Love & Mercy — Own the Movie Now

With an impressive body of work spanning the course of two decades, John Cusack (Brian Wilson, 1980s) has evolved into one of Hollywood’s most accomplished and respected actors of his generation, garnering both critical acclaim as well as prestigious accolades for his dramatic and comedic roles. In April 2012, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce presented Cusack with the 2,469^th Hollywood Walk of Fame star, honoring his long, groundbreaking career in film.

Cusack first gained the attention of audiences by starring in a number of 1980s film classics such as The Sure Thing, Say Anything and Sixteen Candles. Following these roles, Cusack successfully shed his teen-heartthrob image by demonstrating his ability to expand his film repertoire by starring in a wide range of dramas, thrillers and comedies including The Grifters, Eight Men Out, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity and Grosse Pointe Blank.

Cusack next stars in Bill Pohlad’s Love and Mercy, in which he will play iconic Beach Boys songwriter and musician Brian Wilson. Cusack stars opposite Paul Dano, Elizabeth Banks and Paul Giamatti as Wilson in the later years of his life. The film premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and will be released this June. Cusack also starred in David Cronenberg’s latest film, Maps to the Stars alongside Julianne Moore, Robert Pattinson and Mia Wasikowska which premiered at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival and will be released this February.

In 2012 Cusack appeared in Lee Daniels’ drama, The Paperboy, opposite Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron and Matthew McConaughey as Hillary Van Wetter, an inmate on death row. The Paperboy debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2012. Cusack also starred in the independent thriller The Raven where he portrayed the infamous author, Edgar Allen Poe.

Additionally, in 2009 he starred in Roland Emmerich’s apocalyptic thriller, 2012. Released by Sony Pictures, the international blockbuster went on to gross more than $766 million worldwide.

In 2001 Cusack was nominated for a Golden Globe® Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical for his role in the feature version of Nick Hornby's English novel, High Fidelity, for Touchstone Pictures. In addition to starring in the film, Cusack also co-produced and co-wrote the script with Steve Pink and D.V. DeVincentis. The film also stars Jack Black, Lisa Bonet, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Joan Cusack.

In 1999 Cusack starred in the dark comedy Being John Malkovich for USA Films. Cusack’s performance earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination in the category of Best Actor.

Some of his other feature film credits include: Adult World, The Frozen Ground, Hot Tub Time Machine, War Inc., Grace Is Gone, The Ice Harvest, Runaway Jury, Identity, Max, Cradle Will Rock, The Thin Red Line, Con Air, City Hall, Bullets Over Broadway, The Road to Wellville, True Colors, Broadcast News, Serendipity, Better Off Dead and Stand By Me.

Cusack divides his time between Los Angeles and Chicago.

Emmy®-nominated actress, producer and director Elizabeth Banks (Melinda Ledbetter) has become one of Hollywood’s most sought after and versatile actresses, easily navigating between stage and screen, comedy and drama. In addition to acting, she has completed production on her feature directorial debut with Pitch Perfect 2, the sequel to Pitch Perfect. She is also producing the film along with her husband, Max Handelman, through their company, Brownstone Productions. Pitch Perfect 2 will be released on May 15^th.

This summer, Banks stars in Love & Mercy which premiered at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival. Directed by Bill Pohlad, the film takes an unconventional look at the life of the celebrated leader of The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, and his battle with mental illness. She also makes an appearance in Magic Mike XXL, the sequel to Magic Mike starring Channing Tatum and the indie Every Secret Thing, written by Nicole Holofcener. She recently wrapped production on the Netflix reprisal of the cult hit Wet, Hot, American Summer.

Banks will next star in and produce the untitled HBO film playing Billie Jean King in the true story of the 1973 Battle of the Sexes tennis match in which King beat the former Wimbeldon champ Bobby Riggs. Paul Giamatti will star as Riggs. She and her husband also serve as producers on the comedy series Resident Advisors which is set in the sex-and-drugs world of college dorm life. Resident Advisors will launch on Hulu on April 9, 2015.

