HBO FILMS’ THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP, STARRING MICHAEL SHEEN, DENNIS QUAID, HOPE DAVIS AND HELEN MCCRORY, DEBUTS MAY 29 ON HBO

HBO Films Presents In Association With BBC Films A Kennedy-Marshall Production And A Rainmark Films Production Of A Film By Richard Loncraine; Written By Peter Morgan, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Andrew Harries, Peter Morgan And Christine Langan Executive Produce; Frank Doelger, Tracey Scoffield And Ann Wingate Produce

“No American will think it wrong of me if I proclaim that to have the United States at our side was to me the greatest joy.”
– Winston Churchill

“The Anglo-American relationship has done more for the defense and future of freedom than any other alliance in the world.”
– Margaret Thatcher

Coined by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the term “special relationship” has come to represent the exceptionally close political, diplomatic, cultural and historical relations between Great Britain and the United States. Some transatlantic alliances have been more potent and more personal than others, among them Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt; John F. Kennedy and Harold Macmillan; Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan; and Tony Blair and Bill Clinton. At least for a time.

Debuting SATURDAY, MAY 29 (9:00-10:45 p.m. ET/PT), HBO Films’ THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP, starring Michael Sheen, Dennis Quaid, Hope Davis and Helen McCrory, takes a behind-the-scenes look at the unique and sometimes turbulent political relationship between newly-installed British Prime Minister Tony Blair (Sheen) and U.S. President Bill Clinton (Quaid) as the two dynamic leaders become co-stars on the world stage. Davis plays Hillary Clinton; McCrory plays Cherie Blair.

The third in screenwriter Peter Morgan’s trilogy on Tony Blair, following “The Deal,” which aired on HBO, and the Academy Award®-nominated film “The Queen,” THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP is directed by Emmy® winner Richard Loncraine and is an HBO Films presentation in association with BBC Films of a Kennedy-Marshall Production and Rainmark Films Production. Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Andrew Harries, Peter Morgan and Christine Langan executive produce. Frank Doelger, Tracey Scoffield and Ann Wingate produce.

THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP follows Blair’s journey from political understudy waiting in the wings of the world arena to accomplished prime minister standing confidently in the spotlight of center stage. It is a story about relationships, between two powerful men, two powerful couples, and husbands and wives.

The time is 1996, and the Blairs and the Clintons are a unique foursome – each one an extremely bright lawyer – with a kinship forged in shared ideology and genuine affection. When world events and personal watersheds shake the very foundation of their relationship, the men and their wives must come to terms with the ephemeral nature of power and, oftentimes, friendship.

As the film begins, there are many similarities between Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, both center-left politicians driven by personal ambition, yet equally driven by a belief they can change the world and do a great deal of good. What starts as the formality of friendship between two national figures evolves into a genuine connection, a meeting of kindred spirits, of ideological soul mates in their domestic agendas. The world watches as the seasoned and charismatic president takes the less-experienced prime minister under his political wing and shows him the proverbial ropes. Their professional simpatico spills over into their personal lives and draws the two couples together.

In early 1998 the world gasps as the White House is rocked with a scandal that will change the face of American politics. Later, the bond between Blair and Clinton is sundered over the festering crisis in Kosovo, as Blair’s call for action clashes with Clinton’s pragmatic approach. It becomes obvious that, at the heart, these are two very different men, perched on a political see-saw as their positions change, one rising as the other descends. With the eventual power shift to the incoming presidential administration, a new special relationship is about to begin.

ABOUT THE SCRIPT
“There is a fascinating story to be told in the relationship between Clinton and Blair, because their professional alliance and personal friendship reset the tone of political conversation between our country and the United Kingdom in a very profound way,” says executive producer Kathleen Kennedy. “They reminded us just how entwined the fortunes of our two countries are, and the dramatic effect that our partnership can have on international politics. While Peter Morgan’s screenplay embodies this idea in an incredibly captivating way, what I think will really draw audiences to the film is the emotional core of his story, which reveals the fundamental character of these two titanic political figures.”

