THE BIG C: hereafter PRESS KIT
Q&A WITH DARLENE HUNT, CREATOR/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER & JENNY BICKS, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/SHOWRUNNER
· Why did you change to the hour-long format for these episodes?
DARLENE HUNT: When we talked about Cathy's story coming to an end, it didn't seem to fit easily into the half-hour episodic format. We wanted to make this season feel special and be able to tell bigger stories and not be afraid of the drama.
JENNY BICKS: The change was a SHOWTIME suggestion, and we went with it. It was a great idea, turns out. We were able to keep the DNA of the tone of the show, but did not feel like we had to cut our moments as short as we had to in the half-hour form. We could let the show breathe. It lives really easily in the one-hour format, and we were able to tell more story. Also, it allowed us to skip over time more easily--over these four parts, we go from September to May. We started the series on the first day of Summer and we wanted to pretty much end up where we started.
· What do you want viewers to take away from THE BIG C? What about for those with or affected by cancer who identify with Cathy?
DH: My personal agenda has always been to talk about the subject of death in a loud and proud way. Cathy has cancer specifically but we're all dying by the fact that we're living. My fear of death has lessened a bit since writing the show. So hey, it might be a big dream, but I hope people, after watching the show, will talk about death more and fear it less. It's harder for me to talk about the cancer element in particular. But I have always tried to write characters that people can identify with. I think there's such comfort in seeing an aspect of one's own life portrayed on screen in some way. So I hope people affected by cancer who watch the show will simply enjoy it.
JB: All of us are going to die. What are you going to do to make your life worth it?
For those effected by cancer, I would want them to look at Cathy and see that it is okay to be human, to make mistakes. Just because you are sick, you do not have to be a hero. I would hope, too, that they can look to Cathy and respect her strength and her willingness to challenge herself and her family.
· What do guest stars Isaac Mizrahi, Kathy Najimy, Alan Alda and Brian Dennehy bring to these episodes?
DH: We've always been able to get great guest actors. Who doesn't want to work with Laura Linney? Isaac, Kathy, Alan and Brian in particular all seemed so honored to be a part of Cathy's final journey. They realized that we were trying to do something we felt was so important. And they seemed to agree. So of course they all brought their ‘A’ game.
JB: Isaac is a sparkly cupcake of fun for our episodes. He and Gabby (Sidibe) made a great pair. He plays himself as Andrea's teacher and mentor and challenges her to find the brightness in Cathy's bleak situation.
Kathy is Cathy's down-to-earth shrink. We had avoided giving Cathy a shrink until this final season. But we really felt like, with everything happening with her health and her marriage, she would seek out someone to talk to. But we wanted that person to be as unlike the typical shrink as possible. Kathy plays a shrink who talks back. She is our dream of what you want in a listener and a friend.
Alan Alda makes the perfect foil for Cathy. As Dr. Sherman, he is no-nonsense to a fault, whereas Cathy is always looking for a connection, an emotional response. But they respect each other, and in the end, there is love between them, I think.
Brian Dennehy plays Cathy's dad this season. You couldn't ask for someone more perfect. He has that tough exterior, and you really get where Cathy would feel like her dad just wasn't there for her. Brian, himself, was a doll. As a side note, I had written a line in the final episode where Sean accuses their dad of still wearing ‘Army pajamas’. Brian corrected me--they are called ‘skivvies.’ He was a Marine and wanted to get it right. I loved that he did that. And that he was still so proud of serving.
· Why did you feel the need to have Cathy's doctor become a patient?
DH: We talked to a lot of doctors while doing research for the show. I remember one doctor saying he didn't know if his perspective on treating cancer would change if he were the patient. So we wanted to show that role-reversal and how it affects Cathy's doctor.
JB: When I was sick, I remember thinking, ‘Oh God, please don't let anything happen to my doctor.’ When you put your life in someone else's hands, you really start to see them as God-like and completely in charge of whether you live or die. We wanted to explode this myth. Doctors are human, and they get sick, too. We wanted to put Cathy off-balance and this did that.
· How will Cathy's journey end?
DH: Peacefully.
JB: The way it is supposed to.
· Any final thoughts?
DH: It's an amazing thing to create a character in your head and then have her be breathed to life by an incredible actress and then tell her story to the world. I've learned so much and been so humbled by THE BIG C. I'm just grateful to have gotten to bring this subject matter to TV. I hope people watch the final season. I hope they laugh and cry and want to talk about it with their friends. I'm sure some of them will say something nasty about it on Facebook but that's okay, too. That's part of the "humbling.”
