John Sayle's "Baby It's You" through the desperate and longing "Susan" so "Desperately Seeking," and then, man, the hot-wired and longing Paulette in Scorsese's great turn in "New York Stories". And so forth. Longing. She does it so well. She inspires it so eternally. It's like working with a crack shot whose shoes are on fire, and she bailed me out so often, as the day was slamming shut, that I forgot how good she was until the film came in. Dead center every time. -AH Selected Filmography: Things Behind the Sun, Allison Anders dir. (2001) The Whole Nine Yards, Jonathan Lynn dir. (2000) Sugar Town, Allison Anders/Kurt Voss dir. (1999) I'm Losing You, Bruce Wagner dir. (1998) Buffalo '66, Vincent Gallo dir. (1998) Crash, David Cronenberg dir. (1996) Search and Destroy, David Stalle dir. (1995) Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino dir. (1994) New York Stories, Martin Scorsese dir. (1989) The Big Blue, Luc Besson dir. (1988) 8 Million Ways to Die, Hal Ashby dir. (1986) After Hours, Martin Scorsese dir. (1985) Silverado, Lawrence Kasdan dir. (1985) Desperately Seeking Susan, Susan Seidelman dir. (1985) Baby, It's You, John Sayles dir. (1983) "The Executioner's Song" (TV), Lawrence Schiller dir. (1982) MICHAEL PARKS I say to Michael Parks, "So what have you been doing?" And he looks at me and then away and he just sighs and I realize, oh shit, I'm doing that thing. The mindless question. It is our first meeting. My worst meetings as an actor have been with other actors. In their fervor to be different than has been done to them, they are much worse, because they refuse to acknowledge the ineluctable truth about the meeting, that is, it is a shitty deal. The part of Mr. Aaron, in Larry Brown's stories, is probably twenty years older than Michael is and I tell him this and he does what fine actors can do, he gets older right in front of me. So, he's in. I want to say that he's hard. Because being an actor is hard. But the hardness is of course to protect the soft chewy inside, the essence which cannot be articulated except in the work, and so I'd take him any damn day. I see I have not talked about his other work. Look it up on your own for a change. Me, I'm waiting for what's coming. AH Selected Filmography: Niagara, Niagara, Bob Gosse dir. (1997) From Dusk Till Dawn, Robert Rodriguez dir. (1996) Storyville, Mark Frost dir. (1992) "Twin Peaks" (TV series) (1990) ffolkes, Andrew V. McLaglen dir. (1980) "Then Came Bronson" (TV series) (1969) The Happening, Elliot Silverstein dir. (1967) The Bible, John Huston dir. (1966) Bus Riley's Back in Town, Harvey Hart dir. (1965) Wild Seed, Brian G. Hutton dir. (1965) ALEX VAN I know Alex Van from Kansas City. I met him in a rehearsal room. The play was Carson McCullers' The Ballad of the Sad Café. We started hanging around together. He owned a building foundation business and he gave me a job and one night I went to seem him dance the legs off Charlie in "Where's Charlie?" I sat with a row of concrete workers who spit out their tobacco to stand up an cheer when he finished. Alex Van makes home in Dawsonville, Georgia. Over the past several years he has appeared in over 50 television movies and films, including "To Dance With The White Dog," "The Grass Harp/" "Selma, Lord, Selma," "Traveling Man," and numerous television series. He is a member o f several theatre companies in the Atlanta area. Selected Filmography: Having Our Say- TV (1999) The Grass Harp (1995) To Dance With The White Dog- TV (1993) Traveling Man- TV (1989) Cold Sassy Tree (1989) CAST Barlow: Arliss Howard Marilyn: Debra Winger Monroe: Paul Le Mat Velma: Rosanna Arquette Mrs. Barlow Angie Dickinson Mr. Aaron: Michael Parks Deputy: Alex Van Alan: Zach Moody Alisha: Olivia Kersey Twin #1: Kevin Mitchell Twin #2: Matt Mitchell Cindy: Sue Peavey Young Barlow: Michael Williamson Minister: Coleman Barks Mrs. Shepard: Gloria Winters Nurse: Kenneth Carter Young Mrs. Barlow: Melody Wilson Farmer: Preston Duke Farmer's sons: Jacob McAnally,Ian McAnally Lost freezer guy: Bob Muse One night stand: Jo Ann Robinson Cool man: Himself Boxcar marine: Kenny Brown Betti Deloreo: Christie Jackson Voice of Betti Deloreo: Sigourney Weaver Boy Athlete: Reginald Wilson Mop Guy: Johnny McPhail Judge: Ed Hicks Rebuffing Woman: Jaymee Vowell Geranium Drunk: L. Jay McKinney Mr. Barlow: Larry Brown R.L.Burnside: Himself R.L.'s band: Kenny Brown, Cedric Burnside Stunt Coordinator: Chris Howell