In 2014 she lent her voice as “Wyldstyle” in The Lego Movie which became Warner Brothers’ biggest animated opening ever. She will reprise her role in the upcoming sequel. Last year Banks returned to her popular role as “Effie Trinket” in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1. She was previously seen in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and The Hunger Games. Catching Fire became the highest-grossing film released at the domestic box office in 2013 and the biggest November opening weekend in history. The first film is the third-highest debut in North American box office history. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2 is scheduled for release on November 20, 2015.

Through Brownstone productions, Banks and her husband Max Handelman produced the hit film Pitch Perfect and upcoming sequel which Banks directed and appears in. The pair recently signed a production deal at Universal. Upcoming Brownstone slate includes two projects in development at Lionsgate: White Girl Problems and Heist Society, as well as Dirty Rush at Tristar and Tink, a Disney live-action romantic comedy in which Banks will star as “Tinkerbell.” In the digital space the company produced Resident Advisors, a digital comedy series with Paramount Digital which will premiere on HULU on April 9, 2014. In 2009, Brownstone produced the sci-fi thriller The Surrogates, which starred Bruce Willis.

In 2008 Banks received critical acclaim for her role as “First Lady Laura Bush” opposite Josh Brolin in Oliver Stone’s W. The cast included James Cromwell, Richard Dreyfuss, Ellen Burstyn and Jeffrey Wright. Banks’ additional feature credits include her breakthrough role in the award Academy Award®–winning film Seabiscuit, in which she starred as “Marcela Howard” opposite Jeff Bridges and Tobey Maguire, and Steve Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can. She has also appeared in Walk of Shame, Little Accidents, Our Idiot Brother, The Details, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, What to Expect When You’re Expecting, People Like Us, Man on a Ledge, The Next Three Days, Role Models, Meet Dave, Invincible, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Fred Claus, Sisters, Slither, Heights, The Baxter, The Trade, Ordinary Sinner, The Uninvited, Daltry Calhoun, Sexual Life, John Singleton’s Shaft with Samuel L. Jackson and cult hit Wet Hot American Summer. She also appeared as journalist “Betty Brant” in Columbia Pictures’ three blockbuster Spider-Man films starring Tobey Maguire.

On the small screen, Banks earned two Emmy® Award nominations for “Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series” for her performance as “Avery Jessup” on 30 Rock. She makes regular guest appearances on ABC’s Modern Family and appeared in a recurring role as “Dr. Kim Porter” on NBC’s Scrubs.

Her extensive theater credits include many roles in American Conservatory Theater productions, as well as the Guthrie Theater’s production of Summer & Smoke directed by David Esbjornson. In 2006 Banks played Cherie, the female lead in William Inge’s comedy Bus Stop, as part of the Williamstown Theatre Festival.

Originally from Massachusetts, Banks received her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her Graduate Degree at the American Conservatory Theater. She is involved with many charities which include LA’s Best, Temple Israel of Hollywood, Planned Parenthood, The First Lady’s Reach Higher Initiative, Heifer International and Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. She currently resides in Los Angeles.

Currently, Paul Dano (Brian Wilson, 1960s) is in production for the BBC television drama mini-series, War and Peace, directed by Tom Harper. The story, based on the novel by Russian author Leo Tolstoy, chronicles the events surrounding the French invasion of Russia as seen through the eyes of five Russian families. Dano will portray the character Pierre Bezukhov—a man who, upon receiving a massive inheritance, is transformed from a bumbling young man into the richest and most eligible bachelor in the Russian Empire, finding himself in a love triangle between Natasha Rostova (Lily James) and Andrei Bolkonsky (James Norton). BBC will premiere War and Peace in January 2016.

This year, Dano will star as Beach Boys songwriter and musician Brian Wilson in the biopic Love & Mercy, directed by Bill Pohlad, and alongside Elizabeth Banks, John Cusack and Paul Giamatti. Love & Mercy chronicles Brian’s life, from his successes with highly influential orchestral pop albums to his nervous breakdown and subsequent encounter with controversial therapist Dr. Eugene Landy (Giamatti). Roadside Attractions will release Love & Mercy on June 5, 2015.