JB: Enjoy the final season. We are very proud of it. And do something fun today. Cathy would want that.
THE BIG C: hereafter
BIOS
LAURA LINNEY
(Cathy Jamison/Executive Producer)
LAURA LINNEY has earned a Golden Globe® Award and most recently was nominated for an Emmy® Award for her role as ‘Cathy Jamison’ in THE BIG C. Linney stars in Focus Features’ Hyde Park on Hudson, the story of the love affair between President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his distant cousin Margaret Stuckley, played by Linney. In 2008, Linney received an Academy Award® nomination in the Lead Actress category for her role in the box office hit, The Savages, opposite Phillip Seymour Hoffman and also starred in the critically acclaimed HBO miniseries John Adams, for which she won an Emmy Award, a SAG Award and a Golden Globe. Linney’s additional credits include, Kenneth Lonergan’s You Can Count On Me for which she was nominated for an Oscar, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Golden Globe Award and an Independent Spirit Award. She received the award for Best Actress from the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics for her work in that film. She received Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award nominations for her work in The Squid and the Whale. In 2004, she starred in Kinsey, opposite Liam Neeson and directed by Bill Condon, for which she was nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In addition, she won the award for “Best Supporting Actress” by the National Board of Review for her work in Kinsey. In 2003, Linney appeared in the ensemble romantic comedy Love Actually, written and directed by Richard Curtis. She was also seen that year in Mystic River, directed by Clint Eastwood for which she was nominated for “Best Supporting Actress in a Drama” by The British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Her other credits include Congo, Absolute Power, Primal Fear, opposite Richard Gere and directed by Gregory Hoblit, The Truman Show opposite Jim Carrey, The House of Mirth, Lorenzo’s Oil, Dave, Searching for Bobby Fischer, A Simple Twist of Fate, The Mothman Prophecies, The Life of David Gale, PS, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Breach, Man of the Year, Driving Lessons, Jindabyne, The Hottest State, The Nanny Diaries, The Other Man, City of your Final Destination, Morning, Sympathy for Delicious and The Details. Linney returned to television on the NBC comedy Frasier as Dr. Frasier Crane’s love interest, Charlotte. For this role, Linney won a 2004 Emmy Award for “Best Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.” She previously won an Emmy for “Outstanding Lead Actress” for SHOWTIME’s Wild Iris opposite Gena Rowlands. Additional television appearances include the lead role of Mary Ann Singleton in PBS’s Tales of the City based on the novels by Armistead Maupin, a role which she reprised in More Tales of the City for SHOWTIME. Linney was also seen opposite Joanne Woodward in the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation of Blind Spot and opposite Steven Weber in Love Letters, directed by Stanley Donen. The Julliard graduate stepped onto the stage in 2010 for the critically acclaimed production of Time Stands Still. Linney was nominated for a Tony Award as well as a Drama Desk Award. Directed by Donald Marguiles, the play was also nominated for a Tony Award and brought back by popular demand to Broadway in 2011. In 2008, Linney starred in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival of Christopher Hampton’s Les Liaisons Dangereuse with Ben Daniels. She was nominated for a Tony for her performance in Richard Eyre’s The Crucible, opposite Liam Neeson. In 2004, Linney starred in Donald Margulies’ Broadway staging of Sight Unseen, the same play she did 12 years before. For her role as Patricia she received a Tony nomination as well as nominations from the Drama League, the Drama Desk Club and the Outer Critic Circle for “Outstanding Actress” in a play. Her additional theatre credits include roles in the Broadway presentations of Six Degrees of Separation; The Seagull; Hedda Gabler, for which she won a 1994 Calloway Award, Phillip Barry’s Holiday, a comedy of manners, opposite Tony Goldwyn; Honour, Sight Unseen, for which she earned a Theatre World Award and a Drama Desk nomination; and John Guare’s Landscape of the Body at the Yale Repertory Theatre.
