Hyde Park on Hudson
Directed by Roger Michell
Written by Richard Nelson
Production Notes
International Press Contact:
Focus Features International
26 Aybrook Street
London
W1U 4AN
Tel: +44 (0)203 618 5590
Anna Bohlin
Director, International Publicity
anna.bohlin@focusfeatures.com
2
Hyde Park on Hudson
Synopsis
Academy Award nominees Bill Murray and Laura Linney star in a historical tale
that uniquely explores the all-too-human side of one of history’s iconic leaders.
Blending literate wit and drama, Hyde Park on Hudson is directed by Roger
Michell from a screenplay by Richard Nelson.
In June 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (played by Mr. Murray)
readies to host the King and Queen of England (Samuel West and Olivia Colman)
for a weekend at the Roosevelt home at Hyde Park on Hudson, in upstate New
York – marking the first-ever visit of a reigning British monarch to America. As
Britain faces imminent war with Germany, the royals are desperately looking to
FDR for U.S. support.
But international affairs must be juggled with the complexities of FDR’s
domestic establishment, as his wife Eleanor (Olivia Williams), mother Sara
(Elizabeth Wilson), and secretary Missy (Elizabeth Marvel) will all play a part in
making the royal weekend an unforgettable one.
Seen through the eyes of Daisy (Ms. Linney), Franklin’s neighbor and intimate,
the weekend will produce not only a special relationship between two great
nations, but, for Daisy – and through her, for us all – a deeper understanding of
the mysteries of love and friendship.
A Focus Features and Film4 presentation of a Free Range Film/Daybreak
Pictures production. A Roger Michell Film. Bill Murray, Laura Linney. Hyde Park
on Hudson. Samuel West, Olivia Colman, Elizabeth Marvel, Elizabeth Wilson,
Eleanor Bron, and Olivia Williams. Hair Designer, Norma Webb. Make-up
Designer, Morag Ross. Casting by Gail Stevens, CDG, and Ellen Lewis. Costume
Designer, Dinah Collin. Music by Jeremy Sams. Edited by Nicolas Gaster.
Production Designer, Simon Bowles. Director of Photography, Lol Crawley. Line
Producer, Rosa Romero. Executive Producer, Tessa Ross. Produced by Kevin
Loader, Roger Michell, David Aukin. Written by Richard Nelson. Directed by
Roger Michell. A Focus Features Release.
3
Hyde Park on Hudson
Words from the Director, on FDR
After finishing this film, I happened to be re-reading my father’s tea-stained copy
of William L. Shirer’s Berlin Diary.
Shirer was an American journalist who spent much of WWII heroically
broadcasting from Berlin. In the entry for July 20th, 1940, he talks of FDR being
re-nominated in Chicago for a third term, an event which the Nazi press
described as having been achieved by methods “sharply condemned by all
eyewitnesses.” He goes on:
Hitler fears Roosevelt. He is just beginning to comprehend that Roosevelt’s support of
Great Britain is one of the prime reasons that the British decline to accept his offer of
peace.
Shirer then quotes the following telling passage from The Frankfurter Zeitung:
Roosevelt is the father of English illusions about this war. It may be that Roosevelt’s
shabby tactics are too much for the Americans, it may be that he will not be re-elected,
it may be that, if he is re-elected, he will stick closely to the non-intervention programme
of his party. But it is also clear that while he may not intervene with his fleet or his
army, he will intervene with speeches, with intrigues, and with a powerful propaganda
which he will put at the disposal of the English.
By choosing to go against the immediate interests of his party, and against
prevailing tides of isolationism or worse within his own electorate, FDR offered
very real hope to England in what must have seemed at the time a hopeless
situation. Many would have seen a kind of peace with Hitler as the only sensible
way to avoid summary invasion.
The weekend at Hyde Park on Hudson, twelve weeks before the outbreak of the
War and the subject of our film, becomes, in my mind, even more of an historical
fulcrum: a moment where the smallest gesture has the greatest echo. Like
catastrophe theory, which posits that a butterfly’s beating wings may generate
by infinite degree of separation a mighty storm, so does a mouthful of hot dog
(ironically a Frankfurter, no less) prefigure Omaha Beach and Victory in Europe.
Richard Nelson’s marvelous script delicately juxtaposes the public and the
private, and the domestic and the epic. The sweep of great events and the
persuasive power of great personalities vie for a hand at the tiller of history.
My father flew Lancasters over Berlin, was shot down, and was a POW. He is long
dead. I put his copy of the Shirer diaries back on the shelf and feel the echoes of
the King’s Top Cottage picnic still vibrating around me.
Roger Michell
London, U.K.
June 2012
4
Hyde Park on Hudson
Notes from the Writer, on Daisy
In the late 1980s, a friend of mine invited me to visit what had long been a
private residence in my town of Rhinebeck, New York. It had recently been given
to a public trust by its elderly owner, with the provision that the owner could live
there for the rest of her life.
The house sat overlooking the Hudson River, and looked like something out of a
fairy tale – a dark one. It was pretty dilapidated, paint long weathered away.
Wilderstein, as the home of the Suckley (rhymes with “Bookley”) Family for at
least two generations is called, could be, I thought, the poster child for genteel
poverty in America. My friend took me on a quick tour of the first floor. While
passing through the living room, with its peeled wallpaper, tired sagging stuffed
sofas, and worn and ragged Oriental rugs, I caught my first and only sight of the
heroine of our film, Daisy Suckley. She sat alone reading, I think, a newspaper,
oblivious to the strangers passing through. Soon after, in her hundredth year,
Daisy died.
Wilderstein, which has since become a public park and is in the process of being
restored to its late-nineteenth-century grandeur, is only one of the two legacies
Daisy left to us; the other was found, at her death, in a small suitcase under her
bed. Here were her intimate letters to and from her fifth cousin, Franklin
Roosevelt, and her diaries recording in detail their relationship – a relationship
that had remained a secret until her death. Pages had gone missing (burned?)
from both the letters and the diary, but what remains gives a rich and moving
portrait of a love affair between a woman who called herself “the little mud
wren” and who saw herself as “part of the furniture,” and one of the greatest,
most powerful and charismatic men of the century. Reading these letters and
diary entries opens a window into a world only imagined; a world behind the
façade of a presidency, where all conspired to hide the frailties and infirmities of
its leader. Daisy, it now seems clear, was the person Franklin could relax with;
could forget the world, the job, the troubles with; and just be himself with. It is no
coincidence that the only photographs we have today of Franklin Roosevelt in his
wheelchair were taken by Daisy Suckley.
The discovery of these letters and diaries was the impetus for Hyde Park on
Hudson. It was a single entry in Daisy’s diary that gave the film its story; Daisy
writes with wild-eyed enthusiasm and excitement of the visit of the King and
Queen of England to Roosevelt’s Hyde Park home in June 1939. This was the
first-ever visit by a reigning British monarch to the Western Hemisphere. She
writes of being thrilled at seeing all this firsthand, as a guest at what became
known as the “hot dog picnic.”
In June 1939, England was on the cusp of war with Germany, and it desperately
needed America’s support. It was to help gain this support that the King and
Queen were sent to America, and it was to help them with this cause that
Roosevelt invited them to Hyde Park. But much of America needed convincing;
the mood of the country was to stay out of another European war. Add to this an
5
historical (and understandable) American reticence toward British royalty and all
things royal, exacerbated by the recent royal abdication of Edward VIII forced by
his wish to marry not only a divorced woman (Wallis Simpson) but also, “Heaven
forbid,” as it was perceived by us, “an American, of all things.” The inexperienced
and accidental King George VI, or Bertie, needed to show America that he
admired our country and its people, and respected us as equals. That was his
mission. And Franklin Roosevelt gave him just such an opportunity – by serving
him a hot dog!
The two stories – the affair with Daisy and the weekend with the King and Queen
– are at the center of our tale. As I worked on the script, the two stories became
intertwined, each commenting upon the other; a woman painfully learns the
truth behind the world-famous image of her lover, while a king learns to hide his
insecurity and project courage. This allowed exploring the need to present a
public front to save your country, as well as the recognition that the man you
love is not necessarily the man you thought he was.
Finally, Hyde Park on Hudson is also a personal story. I have lived in Rhinebeck,
Daisy’s home town, for over thirty years and raised a family here. Although this is
a story with ramifications across the globe, dealing with great historical figures,
it is also about a woman from my village, a woman I once saw on her sofa who
for a time had a chance to see the world – the public and the private – through
her own innocent eyes.
Richard Nelson
Rhinebeck, NY
June 2012
6
Hyde Park on Hudson
Topography and Tidbits
Hyde Park, NY, settled in the 18th century, is located @90 miles north of New
York City, in Dutchess County, alongside the Hudson River. Its main movie
theater is the Hyde Park Roosevelt Cinemas and its high school is Franklin
Delano Roosevelt High School, both named after the town’s most famous native
son; FDR was born at the family estate in 1882.
FDR’s wife Eleanor Roosevelt converted Val-Kill cottage, part of the Roosevelt
estate (known as Hyde Park on Hudson) but away from the main house (built in
1826 and known as Springwood), into a factory named Val-Kill Industries. Artists
and artisans educated and trained people to produce handicrafts. Franklin
Roosevelt was impressed by the initiative and furthered the concept in his
federal stimulus programs. After the factory closed, Mrs. Roosevelt later moved
into the cottage, which was furnished with items that had been made there.
Eleanor Roosevelt’s home at Val-Kill and Springwood are both on the National
Register of Historic Places. The Roosevelt Farm Lane Trail, a 3.6-mile round-trip
hiking trail, connects Val-Kill and the house.
The National Park Service operates the Roosevelt Ride, a free shuttle bus
ferrying visitors to and from an area train station. The Ride makes stops at the
Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum; Val-Kill; Springwood; and FDR’s
hilltop retreat, Top Cottage.
Prior to the start of filming the 1939-set Hyde Park on Hudson,
director/producer Roger Michell immersed himself in research at the Library and
Museum; stars Bill Murray and Laura Linney and screenwriter Richard Nelson
spent time there as well, and toured all of the grounds and buildings.
It was on and around the front porch (a.k.a. veranda) of Top Cottage that a picnic
with the King and Queen of England was held in June 1939. The menu included
green salad, strawberry shortcake, and hot dogs.
7
Hyde Park on Hudson
Comments from the Cabinet
DA: David Aukin, producer
SB: Simon Bowles, production designer
DC: Dinah Collin, costume designer
OC: Olivia Colman, actress (plays the Queen of England, Elizabeth, in film)
LL: Laura Linney, actress (plays Daisy in film)
KL: Kevin Loader, producer
BM: Bill Murray, actor (plays U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt [FDR] in
film)
EM: Elizabeth Marvel, actress (plays FDR’s secretary, Missy, in film)
MR: Morag Ross, make-up designer
SW: Samuel West, actor (plays the King of England, Bertie, in film)
OW: Olivia Williams, actress (plays the First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, in film)
EW: Elizabeth Wilson, actress (plays FDR’s mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, in
film)
DA: Hyde Park on Hudson is a fiction based on real events, with Richard Nelson’s
insightful screenplay brilliantly evoking the period and the people.