In 2013 Dano appeared in Steve McQueen’s critically acclaimed and Academy Award®, BAFTA, and Golden Globe®–winning 12 Years a Slave, alongside Michael Fassbender and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Dano portrayed the role of the wrathful slave owner, John Tibeats. Also in 2013, Dano starred in Warner Brothers’ critically acclaimed thriller Prisoners, directed by Denis Villeneuve, and alongside Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal and Terrence Howard. Dano portrayed the role of Alex Jones in a chilling performance of a disturbed man with the IQ of a child who is suspected of kidnapping two little girls.

In 2012 Dano starred in Sony’s action crime sci-fi film, Looper, directed by Rian Johnson and alongside Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt. Dano also starred in and executive produced Fox Searchlight’s fantasy comedy drama, Ruby Sparks, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris and written by Zoe Kazan—also starring Zoe Kazan and Chris Messina. Ruby Sparks accounts the story of a novelist struggling with writer’s block (Dano) who creates a female character that comes to life as a real person (Kazan).

In the same year, Dano starred as Nick Flynn in Focus Features’ drama, Being Flynn, directed by Paul Weitz and alongside Robert De Niro, Julianne Moore and Olivia Thirlby. Being Flynn tells the story of a man (Dano) who re-encounters his father (De Niro), a con man and self-proclaimed poet, at the Boston homeless shelter where he is working.

In 2010 Dano starred in Oscilloscope Picture’s critically acclaimed western drama, Meek’s Cutoff, directed by Kelly Reichardt, which recounts the story of settlers traveling through the Oregon desert in 1845 who find themselves stranded in harsh conditions.

In 2009 Dano lent his voice for the character Alexander in Warner Brothers’ and Spike Jonze’s critically acclaimed and Golden Globe®–nominated Where the Wild Things Are.

In 2007 Dano was nominated for a BAFTA award in the “Best Supporting Actor” category for his portrayal of the identical twin brothers Paul and Eli Sunday in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Academy Award®–nominated There Will Be Blood, starring Daniel Day-Lewis.

In 2006 Dano won a Critics Choice award for “Best Young Actor” for his portrayal as the voluntarily mute brother, Dwayne, in Fox Searchlight’s critically acclaimed and Academy Award®–nominated Little Miss Sunshine, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, and starring Abigail Breslin, Steve Carell, Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin and Toni Collette.

Dano starred in IFC Films’ The Ballad Of Jack And Rose in 2005, directed by Rebecca Miller and alongside Camilla Belle and Daniel Day-Lewis. The film chronicles the story of a father and daughter who, isolated on an island off the East Coast and living on a once thriving commune, grapple with the limits of family and sexuality.

Dano’s first major film was at seventeen, when he portrayed the role of Howie Blitzer in the crime drama L.I.E., for which he won the Independent Spirit Award for “Best Debut Performance” and a Directors’ Week Award for “Best Actor.” L.I.E. chronicles the story of a fifteen-year-old Long Island boy who loses everything and becomes involved in a relationship with an older man.

Other film credits include For Ellen, Knight and Day, The Extra Man, The Good Heart, Gigantic, Cowboys & Aliens, Taking Woodstock, The Girl Next Door, Fast Food Nation, The King and Taking Lives.

In 2007 Dano starred in Ethan Hawke’s off-Broadway directorial debut, Things We Want, alongside Peter Dinklage, Josh Hamilton and Zoe Kazan.

Paul Dano currently resides in New York City.

With a diverse roster of finely etched, award-winning and critically acclaimed performances, Paul Giamatti (Dr. Eugene Landy) has established himself as one of the most versatile actors of his generation.

Giamatti recently wrapped production on several films including Brad Peyton’s San Andreas and Sophie Barthes’ Madame Bovary, in which he played the ardent Monsieur Homais. Giamatti also lent his voice to the English-language version of the Oscar®-nominated French animated feature Ernest & Celestine, as well as the highly anticipated feature-film adaptation of The Little Prince, directed by Mark Osborne. He will soon be seen as infamous ex-N.W.A. manager Jerry Heller in F. Gary Gray’s Straight Outta Compton, due out this year. Giamatti can also be seen in the upcoming Showtime original drama series Billions in which he plays the lead opposite Damian Lewis and the independent feature drama The Phenom, written and directed by Noah Buschel.

In 2014 Giamatti received an Emmy® nomination for his guest-starring role as Harold Levinson, the eccentric American brother of Elizabeth McGovern’s character Cora Crawley, on the highly acclaimed drama series Downton Abbey.