OLIVER PLATT
(Paul)
OLIVER PLATT can next be seen in Marc Turtletaub’s Gods Behaving Badly, in which he plays ‘Apollo’. The film tells the story of the Greek Gods, alive, well and living in New York City where they cross paths with a young, mortal couple. The film also stars Christopher Walken, Sharon Stone and Edie Falco. He will also be seen in Sally Potter’s Ginger and Rosa opposite Elle Fanning and Annette Bening, which originally premiered at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival. Platt was last seen in Julian Farino’s The Oranges in which he starred opposite Allison Janney, Catherine Keener and Hugh Laurie. This past summer, Platt appeared in the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park production of As You Like It at the Delacorte Theater. The production, directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan, also starred Lily Rabe, David Furr and Stephen Spinella. Additional film credits include Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class, Ed Zwick’s Love and Other Drugs, Nicole Holofcener’s Please Give, Roland Emmerich's 2012, Ron Howard’s Frost / Nixon, the Harold Ramis comedy Year One, Casanova, The Ice Harvest, Funny Bones, Bulworth, Married to the Mob, Working Girl, Flatliners, Postcards From the Edge, Indecent Proposal, The Three Musketeers, A Time to Kill, Doctor Dolittle, Simon Birch, Lake Placid, Don’t Say a Word and Pieces of April. Platt made his producing debut on the indie film Big Night, which was co-directed by actors Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott. He would later reteam with Tucci in The Impostors. On television, Platt was seen playing the role of George Steinbrenner on the hit ESPN miniseries The Bronx is Burning, opposite John Turturro and Daniel Sunjata. His performance earned him a SAG nomination. Platt graduated from Tufts University with a degree in drama and immediately began working in regional theater, as well as off-Broadway in such productions as The Tempest and John Guare’s Moon Over Miami. He also starred in the Lincoln Center production of Ubu and Jules Feiffer’s Elliot Loves, directed by Mike Nichols, and received rave reviews for his performance as Sir Toby Belch in Brian Kulick’s Twelfth Night. Platt received a Tony nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actor for his work on Broadway in Conor McPherson’s Shining City, which was also nominated for Best Play. Other accolades include a Golden Globe and back-to-back Emmy nominations for his portrayal of Russell Tupper in SHOWTIME’s Huff as well as an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal as White House Counsel Oliver Babish on the popular political drama The West Wing. He was also nominated again for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his recurring role on playing the flamboyant TV producer Freddy Prune in Nip/Tuck.
GABRIEL BASSO
(Adam)
GABRIEL BASSO was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He has one older sister, Alexandria, and a younger sister, Annalise. Basso landed his first movie role in Alabama Moon, directed by Tim McCanlies, and various episodic work like The Middle, Perception and The Haunting Hour. He made his big-screen debut in 2011 with a lead role in Steven Spielberg’s and JJ Abrams’ SUPER 8 as ‘Martin.’ He has had lead roles in the independent features not yet released, Anatomy of the Tide and this summer, playing a lead as Megan Mullally's son in Toy's House. Basso loves soccer, football, and playing the violin. Basso is the great-nephew of Samuel Grosvenor Wood who directed A Night at the Opera, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, The Pride of the Yankees, and co-directed Gone With the Wind.
JOHN BENJAMIN HICKEY
(Sean)
JOHN BENJAMIN HICKEY won the 2011 Tony® Award for best featured actor in a play for his performance in The Normal Heart, a play he performed while filming the second season of THE BIG C. He has appeared in many Broadway plays, including Mary Stuart, The Crucible, Cabaret, and Love! Valour! Compassion!, for which he won an Obie Award. He reprised his role in the film of the same name. His other films include The Anniversary Party, The Ice Storm, Infamous, Flags of Our Fathers, The Taking of Pelham 123 and Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. His many television appearances include Sex and the City, It’s All Relative, and Me and My Shadows: Life with Judy Garland. Most recently, Hickey was seen in the film Pitch Perfect and as a guest star in the hit television series The Good Wife and The New Normal.
GABOUREY SIDIBE
(Andrea)
GABOUREY SIDIBE was a student pursuing a degree in psychology when she was cast as the lead role ‘Precious’ in Lee Daniels’s film Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire for which she received an Academy Award® and Golden Globe® nomination for Best Actress. She was awarded both The Independent Spirit Award and the NAACP Image Award for “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role.” She also garnered Best Actress nominations from the Screen Actors Guild, Broadcast Film Critics, and British Academy of Film and Television Arts. The National Board of Review awarded her with the Breakthrough Performance Award and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival honored her with the Vanguard Award for “taking artistic risks and making a significant and unique contribution to film.” Sidibe was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for her role as Andrea on The Big C. She starred in Universal’s action-comedy film Tower Heist opposite Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy for director Brett Ratner. She also made a standout cameo appearance in Martin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths. Her next film projects are Victoria Mahoney’s independent film Yelling to the Sky, which premiered at Berlinale Film Festival and Gregg Araki’s White Bird in a Blizzard opposite Shailene Woodley. In 2010, she had the distinct honor of hosting Saturday Night Live.