BM: Roosevelt is the most formidable character I’ve ever been asked to play,
and this story that I hadn’t known about showed his personal side. There was a
humanity to Richard’s script.
After I read the script, I called up [director/producer] Roger Michell and we had
more conversations on the phone. He then said, “I’ll come visit you [in America],”
and we went to the beach and kept talking about what we could do with this
story.
EM: We weren’t making a re-enactment of history. It was about humanizing the
political.
SW: Or, exploring what these public figures were like in private. Don’t presidents
and kings make mistakes or have minor triumphs, at dinner parties or in their
bedrooms, like us?
OW: This is meant to be an illuminating story told affectionately, not washing
dirty linen in public or diminishing anyone in the eyes of the world. Facts have
come to light over the years about some of these leaders’ domestic realities; I
think people will be interested, entertained, and surprised.
Richard puts massive world events into the context of a country house weekend,
with all its social awkwardness. He’s made icons of the 20th century into threedimensional people, and explores their political influence.
EW: When I read the script, I thought, “They’re not hiding anything.” I admire
Richard’s writing, and this story was historic, honest, and humorous. I think the
film is about survival.
8
I was thrilled to be asked to play this part by Roger because I grew up in
Michigan in the 1930s and was such a fan of Franklin Roosevelt. I had been
raised a Republican. But when Roosevelt became president – I was just as
smitten as most of my friends, most of my family. We became Democrats.
It meant a great deal to me to be able to go back into the light of someone I
worshipped.
DA: In terms of showing how a politician operates, it’s a story that still feels
contemporary, blending the political and the personal.
There was a political bond that formed between Bertie and Roosevelt, but also
an emotional one; FDR was older, and treated the King almost like a son. The
King responded to that because his own father wasn’t caring.
LL: It was the first time that British royalty had set foot in the United States.
Given the two countries’ histories, this was a big deal.
SW: They’d had that spot of bother two centuries earlier, and nobody had gone
back…But the unthinkable, the second World War, was about to happen, and
Britain needed to know if it had an ally in America.
DA: Historically, this weekend in 1939 is when “the special relationship”
between England and America began. After he left, the King sent a telegram to
FDR thanking him and saying, I feel we forged a special relationship – that’s how
the term came to be. The King’s eating a hot dog showed that England would
finally accept Americans as equals, that Bertie wasn’t looking down his nose at
them.
KL: It was a key moment in Anglo-American relations. The royals intuited the
symbolic significance of the act of eating the hot dog, and they rose to the
challenge.
EM: A lot of mutual effort led up to that day; there was a long period of
correspondence and diplomacy to make the visit happen, to build that bridge.
LL: At the time of their visit to America, the royals were vulnerable. There was
anti-British feeling in the United States.
SW: Because Richard comes to screenwriting as a playwright, he trusts actors;
he doesn’t put words in brackets that tell you how to play the part, like
“worriedly” or “with anger.” This gives you an enormous amount of freedom, and
makes you feel that you’ll be trusted to interpret the scene properly.
His writing is spiky, and feels spontaneous. He’s interested in little things that
build up slowly, so then there’s a cumulative power that you didn’t see coming. I
think that’s a real skill.
OC: I’m not one for homework terribly, but Sam West would have books and
pictures at the ready.
9
SW: I read biographies of Bertie and Elizabeth, and dipped into a couple of ones
on Roosevelt. Eleanor Roosevelt said that Elizabeth would smile or wave at a
crowd and everybody would think that the smile or wave was just for them.
OC: Sam and I talked about how the King and Queen were this young couple with
so much pressure on them, having to go and try to win over the Americans.
SW: They had made the mistake of reading their reviews before opening night,
as it were.
OC: Elizabeth was dealing with cruel remarks comparing her unfavorably to
Wallis Simpson [for whom King Edward VIII had forsaken the throne]; she had
lost weight for the trip. All eyes were on them – not just their country’s, but the
American public’s.
SW: These two had spent years thinking, well, I’m not going to be Queen, or King.
It could have all been so different with Edward VIII [if he had remained
King]…Bertie’s back was against the wall. One of the reasons he took the name
King George VI was to name himself after his grandfather, to ensure continuity.
He told Winston Churchill that he hoped he would reign long enough to make
things good again. The trip was important for the country, but also for the
institution of the monarchy.
BM: It was brave of the King and Queen to come and put themselves at the
mercy of the American populace – to let themselves be gawked at, touched, and
spoken about. They had to bring the idea to the American people of conceivably
joining them in the war, but make it as if they were neighbors coming over
because they needed a cup of sugar. They changed what people thought the
royal family was about.
SW: We believe in America as a place where you can reinvent yourself. Bertie
and Elizabeth came back to Britain in triumph. I think Bertie got out from the
shadow of his father, and Elizabeth found that she was very good at meeting
informally – which America loved. They both got on with Roosevelt.
OC: Acting with Bill Murray was a dream come true. On the set, he has a streak
of anarchy. Between scenes, he would play the most random music on a large
stereo; Beatles, Sinatra, Russian church music…
KL: …Simon & Garfunkel, traditional jazz, a bit of funk, traditional choral
music…It wasn’t there at first; I think it crept in around week three.
OC: He would let other people mind the stereo while he did takes. He sincerely
believes that if the atmosphere is fun and friendly, then the work will be good.
He would order up doughnuts for everyone.
EM: When the camera wasn’t rolling, it was a party. But when it was rolling, he
would morph…he would transform like any good actor does.
10
OC: People adored FDR’s wit, kindness, and generosity, and that seemed to fit
rather nicely with Bill.
DA: When I went out with Bill, he was greeted wherever he went. People are so
affectionate towards him, because he’s given so much pleasure in so many films
to so many people.
Bill is a wonderful actor. What he plays so well is how the president manipulates
and charms to get his way, but Bill catches the full spirit and essence of the
man. Bill did a huge amount of research into FDR, who was never filmed or
photographed with the effects of his polio made apparent.
KL: To fulfill the physical portrayal of FDR, Bill came to England a little early and
met with representatives of the British Polio Society; a physiotherapist made
calipers and taught him how to walk with them.
BM: My sister had polio, so I grew up with her wearing a brace. She’s had some
of what they call post-polio effects that you have much later in life. It was
extraordinary how FDR’s will overpowered that. You never saw self-pity from the
man.
He was very straightforward about how there were not to be pictures of him
being carried around on his crutches, or in his wheelchair. There was an
understanding; in exchange for that, he would present an openness and have
regular press conferences, which [the preceding U.S. president] Herbert Hoover
had not.
SB: We wanted to recreate the wheelchair that FDR used, but found out that he
had a number of different ones. We decided to go with the one that’s preserved
today at Springwood, by his desk in the library. You would think that making one
would be simple, but no; the wheels had to come from Holland, and we had to
cut down a specially made kitchen chair to fashion a chair that would have
parallel sides so that the wheels are able to pass. The metal structure
underneath had to be made as well. We had to decide what kind of oak it should
be and what color it would get stained, and check on the screws and bolts.
BM: The physical things were important. I also listened to his voice a lot, to his
speech. In terms of upbringing, this was a man who grew up in New York City, in
Hyde Park, and on Campobello – off both the U.S. and Canada. He’d travel to
England; he went to school in Groton, Connecticut. So there were a lot of
different vocal influences in his tones, yet his voice was very distinct.
You’ve got to be able to have a twinkle in your eye to get people to do what you
want. He knew you had to be willing to give and take. He made people believe in
him.
DA: With the full moon out, there was something in the air that weekend; for me,
there was a bit of the quality of Ingmar Bergman’s Smiles of a Summer Night
and that was part of the charm of the script.
11
DC: Roger had referenced Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream to me.
Richard’s piece has a strong narrative, tells an emotional story, and it’s funny,
too.
I had a lot of pictorial resources to work from, but at the nub of everything was
that we were going to be making this in the U.K., so I realized early on that all
our costume stock had to come over from America. I went to Los Angeles for two
weeks and found lovely dresses, hats, and suits in four costume houses there.
We shipped over 54 boxes.
There weren’t many pictures of Daisy, so I had to rely on photos of American
women in the late 1930s.
MR: The film is about specific people, but it was helpful to have reference files
on general life in the States at the time. For make-up, we used modern products,
which are better for the skin, and worked to achieve a period look.
DC: We were using original fabrics as well as newly created ones. One dress I
had brought over was almost disintegrating, but I wanted it for when I met with
Laura Linney in New York, just as a starting point. I also had these white shoes
that were lace-up with a tiny buckle, and they actually fit Laura; we had
duplicates
made.
SW: The nicest costume I had was an original pair of Macclesfield silk pajamas
from the 1930s. Dinah had them fitted and altered to make the silhouette quite
tight.
EW: I wasn’t terribly proud of my size, but Dinah was so helpful. I couldn’t believe
that she came to America with all this wardrobe.
DC: I first met with Bill Murray in Boston, near where he was making Moonrise
Kingdom. At the fitting, we talked about how President Roosevelt had upperbody bulk because he had strengthened that area.
BM: He rebuilt his upper body. He rebuilt his abdominal muscles, which had been
lost, and got back movement in part of his upper thighs and the tops of his legs.
DC: Some of the older clothing was continuing an amazing journey. The costume
has to take the actor into the character so that the audience will be brought
along too. It may all be period, but you have to imagine someone in these
clothes, not just who wore them originally but also the characters in the story
and maybe even yourself.
DA: We did get the right clothes, cars, furniture, settings, and so forth, but Roger
kept a balance so that it wasn’t “a period film.” You’re watching a story about
people that just happens to be in a period setting. When you are in FDR’s study,
you think, “Here is the office of a very powerful man.”
EM: My character is called Missy, and her actual name was Margaret LeHand.
She was secretary to FDR even before his presidency; they were introduced to
each other when she started working for the Democratic Party in D.C.
12
People would say that she was like a wife to him; they were that close, that
intimate. When he was struck with polio and went down to Florida, she lived with
him on a houseboat. She helped him resurrect himself. Then, she helped him run
the White House; she was a great organizer, and a cosmopolitan woman. She
also had depressions, and suffered a lot to do the job that she did; she made her
choices knowing that she would be in the room for history-making decisions,
these incredible moments.
BM: Franklin Roosevelt would make a decision, and it would change the
existences of millions of people. In a leadership role, he had to walk a very fine
line of involvement and detachment in what was happening overseas, as well as
trying to rebuild the American economy from the Depression. He had to balance
fiscal responsibility and military responsibility. He knew when the time was to
compromise, and he knew when the time was to be strong.
One night after filming, I drove to Grosvenor Square in London and by the
American embassy, where there’s a great statue of Roosevelt, dedicated a year
after he died. He’s standing in a navy cape, looking like the best friend England
ever had.
LL: What that man accomplished in his life…! He was charismatic, vibrant,
handsome, intelligent, and was skilled in political intrigue…People liked him,
and liked being around him. My favorite scene in the movie is between Bill
Murray and Sam West as FDR and the King.
SW: Getting to do a long two-hander scene with Bill Murray? Thank you very
much indeed, that is one for the grandchildren. Bill was wonderful and generous;
we did full run-throughs of the whole scene.