Prior to that, Giamatti produced and starred in Phil Morrison’s black comedy All is Bright alongside Paul Rudd. The film centers around two French Canadian Christmas tree salesmen who devise a get-rich-quick scheme and travel to New York to sell trees. Giamatti was also recently seen in Steve McQueen’s Oscar®-winning drama 12 Years a Slave, John Lee Hancock’s Saving Mr. Banks and Peter Landesman’s docudrama Parkland. He played Spider-Man’s formidable foe The Rhino in the latest entry of the blockbuster superhero franchise, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, directed by Marc Webb. In 2013 Giamatti played the title role of “Hamlet” in Yale Rep’s production of Shakespeare’s play.

In 2012 Giamatti was seen in New Line’s adaptation of the Broadway stage musical Rock of Ages, directed by Adam Shankman. The film co-stars Tom Cruise, Mary J. Blige, Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand and Julianne Hough, and was released by Warner Brothers. He also starred in David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis, alongside Robert Pattinson and Juliette Binoche.

In 2011 Giamatti starred in the critically praised Win Win, a film written and directed by Oscar®-nominee Thomas McCarthy. Giamatti portrays Mike Flaherty, a disheartened attorney moonlighting as a high school wrestling coach who stumbles across a star athlete through some questionable business dealings. Giamatti was also seen in The Ides of March, directed by George Clooney and co-starring Ryan Gosling, Clooney and Evan Rachel Wood. The film received a Golden Globe® nomination for Best Picture – Drama.

He also starred in Curtis Hanson’s HBO movie Too Big To Fail, in which he portrayed Ben Bernanke opposite William Hurt and Billy Crudup. His performance earned him his third SAG Award® for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries as well as an Emmy® and a Golden Globe® nomination.

His performance in 2010’s Barney’s Version earned him his second Golden Globe® Award. Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Mordechai Richler, the film was directed by Richard J. Lewis and co-starred Dustin Hoffman, Rosamund Pike and Minnie Driver.

In 2008 Giamatti won Emmy®, SAG and Golden Globe® awards for Best Actor in a Miniseries for his portrayal of the title character in HBO’s seven-part Emmy® Award–winning miniseries John Adams. Directed by Emmy®-winning director Tom Hooper, Giamatti played President John Adams in a cast that also included award-winning actors Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, David Morse and Stephen Dillane. In 2006 Giamatti’s performance in Ron Howard’s Cinderella Man earned him his first SAG Award® and a Broadcast Film Critics’ Award for Best Supporting Actor, as well as Academy Award® and Golden Globe® nominations in the same category.

For his role in Alexander Payne’s critically lauded Sideways, Giamatti earned accolades including Best Actor from the Independent Spirit Awards and New York Film Critics Circle, as well as a Golden Globe® and a SAG Award® nomination.

In 2003 Giamatti received outstanding reviews and commendations (Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actor, National Board of Review Breakthrough Performance of the Year) for his portrayal of Harvey Pekar in Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini’s American Splendor.

Giamatti first captured the eyes of America in Betty Thomas’ hit comedy Private Parts. His extensive list of film credits also includes Jonathan English’s Ironclad; Todd Phillips’ The Hangover Part II; The Last Station, opposite Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren; Tony Gilroy’s Duplicity; Cold Souls, which Giamatti also executive produced; David Dobkin’s Fred Claus; Shoot Em’ Up, opposite Clive Owen; Shari Springer Berman and Roger Pulcini’s The Nanny Diaries; M. Night Shyamalan’s Lady in the Water; The Illusionist, directed by Neil Burger; Milos Forman’s Man on the Moon; Julian Goldberger’s The Hawk is Dying; Tim Robbins’ Cradle Will Rock; F. Gary Gray’s The Negotiator; Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan; Peter Weir’s The Truman Show; Mike Newell’s Donnie Brasco; Todd Solondz’ Storytelling; Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes; Duets, opposite Gwyneth Paltrow; the animated film Robots; and Big Momma’s House, co-starring Martin Lawrence. Giamatti also appeared in James Foley’s Confidence and John Woo’s Paycheck.

