Hollywood Tonight presents official Walt Disney Pictures film Swing Vote stills and Production notes!

SWING VOTE

Just when you think your vote doesn’t count, it turns out it’s the only one that does.

   “Swing Vote” is a heartfelt comedy where politics is anything but usual when it falls to the most ordinary citizen to decide the Presidential race. Bud Johnson (KEVIN COSTNER) is an apathetic, beer-slinging, lovable loser who is coasting through a life that has nearly passed him by. The one bright spot is his precocious, overachieving 12-yearold daughter Molly (MADELINE CARROLL). She takes care of both of them, until one mischievous moment on Election Day, when she accidentally sets off a chain of events which culminates in the election coming down to one vote…her dad’s.

   “Swing Vote” is a comical look at the journey of a father and daughter who discover that everyone has the power to change the world. Joining the cast are KELSEY GRAMMER as Republican incumbent President Andrew Boone, and DENNIS HOPPER as Democratic hopeful Donald Greenleaf. NATHAN LANE portrays Art Crumb, Greenleaf’s Democratic campaign manager who has lost seven elections, and STANLEY TUCCI plays Martin Fox, the slick campaign manager to the Republican President. PAULA PATTON takes on the role of local small-town TV reporter Kate Madison, who has aspirations for a big-time network news job, and GEORGE LOPEZ is her “seen-itall” boss John Sweeney, who manages the local Texico, New Mexico, TV station.

   Directed by Joshua Michael Stern and produced by Jim Wilson and Costner, the film is executive produced by Robin Jonas, Ted Field, Terry Dougas and Paris Kasidokostas Latsis . The screenplay is written by Jason Richman & Joshua Michael Stern. A Touchstone Pictures presentation, “Swing Vote” is a Treehouse Films production in association with Radar Pictures and 1821 Pictures.

   Collaborating behind the scenes, the creative team includes director of photography Shane Hurlbut (“Into The Blue,” “We Are Marshall,” “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” “Drumline”), production designer Steve Saklad (“Juno,” “Thank You For Smoking,” “Spider-Man 2”), and costume designer Lisa Jensen (“In The Valley Of Elah,” “The Ringer,” “The Fabulous Baker Boys”). Jeff McEvoy (“Wonderland,” “Touristas”) is editor. Academy Award®–nominated composer John Debney (“Passion of the Christ,” “I Know What You Did Last Summer”) created the original score.

THE PRIMARIES
Putting Story First

   Long-time friends, writer/director Joshua Michael Stern and writer Jason Richman had always wanted to work together, but it wasn’t until Richman threw out an idea that they were both passionate about that they decided to dive in. “It’s hard to write with somebody,” says Stern. “But it really worked. It was a dream-writing scenario.”

   The idea was a comedic look at this country’s political process, seen through the eyes of a small-town girl and her apathetic dad. “We felt it was important to write something that had some meaning beyond just the entertainment factor of the comedy,” says Stern. “Our goal was to write a movie about a father and a daughter. The political craziness and chaos was almost a secondary story.”

   The idea caught the attention of Kevin Costner, both as a producer and as an actor, for its comic elements and believable characters. “It felt cinematic and I liked it immediately,” recalls Costner. “I didn’t really dance around. They’ve done a brilliant job with this comedy and I think you could put this in the same category as ‘Tin Cup’ or ‘Bull Durham.’ It doesn’t stay a pure comedy. There are moments that have an emotional bottom and it adds to the experience. It’s fun and funny but there are moments where, you know, your heart can break a little bit.” Oscar®-winning producer Jim Wilson, Costner’s producing partner since “Dances with Wolves,” agrees. “The first few pages absolutely grabbed me because it wasn’t about politics at all,” recalls Wilson. “It was about a single father raising a 12-year-old daughter and their relationship. And the dialogue, the banter between these two is great.”

   “It’s very much a ‘Paper Moon’ story,” says Stern. “We follow the relationship between a father and daughter and how they deal with the chaos that surrounds them.” “Comedy is always part of everything I do because it’s a natural human reaction,” adds Richman about the tone of the script. “But I think the most important thing in this movie — and the most difficult — is truth.”

   The writers felt strongly that if they were going to write about politics, that the story had to be based in reality. “The 2000 election was quite a snafu,” notes Richman about the initial inspiration for the story. “It really drove home the simple idea that every vote counts because it was so incredibly close.”

   Adds Stern, “We thought that if an entire election could come down to a district in Florida — some 500 votes — and a gubernatorial race in Oregon could come down to 30 votes — we could create a believable election that came down to one vote.”

   Stern says the filmmakers didn’t want to take sides in the film’s political story. “If there’s a message to this film beyond the comedy and the relationships,” he says, “it’s that every vote counts.” Costner concludes, “I saw a billboard about eight years ago and it really stuck with me. It said, ‘92 million people in last year’s election made a difference. They didn’t vote.’ It was so profound it was devastating.”

THE ELECTION: FINDING THE PERFECT CANDIDATES

“I thought it would be great to just take Kevin and kind of deconstruct his persona — his iconic movie-star persona — and just let him be a guy.”
~ Joshua Michael Stern, Director

   With more than 100 roles to fill, the process of casting might have been a bit arduous, but the pieces fell into place rather quickly, beginning with the film’s protagonist, Bud Johnson.

