Mother and Child The Movie in Boynton Beach, FL

• Info
• Cast & Crew

• Genre: Drama
  
  Synopsis:
  Adoption has a profound effect on the lives of a lawyer (Naomi Watts), a physical therapist (Annette Bening) and a woman (Kerry Washington) who desperately wants a child of her own.
  
  Release Date: -0/07/2010
  Running Time: 126
  
  Rating: R - Restricted
  
  
• Cast:
  Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, Kerry Washington, Jimmy Smits, Samuel Jackson, S. Epatha Merkerson, Cherry Jones, Elpidia Carrillo, Shareeka Epps, David Morse, Eileen Ryan, Amy Brenneman, David Ramsey, Britt Robertson, LisaGay Hamilton, Elizabeth Peña, Marc Blucas, Carla Gallo, Gloria Garayua, Tatyana Ali, Simone Lopez, Lawrence Pressman, LaTanya Richardson, Michael Warren
  
  Crew:
  Director - Rodrigo Garcia, Screenwriter - Rodrigo Garcia, Producer - Lisa Falcone, Producer - Julie Lynn, Executive Producer - Alejandro Iñárritu, Cinematographer - Xavier Grobet, Film Editor - Steven Weisberg, Original Music - Edward Shearmur, Production Design - Christopher Tandom, Set Decoration - Lisa Fischer, Costume Designer - Susie DeSanto, Casting - Heidi Levitt
  
  Production Companies:
  Mockingbird Pictures
  
  Distributors:
  Sony Pictures Classics
  
  Notes:
  - Notes provided by Sony Pictures Classics. - Three women's lives share a common core: they have all been profoundly affected by adoption. KAREN (Annette Bening) had a baby at 14, gave her up at birth, and has been haunted ever since by the daughter she never knew. ELIZABETH (Naomi Watts) grew up as an adopted child; she's a bright and ambitious lawyer, but a flinty loner in her personal life. LUCY (Kerry Washington) is just embarking with her husband on the adoption odyssey, looking for a baby to become their own. Karen lives with her elderly mother NORA (Eileen Ryan), works as a physical therapist in a rehabilitation clinic, and relies on SOFIA (Elpidia Carrillo) to look after Nora and their home while she is working. While Karen and Nora barely speak, Karen keeps up a silent monologue addressed to her absent daughter, writing journal entries and letters never to be sent. Nora's caregiver Sofia brings her little daughter CRISTI (Simone Lopez) to work with her, and they enjoy a warmer relationship with Nora than does Karen. Karen resents Sofia and is uncomfortable around little Cristi. In fact, she's uncomfortable around just about everybody-she's a prickly, demanding, and unsociable woman at home and at work, where she coldly and rudely rebuffs the friendly gestures of a new therapist, PACO (Jimmy Smits). Elizabeth has been newly hired at a tony law firm presided over by PAUL (Samuel L. Jackson). Elizabeth impresses Paul with her sharp legal skills and blunt straight-talking style-but also with her take-charge attitude towards seduction. Before long, the sexy associate is having an affair with her much-older, widowed boss. Paul is a big-hearted family man with an expansive view of life, while Elizabeth is emotionally chilly; she describes herself as remote from her adopted family, with no close attachments. Their opposites-attract affair is curious enough to keep them both interested. Elizabeth, though, enjoys sex as sport-and roping in her neighbor STEVEN (Marc Blucas) is her latest casual conquest. Steven is married to the very-pregnant TRACY (Carla Gallo), and Elizabeth seems to take pleasure, cruelly and deliberately, in undermining the happy-family-to-be. Lucy and her husband JOSEPH (David Ramsey), disappointed that they can't conceive, turn to SISTER JOANNE (Cherry Jones) at a private Catholic adoption agency. There they meet RAY (Shareeka Epps), a young pregnant woman who is interviewing potential parents for her unborn child. Ray is no grateful, helpless teenager-she's an articulate adult with tough questions and a demanding attitude, but Lucy's forthright candor wins Ray over. Lucy is excited that she has at least made the first cut, but family and friends on all sides feed uncertainty. Ray's mother LETITIA (Lisa Gay Hamilton) discourages her from giving up the baby. Joseph's parents can't hide their disappointment that their ``prince won't have a blood heir. Lucy's mother ADA (S. Epatha Merkerson), who helps Lucy run her successful bakery, is supportive but worried. Eventually, Joseph gets cold feet and admits that he wants his own biological child, even if that means breaking up with Lucy, however reluctantly. When Nora dies, Karen is distraught to hear from Sofia that Nora blamed herself for ruining Karen's life by making her give up her baby 37 years earlier-just the words that Karen waited in vain to hear herself. Looking for solace, Karen tracks down