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Adrian Lester, Primary Colours, 1997. “I had gone through a fairly long audition to play Henry… which if I hadn’l learned over the years to think differently, I might look back on with some bitterness.” When the same director, Mike Nichols, was preparing his magnum opus, Tony Kushner’s Angels in America for HBO in 2002, Wright wanted in – feeling his 18 months in the Broadway play was audition enough. He next heard that Nichols wanted to start afresh with all new actors (Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Patrick Wilson). Njchols then saw Wright in his latest play and realised no one else should be Belize/Mr Lies. Good job because the actor Pacino calls ”the greatreWright” had made a pledge when Robert Altman announced such a film some years before… “If I were not included in the film adaptation, I would burn down any sets that had been built.”
- Geoffrey Rush, Intolerable Cruelty, 2003. In the mix – with Hugh Grant and Tea Leoni – when Jonathan Demme was at the helm. Well, almost.
- Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs, Monster’s Ball, 2001. Halle Berry’s husband on Death Row was first offered to Wright and Don Cheadle.
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 3