As an accomplished stage actor, Giamatti received a Drama Desk nomination for Best Supporting Actor as “Jimmy Tomorrow” in Kevin Spacey’s Broadway revival of The Iceman Cometh. His other Broadway credits include The Three Sisters directed by Scott Elliot; Racing Demon directed by Richard Eyre; and Arcadia directed by Trevor Nunn. He was seen Off Broadway in the ensemble cast of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui with Al Pacino.

For television, Giamatti appeared in The Pentagon Papers with James Spader, HBO’s Winchell opposite Stanley Tucci, and Jane Anderson’s If These Walls Could Talk 2, also for HBO. He resides in Brooklyn, New York.

Bill Pohlad (Director & Producer), an Academy Award®–nominated filmmaker, has been producing quality films for more than two decades. As founder and CEO of River Road Entertainment, his ability to seek out compelling material and bring it to light has established his reputation as a filmmaker unafraid to take creative risks.

After starting out as a writer-director in the late 1980s, Pohlad has spent most of the last 15 years producing. His credits include the Academy Award®–winning Best Picture 12 Years a Slave, which also won the Golden Globe® for Best Motion Picture – Drama, two BAFTA Awards including Best Film, five Independent Spirit Awards including Best Feature, and a total of three Academy Awards®. His producing effort The Tree of Life was nominated for three Academy Awards® including Best Picture. The feature also won the Palme d’Or at the 2011 Cannes International Film Festival and shared the prize for Best Feature at the 2011 Gotham Independent Film Awards. In 2007 Pohlad produced Sean Penn’s award-winning adaptation of Into the Wild, based on the best-selling book by Jon Krakauer. The film earned two Academy Award® nominations, as well as nods from the Directors Guild, the Writers Guild and SAG, among others.

Pohlad has also served as executive producer on numerous films including Ang Lee’s Academy Award®–winning epic Brokeback Mountain. He has also produced a number of feature documentaries including Robert Kenner’s Academy Award®–nominated documentary Food, Inc.

Pohlad wrote, directed and co-produced his first feature film, Old Explorers, starring veteran actors José Ferrer and James Whitmore, in 1990. He has also directed and produced a number of commercial and documentary film projects over the years.

“Extraordinary.

Visionary.

Brilliance on

brilliance.

Paul Dano and

John Cusack

mesmerize in a

groundbreaking

dual performance

as Brian Wilson.”

The Washington Post

“It’s like

being inside

Brian Wilson’s

creativity.”

Indiewire

“A wonderfully

innervating cure

for the common

musical biopic.

Bill Pohlad’s

Love & Mercy

vibrantly illuminates

two major

breakthroughs —

one artistic,

one personal

— in the life of

The Beach Boys’

Brian Wilson.”

Variety

“It’s a

refreshing

surprise

to find

Love & Mercy ,

a story about

the pop icon

Brian Wilson

from two ends

of his life,

break the mold and

even invigorate

the form.”

Los Angeles Times

“ A great movie with superb performances.”

“Exhilarating and inventive.”

“Bold…Explodes expectations of what a biopic can and should be.”

“Paul Dano delivers an astonishing performance as the younger version of Brian Wilson, with John Cusack playing him in the later years, a gambit that pays off handsomely in a production that reflects Wilson’s blaring imagination with its own ingenious structure, visual approach, sound design and poetic sensibility.”

“ A deeply satisfying pop biopic. John Cusack gives one of the best performances of his career.”

“It’s a refreshing surprise to find Love & Mercy, a story about the pop icon Brian Wilson from two ends of his life, break the mold and even invigorate the form.”

“For Beach Boys fans this will be an obvious must-see.”

“Paul Dano and John Cusack both do sterling work as the two halves of this broken soul, drawing us in and making us care, so that when we do finally get a chance to see the real Brian Wilson.”

“It’s like being inside Brian Wilson’s creativity.”

“ As conceived and written by veteran filmmaker Oren Moverman (Bob Dylan film I'm Not There, most pertinently), the fact-based Love & Mercy intercuts two tracks of Wilson’s life. In so doing, Love & Mercy achieves the improbable: make a music biopic circa 2015 fresh and interesting.”

“Paul Giamatti is marvelously monomaniacal as Eugene Landy.”

“Elizabeth Banks is terrific.”