the father of her baby, TOM (David Morse), now a long-married father who confesses that he has never forgotten her. They make love, but Tom can't live up to Karen's expectations. Out of her despair, though, comes an impulse to reach out to her tolerant and generous co-worker Paco, who is protective and drawn to her wounded neediness. They marry, and happiness seems finally within Karen's reach. Paco encourages Karen to try to find her long-lost daughter. Karen's adoption decades earlier was handled by the same Catholic agency that has connected Lucy and Ray. There, Sister Joanne explains to Karen that the only way for she and her daughter to find each other would be for one of them to leave a letter inviting contact in the agency's file. Karen assumes that since her daughter never left such a letter, she must not want to make contact. But Elizabeth is that daughter-and she does indeed want to find her birth mother, because she discovers that she is pregnant. She has decided to keep the baby and wants the child to know her grandmother. She writes a letter to her birth mother and leaves it with the adoption agency. Elizabeth had her tubes tied at 17, but she has- against all odds-conceived anyway. She can't know if the baby is her boss Paul's, or her neighbor Steven's, but she takes flight, disappearing from her upscale apartment, job and life. Paul tracks her down and offers to take care of her and the baby, but she denies that it's his, releasing him from obligation. The baby girl who is born by emergency C-section is brown-skinned-hence Paul's-but Elizabeth dies giving birth, leaving her baby orphaned. Meanwhile, Lucy has decided to go ahead with adopting Ray's baby on her own. Lucy is present and ecstatic at the birth, but Ray changes her mind about giving up the baby. Lucy is devastated. There's another baby, though, who needs a home-Elizabeth's. A year goes by, and Elizabeth's letter is finally found in a pile of paperwork clutter at the agency. When the agency contacts her, Karen discovers that the daughter she never knew is dead, but her daughter's daughter lives in her own neighborhood, adopted by Lucy. Their first meeting is joyful. New mother Lucy, her adopted daughter ELLA, and Ella's grandmother Karen begin to forge a new family connection. MOTHER AND CHILD Q&A with Rodrigo Garcia (Writer/Director) Q: You both wrote and directed this film. Which process do you enjoy more? Writing is harder for me. More riddled with insecurity. Is this good enough, different enough, suspenseful enough, human enough, real enough? Do I even like it? Will good actors be interested? The many versions of the real monster, who cares? Of course when it's going well, there's nothing like it. It makes me feels refined and good. Most of the time it's a slog that fuels self contempt. Directing is more physically demanding. My problem then is not isolation, but the opposite, constant interaction. Overdosing on people. Having to pretend that you're the director. But to see what you imagined in the loneliness of your desk late at night live and breathe in front of you is intoxicating. Q: How did the film get off the ground? What was the process in getting the film made? It was a many-pronged approach. (Or is that a many-prayer approach?) Alejandro González Iñárritu sent the script to Naomi Watts and encouraged her to do it while Julie Lynn began the search for funding, other cast members and a first rate crew. An initial offer to Annette Bening did not pan out because of other commitments and that was a big disappointment. We had flirtations with studios, but the threats of strikes compromised that. We got Kerry Washington on board at this point, but then Naomi became pregnant and we decided to postpone and wait for her. (That we postponed because she was pregnant we all thought would bring us good luck, given the nature of the material). Waiting for her contributed to Annette becoming available again, and then Sam and Jimmy signed on. That was a great high, the cast that lined up. Cherry Jones! Finally, when we had everything in the world but financing, Lisa Maria Falcone and Tom Heller of Everest Entertainment stepped in and made it possible. WestEnd in London also was very supportive with foreign pre-sales. Q: What was the most difficult scene to shoot? I went into most of them scared and was at ease right after the first rehearsal. So all of them, then none. I suppose the scene with young Karen and young Tom filled me with apprehension more than others. Fourteen-year-olds making out. Really? I have to direct that? Their seriousness and professionalism saved my behind. Q: What is your favorite scene in the film? I've never worked on anything that has so many scenes that I'm happy with. Here are three: -- When Karen finds out what her mother really thought about her. -- When Paul offers the world to Elizabeth.