LL: It’s a scene between two incredibly powerful men who both have debilitating
handicaps, finding a mutual understanding that only people in comparable
situations could have.
SW: Bertie had largely conquered his speech defect by this point, but it still
made him shy about speaking in public and it could be very pronounced. When
he’s with someone he likes and trusts, the stutter comes out less.
BM: Reading all the background on Bertie and Elizabeth, it seemed like theirs
was a great love.
SW: He respected her, and she gave him confidence. Other people wanted to
marry Elizabeth, but she said yes to Bertie. I feel that – with the children they
managed to bring up – their family was the beginning of the idea of the Royal
Family as family, rather than as figureheads or status symbols.
OC: During the Second World War, the King and Queen stayed in the palace
through all the bombings and then would go out into the East End and shake
hands. They were in tune with the people, and that was a similarity they shared
with another popular leader – FDR.
13
SB: When I first was asked to do this project, I realized how important it would
be to visit the main house, Springwood, as well as Top Cottage and the nearby
town and countryside. Internet pages are helpful, but there’s nothing like
actually going there and seeing for yourself. There were so many details we were
able to add in. It was also a chance to meet with Richard Nelson – and I was very
well looked after by him and his wife, with whom I stayed.
Since Springwood was turned into a national monument in the 1940s, almost
nothing has changed. We went into the kitchen, the bedrooms, the study…the
period details were still there for us to see. There were already Life photographs
of the house in 1939, the year in which the movie takes place, which
documented the décor. But those were in black-and-white, and by going there we
could see the full color of the spaces. I took measurements and photographs
that went back with me to the U.K., where Springwood was recreated at a private
mansion.
KL: We found one within 10 miles of London, and couldn’t quite believe our good
fortune. This meant that we didn’t have to spend to move a unit into the middle
of nowhere. Much of what we hoped for, and needed, was already inside.
SB: I had taken pictures of the vents in Springwood, and we worked those in.
Then there were the stuffed birds, which FDR created when he was a teenager,
that we also put in. Throughout the actual house, it was more of an eclectic mix,
a mishmash, than you would think; remember, it was FDR’s mother’s house and
even he was a guest there.
KL: During his presidency, he split his time between the White House and his
mother’s house, where he’d be surrounded by all the important women in his
life.
EW: I was very proud to play [FDR’s mother] Sara Delano Roosevelt. Her family
went through a lot, physically, emotionally – and they would have had more
trouble financially, but she had a good deal of money. Things might not have
happened the same way for Franklin if it hadn’t been for her willingness to
support them.
BM: I couldn’t get enough of Elizabeth Wilson. She’s got a million stories; “Okay,
about Jason Robards…” Roosevelt’s mother was a strong woman, and Elizabeth
is old enough to be my mother. So when Olivia Williams was playing scenes as
Eleanor with her, there was definite subtext; everyone had to defer.
OW: I was playing a woman whose mother-in-law dominated what was an
[laughs] extraordinary domestic set-up.
EW: I feel that Sara knew what was going on, and that she could handle it.
Franklin was her one child, and she loved him so much.
EM: So many American presidents – Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, FDR – have had
profound relationships with their mothers. These women were dominant in their
lives. Also, Eleanor was such a force for women’s rights.
14
BM: I think of how she impressed Admiral Halsey, who commanded the Pacific,
with what she did in World War II, going out to visit the troops and being a
representative for the Red Cross.
I feel that at the heart of FDR and Eleanor’s relationship was the education
which formed them. He was taught to be fearless, and Eleanor had that famous
quote; “Do one thing every day that scares you.” At the dinner table, growing up,
they were told that they had to accomplish something.
They weren’t a traditional husband and wife. They both knew that they were
about something else, that they could better achieve what they each had to do
by staying with each other and working with each other.
OW: I’d made Rushmore years ago with Bill, so we had a pre-existing friendship
– which was good for Hyde Park on Hudson, because at this stage of the
Roosevelts’ marriage there is a longstanding understanding of each other, and
there is an acceptance. Politically, she would be his emissary, traveling to places
he couldn’t; he listened to her ideas, and incorporated some of them into
government.
BM: With the hair and the dresses and the pearls, Olivia looked uncannily like
Eleanor and unlike herself. She went for it.
MR: Olivia looks different and is younger than Eleanor was, so that was a
challenge; Roger and I agreed that we would have to be subtle. So I did a bit of
aging on her really lovely skin, and changed her teeth to match Eleanor’s.
OW: At the read-through, I had the teeth in and my accent would go all over the
place. Fortunately, we had a proper rehearsal period.
EW: Each day we would sit and read different sections of the script and get to
know each other over coffee, tea, and little snacks. It was very relaxing. We read
through the entire script just before we started filming.
OW: I believe in over-researching, but Roger didn’t want me to do an
impersonation. I would look at her speeches, but those were in her distinctive
public-speaking voice.
I had begged, in a slightly undignified way, to be part of this movie. But it was
very daunting playing someone of Eleanor’s caliber; she did so much for civil
rights and race relations, using her position as First Lady to help others. I wanted
to do her justice, and I also got to explore this world figure in a domestic
situation – one where she had less power; her bedroom was her mother-in-law’s
dressing room.
Eleanor didn’t patronize people. She wouldn’t curtsy to the King and Queen
because she didn’t feel that anyone should be curtsied to. This was her principle,
and I aimed to carry that off with dignity and without looking petty.
15
MR: Roger had found one image of Eleanor at the picnic, where her hair was very
loose and free, and said he wanted to capture that flyaway feeling and not have
all this set hair.
OW: I wanted it to be unkempt; I felt it demonstrated her informality. Even when
Eleanor made an effort with the hair, it seemed to be quite out of control.
MR: Norma Webb, the hair designer on the movie, did a fantastic job. Wigs
weren’t used; Norma adapted and colored the actors’ own hair. Roger wanted
the hair to look as natural as possible. The King and Queen did have to look
more put-together and perfect than the Americans. I loved seeing Sam West and
Olivia Colman in those iconic period looks and thinking, “It’s working!”
But Roger also didn’t want dead ringers to be created; it was about trying to
catch the essence of the real people. FDR’s face is well-known, so I had tiny
prosthetic molds made for Bill Murray of the melanoma above the left eyebrow
and the mole on the right cheek. Bill asked that he look like someone who had
been in the sun a lot, because FDR loved to sunbathe as often as possible.
SB: The pieces in the house show the family history, and point to the character of
Sara and her influence.
Roger and [cinematographer] Lol Crawley and I would always have to check on
how spaces would work for the actors and crew to maneuver through, including
for possible 360-degree coverage.
We added shutters to the windows like you would find in that region of upstate
New York, a classical balustrade atop the porch, flags and flagpoles at the front,
and replaced the gravel in the driveway.
BM: The thing about rich people’s gravel is, you can walk on it without hurting
your feet. It’s like reflexology.
KL: We knew we couldn’t recreate the house brick by brick, so we concentrated
on the scale and the atmosphere.
BM: As the first president to use radio as a force, Roosevelt would give these
very conversational addresses from home, at the dinner table with the mikes
moved in after the family had eaten. He’d talk to America as if he was a father
speaking at the head of the table.
SB: For the “Fireside Chat” scene where FDR gives his address to the nation
while sitting at his desk, we brought microphones over from the United States.
Also on his desk, my wonderful props department did a lot of research into
finding out exactly what the stamp collection looked like, since it’s a key part of
when Daisy first comes to see FDR, including what the book was that the stamps
were kept inside. There was some photographic evidence, but FDR’s collection
was sold at an auction house some time ago, and apparently the stamps weren’t
worth very much because he didn’t collect specialized ones; it really was more of
a hobby.
16
We needed to have the large oil portrait of FDR that hung in his study, so [stills
photographer] Nicola Dove posed Bill as identical to the painting as possible. He
would often talk and act in character when being photographed at length, and
this took a lot of patience but he was game. He made his own suggestions to
help get it just right. We then got the finished photo and made it into a canvas; it
looks like the real thing.
To recreate Top Cottage, the President’s retreat where he wanted to write
detective novels, we built a house entirely from scratch in a woodland clearing in
the Chilterns [Hills in southeast England]. We had sketches and models,
including with little plastic people, for the process. It was an impressive set;
Roger would sit on the porch and read a newspaper.
BM: I went from visiting the real Top Cottage to the recreation in the space of a
few weeks. The view from the elevation was so much alike.
KL: FDR took genuine solace at Top Cottage. It was where he recharged. He
encouraged friends to buy adjacent plots and build their own cottages nearby, so
he had a great impact on the growth of the Hudson Valley.
SB: At that location, we had to know where everything was going to go for the
picnic. There was a record of the schedule, so there could be no surprises; “the
drinks will be prepared here, the plates will be here…” We had to know where
the characters were going to sit, too, of course – just like that day in 1939.
I had pictures from the picnic up on my wall. Everyone would look to them for
reference. Someone took a few photographs of his children that also captured
the excitement “in the background.” You can see the moments between the King
and Queen.
KL: We had 100 extras for the sequence. The Chilterns were a pretty good ringer,
with their gorgeous beech woods. There was a cultural convergence even before
it happened on-screen.
SW: The photos from the picnic showed how at some point Bertie took off his tie.
To do that at an official engagement was a statement. So we could get that in,
his catching the American vibe and thinking, “Perhaps I don’t need to wear this.”
MR: It was very satisfying to walk onto the finished set that day; there was a
great sense of achievement. You saw everyone’s contributions, dozens of
people’s work, coming together.
LL: When I heard the movie would be shooting in the U.K., I thought, “I see how
that could work.” We would be re-creating a different era and time. Also, it looks
like Hyde Park; there’s the occasional odd tree. After we finished shooting, I
missed England; everyone was terrific over there.
KL: We were only sorry there wasn’t more sunshine. But people enjoyed
themselves; they socialized after work, going to see shows.
Roger and I have made a lot of movies, but here we were bringing American
actors over to work with British ones. It was an inversion of the movie’s story.
17
BM: As a director, Roger asks real simple questions, gets you to say “yes” a lot,
and then doesn’t stop until he gets what he wants – which is good. You feel
comfortable.
SW: Roger would have, for our scenes together, Bill play with responses and
words slightly so that I would be slightly surprised and be able to react to what
was happening in front of me. The takes were fresher.
This was the fourth time I’d worked with Roger. He is so attentive, and he makes
things un-scary. On our first movie together, Persuasion, we were doing a scene
and he said, “Don’t do that, it’s too much. We’re looking for ambiguity, not
confusion.” That remains perhaps my all-time favorite note from a director.
OW: To me, Hyde Park on Hudson has the same qualities as Persuasion, in that
Roger completely nails how much passion and how much import can lie beneath
a polished social surface.
I wanted to work with Roger because I wanted to be directed; I wanted someone
to tell me what I might not be doing quite right – which he does, with extreme
charm!
EW: I think Roger enjoys his work, because he smiles a lot; many directors never
smile. His technique is to do a lot of takes, which is terrific. I trusted him.
SW: When he gives you notes, like “Try this on that line,” you want to use them.
LL: I had such good notes from Roger while I was working. He’s so good about
watching a take; he will literally write down notes and come over to you. Most
directors don’t do that. He sees what you’re doing, or trying to do, and helps you
make it better.