ALAN ALDA
(Dr. Atticus Sherman)
ALAN ALDA has earned international recognition as an actor, writer and director. In addition to The Aviator, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award®, Alda’s films include Crimes and Misdemeanors, Everyone Says I Love You, Flirting with Disaster, Manhattan Murder Mystery, And the Band Played On, Same Time, Next Year and California Suite, as well as The Seduction of Joe Tynan, which he wrote, and The Four Seasons, Sweet Liberty, A New Life and Betsy’s Wedding, all of which he wrote and directed. He appeared in Tower Heist in 2011, and Wanderlust in 2012.
He has the distinction of being nominated for an Oscar®, a Tony®, and an Emmy® - as well as publishing a bestselling book - all in the same year (2005). His Emmy nomination was for his role on The West Wing. His Tony nomination that year was for his role in the Broadway revival of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross. In addition to receiving an Academy Award nomination for his appearance in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator that year, he was also nominated for a British Academy Award. Alda played Hawkeye Pierce on the classic television series M*A*S*H, and wrote and directed many of the episodes. His 33 Emmy nominations include performances in 2009 for 30 Rock, in 2006 for The West Wing (winning his 6th Emmy), and in 1999 for ER. In 1994, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. Other television performances include Truman Capote's The Glass House and Kill Me If You Can, for which he received an Emmy nomination. In 2011, the play he wrote,Radiance: the Passion of Marie Curie, had its world premiere at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.
On Broadway, he has appeared as the physicist Richard Feynman in the play QED. He starred in the first American production of the international hit play ART. He was also nominated for the Tony Award for his performances in Neil Simon's Jake’s Women and the musical The Apple Tree. Other appearances on Broadway include The Owl and the Pussycat, Purlie Victorious and Fair Game for Lovers, for which he received a Theatre World Award. His first memoir Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, and Other Things I’ve Learned became a New York Times bestseller, as did his second: Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself.
ISAAC MIZRAHI
(Himself)
ISAAC MIZRAHI has been a leader in the fashion industry for almost 30 years. Since his first collection in 1987, Mizrahi's designs have come to stand for timeless cosmopolitan style. Mizrahi is the recipient of many accolades, including four Council of Fashion Designers of America awards. Coveted by Hollywood's most stylish, his classic designs are often seen on the red carpet. Currently, Mizrahi is launching the Isaac Mizrahi New York and Isaac Mizrahi Jeans collections, available in retailers nationwide, such as Bloomingdales and Nordstrom. The collections range from ready to wear, footwear, and accessories to housewares. Additionally, he launched his premiere fragrance, FABULOUS, which debuted with a print advertising campaign shot by famed fashion photographer Terry Richardson. In December 2009, Mizrahi launched his lifestyle collection, "ISAACMIZRAHILIVE!" on QVC, the cable television shopping network. Previously, 2003, Mizrahi pioneered the concept of high-design for the mass retailer with a successful partnership with the Target Corporation.
PHYLLIS SOMERVILLE
(Marlene)
PHYLLIS SOMERVILLE, daughter of a Methodist minister and a librarian, was born in Iowa City, Iowa. The acting dream came early when she sang songs and recited pieces at holiday pageants and covered dish dinners. This dream was expanded at age four when her father took her to New York City where she remembers Yankee Stadium, the subway, and Radio City Music Hall. She decided to be a Yankee, a New Yorker, and Rockette. In high school, taking a slight detour from acting, she was a cheerleader and a baton twirler. Her first paying job was in Buckshin Joe, Colorado, a restored mining town: ingénue in melodramas at night, bar singer after the show, saloon girl in afternoon gunfights, and church organist on Sunday morning. She graduated from the University of Northern Iowa and attended Wayne State University. Her first Equity job was at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. Most treasured roles include parts in Over Here, The Spitfire Grill, Happiness, Night Mother, The Greeks, Lateline and NYBD Blue. Other roles includes Mrs. Raimes in Life on Mars, May McGorvey in Little Children, the Pawnbroker in Lucy You, Grandma Fuller in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Ruby in Forgetting the Girl, Mrs. McGarrick in Stoker with Nicole Kidman, and House of Cards, starring Kevin Spacey. Somerville is a member of the Labyrinth and loves doing the kids’ plays at the 52nd Street Project (once got to play a New York Yankee). So she’s been a Yankee and she’s been a New Yorker 40 years, but Somerville is not a Rockette… yet.