-- When Lucy introduces herself and her husband and their dreams to Sister Joanne at the adoption agency. Q: Where did you shoot the film and how long was the shoot? We shot in locations in and around Los Angeles for 29 days. Q: Many of your films are centered on women, with men playing second fiddle. What is it about women that you find so fascinating? Ever since I began to write, my women characters have been more complex than the men, but I don't know why. Since my movies are not essentially about women but about subjects that interest me, the sex of the characters is not always that important to me. Like any filmmaker I use the strongest tools that I have, and female characters are it. Jason Isaacs said to me that I write about women because it frees me to write about emotional subjects more emotionally. I like women and feminine things. Anything from the gregarious nature of women to pregnancy to a woman's face trying to pick out clothing or seeing a handsome man. How they love their loved ones and how they drive each other crazy. The ways they pursue the things they want. Of course I don't really know what they're thinking-but what fun to imagine it. MOTHER AND CHILD About the Cast Naomi Watts (ELIZABETH) Naomi Watts is an accomplished actress, consistently receiving rave reviews and accolades for her many performances. In 2004, she was honored with an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her role in Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu's 21 Grams. Her performance in 21 Grams, in which she starred alongside Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro, also garnered Best Actress Awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Southeastern Film Critics Association, Washington Area Film Critics and San Diego Film Critics, as well as Best Actress nominations from the SAG Awards, BAFTAs, Broadcast Film Critics and Golden Satellites. At the film's premiere at the 2003 Venice International Film Festival, she received the Audience Award (Lion of the Public) for Best Actress. Prior to starring in Rodrigo Garcia's Mother and Child, Watts recently starred in Tom Twyker's The International opposite Clive Owen, as well as David Cronenberg's drama/thriller Eastern Promises opposite Viggo Mortensen and Michael Haneke's thriller Funny Games. She recently completed production on Doug Liman's Fair Game where she stars alongside Sean Penn. Her next project is the Untitled Woody Allen London Project where she will star alongside an all-star cast including Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins. Watts has had an impressive list of movies since her acclaimed debut in David Lynch's controversial drama Mulholland Drive, in which she earned Best Actress Awards from a number of critics' organizations, including the National Board of Review and National Society of Film Critics. In addition to starring as 'Ann Darrow' in Peter Jackson's epic remake of King Kong; her credits include We Don't Live Here Anymore, in which she starred and produced; The Assassination of Richard Nixon opposite Sean Penn and Don Cheadle; David O. Russell's I (Heart) Huckabee's with Jude Law and Dustin Hoffman; Marc Forster's Stay opposite Ewan McGregor and Ryan Gosling; Gore Verbinski's The Ring and the sequel The Ring 2; Merchant-Ivory's Le Divorce alongside Kate Hudson, Glenn Close and Stockard Channing; and John Curran's The Painted Veil opposite Edward Norton, which was based on W. Somerset Maugham's novel. Born in England, Watts moved to Australia at the age of 14 and began studying acting. Her first major film role came in John Duigan's Flirting. She produced and starred in the short film Ellie Parker, which screened in competition at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. In 2005, a full length feature of the short debuted at Sundance. Among her many awards and recognitions, Watts received the Montecito Award from the Santa Barbara Film Festival in 2006 for her role in King Kong; was honored by the Palm Springs Film Festival in 2003 for 21 Grams; and in 2002, she was named the Female Star of Tomorrow at ShoWest and received the Breakthrough Acting Award at the Hollywood Film Festival, both for Mulholland Drive. Watts currently resides in Los Angeles and New York. Annette Bening (KAREN) Prior to her starring role in Rodrigo Garcia's Mother and Child, Annette Bening was most recently seen on the big screen in writer-director Diane English's remake of The Women, starring alongside Meg Ryan, Eva