DA: Laura brings such positive vibes to a set, such warmth and friendliness, that
I would recommend having her around whatever the film.
OC: Her character of Daisy is at the heart of the story. She shows the hurt in
Daisy’s eyes, and the adoration as well.
LL: Richard knows how to write for actors. The story explores how people deal
with fame, and power. What is the psychology of fame? How does it affect
someone’s day-to-day life, their decisions, and the way they treat people? In the
movie, Daisy is often quiet. In many ways, she is Alice in Wonderland. She’s
brought into a world of big personalities, and observes.
MR: Laura’s look in the film is a bit more free-looking than the real Daisy. Our
Daisy is more ephemeral, whereas the real Daisy was neat with never a hair out
of place.
EM: We all did research, but Laura arrived fully loaded. [Laughs] Then what we
had to do was lay that aside, and play the emotional truths.
18
LL: I’ve always had a deep fascination with the Roosevelts, particularly Eleanor,
and their era. I’ve visited Hyde Park many times. But I knew nothing about Daisy
Suckley. When this script came along, I felt grateful that this movie was getting
made at all.
By 1939, Daisy’s family had lost a good deal of their money. Her father had
passed away, and she had a number of siblings, so Daisy became responsible
for the family. Daisy went to go work for her aunt [Mrs. Woodbury Langdon] as a
secretary and paid companion. The small amount of money that she made was
handed back to her family to help keep their home – the large mansion they
lived in – going.
I spent a little time on the property, with its entire history of Daisy’s family, and
was able to learn about her and her disposition. I visited her bedroom. I saw the
books on her bookshelf, and got a sense of her interests.
BM: When you read Daisy’s letter and diary, you see what Roosevelt shared with
her as someone who he could trust completely to be supportive. There were
moments when his job had to be the loneliest in the world.
Top Cottage was built with his post-politics life in mind. But that never got to
happen; it was two terms [as president], then three, then a fourth. He died on the
world stage, with America a different country in 1945 than it was in 1933. I envy
his kind of courage.
19
Hyde Park on Hudson
About the Cast
BILL MURRAY (FDR)
Bill Murray’s portrayal of Herman Blume in Wes Anderson’s Rushmore brought
him the New York Film Critics Circle, National Society of Film Critics, Los Angeles
Film Critics Association, and Independent Spirit Awards for Best Supporting
Actor. He has acted in all of Mr. Anderson’s subsequent features, including The
Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited,
Fantastic Mr. Fox (in voiceover), and Moonrise Kingdom (also a Focus Features
release).
Born in Chicago, he began his acting career there with the improvisational
troupe Second City. He joined the cast of NBC’s Saturday Night Live in the show’s
second season, and shortly thereafter won an Emmy Award as one of the show’s
writers. He later authored the book Cinderella Story: My Life in Golf.
After making his screen debut in Ivan Reitman’s Meatballs, Mr. Murray reteamed
with the director on Stripes and the Ghostbusters movies. His film credits also
include Harold Ramis’ Caddyshack and Groundhog Day; Art Linson’s Where the
Buffalo Roam; Sydney Pollack’s Tootsie; John Byrum’s The Razor’s Edge (1984);
Richard Donner’s Scrooged; Frank Oz’s What About Bob?; John McNaughton’s
Mad Dog and Glory and Wild Things; Tim Burton’s Ed Wood; Peter and Bobby
Farrelly’s Kingpin; Jon Amiel’s The Man Who Knew Too Little; Tim Robbins’
Cradle Will Rock; Michael Almereyda’s Hamlet (2000); Gil Kenan’s City of
Ember; Aaron Schneider’s Get Low, for which he received Spirit and Satellite
Award nominations; Mitch Glazer’s Passion Play; and, upcoming, Roman
Coppola’s A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III.
For his performance as Bob Harris in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation (also a
Focus release), Mr. Murray received the Golden Globe, BAFTA, Independent
Spirit, and New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago film critics’ Awards, among
others, for Best Actor. He also was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild and
Academy Awards.
He has starred for Jim Jarmusch in the “Delirium” segment of Coffee and
Cigarettes; in Broken Flowers, also a Focus release, for which he was nominated
for a Satellite Award for Best Actor; and in The Limits of Control, also a Focus
release.
LAURA LINNEY (Daisy)
Laura Linney has been nominated three times for an Academy Award, for her
performances in Kenneth Lonergan’s You Can Count on Me, alongside Mark
Ruffalo and Matthew Broderick; in Bill Condon’s Kinsey, opposite Liam Neeson;
and in Tamara Jenkins’ The Savages, with Philip Seymour Hoffman.
20
The performance in You Can Count on Me also earned her Screen Actors Guild,
Golden Globe Award, and Independent Spirit Award nominations; and Best
Actress awards from the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of
Film Critics. The portrayal in Kinsey also garnered her Golden Globe and Screen
Actors Guild Award nominations as well as the National Board of Review’s award
for Best Supporting Actress. Her performance in The Savages additionally
brought her a London Critics’ Circle Film Award nomination for Best Actress,
among other honors.
Ms. Linney has won a Golden Globe Award and been an Emmy Award nominee
for her starring role as Cathy Jamison on the television series The Big C, on which
she is an executive producer and which recently aired its third season. She
starred opposite Paul Giamatti as First Lady Abigail Adams in the critically
acclaimed miniseries John Adams, directed by Tom Hooper, for which she won
Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globe, and Emmy Awards. She has also won Emmy
Awards for her guest role on the final season of Frasier, opposite Kelsey
Grammer, and for her performance in the telefilm Wild Iris, in which she starred
with Gena Rowlands and Emile Hirsch for director Daniel Petrie.
Among Ms. Linney’s other feature credits are Noah Baumbach’s The Squid and
the Whale, opposite Jeff Daniels, for which she received Golden Globe and
Independent Spirit Award nominations; Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River, for which
she received a BAFTA Award nomination, and Absolute Power; Peter Weir’s The
Truman Show, with Jim Carrey; Gregory Hoblit’s Primal Fear and Mark
Pellington’s The Mothman Prophecies, both opposite Richard Gere; Richard
Curtis’ Love Actually; George Miller’s Lorenzo’s Oil; Ivan Reitman’s Dave; Steven
Zaillian’s Searching for Bobby Fischer; Gillies MacKinnon’s A Simple Twist of
Fate; Frank Marshall’s Congo; Terence Davies’ The House of Mirth; Michael Uno’s
“Hallmark Hall of Fame” telefilm Blind Spot, with Joanne Woodward; and Stanley
Donen’s telefilm Love Letters, opposite Steven Weber.
She memorably starred as Mary Ann Singleton in three Tales of the City
miniseries, based on the novels by Armistead Maupin, and directed respectively
by Alastair Reid and Pierre Gang.
The Juilliard graduate was recently a Drama Desk and Tony Award nominee for
Time Stands Still, written by Donald Marguiles and directed by Daniel Sullivan.
She previously starred on Broadway in, among other shows, the Roundabout
Theatre Company’s revival of Christopher Hampton’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses
with Ben Daniels, directed by Rufus Norris; Richard Eyre’s staging of Arthur
Miller’s The Crucible, opposite Liam Neeson, for which she was a Tony Award
nominee; Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, staged by Sarah Anderson, for which she
won a 1994 Calloway Award; and Donald Margulies’ Sight Unseen, staged by
Daniel Sullivan, for which she received her first Tony Award nomination. She had
starred off-Broadway in the latter play over a decade earlier, earning her first
Drama Desk Award nomination as well as Drama League and Outer Critic Circle
Award nominations, and a Theatre World award.
21
SAMUEL WEST (Bertie)
Samuel West has previously worked for Hyde Park on Hudson director Roger
Michell in the features Notting Hill and Persuasion, and in the Donmar
Warehouse production of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal.
In addition to the latter, Mr. West’s stage appearances include the title roles in
Richard II and Hamlet in Steven Pimlott’s Royal Shakespeare Company
productions, winning Critics’ Circle and Theatregoers’ Choice Awards for Hamlet;
Rupert Goold’s production of Enron, for which he received Olivier and Evening
Standard Award Best Actor nominations; Jonathan Munby’s production of A
Number, performed in the U.K. and South Africa; and Arcadia, directed by Trevor
Nunn, The Sea, directed by Sam Mendes, and Antony and Cleopatra, directed by
Sean Mathias, all at the National Theatre.
His many telefilms and miniseries include Tim Fywell’s Cambridge Spies; Charles
Sturridge’s Longitude; Michael Samuels’ Any Human Heart; and Philip Martin’s
Murder on the Orient Express. He recently starred as Zak Gist in the television
series Eternal Law. Mr. West is currently at work on a new series, Mr. Selfridge.
He came to critical and audience attention as Leonard Bast in Merchant Ivory’s
Academy Award-winning Howards End, and was nominated for a BAFTA Award.
Among his other movies are Franco Zeffirelli’s Jane Eyre; Christopher Hampton’s
Carrington; Stephen Sommers’ Van Helsing; Julien Temple’s Pandaemonium;
Jonathan Tammuz’s Rupert’s Land, for which he earned a Genie Award
nomination; and Richard Eyre’s Iris.
OLIVIA COLMAN (Elizabeth)
For her performance opposite Peter Mullan and Eddie Marsan in Paddy
Considine’s Tyrannosaur, Olivia Colman won a World Cinema Special Jury Prize
at the Sundance Film Festival; and the British Independent Film Award (BIFA),
Empire Award, and Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actress. She
also won the London Critics’ Circle Film Award for Best British Actress, for her
work in Tyrannosaur and Phyllida Lloyd’s The Iron Lady, opposite Meryl Streep, in
tandem.
She will soon be seen in James Griffiths’ Cuban Fury, with Nick Frost, Chris
O’Dowd, and Rashida Jones; and Dan Mazer’s I Give It a Year, with Rose Byrne,
Rafe Spall, Simon Baker, and Anna Faris. Her other movies include Edgar
Wright’s Hot Fuzz, also for Focus Features; Amy Heckerling’s I Could Never Be
Your Woman, with Michelle Pfeiffer; Shane Meadows’ Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee;
and Grow Your Own, directed by Richard Laxton.
Ms. Colman’s notable U.K. television credits include starring on the awardwinning series Rev., Peep Show, Green Wing, and, most recently, Twenty Twelve.
She was a BAFTA Award nominee for her performance in the latter. She
appeared in the miniseries Exile alongside John Simm and Jim Broadbent,
directed by John Alexander. Alongside Sharon Horgan and Julia Davis, she
conceived of the idea for, and starred in, the 2012 sitcom pilot Bad Sugar; the
22
script is by Peep Show writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, and the director is
Ben Palmer.
She has also filmed Accused and Run, both due to air later in 2012, and is
currently filming the crime drama series Broadchurch, starring alongside David
Tennant.
Ms. Colman trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Her stage credits include
Hay Fever, directed by Howard Davies, at the Noel Coward Theatre; England
People Very Nice, directed by Nicholas Hytner, at the National Theatre; Long
Day’s Journey Into Night, directed by Robin Phillips, at Lyric Shaftesbury Ave.;
and The Threesome, directed by Gordon Anderson, at Lyric Hammersmith.