BRIAN DENNEHY
(Bud Tolke)
BRIAN DENNEHY has twice won the Tony® Award for Best Actor; honored for playing James Tyrone in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night, and for playing Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, which was filmed for SHOWTIME and earned Dennehy a Golden Globe® Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Emmy® Award nomination. He revived the role of Willy Loman in London's West End in 2005 for which he received the coveted Olivier Award for Best Actor. He is well-known to audiences worldwide for his performances in such popular films as Semi-Tough, Foul Play, 10, First Blood, Cocoon, F/X, Presumed Innocent, Tommy Boy and Baz Luhrmann’s William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. His other notable screen credits include Gorky Park, Never Cry Wolf, Finders Keepers, Silverado, Twice in a Lifetime, Best Seller, The Belly of an Architect (for which he received Best Actor honors at the Chicago Film Festival), Spike Lee’s She Hate Me, 10th & Wolf, Righteous Kill, and Meet Monica Velour. He voiced the role of Babe Ruth in Everyone’s Hero and was the voice of Remy’s father, Django, in the hit film Ratatouille. Dennehy also starred in Alleged, Every Day, The Next Three Days and The Big Year. Dennehy has starred in a wide range of television projects, receiving Emmy nominations for his performances in the miniseries The Burden of Proof, Murder in the Heartland, To Catch a Killer (in which he played John Wayne Gacy), and Stephen Gyllenhaal's telefilm Killing in a Small Town. He also directed and starred in the telefilms Shadow of a Doubt (which he co-wrote and co-produced) and Indefensible. Dennehy received his fifth Emmy nomination, this time for Best Supporting Actor, in the SHOWTIME film Our Fathers. In 2012, Dennehy guest starred in multiple episodes of The Good Wife for CBS. He has just completed filming for the BBC film Final Flight.
DANA IVEY
(Nan)
DANA IVEY has enjoyed success in film, television and on stage. Recently, Ivey appeared in the Academy Award-winning film, The Help alongside Emma Stone; David Koepp’s Ghost Town and Rush Hour 3 opposite Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. She has starred in Two Weeks’ Notice along with Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant; Legally Blonde 2 opposite Reese Witherspoon and Walt Disney’s The Kid. Ivey’s other film credits include A Very Serious Person, Addams Family, Addams Family Values, Home Alone 2, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Sabrina, Simon Birch, Imposters, Mumford and The Color Purple. For her work on television, Ivey has had roles in seven Emmy Award-winning series, including Boardwalk Empire, Ugly Betty, Sex & The City, Monk, A Lesson Before Dying, Homicide and Frasier. In 2006, Ivey made her 15th Broadway appearance in her Tony Award-nominating performance in Butley. Ivey has earned four additional Tony Award nominations for her work in The Rivals, Heartbreak House, Sunday in the Park and Last Night of Ballyhoo, where she was awarded the Drama Desk Award. Other appearances on Broadway include The Importance of Being Earnest, Henry IV, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Major Barbara, Present Laughter, Pack of Lies, Waiting in the Wings, Marriage of Figaro, Sex and Longing, Indiscretions. Ivey has been awarded both an Obie and Outer Critics Circle Award in her Off-Broadway work in Driving Miss Daisy; an Obie and Derwent Award starring in Quartermaine’s Terms and an Obie Award for her role in Mrs.Warren’s Profession. Ivey has relished on the stage in her regional work in The Death of Papa, Antigone, Hedda Gabler and her Helen Hayes-nominating performance in Tin Roof.