Mendes and Jada Pinkett-Smith. Before that, she starred in the 2006 film Running with Scissors for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. She recently her next film opposite Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo, called The Kids Are All Right. Annette was 'Julia Lambert' in Being Julia for Sony Pictures Classics, the role that earned the actress her third Oscar nomination. For that performance, she was also named the National Board of Review's ``Best Actress, won the Golden Globe award for ``Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy, and received a SAG nomination for ``Best Actress. She also starred in Mrs. Harris with Ben Kingsley for HBO, earning an Emmy, SAG, and Golden Globe nomination. An award-winning stage actress, Bening has spent much of her time in front of the movie camera. She starred in the critically acclaimed film American Beauty, for which she received both an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe nomination for ``Best Actress/Drama. Her performance in the film earned her a Screen Actors Guild Award and the BAFTA (British Academy) Award. Her other film credits include Neil Jordan's In Dreams, and The Siege, opposite Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis. Bening was honored at the Boston, Palm Springs and Chicago Film Festivals with Lifetime Achievement Awards, as well as receiving the Donostia Prize at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. She won the ``Actress of the Year award at the Hollywood Film Festival, and received the Montecito Award at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. She received her first Academy Award nomination and was named ``Best Supporting Actress by the National Board of Review for her role in The Grifters. She also received a Golden Globe nomination for ``Best Actress/Musical or Comedy for her starring role in Rob Reiner's The American President, opposite Michael Douglas. Bening also had supporting roles in Tim Burton's Mars Attacks!, and in Sir Ian McKellen's film adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard III. Her other film credits include Love Affair with Warren Beatty, and Barry Levinson's Bugsy, also opposite Beatty, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination for ``Best Actress, Regarding Henry with Harrison Ford and directed by Mike Nichols, Guilty By Suspicion, opposite Robert DeNiro, Milos Forman's Valmont, and Postcards From The Edge. Bening made her feature film debut in the comedy The Great Outdoors, with Dan Aykroyd and the late John Candy. Bening's theater credits include the Anton Chekhov play ``The Cherry Orchard at Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum in 2006, and Alan Bennett's ``Talking Heads, at the Tiffany Theater in Los Angeles. She also played the title role in Henrik Ibsen's ``Hedda Gabler in March 1999 at Los Angeles' Geffen Playhouse. She will next appear on stage in Medea at UCLA, and in The Female of the Species, also at the Geffen Playhouse. Born in Topeka, Kansas and raised in San Diego, Bening was enrolled at a local college when she got a job as a dancer in a pre-show presented outside of San Diego's famed Old Globe Theater. This led to a walk-on in a Shakespearean production, this time inside the theater, and two plays with the San Diego Repertory Theater. Bening graduated from San Francisco State University and was accepted by the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, where she trained until she joined the acting company. She also appeared in both summer Shakespearean festivals and regional productions until her career took her to New York. There, Bening received both a Tony Award nomination and won the Clarence Derwent Award for most outstanding debut performance of the season for her role in ``Coastal Disturbances, originally at the Second Stage, then on Broadway. Kerry Washington (LUCY) Winner of ``Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for Ray at the NAACP Image Awards in 2005 and Nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for ``Best Actress in the film Lift in 2002, Kerry Washington is a versatile, talented and fearless actress who has built an impressive list of credits in a relatively short amount of time. She garnered critical acclaim for her recent roles in The Last King of Scotland opposite Forest Whitaker for which she was nominated for ``Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture at the NAACP Image Awards in 2007, The Dead Girl opposite Marcia Gay Harden and Brittany Murphy, and in Lakeview Terrace starring opposite Samuel L. Jackson and Patrick Wilson. After her starring role on Mother and Child with Annette Bening