ELIZABETH MARVEL (Missy)
Elizabeth Marvel, a native of Pennsylvania, studied at Michigan’s Interlochen Arts
Academy, and the Juilliard School in New York City. Her off-Broadway stage
credits have since included What the Butler Saw; As You Like It; Henry V;
Macbeth; Alice in Bed; Lydie Breeze; Terrorism; Almost an Evening; and
Misalliance, Hedda Gabler, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Therese Raquin, all of
which brought her Obie Awards.
Ms. Marvel’s Broadway stage work includes The Seagull; St. Joan; An American
Daughter; Taking Sides; Seascape; Top Girls; and, most recently, Other Desert
Cities, reprising the role she originated off- Broadway.
She has appeared on television in episodes of Law & Order; 30 Rock; Homicide:
Life on the Street; The Good Wife; The District and Lights Out, on which she was a
series regular; and Nurse Jackie and Person of Interest, in guest arcs.
Ms. Marvel’s features include Steven Spielberg’s soon-to-be-released Lincoln;
Tony Gilroy’s The Bourne Legacy; Craig Lucas’ The Dying Gaul; George LaVoo’s A
Dog Year, with Jeff Bridges; Paul Schneider’s Pretty Bird with Paul Giamatti and
Billy Crudup; Amy Redford’s The Guitar; Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New
York; Don Roos’ The Other Woman; Kevin Asch’s Holy Rollers; and Nancy Porter’s
Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind ‘Little Women,’ in which she starred as
the famed author. For Joel & Ethan Coen, her films include Burn After Reading,
also for Focus Features, and True Grit, which she narrated and appeared in as
the adult incarnation of Mattie (played as a young woman by Hailee Steinfeld).
ELIZABETH WILSON (Mrs. Roosevelt)
Moviegoers have seen Elizabeth Wilson in, for Mike Nichols, The Graduate (as
Benjamin’s [Dustin Hoffman] mother), Catch-22, Day of the Dolphin, and
Regarding Henry; Robert Redford’s Quiz Show (as Charles Van Doren’s [Ralph
Fiennes] mother); Barry Sonnenfeld’s The Addams Family (as Fester’s
[Christopher Lloyd] wicked mother); Robert Benton’s Nobody’s Fool (with Paul
Newman); Anthony Harvey’s Grace Quigley (with Katharine Hepburn); John
Schlesinger’s The Believers; Colin Higgins’ Nine to Five (as Roz, the office snitch);
Melvin Frank’s The Prisoner of Second Avenue; Alan Arkin’s Little Murders; John
Cassavetes’ A Child is Waiting (with Judy Garland and Burt Lancaster); John
23
Cromwell’s The Goddess (with Kim Stanley); Fielder Cook’s Patterns (for which
she was a BAFTA Award nominee); and Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, among
many other films.
Her numerous Broadway appearances include the Yale Repertory/Arvin Brown
production of Ah, Wilderness! with Jason Robards, Colleen Dewhurst, and George
Hearn; the Tony Award-winning revival of Morning’s at Seven, which originated
at the Lake Forest Theatre in Illinois, where she won a Joseph Jefferson Award as
Best Actress; and the New York Shakespeare Festival’s production of Sticks and
Bones, for which she won a Tony Award. Ms. Wilson’s Broadway debut was in
1952, in Picnic; she reprised her role in Joshua Logan’s film version.
Her Broadway and off-Broadway credits include Taken in Marriage, for which she
won an Obie Award; Threepenny Opera, for which she was a Drama Desk Award
nominee; Salonika, opposite Jessica Tandy, for which she won a Drama Desk
Award; You Can’t Take It With You, again alongside Jason Robards and Colleen
Dewhurst; All’s Well That Ends Well; Sheep on the Runway; the Playwrights
Horizons production of Harry Kondoleon’s Anteroom, for which she won an Obie
Award; and Mike Nichols’ revival of Uncle Vanya, with George C. Scott, Barnard
Hughes, and Julie Christie.
Ms. Wilson was an Emmy Award nominee for her role as Frances Schreuder’s
(Lee Remick) mother in the miniseries Nutcracker, directed by Paul Bogart. Her
other miniseries and telefilms include Queen and Scarlett, directed by John
Erman; In the Best of Families, directed by Jeff Bleckner; and Joseph Sargent’s
Skylark, with Glenn Close and Christopher Walken. Her TV work also includes
starring in the series East Side/West Side with George C. Scott, and Doc, with
Barnard Hughes; and guest-starring on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, All in the
Family, and Murder, She Wrote.
She studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Ms. Wilson
was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and now lives in New York City.
ELEANOR BRON (Daisy’s Aunt)
Among Eleanor Bron’s motion picture credits are several much-admired: Richard
Lester’s Help!, with The Beatles, Lewis Gilbert’s Alfie, with Michael Caine, Stanley
Donen’s Two for the Road and Bedazzled, and Ken Russell’s Women in Love.
Her other notable films include Terence Davies’ The House of Mirth; Richard
Eyre’s Iris; Alfonso Cuarón’s A Little Princess; Caroline Thompson’s Black Beauty;
Christine Edzard’s Little Dorrit; Mandie Fletcher’s Deadly Advice; Jan Sardi’s
Love’s Brother; Richard Loncraine’s Wimbledon; Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s The Heart
of Me; John Irvin’s Turtle Diary; and Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini’s StreetDance.
Ms. Bron got her start in satirical revue with The Establishment nightclub and on
television. She appeared in the comedy series Where Was Spring? and After
That, This, which she co-wrote with John Fortune; and in Beyond a Joke, written
with Michael Frayn, who subsequently wrote the series Making Faces for her.
She also co-wrote and contributed to several comedy series with John Bird and
Alan Bennett.
24
She went on to play leading roles in drama in both television and theatre,
including Yelena in Uncle Vanya; Natalya in A Month in the Country; Amanda in
Private Lives; Madame Dubonnet in The Boyfriend; Stephanie in Duet for One;
Melanie Garth in Quartermaine’s Terms; Jocasta in Oedipus; Beth in Changing
Step; and the Pastor in Hour of the Lynx. Ms. Bron has also portrayed Hedda
Gabler, Jean Brodie, Cleopatra, and the Madwoman of Chaillot.
Her other stage work includes The Miser, The White Devil, The Cherry Orchard,
The Real Inspector Hound, and The Duchess of Malfi, all for the National Theatre;
Hamlet and The Late Middle Classes, both at the Donmar Warehouse; A Perfect
Ganesh, with Prunella Scales, at West Yorkshire Playhouse; All About My Mother,
at the Old Vic; and her one-woman show Desdemona – If You Had Only Spoken!,
at Edinburgh and the Almeida Theatre.
Ms. Bron authored the books Life and Other Punctures and The Pillowbook of
Eleanor Bron as well as the novel Double Take. She has also written new verses
for Saint-Saëns’ “The Carnival of the Animals” and a song cycle with John
Dankworth.
OLIVIA WILLIAMS (Eleanor)
Olivia Williams has played notable roles in a number of memorable movies.
These have included Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer, opposite Ewan
McGregor and Pierce Brosnan, for which she was named Best Supporting
Actress by the National Society of Film Critics and the London Critics’ Circle Film
Awards; and Lone Scherfig’s An Education, opposite Carey Mulligan. The latter
film earned Ms. Williams a London Critics’ Circle Film Award nomination as well
as a shared Screen Actors Guild Award nomination with her fellow actors from
the ensemble.
After completing her university studies, she spent two years at the Bristol Old Vic
Theatre School before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company for three years.
In 1997, Ms. Williams was chosen by director Kevin Costner to star opposite him
in the drama The Postman. Subsequently, she played opposite Bill Murray and
Jason Schwartzman in Wes Anderson’s acclaimed Rushmore; and appeared as
Bruce Willis’ wife in M. Night Shyamalan’s blockbuster The Sixth Sense.
She has since appeared in a number of U.K. independent films, including
Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s The Heart of Me, for which she was honored with the
British Independent Film Award (BIFA) for Best Actress; Peter Cattaneo’s Lucky
Break, for which she was an Empire Award nominee; and Mat Whitecross’ Sex &
Drugs & Rock & Roll, opposite Andy Serkis. Among her other movies are George
Hickenlooper’s The Man from Elysian Fields; P.J. Hogan’s Peter Pan; Martin
Donovan’s Collaborator; and, also for Focus Features, Hanna and the soon-to-bereleased Anna Karenina, both directed by Joe Wright.
In addition to the latter, Ms. Williams’ upcoming movies include Ol Parker’s Now
is Good, opposite Dakota Fanning; Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Ruairi
Robinson’s The Last Days on Mars; and Sergey Bodrov’s The Seventh Son, with
Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Ben Barnes, and Alicia Vikander.
25
On television, she has portrayed celebrated authors Jane Austen and Agatha
Christie, respectively, in the telefilms Miss Austen Regrets (directed by Jeremy
Lovering) and Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures (directed by Richard Curson
Smith); starred on Joss Whedon’s cult favorite series Dollhouse; and gueststarred on such shows as Friends, Terriers, and Beck. She most recently starred
on television as London’s Mayor in City Hall, directed for “Playhouse Presents” by
Richard Loncraine.
Ms. Williams’ West End stage work includes starring opposite Matthew Fox in
the world premiere of the play In a Forest, Dark and Deep, written and directed
by Neil LaBute, at the Vaudeville Theatre; and starring with Tom Hollander in
Robin Lefevre’s Donmar Warehouse production of John Osborne’s The Hotel in
Amsterdam.
26
Hyde Park on Hudson
About the Filmmakers
ROGER MICHELL (Director)
The son of an English diplomat, Roger Michell was born in South Africa and as a
child lived in Beirut, Damascus, and Prague. He started directing plays at school
before going on to Cambridge. In 1977, he won the Royal Shakespeare
Company Buzz Goodbody Award at the National Student Drama Festival as well
as a Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival.
He has subsequently directed plays at the National Theatre, the Old Vic, the Lyric
Hammersmith, Donmar Warehouse, Hampstead, the Royal Court, the Almeida,
in the West End, and on Broadway and elsewhere. For six years, Mr. Michell was
resident director at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford and London.
In the early 1990s, he began directing in additional mediums. His work for
television includes the award-winning miniseries The Buddha of Suburbia,
starring Naveen Andrews, Brenda Blethyn, and Roshan Seth, and marking the
first of his many collaborations with writer Hanif Kureishi; documentaries for the
BBC; and a number of commercials.
His features as director have included Persuasion, which starred Amanda Root
and Ciarán Hinds, for which he shared a BAFTA Award with the creative team;
My Night with Reg, adapted by Kevin Elyot from the latter’s play; Titanic Town, for
which Julie Walters received an IFTA Award nomination; the smash Notting Hill,
starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, which received the Evening Standard
British Film Awards’ Peter Sellers Award for Comedy and for which Mr. Michell
won an Empire Award; Changing Lanes, starring Ben Affleck and Prism Award
nominee Samuel L. Jackson; The Mother, for which Anne Reid was honored by
the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards; Enduring Love, for which Mr. Michell
received Directors Guild of Great Britain Award, European Film Award, and
British Independent Film Award (BIFA) nominations as Best Director; Venus, for
which Leslie Phillips won the BIFA as Best Supporting Actor staring opposite
Peter O’Toole; and Morning Glory, starring Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, and
Diane Keaton.