KATHY NAJIMY
(Therapist)
KATHY NAJIMY’s memorable television roles include Numbers; 13 seasons on King of the Hill; Desperate Housewives, Drop Dead Diva, Make It or Break It, Franklin & Bash, Mr. Sunshine and Ugly Betty. She also starred for three seasons on Veronica’s Closet, for which she received an American Comedy Award nomination. Najimy is internationally known for her portrayal of Sister Mary Patrick in the blockbuster hits Sister Act I and Sister Act II, which won her an American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actress. In the theater, she starred as legendary Mae West on Broadway in the hit play, Dirty Blonde, to critical acclaim and later reprised the role in the west coast premiere at The Old Globe Theater (Outer Critic's Circle Best Actress). With Mo Gaffney, Najimy starred in and wrote the Kathy and Mo Show, her long-running off-Broadway play that won an Obie Award and became two HBO specials: Parallel Lives (two Ace Awards and an American Comedy Award Nomination) and Kathy and Mo: The Darkside, (Cable Ace Awards for actor and Executive Producer and ACA nomination.) Najimy's work includes over 20 films, including the recently released The Guilt Trip alongside Barbra Streisand and starring roles in Hocus Pocus, Rat Race, Say Uncle, Hope Floats, This is My Life, The Fisher King, Soapdish and The Wedding Planner. For her over 18 years of AIDS activism, Najimy has been honored with the L.A. Shanti’s Founder award as well as the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center's Distinguished Achievement award. Najimy has been published in The New York Times, as well as several national magazines. She contributed a chapter to the book The Choices We Made, which was released on the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade as well as Five Minutes with the President, and featured in the book Starpower, which showcases politically active celebrities. On tape, she voiced Wally Lamb's best-selling novel She’s Come Undone.
DARLENE HUNT
(Creator/Executive Producer)
DARLENE HUNT is an actor/writer originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Hunt studied theater at Northwestern University outside of Chicago, the Royal National Theatre in London and the British American Drama Academy in Oxford. While in college she co-wrote a play aimed at high-school students entitled No Problem (Dramatic Publishing), which she toured across the country. As a comedian, Hunt has also toured comedy clubs across the country and has been featured at the Chicago Comedy Festival and the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen. She has performed as a member of the world-famous Groundlings Theatre in Los Angeles and has studied with Second City in Chicago. Hunt starred with Sean Hayes (Will & Grace) in Platonically Incorrect, a play which she also wrote. It played in Los Angeles and New York and was later developed into a pilot by ABC. She wrote several more pilots for various networks before creating The Big C for SHOWTIME. As an actor, Hunt co-starred with Ted Danson on ABC’s Help Me Help You and on the big screen she has played opposite Jude Law and Lily Tomlin in David O. Russell's film I Heart Huckabees. Other film credits include A Lot Like Love with Ashton Kutcher; Idiocracy directed and written by Mike Judge; and The Merry Gentleman directed by Michael Keaton. She has also been seen in numerous commercials and television shows, most recently with recurring roles on Parks and Recreation and Suburgatory.
JENNY BICKS
(Executive Producer/Showrunner)
JENNY BICKS started her career in advertising in New York City and went on to write radio comedy before she began writing for film and television. Her series credits include Seinfeld, Dawson’s Creek and HBO's Sex and The City. She wrote on Sex and The City for all six seasons, rising to the rank of executive producer. Her work on the series earned her several awards, including an Emmy® Award, multiple Golden Globes and Producers Guild Awards and three WGA nominations. After Sex and The City, Bicks created and executive produced Men In Trees which ran for two seasons on ABC. Bick’s episode of The Big C called “A Little Death” earned her a 2011 Humanitas nomination. She is currently Executive Producing a sequel to Heathers for Bravo television. In the feature world, her body of credits include What a Girl Wants, and many un-credited rewrites. Her short film, Gnome, which she wrote and directed, had its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival and went on to win awards at multiple festivals. She recently completed writing Mother Nature with Reese Witherspoon attached, as well as a feature film musical based on the life of PT Barnum, with Hugh Jackman set to star.
MICHAEL ENGLER
(Executive Producer)
MICHAEL ENGLER has been nominated twice for an Emmy® Award and three times for the DGA Award for his work directing Sex and the City and 30 Rock. He has also directed on such shows as Six Feet Under, The West Wing, Deadwood, and Parenthood. He has been directing The Big C for all of its three seasons. For the theatre, he has directed on Broadway (I Hate Hamlet, Eastern Standard, Mastergate) and off-Broadway at such theatres as Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights’ Horizons, and The Roundabout. Regionally, he has worked at Seattle Repertory Theatre, Hartford Stage, American Repertory Theatre, The Guthrie, South Coast Rep and many others on both classics and new plays, including Long Days’ Journey Into Night, Major Barbara, The Broken Pitcher, Private Lives, Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads (6 Obie Awards), and many others.
