Friday, April 14, 2000
Stars join movie to be made here
BY Margaret A. McGurk
The Cincinnati Enquirer
James Brolin, Dennis Quaid and Amy Irving are among the newly confirmed cast members in Traffic, the Steven Soderbergh-directed feature to be filmed partly in Cincinnati next month.
Also joining the ensemble cast of the drama about illegal drugs is Miguel Ferrer, son of Northern Kentucky's Rosemary Clooney and nephew of WSAI-AM (1530) morning host and local newspaper columnist Nick Clooney.
Michael Douglas will star in the film as a drug czar who discovers that his daughter is an addict. Catherine Zeta-Jones, who is expecting Mr. Douglas' child, will play a pregnant woman who takes over her imprisoned husband's drug smuggling business. She is not slated to appear in portions of the film to be shot in Cincinnati and Columbus.
Other cast members are Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman, who worked for Mr. Soderbergh in Out of Sight and The Limey, respectively; Benicio Del Toro (The Usual Suspects); and TV actors Erika Christensen (Thanks) andTopher Grace (That '70s Show).
Not all of the newly announced cast members will join Mr. Douglas in Cincinnati when local filming starts the fourth week in May. The movie is also using locations in Washington, D.C., and California, where production began on Tuesday.
Mr. Soderbergh was in town a week ago making final location choices, including some private homes and an unidentified high school.
The Greater Cincinnati Northern Kentucky Film Commission is still looking for a warehouse with office space that the film company could use for several weeks. Property owners who have appropriate space to offer should call the commission at 784-1744.
Extras needed
A local casting agency is collecting photos and resumes from people who hope to be among the 700 extras needed for the film. Applicants may send information to Winters & Associates, 7116-C Pippin Road, Cincinnati 45239.
Applicants who do not have an acting resume may simply compile a fact sheet with such information as name, address, phone number and age, plus characteristics such as hair and eye color, height, weight and clothing size.
The 1,500 potential extras who already have submitted their names to the film commission need not apply twice; their information will be turned over to the casting agency, as will any new resumes.
Information is available from the casting agency, 729-0222, or the film commission.
The movie is based on the 1989 British television series Traffik. The screenplay is by Stephen Gaghan, the writer of Rules of Engagement, the Samuel L. Jackson-Tommy Lee Jones drama in theaters now.
Traffic, previously associated with the Fox Searchlight studio, will be produced and distributed by USA Films.
In the movie's earliest incarnation, George Clooney was considered for the lead role. Harrison Ford succeeded him as the likely star, but dropped out late in February.
Producers scrambled to find another high-profile leading man, approaching Al Pacino and Kevin Costner before Mr. Douglas agreed to take the role.
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