Mr. Michell has directed several productions of plays by Hyde Park on Hudson
writer Richard Nelson, including the spring 2012 world premiere staging of
Farewell to the Theatre, starring Ben Chaplin, Jemma Redgrave, and William
French.
RICHARD NELSON (Writer)
Richard Nelson’s plays have been produced on Broadway, off-Broadway, in the
West End, by numerous national theatres across Europe, and at major theaters
in Japan, Israel, and Russia. Ten of his plays have been staged by the Royal
27
Shakespeare Company, where he is an Honorary Associate Artist. He has
directed productions of his plays in the U.S. and the U.K.
He has written a cycle of plays for the Public Theatre including Sorry, Sweet and
Sad, and That Hopey Changey Thing. His other plays include Farewell to the
Theatre (staged in its March 2012 world premiere by Hyde Park on Hudson
director Roger Michell), Nikolai and the Others, Conversations in Tusculum, How
Shakespeare Won the West, Frank’s Home, Rodney’s Wife, Franny’s Way,
Madame Melville, Goodnight Children Everywhere, The General From America,
New England, Misha’s Party (with Alexander Gelman), Columbus or the Discovery
of Japan, Two Shakespearean Actors, Some Americans Abroad, Left, Life
Sentences, and Principia Scriptoriae.
Mr. Nelson has written the musicals Unfinished Piece for a Player Piano (with
Peter Golub), James Joyce’s The Dead (with Shaun Davey), and My Life with
Albertine (with Ricky Ian Gordon). He has written numerous translations as well
as co-translated a series of Russian classical plays with the eminent translators
Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. He adapted Edith Wharton’s novel
Ethan Frome into a feature screenplay; the movie, directed by John Madden,
starred Liam Neeson and Patricia Arquette.
His honors include a Tony Award (Best Book of a Musical, for James Joyce’s The
Dead) and Olivier Award (Best Play for Goodnight Children Everywhere); two
more Tony nominations (Best Play, for Two Shakespearean Actors, and Best
Score, as co-lyricist for James Joyce’s The Dead) and another Olivier nomination
(Best Comedy, for Some Americans Abroad); two Obie Awards, a Lucille Lortel
Award, a New York Drama Critics Circle Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Lila
Wallace-Readers’ Digest Writers Award, an American Academy of Arts and
Letters award; and the PEN/Laura Pels Master Playwright Award.
KEVIN LOADER (Producer)
Kevin Loader is one of the U.K.’s most established film producers.
He was a double BAFTA Award nominee in 2010 when two of his productions
were nominated for Best British Film. These were Armando Iannucci’s political
comedy In the Loop, starring Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee, and
James Gandolfini; and, co-produced with Ecosse Films, Sam Taylor-Wood’s
Nowhere Boy, starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Anne-Marie Duff, and Aaron
Johnson as John Lennon. Among other honors worldwide for the two movies, In
the Loop was Academy Award-nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Ms.
Duff won the British Independent Film Award (BIFA) for Best Supporting Actress.
Mr. Loader has a production company with Hyde Park on Hudson director Roger
Michell, Free Range Films. For Free Range, Mr. Michell has previously directed
Venus from a screenplay by Hanif Kureishi, earning Peter O’Toole Golden Globe
and Academy Award nominations, and Jodie Whittaker London Critics’ Circle
Film and BIFA Award nominations; Enduring Love, from Joe Penhall’s adaptation
of Ian McEwan’s novel, starring Daniel Craig, Rhys Ifans, and Samantha Morton,
and nominated for 4 BIFA Awards; and The Mother, written by Mr. Kureishi and
starring Mr. Craig opposite Anne Reid, who received BIFA and BAFTA Award
28
nominations. The Mother won the Europa prize at the 2004 Cannes International
Film Festival. Upcoming Free Range projects include a film version of the
bestselling novel Sister, and Roger Michell directing a new Hanif Kureishi
screenplay, Le Weekend.
Mr. Loader is also producing The Alan Partridge Movie, starring Steve Coogan, for
release in 2013. His previous movies as producer include Andrea Arnold’s
Wuthering Heights; Alex de la Iglesia’s The Oxford Murders, starring John Hurt
and Elijah Wood; Julian Jarrold’s Brideshead Revisited, co-produced with Ecosse
Films; Nicholas Hytner’s The History Boys, adapted by Alan Bennett from his
play; John Madden’s Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, starring Nicolas Cage and
Penélope Cruz; and Mike Barker’s To Kill a King, starring Tim Roth.
He began his career in 1982 at the BBC, producing and directing documentaries,
arts programs, and television dramas. His BBC productions included three
award-winning miniseries: Clarissa, directed by Robert Bierman, The Buddha of
Suburbia, directed by Roger Michell and adapted by Hanif Kureishi from his
novel, and Holding On, directed by Adrian Shergold and written by Tony
Marchant. Mr. Loader also worked for Sony Pictures Entertainment and Le
Studio Canal Plus as manager of their London-based joint venture, The Bridge.
ROGER MICHELL (Producer)
Please refer to above bio.
DAVID AUKIN (Producer)
David Aukin was Head of Film for Film4 from 1990-1998. During that time, he
commissioned over 100 films, many of which won awards all over the world.
Among the movies developed and financed by Film4 were Nicholas Hytner’s The
Madness of King George, which won the Academy Award for Best Art
Direction/Set Decoration (Ken Adam, Carolyn Scott) and was nominated for
three more; Mike Newell’s Four Weddings and a Funeral, which was an Academy
Award nominee for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay (Richard Curtis);
Neil Jordan’s The Crying Game, which won the Academy Award for Mr. Jordan’s
original screenplay; Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting, which won four Empire Awards;
and Mike Leigh’s Secrets & Lies, nominated for five Academy Awards including
Best Picture and Best Director.
Mr. Aukin was subsequently executive producer of such films as Patricia
Rozema’s Mansfield Park, starring Frances O’Connor; and Stephen Frears’ Mrs.
Henderson Presents, starring Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins.
He runs his production company Daybreak Pictures, which is part of the Mentorn
Group, with Hal Vogel. Daybreak has made numerous dramas and miniseries for
U.K. television; Mr. Aukin executive-produced Jon Jones’ A Very Social Secretary,
for which star Bernard Hill received International Emmy and BAFTA Award
nominations. Its latest series, Sirens, has been optioned for a U.S. adaptation.
Daybreak’s feature films have included Pete Travis’ Endgame, starring William
Hurt and Chiwetel Ejiofor. The company is currently developing features for
29
Fernando Mereilles and Justin Kurzel to direct; and with screenwriters John
Hodge and Joe Penhall.
Prior to Film4, Mr. Aukin worked in the theatrical arena, and from 1986-1990
was Executive Director of Britain’s Royal National Theatre.
TESSA ROSS (Executive Producer)
Tessa Ross was appointed Head of Film4 in December 2002. Since November
2004, she has been Controller of Film and Drama at Channel 4.
Film4, which is Channel 4’s theatrical feature film division, is known for working
with the most innovative talent in the U.K., whether new or established. The
division has built a reputation for developing and financing distinctive films such
as Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire; Shane Meadows’ This is England; Steve
McQueen’s directorial debut Hunger; Walter Salles’ The Motorcycle Diaries; Kevin
Macdonald’s Touching the Void and The Last King of Scotland; Richard Ayoade’s
directorial debut Submarine; Joe Cornish’s directorial debut Attack the Block;
Mike Leigh’s Another Year; Andrea Arnold’s Wuthering Heights; and, also in
partnership with Focus Features, Kevin Macdonald’s Roman epic adventure The
Eagle and Lone Scherfig’s romance One Day.
In addition to Hyde Park on Hudson, Film4’s recent and forthcoming releases
include The Iron Lady, directed by Phyllida Lloyd and the winner of 2 Academy
Awards; Paddy Considine’s Tyrannosaur; Steve McQueen’s Shame; Ben
Wheatley’s Sightseers; Walter Salles’ On the Road; Martin McDonagh’s Seven
Psychopaths; and Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin.
ROSA ROMERO (Line Producer)
Rosa Romero has enjoyed an ongoing collaboration with Hyde Park on Hudson
director Roger Michell and producer Kevin Loader’s Free Range Films; she was
previously line producer on the team’s acclaimed movies Venus, Enduring Love,
and The Mother. Also for Mr. Loader, she was line producer on Armando
Iannucci’s In the Loop, Julian Jarrold’s Brideshead Revisited, Andrea Arnold’s
Wuthering Heights, and Alex de la Iglesia’s The Oxford Murders. The latter
earned her a Goya Award (Spain’s Oscars equivalent) for Best Production
Supervision.
Ms. Romero speaks five different languages. She was born in Barcelona, where
she began her production career with the Catalan television channel TV3. She
subsequently produced short films and documentaries. Her first narrative feature
as producer, Boom Boom, directed by Rosa Vergés, won the Goya Award for Best
First Film. She later reteamed with Ms. Vergés on Souvenir, after producing
Marion Hänsel’s Sur la terre comme au ciel (a.k.a. Between Heaven and Earth)
and Félix Rotaeta’s Chatarra, both starring Carmen Maura.
After relocating to the U.K., she worked as production and/or location manager
on such features as Phil Davis’ I.D., Jake Scott’s Plunkett & Macleane, and Mike
Figgis’ Hotel (on-site in Venice).
30
In addition to the movies previously mentioned, Ms. Romero’s features as line
producer include Michael Winterbottom’s Code 46; Christopher Smith’s
Severance; Dan Wilde’s Alpha Male, starring Jennifer Ehle and Danny Huston;
Ben Palmer’s sleeper hit The Inbetweeners Movie; Michael Radford’s La mula
[The Mule], and, currently in production, Kevin Macdonald’s How I Live Now,
starring Saoirse Ronan.
LOL CRAWLEY (Director of Photography)
British cinematographer Lol Crawley’s first feature credit was on an American
independent film, Lance Hammer’s Ballast, which earned him the Excellence in
Cinematography award at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival as well as a Spirit
Award nomination. He was also cited by Variety as one of “10 Cinematographers
to Watch,” and Ballast received awards and critical praise around the world.
Prior to Ballast, he was director of photography on short films. These included
multiple collaborations with directors Richard Fenwick, Chris J. Taylor, and
Duane Hopkins. His work on the latter’s Love Me or Leave Me Alone brought Mr.
Crawley a Special Mention at the 2003 Brest European Short Film Festival. He
reteamed with the director for the feature Better Things, which world-premiered
at the 2008 Cannes International Film Festival.
His next features as cinematographer were, for Film4, Chris Morris’ acclaimed
satire Four Lions, which won a BAFTA and an Empire Award, among other
honors; Morag McKinnon’s Donkeys, which won the Best Film prize from the
BAFTA (Scotland) Awards; the Armenian road movie romance Here, starring Ben
Foster and Lubna Azabal for director Braden King; and Andrew Okpeaha
McLean’s Alaskan thriller On the Ice, for which Mr. Crawley was honored with the
Haskell Wexler Award for Best Cinematography at the 2011 Woodstock Film
Festival.