and Naomi Watts, Kerry will next be seen in A Thousand Words opposite Eddie Murphy. Prior to these films, Washington starred as Alicia Masters in Fantastic Four and its sequel Rise of the Silver Surfer, I Think I Love My Wife opposite Chris Rock, the Wayans Brothers' comedy Little Man, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Spike Lee's She Hate Me, Sidney Lumet's HBO film Strip Search and the independent film Sexual Life. Other film credits for Washington include Against the Ropes, The United States of Leland, The Human Stain, Bad Company, Save the Last Dance for which she received a Teen Choice Award for Best Breakout Performance, and the highly acclaimed independent film, Our Song. In December 2009, Washington won acclaim in her Broadway debut in David Mamet's new play ``Race alongside James Spader and Richard Thomas. In TV, Washington will be seen in Howard Zinn's documentary The People Speak, along with Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and Sean Penn, which airs on the History Channel in December 2009. During her free time, Washington is an active member on the Board of Directors for The Creative Coalition, a group dedicated to raising awareness of First Amendment Rights and support of arts in education, and is a Committee Member of Americans for the Arts, which is the nation's leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. She is also a member of the V-Counsel, an esteemed group of advisors to V-Day, the global movement to end violence against women and girls (vday.org). Washington is currently a spokesperson for both L'Oreal Paris and Movado. Samuel L. Jackson (PAUL) Respectfully labeled as one of the hardest working actors in Hollywood, Jackson is an undisputed star as demonstrated in the fact that his films have grossed the most money in box office sales than any other actor in the history of filmmaking. Jackson made an indelible mark on American cinema with his portrayal of 'Jules', the philosophizing hitman, in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. In addition to unanimous critical acclaim for his performance, he received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations as Best Supporting Actor as well as a Best Supporting Actor award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. In addition to his supporting role in Rodrigo Garcia's Mother and Child, Jackson recently completed filming the drama Unthinkable, directed by Gregor Jordan, co-starring Michael Sheen. He also recently filmed the big screen adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's play Sunset Limited co-starring and directed by Tommy Lee Jones. In 2008, Jackson's films included the Neil LaBute thriller, Lakeview Terrace, which premiered at the Deauville Film Festival, followed by the Dimension Studios comedy Soul Men, alongside the late Bernie Mac. He most recently starred in the Frank Miller action drama The Spirit, in which he portrayed the nemesis, ``Octopus. Jackson made a surprise cameo appearance in the 2008 blockbuster hit, Iron Man and has signed on to reprise the Marvel character ``Nick Fury in Iron Man 2 (the head of ``S.H.I.E.L.D) and signed with marvel for an unprecedented nine picture deal to include Thor, Captain America, S.H.I.E.L.D among others. He also starred in the Doug Liman directed sci-fi, action film, Jumper. In 2007, Jackson had a starring role in the acclaimed drama Resurrecting the Champ, and a co-starring role in the very successful horror film for the Weinstein Co., 1408, based on the Stephen King novel. Earlier that year, Jackson starred in the Craig Brewer film Black Snake Moan, and Irwin Winkler's MGM war drama Home of the Brave. In 2006, Jackson starred in New Line's Snakes on a Plane, directed by David Ellis, a horror/drama film. Jackson also starred opposite Julianne Moore in Revolution Studio's Freedomland, directed by Joe Roth, based on the best selling novel of the same name. He also appeared as 'Agent Derrick Vann' in New Line's The Man, opposite Eugene Levy. In early 2005, Jackson topped the opening weekend box office charts with the success of the Paramount Pictures film, Coach Carter. Jackson portrayed real-life high school basketball coach, 'Ken Carter', a dedicated role model and advocate for students succeeding in the classroom as well as on the basketball court. Coach Carter was screened as the opening night film of the prestigious Palm Springs Film Festival. Jackson received the Career Achievement Award for Acting from the Festival. Jackson also starred in the independent film for Sony Classics, In My Country, based on the best-selling novel, Country of My Skull, by South African writer, Antije Krog. Jackson