Entertainment Magazine

About The Cast

BILL MURRAY

(Steve Zissou)received a 2004 Best Actor Academy Award ®nomination and won the Golden Globe ®for his performance as Bob Harris, an American actor in Tokyo, in Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation.”

The acclaimed role also garnered Murray the BAFTA Award, the Boston Society of Film Critics Award, the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, the Independent Spirit Award, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, the National Society of Film Critics Award and New York Film Critics Circle Award, among others.

Celebrated for both his seriocomic performances and his roles in blockbuster movies, Murray also won acclaim for his portrait of Herman Blume in Wes Anderson’s second film, “Rushmore.”

This role brought him the Independent Spirit Award, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, the National Society of Film Critics Award and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor. Murray was previously nominated for the Golden Globe for his roles in “Rushmore” and “Ghostbusters.”

Born in Chicago, Murray began his acting career with the improvisational troupe Second City. He joined the cast of television’s “Saturday Night Live” in the show’s second season, and shortly thereafter won an Emmy ®Award as one of the show’s writers.

After making his screen debut in Ivan Reitman’s “Meatballs,” he went on to star in Reitman’s “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,” 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” and Wes Anderson’s “The Royal Tenenbaums.” Murray is also the author of the book Cinderella Story: My Life in Golf.

OWEN WILSON

(Ned Plimpton) is making his mark in Hollywood as both an actor and writer for feature films. He will next be seen in “The Wedding Crashers” opposite Vince Vaughn for director David Dobkin. Wilson’s previous work with Wes Anderson includes cowriting and starring in “The Royal Tenenbaums” for which he and Anderson were nominated for an Academy Award ®for Best Original Screenplay.

Wilson also cowrote and starred in Anderson’s first film, “Bottle Rocket,” as well as cowriting and co-executive producing his second feature “Rushmore.” He also served as associate producer on the Oscar ® winning film “As Good as It Gets.”

Wilson’s additional acting credits include “Starsky and Hutch,” “I Spy,” “Behind Enemy Lines,” “Zoolander,” “Meet the Parents,” “Shanghai Noon” and its smash-hit sequel “Shanghai Knights” with Jackie Chan, “Armageddon,” “The Minus Man” and “The Cable Guy.”

CATE BLANCHETT

(Jane) graduated from Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art and has worked extensively in the theater. With Company B she appeared as Miranda in “The Tempest,” Ophelia in “Hamlet” (for which she was nominated for a Green Room Award), Nina in “The Seagull” and Rose in “The Blind Giant Is Dancing.” For the Sydney Theater Company, she starred in Caryl Churchill’s “Top Girls,” David Mamet’s “Oleanna,” (awarded the Sydney Theatre Critics Award for Best Actress), Michael Gow’s “Sweet Phoebe” (also for the Croyden Wearhouse, London) and Timothy Daly’s “Kafka Dances” (also for The Griffin Theatre Company) for which she received the Critics Circle Award for Best Newcomer.

For the Almeida Theatre in 1999, Blanchett played Susan Traheren in David Hare’s “Plenty” on London’s West End. Her television credits include lead roles in “Bordertown” and “Heartland,” both for the Australian Broadcasting Commission. Blanchett’s film roles include Bruce Beresford’s “Paradise Road”; Carrie Nolan’s “Thank God He Met Lizzie” for which Blanchett was awarded both the Australian Film Institute (AFI) and the Sydney Film Critics Best Supporting Actress Award; and Gillian Armstrong’s “Oscar and Lucinda,” opposite Ralph Fiennes, a role that earned her an AFI nomination for Best Actress.

In 1998, Blanchett portrayed Queen Elizabeth I in the critically acclaimed “Elizabeth,” directed by Shekhar Kapur, for which she received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama and a BAFTA for Best Actress in a Leading Role as well as Best Actress Awards from The Chicago Film Critics Association, The London Film Critics Association, The Toronto Film Critics Association, On-line Film Critics, Variety Critics and UK Empire Award.

She also received a Best Actress nomination from the Screen Actors Guild and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. In 1999, Blanchett appeared in Mike Newell’s “Pushing Tin,” Oliver Parker’s “An Ideal Husband” and Anthony Minghella’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” for which she received a BAFTA nomination as Best Supporting Actress. She also starred in Sam Raimi’s “The Gift” in Sally Potter’s “The Man Who Cried,” for which she was awarded Best Supporting Actress by the National Board of Review and the Florida Critics Circle.

In 2001, Blanchett appeared in “Bandits,” with Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton, and directed by Barry Levinson, for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination and a Screen Actors Guild nomination as Best Supporting Actress. Blanchett also appeared in “The Shipping News” with Kevin Spacey and as “Galadriel,” Queen of the Elves, in “The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring,” the first installment of Peter Jackson’s trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novels.

Blanchett was honored by the National Board of Review as the 2001 Best Supporting Actress for her outstanding supporting performances in “Bandits,” “The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring” and “The Shipping News.” She reprised her role as “Galadriel” in “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” and the final installment, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” Blanchett was also seen in the title role of “Charlotte Gray” directed by Gillian Armstrong, and in “Heaven,” opposite Giovanni Ribisi and directed by Tom Tykwer. Recently, Blanchett starred in “Veronica Guerin,” the fact-based story of the Irish journalist who was slain by drug dealers, directed by Joel Schumacher.

Her performance earned her a Golden Globe ® nomination in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture Drama and a nomination by the Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association for Best Actress. She was also seen in the thriller, “The Missing,” opposite Tommy Lee Jones, for director Ron Howard.

Blanchett will next be seen in the Howard Hughes biopic “The Aviator.” In July 2004, Blanchett returned to the Sydney Theatre Company in a sold-out run to play the title role in Andrew Upton’s adaptation of “Hedda Gabler.” She is currently in Australia in production of “Little Fish,” directed by Rowan Woods.

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