He was recently a BAFTA Award nominee for his work on the BBC miniseries The
Crimson Petal and the White, directed by Marc Munden and starring Romola
Garai and Chris O’Dowd.
Mr. Crawley is currently at work in South Africa as cinematographer on The Long
Walk to Freedom, directed by Justin Chadwick and starring Idris Elba as Nelson
Mandela.
SIMON BOWLES (Production Designer)
Simon Bowles’ work as production designer is familiar to movie audiences from
his imaginative collaborations with director Neil Marshall. These have included
Centurion, starring Michael Fassbender; Dog Soldiers, starring Sean Pertwee and
Kevin McKidd; Doomsday, starring Rhona Mitra; and The Descent. He returned to
the latter subterranean environments for The Descent: Part 2, directed by John
Harris and executive-produced by Mr. Marshall.
Mr. Bowles’ other features as production designer include Edgar Wright’s A
Fistful of Fingers; Dan Reed’s Straightheads; James Watkins’ Eden Lake; Simon
31
Hunter’s Lighthouse, for which he received a British Independent Film Award
(BIFA) nomination, and short film Wired; Jeremy Lovering’s telefilm A Plot to Kill
Hitler (a.k.a. Killing Hitler); and Jim O’Hanlon’s telefilm The Reckoning. He again
worked with the latter as production designer of the miniseries The Deep, also
directed by Colm McCarthy, starring James Nesbitt, Orla Brady, and Goran
Visnjic.
A graduate of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, he segued into movies by way
of the art department. His features as art director included Michael Anderson’s
The New Adventures of Pinocchio; Russell Mulcahy’s Tale of the Mummy and
telefilm The Lost Battalion; and Kevin Allen’s Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination
London. Mr. Bowles was also art director on several episodes of Foyle’s War; and
worked as concept artist on Simon West’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, starring
Angelina Jolie.
NICOLAS GASTER (Editor)
Nicolas Gaster’s feature films edited for director Roger Michell include The
Mother, Enduring Love, Venus, and now Hyde Park on Hudson.
He has also been the film editor for director Ralph Fiennes, on Coriolanus and
the currently-in-production The Invisible Woman, as well as Milcho Manchevski,
on the Academy Award-nominated Before the Rain, for which Mr. Gaster was
also the second unit director, and Dust; Lindsay Anderson, on The Whales of
August and the documentary Is That All There Is?; and Lavinia Currier, on Passion
in the Desert and Oka! (a.k.a. Oka Amerikee).
Mr. Gaster edited the Academy Award-winning short film Six Shooter, directed by
Martin McDonagh. Among other award-winning features that he has edited have
been Chris Menges’ A World Apart; Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz & Guildenstern
Are Dead; and Duncan Jones’ Moon.
He has also edited such cult favorites as Dave McKean’s MirrorMask and Keith
Fulton and Louis Pepe’s Brothers of the Head, as well as foreign-language
features and multiple documentaries.
JEREMY SAMS (Music)
Jeremy Sams is a theatre director, lyricist and translator of plays and opera
libretti; and is also a composer, orchestrator, and musical director.
Hyde Park on Hudson is the fourth feature that he has scored for director Roger
Michell. It follows Persuasion, for which he won a BAFTA Award; the highly
acclaimed The Mother; and Enduring Love, for which Mr. Sams won the Ivor
Novello Award for Best Score for a Feature Film.
He studied music, French, and German at Magdalene College in Cambridge as
well as piano at the Guildhall School of Music. Early on, he worked as a freelance
pianist and coach, giving frequent recitals and tours and doing stints as a
32
répétiteur (e.g., a musician doubling as a vocal coach) at opera houses in
Brussels and Ankara.
Mr. Sams’ stage directorial credits include reviving Michael Frayn’s classic farce
Noises Off, in the West End and on Broadway, where Katie Finneran won a Tony
Award for her performance; Spend, Spend, Spend, at the Piccadilly Theatre, for
which he was an Olivier Award nominee; The Wizard of Oz, currently running at
the London Palladium, which won Best Musical Revival at the What’s on Stage
Awards; Educating Rita, at the Menier Chocolate Factory and Trafalgar Studios;
The Sound of Music, at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto, which won the
Dora Mavor Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical; Donkey’s Years, in
the U.K. at the Comedy Theatre and then on a national tour; and the U.K. tour of
Little Britain, adapted from the popular television series. He created the hit stage
adaptation of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
His many translations include Figaro’s Wedding, The Magic Flute, La Bohème,
and The Ring Cycle, at ENO; The Merry Widow, at Covent Garden; Les Parents
Terribles, The Miser, Mary Stuart, for the Royal National Theatre; and, on
Broadway, Amour. For his translation and composition work on the latter,
directed by James Lapine, Mr. Sams received two Tony Award and two Drama
Desk Award nominations.
In addition to his feature work, he has composed music for radio programs and
television dramas, the latter including Gregory Mosher and David Mamet’s
adaptation of Uncle Vanya, starring David Warner, Ian Holm, and Ian Bannen.
DINAH COLLIN (Costume Designer)
For her memorable costume design on the miniseries Pride and Prejudice,
directed by Simon Langton and starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, Dinah
Collin won an Emmy Award and received a BAFTA Award nomination. She had
previously won a BAFTA Award for her work on the miniseries Portrait of a
Marriage, directed by Stephen Whittaker and starring Janet McTeer and Cathryn
Harrison; and received prior BAFTA nominations for her work on Claude
Whatham’s teleplay The Gay Lord Quex and Elijah Moshinsky’s miniseries
Cymbeline.
She was costume designer for Paul Greengrass on six features and telefilms: The
Bourne Supremacy, Bloody Sunday, The Theory of Flight, The Fix, The Murder of
Stephen Lawrence, and the Academy Award-nominated United 93. Her other
feature work includes Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer; Michael Caton-Jones’
Shooting Dogs (a.k.a. Beyond the Gates); and Michael Radford’s Flawless,
starring Michael Caine and Demi Moore.
Ms. Collin’s television series credits as costume designer include one season of
the long-running Last of the Summer Wine; installments of Campion, starring
Peter Davison, which aired in the U.S. as Mystery! presentations; and episodes of
the cult favorite Doctor Who.
More recently, she has expanded her purview to design costumes for two
National Theatre productions: Nicholas Hytner’s staging of Much Ado About
33
Nothing, with Zoë Wanamaker and Simon Russell Beale, and Melly Still’s staging
of Nation. She then reteamed with the latter director to design costumes for his
production of the opera Cunning Little Vixen, which debuted in May 2012 at The
Glyndebourne Festival.
MORAG ROSS (Make-up Designer)
Morag Ross previously teamed with Hyde Park on Hudson star Bill Murray on
Sofia Coppola’s Academy Award-winning Lost in Translation, also for Focus
Features, on which she was key hair and make-up artist; and on Andy Garcia’s
The Lost City.
She was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland, and studied at Glasgow School of
Art, graduating with a B.A. Hons. Ms. Ross then spent several years with the
BBC’s make-up department in London.
Her freelance career since then has included designing make-up and/or hair for,
among other feature films, Derek Jaman’s Caravaggio, Edward II, and
Wittgenstein; Mike Leigh’s High Hopes; Mel Smith’s The Tall Guy; Neil Jordan’s
The Crying Game, Interview with the Vampire, and The Butcher Boy; Milcho
Manchevski’s Before the Rain; and Alan Rickman’s The Winter Guest.
Ms. Ross has won two BAFTA Awards, for her work on Sally Potter’s Orlando,
starring Tilda Swinton, and Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator; she has also been
BAFTA-nominated for her work on Mr. Scorsese’s Hugo and Ang Lee’s Sense and
Sensibility. In 2008, she was honored with the BAFTA (Scotland) Awards’ Craft
Award.
NORMA WEBB (Hair Designer)
Prior to Hyde Park on Hudson, Norma Webb previously worked with director
Roger Michell on the smash Notting Hill, starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant,
on which she was both hair stylist and make-up artist.
Ms. Webb won a BAFTA (Cymru) [Wales] Award for her work as chief make-up
designer on Coky Giedroyc’s WWII-set telefilm Carrie’s War, starring Keeley
Fawcett; and shared an Emmy Award as part of the make-up department
honored for its work on the miniseries Merlin, directed by Steve Barron. As senior
hair stylist and senior make-up artist on Lasse Hallström’s Chocolat, she shared
a BAFTA Award nomination.
After studying at the London College of Fashion, where she was named Student
of the Year, she trained and worked at BBC London. Since then, she has worked
on feature films, telefilms, and miniseries as a make-up and hair artist.
Ms. Webb has worked on four 007 movies with three different James Bonds,
most recently as make-up artist on Skyfall, starring Daniel Craig for director Sam
Mendes. Her other make-up artist credits include, also for Focus Features, Joe
Wright’s Atonement, also as hair artist; Robert Altman’s all-star Gosford Park;
Martin Campbell’s miniseries Edge of Darkness, Michael Apted’s Gorillas in the
Mist, starring Sigourney Weaver; Merchant Ivory’s The Remains of the Day,
34
starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson; Lasse Hallström’s Salmon
Fishing in the Yemen; and Christopher Hampton’s Carrington and The Secret
Agent, both also as hair stylist.
Her many other projects have included Ron Howard’s The Da Vinci Code, as hair
stylist and make-up artist; and make-up and/or hair work on the second unit of
three Harry Potter movies.