portrayed an American reporter who must cope with the aftermath of apartheid as his newspaper assigns him to cover the Truth and Reconciliation Trials, established by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, that exposed the worst cases of torture, abuse and violence. In My Country was directed by John Boorman and produced by Bob Chartoff and Mike Medavoy. Juliette Binoche co-stars. In 2005, Jackson reprised his role as 'Agent Augustus Gibbons' in XXX: State of the Union and as 'Mace Windu' in Star Wars: Episode III - The Revenge of the Sith. To no one's surprise, Star Wars: Episode III - The Revenge of the Sith made an incredible impact at the box office breaking numerous opening day records. In 2004, Jackson ``appeared as the character 'Frozone' in the Disney animated action-adventure film, The Incredibles which was released to record box office results. The film was directed and written by Brad Bird and earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture as well as two Academy Award nominations. In 2003, Jackson starred in S.W.A.T for Columbia TriStar. Directed by Clark Johnson, S.W.A.T. is about an arrested drug kingpin who is transported by a Los Angeles Police Department S.W.A.T. team and led out of the city and into Federal custody. Plans go awry when the kingpin offers $100 million to anyone who can free him. Colin Farrell and Michelle Rodriguez are also in the film. In 2002, Jackson starred with Ben Affleck in the box office and critical success, Paramount's Changing Lanes. Jackson delivered an intense yet sympathetic performance of a father who was down on his luck, but intent on getting even with the man that wronged him. Also in 2002, Jackson starred and executive produced the Sony/ Screen Gems film Formula 51, with Robert Carlyle; co-starred in the sci-fi thriller, XXX; and reprised his role as 'Mace Windu' in the second installment of George Lucas' Stars Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. In 2001, Jackson starred in Jersey Franchise/Universal's Caveman's Valentine. Directed by Kasi Lemmons, the film followed the story of a homeless man in New York City who discovered a murder. Jackson also served as an executive producer on the project, which was the most successful independent film of the year. This was Jackson's second project with Kasi Lemmons with the first being the applauded, Eve's Bayou, which he also produced in 1997. In 2000, Jackson co-starred opposite Bruce Willis in writer/director M. Night Shyamalan's suspense drama, Unbreakable for Disney. Jackson's character, 'Elijah Price,' a highly suspicious and wheelchair bound man with a far-fetched theory, holds the key to the film's underlying question of, ``Are You Unbreakable? Also in 2000, Jackson starred in John Singleton's Shaft in the title role opposite Christian Bale and Vanessa Williams. Jackson also starred in Paramount's courtroom drama Rules of Engagement where he played Col. Terry Childers, a military officer on trial for ordering his soldiers to open fire on civilians. Directed by William Friedkin, the film co-starred Tommy Lee Jones. Both Shaft and Rules of Engagement were screened at the 2000 Deauville Film Festival, where Jackson was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1999, Jackson starred in Warner Bros. Deep Blue Sea for director Renny Harlin. Jackson also made a cameo appearance in George Lucas' highly successful and popular Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace. In 1998, Jackson also starred in The Negotiator and in Francois Girard's The Red Violin. In 1997, Jackson starred in Jackie Brown, his second film with director Quentin Tarantino. For the latter he received a Golden Globe nomination and the Silver Bear Award for Best Actor in a Comedy at the Berlin Film Festival. Later that year he starred in 187. Jackson starred opposite Sandra Bullock, Matthew McConaughey and Kevin Spacey in Joel Schumacher's 1996 film of the John Grisham novel, A Time to Kill. For his performance Jackson received a Golden Globe nomination and an NAACP Image Award. He also starred opposite Bruce Willis in Die Hard with a Vengeance, the top-grossing movie internationally in 1995. In 1991, Jackson made movie history with his portrayal of a crack addict in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever when he was awarded the first and only Best Supporting Performance Award ever given by the judges at the Cannes Film Festival. He also won the New York Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for that performance. His other film credits include Twisted, Sphere, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Hard Eight, Kiss of Death, Losing Isaiah and