RICHARD HEUS
(Executive Producer)
RICHARD HEUS who was born in Paterson, NJ and raised on Long Island, NY, graduated from Franklin and Marshall College and completed his Master’s degree in Communications at Stanford University. He started producing feature films and movies for television and received a Peabody Award for the film Serving in Silence starring Glenn Close and Judy Davis. He then went on to produce numerous television series and continues to do so today. Heus won an Emmy for the mini-series Taken and worked several seasons on the Golden Globe-winning series Ugly Betty.
VIVIAN CANNON
(Executive Producer)
VIVIAN CANNON has been working with Neal Moritz for the past six years, running the television department of Original Film. At Original, Cannon developed and is executive producing THE BIG C and also Save Me for NBC. Before her time at Original, Cannon spent seven years at Pariah, where she executive produced television series (Tell Me You Love Me for HBO, Emily’s Reasons Why Not for ABC, Thief for FX) and features (Little Manhattan for New Regency and Seeing Other People.)
NEAL H. MORITZ
(Executive Producer)
NEAL H. MORITZ, founder of Original Film, has been producing feature film and television for over three decades. Original is currently in post-production on Warner Brothers’ Jack the Giant Slayer directed by Bryan Singer, Universal Picture’s R.I.P.D. starring Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges helmed by Robert Schwentke and IM Global-financed Dead Man Down, starring Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace, directed by Neils Arden Opvel (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Swedish trilogy).
Production on the sixth installment of the Fast and Furious franchise began last summer in London. Directed by Justin Lin, the movie brings the return of Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson, as well as introduces new characters’ Luke Evans and Gina Carano. Additional projects slated to begin production in 2013 include the remake of Highlander, the infamous children’s book series Goosebumps, and Invertigo directed by DJ Caruso for Sony Pictures.
With over 50 films to Moritz’s credit, past titles include Total Recall, 21 Jump Street, Fast 5, The Change-Up, Battle: Los Angeles, The Green Hornet, The Fast and Furious series, I Am Legend, XXX, S.W.A.T., Made of Honor, Gridiron Gang, Bounty Hunter, Evan Almighty, Sweet Home Alabama, Click, Vantage Point, Out of Time, Blue Streak, Cruel Intentions, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Skulls, Volcano, Urban Legend, and Juice. Original Film’s box office is north of $2 billion worldwide. Moritz’s television credits include the HBO movie The Rat Pack, which earned 11 Emmy nominations, and the drama series Prison Break for 20th Century Fox. Coming this fall, Save Me, starring Anne Heche will air on NBC.
A graduate of UCLA with a degree in Economics, Moritz went on to get a graduate degree from the Peter Stark Motion Picture Producing Program at the University of Southern California.
THE BIG C: hereafter
PRODUCTION CREDITS
CAST
Cathy................................................................................................. LAURA LINNEY
Paul..................................................................................................... OLIVER PLATT
Sean .............................................................................. JOHN BENJAMIN HICKEY
Adam.............................................................................................. GABRIEL BASSO
Andrea ...................................................................................... GABOUREY SIDIBE
SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCES BY
ALAN ALDA
ISAAC MIZRAHI
SPECIAL GUEST STAR APPEARANCE BY
PHYLLIS SOMERVILLE
SPECIAL GUEST STARS
BRIAN DENNEHY
DANA IVEY
GUEST STAR
KATHY NAJIMY
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Created By…………………………............................................. DARLENE HUNT
Executive Producers......................................................................... JENNY BICKS
......................................................................................................... DARLENE HUNT
............................................................................................................ LAURA LINNEY
..................................................................................................... MICHAEL ENGLER
.......................................................................................................... RICHARD HEUS
......................................................................................................... VIVIAN CANNON
......................................................................................................... NEAL H. MORITZ
Co-Producer............................................................................. LAURA A. BENSON
Producer...................................................................................... ELICIA BESSETTE
Consulting Producers........................................................... MELANIE MARNICH
........................................................................................................... CARA DiPAOLO
Associate Producer.................................................................... CLAIRE NEWMAN
Director of Photography................................................. MICHAEL CARACCIOLO
Production Designer................................................................... EDWARD PISONI
Edited by....................................................................................... ANNETTE DAVEY
.................................................................................... MICHAEL ORNSTEIN, A.C.E.
Music by................................................................................... MARCELO ZARVOS
Costume Designer....................................................... ACQUELINE DEMETERIO
Casting by.................................................................... BERNARD TELSEY, C.S.A.
THE BIG C: hereafter is produced by SONY PICTURES TELEVISION INC.