35
Hyde Park on Hudson
Credits
CAST
FDR
Bill Murray
Daisy
Laura Linney
Bertie
Samuel West
Elizabeth
Olivia Colman
Missy
Elizabeth Marvel
Eleanor
Olivia Williams
Mrs. Roosevelt
Elizabeth Wilson
Tommy
Martin McDougall
Cameron
Andrew Havill
Daisy’s Aunt
Eleanor Bron
Mrs. Astor
Nancy Baldwin
President’s Aides
Tim Beckmann
Guy Paul
Eben Young
Mary the Maid
Samantha Dakin
Cook
Buffy Davis
Plumber
Morgan Deare
Hungry Drivers
Tim Ahern
Tommy Campbell
Jeff Mash
Kevin Millington
Superstitious Maid
Nell Mooney
Waiter
Robert G. Slade
Ish-ti-opi
Jonathan Brewer
Princess Te Ata
Kumiko Konishi
Butler
Blake Ritson
Thomas
Parker Sawyers
Photographer
James McNeill
The British Imperial Military Band
Brass Bands
The Amersham Band
36
CREW
Directed by
Roger Michell
Written by
Richard Nelson
Produced by
Kevin Loader
Roger Michell
David Aukin
Executive Producer
Tessa Ross
Line Producer
Rosa Romero
Director of Photography
Lol Crawley
Production Designer
Simon Bowles
Edited by
Nicolas Gaster
Music by
Jeremy Sams
Costume Designer
Dinah Collin
Casting by
Gail Stevens, CDG and Ellen Lewis
First Assistant Director
Second Assistant Director
Production Manager
Location Manager
Supervising Art Director
Set Decorator
Production Sound Mixer
Post-Production Supervisor
Supervising Sound Editors
Art Director
Standby Art Director
Assistant Art Director
Art Department Assistant
Art Department Trainee
Graphics Artist
Illustrator
‘B’ Camera/
Steadicam Operators
First Assistant Camera/
‘A’ Camera
Second Assistant Camera/
‘A’ Camera
Barrie McCulloch
Harriet Worth
Nicola Mairs
Jonah Coombes
Mark Raggett
Celia Bobak
Danny Hambrook
Louise Seymour
Matt Collinge
Danny Sheehan
Hannah Santeugini
Fiona Gavin
Sophie Bridgman
Sarah Priest
Oliver Charles Benson
Chris Lunney
Charlie Cobb
Simon Baker
Julian Morson
Derrick Peters
Henry Landgrebe
37
First Assistant Camera/
‘B’ Camera
Second Assistant Camera/
‘B’ Camera
Camera Trainee
‘C’ Camera Operator
First Assistant Camera/
‘C’ Camera
Second Assistant Camera/
‘C’ Camera
Aerial Camera Operator
Wescam Technician
Underwater Camera Operator
Video Playback
On Set DIT
Script Supervisor
First Assistant Editor
Second Assistant Editor
Post-Production Coordinator
Sound Maintenance
Sound Assistants
Additional Sound Recordists
Assistant Costume Designer
Costume Supervisor
Costume Design Assistant
Costume Maker
Standby Costumes
Costume Trainee
Costume Assistants
Make-up Designer
Hair Designer
Tom Wilkinson
David Mills
Ben Wearing
Steven Hall
John Bailie
Dashiel Lilley
Jeremy Braben
Oliver Ward
Tim Wooster
Brian Lockyer
Mark Purvis
Sue Hills
Andy Jadavji
Kieran Waller
Robin Davies
Adam Laschinger
Nick Gillett
Nadine Richardson
Rashad Omar
Paul Paragon
Jeremy Turner
Dulcie Scott
Caroline McCall
Sarah Humphrey
Paul Yeowell
Yasemin Kascioglu
Daisy Babbington
Pol Kyriacou
Emma Bevan Hyde
Morag Ross
Norma Webb
38
Make-up Artists
Hairdresser
Crowd Make-up Supervisor
Crowd Hair Supervisor
Make-up Trainee
Chief Lighting Technician
Best Boy Electric
Rigging Gaffer
Electricians
Key Grip
Second Grip
Standby Rigger
Standby Carpenter
Property Master
Props Storeman
Production Buyer
Assistant Production Buyer
Drapesman
Home Economists
Charge Hand Dresser
Dressers
Standby Propmen
Special Effects Supervisor
Special Effects Technicians
Pauline Fehily
Emilie Yong
Lisa Pickering
Karen Z. M. Turner
Kathryn Fa
Joanna Sim
Stefan Lissner
Jimmy Russell
James Summers
Mark Alvarez
Adrian Mackay
Steve O’Donaghue
Rob Walton
David McAnulty
David Littlejohns
Mark Richards
Peter Ford
Tom Read
Michael Rawling
James Hendy
Katie Turner
Anthony Szuch
Katherine Tidy
Catherine Kinzig
Don Raphael Santos
Beau Read
Jevon Edwards
Kevin Day
Andy Forrest
Dan Taylor
Chris Reynolds
Harry Bryce
Steve Bowman
Mike Crowley
John Timlin
39
Assistant Location Manager
Unit Manager
Location Scout and Assistant
Location Assistant
Location Scouts
Principal Location Conservator
Location Conservator
Production Coordinator
Assistant
Production Coordinators
Second Second
Assistant Director
Crowd Second Assistant Director
Third Assistant Directors
Key Floor Runner
Floor Runners
Set Production Assistant
Trainee Assistant Director
Office Production Assistant
Crowd Production Assistants
Assistant to Mr. Murray
Assistant to Ms. Linney
Amie Tridgell
John Crampton
Jeremy Levy
Rachel Taylor
Hanna Lamb
Nick Marshall
Rosemary MacDonald
Kate Bertenshaw
Gabby Le Rasle
Emily Gardner
Helen Turner
Carley Lane
Sarah Macfarlane
Vaughn Stein
Tom Reynolds
Daniel Smith
Karl King
Joe Paines
Gabriel Henrique Gonzalez
Jack Bingham
Ben Coren
Layla Gilhooly
Daniel Cox
Kay Michael
Sam Barry-Parker
Sam Ross
Sian Anthony
Sound Editing by Phaze UK
Dialogue and ADR Editor
Gavin Rose
Additional Effects Editor
Danny Hambrook
Foley Supervisor
Barnaby Smyth
Foley Recordists
Glen Gathard
Keith Partridge
Foley Artist
Peter Burgis
ADR Voice Casting
Sync or Swim
Re-Recording Mixers
Chris Burdon
Matthew Collinge
40
Sound Mix Technician
Re-Recorded at
Construction Manager
Supervising Carpenter
Supervising Painter
Construction Driver
Charge Hand Carpenters
Charge Hand Rigger
Insurance Provided by
Legal Services Provided by
Development Legal Services
Clearance Services Provided by
Music Legal and Clearances by
Production Accountant
First Assistant Accountant
Payroll Accountant
Cashier
Post-Production Accountant
Post Assistant Accountants
Payroll Services
Stunt Coordinators
Stunt Performer
Publicists
Stills Photographer
Casting Associate (UK)
Casting Assistant (UK)
Nick Del-Molino
De Lane Lea
Gene D’Cruze
Danny Margetts
Mark Beros
Clive D’Cruze
Brian Stagg
Dominic Ackland-Snow
Ian Grant
AON/Albert G. Ruben
Insurance Services
Wiggin LLP
Charles Moore
Alexander Lea
Sara Curran
Ashley Kravitz
Christine Bergren
Maxine Davis
Marie Dong
Ellie Downham
John Steele
Lara Sargent
Louise Green
Kirstie White
Sargent-Disc Ltd, London
Abbi Collins
James O’Donnell
Lucy Allen
Charles McDonald
Matthew Sanders
Nicola Dove
Colin Jones
Becks Farhall
41
Casting Associate (US)
Polio Advisor
Military Advisor
Chickasaw Research Consultant
Dialect Coaches
Animal Handlers
Assets/Green Manager
Catering
Chefs
Front of House
Assistant Chef
First Aid
Location Security Company
Location Security
Facilities Captain
Facilities
Vintage Vehicles
Vehicle Coordinator
Camera Truck Driver
Unit Drivers
Rushes Services provided by
Rushes Manager
Rushes Operators
Rushes Runner
Matthew Maisto
Mike Egan
Paul Hornsby
Judy Lee Oliva
Julia Wilson Dickson
Louis Calaianni
Emma Dent
Jez Rose
Anna Hinds
Healthy Yummies
Nichola Smith
David Yorkston
Kelly Maarschalk
Julie Bailey
John Hancock
Elton Farla
A R Location Services
Anthony Stagles
Rodney Dewinter
John Barnes
Dean Willmott
Bill Charman
Danny Gooner
Greg Howard
Dean Clack
TLO Film Services
Martin Alderdice
Derrick Foster
Mark Richards
Mike Beaven
Chris Dudley
John Kemp
Sixteen19
Chad Andrews
Justin K. Stanley
Kaitlyn Fox
Derek Ewers
42
For Film4
Head of Development
Sam Lavender
Head of
Sue Bruce-Smith
Commercial Development
Head of Business Affairs
Harry Dixon
Head of Production
Tracey Josephs
For Daybreak Pictures
Production Executive
Hal Vogel
Producer’s Assistant
Thomas Hawkins
Visual Effects by Union VFX
Supervisor
Adam Gascoyne
Producer
Tim Caplan
Production Coordinator
Noga Alon Stein
Lead VFX Artist
Mervyn New
Compositing TD
Kaveh Montazer
VFX Artists
Mitch Crease
William Jeffers
Maria Peralta
Valeria Oss
VFX Editor
Kieran Waller
Digital Intermediate Provided by Company 3 London
Colorist
Adam Glasman
On-Line Editor
Emily Greenwood
Head of Department
Patrick Malone
Producer
Marie Fernandes
Assistant Producer
Cheryl Goodbody
Digital Film Technical Supervisor
Laurent Treherne
Digital Film Bureau
Fiorenza Bagnariol
Timothy P. Jones
Gordon Pratt
Laura Pavone
Assistants
Aurora Shannon
Peter Collins
Data Wrangler
Dan Helme
43
Avids Provided by
Title Design by
Color Timer
Dolby Sound Consultant
Post-Production Script
Music Performed by
Orchestra Recorded at
Music Scoring Mixer
Music Scoring Mix Assistant
Conductor
Orchestrations
Music Editor
Copyists
Pivotal Post
Matt Curtis
Clive Noakes
Robert Karlsson
FATTS
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Angel Recording Studios
Gary Thomas
Chris Parker
Christopher Austin
Christopher Austin
Jeremy Sams
Ian Humphris
Rael Jones
Daniel McCallum
Daniel Saleeb
44
Songs
“Moonlight Serenade”
Written by Glenn Miller and Mitchell Parish
Performed by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment
Under license from Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd.
“I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire”
Written by Bennie Benjamin, Eddie Durham, Sol Marcus and Edward Seiler
Performed by The Ink Spots
Courtesy of Geffen Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises
“If I Didn’t Care”
Written by Jack Lawrence
Performed by The Ink Spots
Courtesy of Geffen Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises
“Chief Mountain Song”
Traditional
Arranged by Ben Brewer
Performed by Jonathan Brewer
“Thunder Song”
Traditional
Arranged by Ben Brewer
Performed by Jonathan Brewer
“Squaw Mountain”
Traditional
Arranged by Ben Brewer
Performed by Jonathan Brewer
“Benny’s Song”
Traditional
Arranged by Ben Brewer
Performed by Jonathan Brewer
Made with the support of the UK Film Council’s Development Fund
Originally commissioned by the Watershed Partnership Ltd
45
This motion picture used sustainability strategies to reduce
Its carbon emissions and environmental impact.
For more information visit www.focusfeatures.com/FocusOnGreen
Color by Deluxe
Special Thanks
Robert Clark and The Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum, Hyde Park, NY
The US Park Rangers and staff at the Homes of Franklin D. Roosevelt
and Eleanor Roosevelt Historic Sites, Springwood and Val-Kill, NY
Gregory J Sokaris, Wilderstein Historic Site, NY
Ned Chaillet
Jared Levitus-McCulloch
Motion Picture Association of America #47399
Copyright  2012 Focus Features LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Focus Features LLC is the author of this motion picture
for purposes of the Berne Convention and all national laws giving effect thereto.
While this picture is based on a true story,
certain characters names have been changed,
some main characters have been composited or invented
and a number of incidents fictionalized.
This motion picture is protected under the laws
of the United States and other countries.
Unauthorized duplication, distribution or exhibition may result
in civil liability and criminal prosecution.
Running Time: 95 minutes
46
Aspect Ratio: Scope [2:35/1]
theaters
Dolby Stereo SR/SRD/DTS, in selected
www.HydeParkOnHudsonMovie.com
www.Facebook.com/HydeParkOnHudson
www.YouTube.com/HydeParkOnHudson
Twitter Hashtag: #HydeParkMovie
A Focus Features Release