Amos and Andrew. Additional film credits include: Ragtime, Sea of Love, Coming to America, Ray, Do the Right Thing, School Daze, Mo' Better Blues, Goodfellas, Strictly Business, White Sands, Patriot Games, Jumpin' at the Boneyard, Father and Sons, Juice, Fresh and True Romance. On the small screen, Jackson serves as Executive Producer for the animated series for Spike TV, Afro Samurai which premiered in 2007 and returned for a third season in January 2009. Earlier this month, Afro Samurai recently received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Animated Program from the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences. The first edition of the Afro Samurai video game launched in February 2009. In 2008, Jackson secured a first look television deal with CBS and their properties to produce and develop upcoming projects. On television, Jackson starred in John Frankenheimer's Emmy Award-winning Against the Wall for HBO. His performance earned him a Cable Ace nomination as Best Supporting Actor in a Movie or Miniseries, as well as a Golden Globe nomination. Jackson's career began upon his graduation from Morehouse College in Atlanta with a degree in dramatic arts. He went on to perform in numerous stage plays, including ``Home, ``A Soldier's Play, ``Sally/Prince and ``The District Line. He also originated roles in two of August Wilson's plays at Yale Repertory Theatre. For the New York Shakespeare Festival, Jackson appeared in ``Mother Courage and Her Children, ``Spell 7, and ``The Mighty Gents. While still a student at Morehouse, Jackson made his film debut in Together for Days. Jimmy Smits (PACO) Proving that versatility is as important as skill in the acting profession, Jimmy Smits has built a career that allows him to move effortlessly between film, television and stage. The Emmy Award and Golden Globe winning actor continues to effectively navigate towards his goal of making quality television and film. He recently completed his critically-acclaimed role as Assistant District Attorney Miguel Prado in Season 3 of Showtime's hit series Dexter. In addition to his supporting role in Mother and Child, directed by Rodrigo Garcia and also starring Annette Bening, Naomi Watts and Samuel L. Jackson, Smits also recently completed production on El Traspatio (Backyard), directed by Carlos Carrera. Smits recently added producing to his list of accomplishments. His El Sendero Productions co-executive produced the recent CBS series, Cane, in which he also starred. While the show was slowly emerging as a commercial success, it was critically acclaimed for its cutting edge and dramatic reflection of the family dynamic within a modern day Cuban-American family. Smits' filmography includes such early works as Peter Hyams' Running Scared with Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal; John Schlesinger's The Believers; Old Gringo with Gregory Peck and Jane Fonda; Blake Edwards' comedy Switch; and the critically acclaimed My Family/Mi Familia, directed by Gregory Nava, for which he received an IFP Spirit Award nomination. Smits' later works include Carlos �vila's Price of Glory; Chuck Russell's thriller Bless the Child; George Lucas' Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, and Robin Swicord's The Jane Austen Book Club. Smits has a special fondness for the theater, having been born close to Broadway, the home of New York theatre. His introduction into acting was the theater and it always calls to his heart to return home. He starred on Broadway in 2004 as the romantic new arrival in a Cuban-American cigar factory in Nilo Cruz's Pulitzer Prize-winning play ``Anna in the Tropics, proceeded by New York Public Theatre's ``Shakespeare in the Park presentations of ``Much Ado About Nothing (2004) and ``Twelfth Night (2002), as well as a number of off-Broadway and regional theatre productions. Taking his dedication to the arts to the next level, he is also an active member of the New York Public Theater's Board of Directors. In addition to his work on the stage and on the screen, Smits has enjoyed an exemplary television career. In 2006, Smits completed his role in the long-running and critically-acclaimed NBC series The West Wing. As President Matthew Santos, Smits brought to the show his own infusion of energy and added even more depth to the well-written and politically relevant plot line. Smits was also seen in HBO's multiple award-winning television movie Lackawanna Blues, George C. Wolfe's colorful tale of boarding house life, love and blues in 1950's New York. Other television credits include The Broken Cord, The Tommyknockers, The Cisco Kid and Marshal Law. He received six consecutive Em