   “Bud Johnson represents a lot of people out there,” notes Richman. “He’s a person who just hears white noise coming from the political system — he’s heard a lot of promises over the years, and he’s sort of given up on the system. That’s what was so fun about putting a character like that in the center of the storm.”

   Stern knew from the beginning who he wanted for the role. “I always thought Kevin Costner would be great. He’s so good at playing the everyman — the guy that everyone relates to,” says Stern. “I thought it would be great to just take Kevin and kind of deconstruct his persona — his iconic movie-star persona — and just let him be a guy.”

   Costner was intrigued with the everyman role. “Bud is a classic American character,” says Costner. “He’s kind of a ne’er-do-well — a likeable rascal but flawed. He’s also a careless human being in the sense that he’s drifted in his life, moves from job to job, was married at one point and now has a fifth grader he’s raising who kind of runs the house.”

   As “Swing Vote” unfolds, Bud is courted by heavyweight politicos and their right-hand men, who add to the comedy and are key to making the story work. But who would be President? Costner was quick to suggest Kelsey Grammer. “I had this really strong feeling about Kelsey — he has a presidential air about him and he’s such a good actor,” he says. Stern agrees, adding that he could easily envision Grammer in the White House. “He’s got that vibe. He could run for President,” says Stern, who describes Grammer’s character as “a bit dim.” “But he brought something completely different to it, something very sincere.”

   Grammer, a multiple Golden Globe® and Emmy Award® winner best known as the beloved character Frasier on the acclaimed series “Cheers” and “Frasier,” signed on immediately. “I really enjoyed the way it sort of lampooned the whole political process, and paid equal shrift to Republican and Democratic candidates,” says Grammer. “It points out the foibles in both and actually does encourage us to believe in the political process based upon the fact that a man might actually see the light from time to time.”

   As for his character Andrew Boone, Grammer sees him as quite a complex man who is a dedicated public servant and an optimist with a belief in the American people. “But he also is a man of political expediency and ambition,” adds Grammer. “There’s something hopeful and wonderful about him — and there’s something formidable about him as well because he understands that he has power, he understands that he has a responsibility to do good with power.” But Grammer still finds a way to bring out the comedy in the role. “In this case, one man’s vote is going to decide the Presidency,” says Grammer, “and that actually is a great engine to drive a lot of foolish behavior.”

   Stern particularly liked the surprise Dennis Hopper promised. “Casting him as the Democratic contender was amazing. He looks so distinguished, but he mixes it up a little bit. He’s unexpected and I think that’s always fun for an audience. It’s fun to see people you’ve liked in the past up there doing something new.”

   Indeed, Hopper’s roster of film credits includes some of Hollywood’s most classic film titles — from “Rebel Without a Cause” to “Easy Rider” to “Hoosiers” — and, likewise, some gritty roles. So casting the actor as the Democratic hopeful offered a bit of a twist. Hopper’s character, Donald Greenleaf, has the dignity and determination of a typical political candidate, but like President Boone, Greenleaf has trouble committing when the election is at stake. Hopper embraced the role. “I just really enjoyed the script,” he explains. “I’m really proud to be in this movie and it’s great to work with Kevin again. It’s been quite awhile.” In fact, it had been 12 years since he worked with Costner on “Waterworld.”

   “We were so happy when Dennis decided to play Greenleaf,” says Costner. So the next step was surrounding the Presidential candidates with their right-hand men. Stern explains that at this point, casting was all about pairing people up. “It’s asking, ‘Who would be an interesting contrast to Dennis Hopper?’And the answer is instantly ‘Nathan Lane.’”

   Hopper compares Greenleaf and Lane’s Art Crumb to Abbott and Costello — with Hopper the straight man to Lane’s Costello. “Nathan Lane is one of the funniest men I’ve ever worked with,” says Hopper, “but both of us played it straight. It’s just that the circumstances were funny.”

   “I don’t see it as such a comedic role,” adds Lane. “It has its moments of humor but, essentially, I don’t think of it as a funny role even though they seem to be laughing when we’re doing scenes. We’re playing them serious.” Lane was drawn to the story, which he characterizes as “smart, funny and certainly timely.”

   But most of all, he liked the character, Art Crumb, who is the Democratic contender’s campaign manager. “He’s probably a workaholic,” comments Lane, “and has gone from campaign to campaign but has not had a lot of luck so he’s a little bitter about these past experiences. His need to win is so important and that’s an interesting thing to play.”

   Crumb’s counterpart on the Republican team is campaign manager Martin Fox. “I think there’s a respect between them even though my character doesn’t particularly like Fox,” says Lane. “He finds him to be very slick. But they’ve been in the trenches together so there is a kind of strange friendship and a certain camaraderie.”

   The role of Martin Fox went to Stanley Tucci, who Stern felt was an ideal complement to Grammer’s character. Like the others, Tucci had high praise for the script but also had another incentive for taking the role — Nathan Lane. “I think he’s a wonderful actor and working with him was one of the reasons I signed on,” says Tucci.

   Tucci plays a ruthless perfectionist who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. “I like characters that are so intense and so focused on what they do that they’re sort of innately comic. Because they’re myopic, their behavior becomes somewhat extreme, in a way that can be either very scary or very funny.” And in this case, it’s definitely to comic effect. Says Tucci, “I haven’t read or seen a good political comedy in a long time.”

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