Adds producer Frank Doelger, “What makes Peter’s script so rich is the unique perspective he takes in telling the story. He speaks to the lost opportunity – not only for the Clintons, but, I think, for the world, as well. He sheds new light on events that people think they know and gives them a context that has never been addressed dramatically before.”

“Peter has an ability as a writer to go behind closed doors in a way that presents fact-based characters who are very convincing and real and show them doing surprising things,” says producer Tracey Scoffield. “Because he chooses to use humor in his stories, showing people in domestic environments doing things and having conversations that we wouldn’t normally imagine, we get the pleasure of thinking we’re eavesdropping or given privileged access.”

Translating the script to the screen was the mission of Emmy®-winning director Richard Loncraine. Says Doelger, “Richard is adept at breathing life into the written page. He has a remarkable way of animating a scene that expands its content beyond just talking heads. With a politically based film such as this, it’s essential.”

Great care was taken to ensure that the line between factual research and artistic license was not blurred. Researchers, consultants and fact-checkers were utilized to make sure that there was a fair and accurate representation of the events depicted.

“If you’re dealing with the lives of people who are still out there, you want to make sure you don’t do them a disservice,” says Loncraine. “An enormous effort was made to check the accuracy of what we say and do in this film. I think filmmakers have a lot of responsibility to their subjects.”

BECOMING THE BLAIRS
With THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP, Michael Sheen reprises his portrayal of Tony Blair, having portrayed the prime minister in Peter Morgan’s “The Deal” and “The Queen.” “I wanted to see the trilogy through to the end,” explains Sheen. “I wanted the opportunity to explore the character of Blair a little bit further, in a slightly more rounded way.” Unlike the first two films, which focused on two particular events during Blair’s term in office, THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP shows the progression of the man – chronicling his so-called “Bambi”-ish political debut in his pre-prime minister days; his growing confidence as he acquires his surer political footing; and eventually his status as a senior statesman working hand-in-hand with the new American president.

Commenting on his view of the “special relationship” between Blair and Clinton, Sheen says, “In the film, you get a sense of the potential, of the excitement of having these two men, as Clinton says, ‘on the same team.’ With their hands on the joystick of power for the first time together, it felt like the world was about to change.”

Continues Sheen, “I think it was more to do with potential than anything that was actually realized in terms of policy. Who knows what could have happened if Clinton’s focus in his second term had not been sidetracked by the scandal, if his administration had not been hamstrung in a lot of ways?”

Helen McCrory returns to the role of Cherie Blair, having originated her portrayal in “The Queen.” A comfort level exists between the two actors playing husband and wife, mined from years of knowing each other since drama school. Although they had never acted together prior to “The Queen,” they previously ran a theatre production company together and produced plays at London’s Donmar Theatre.

McCrory was drawn to this film by the opportunity to present not only the public face of the Blairs’ marriage, but the private face as well. What she found interesting about playing Cherie, says McCrory, is “her intelligence. She is a woman with an incredible list of achievements under her belt; she‘s been motivated from a very young age. She became a member of the Labour Party at 16, and graduated with one of the top marks from law school. Yet she sat ‘convent silent’ during Blair’s term in office because it was decided that it was best for a woman with very strong ideas to stay out of the limelight. It’s a strange dichotomy – being incredibly intelligent and eloquent, and quite vulnerable and clumsy in certain situations.”

A strong admirer of the UK’s former first lady, McCrory finds Cherie to be “quite formidable” and is delighted with her new public persona since Blair left office, noting, “The press painted her so poorly, yet now Cherie has come out professionally. She’s written a book, she’s far more vocal and she puts her money where her mouth is, championing the entrepreneurial advancements of women in eastern Europe and India.”

BECOMING THE CLINTONS
Unlike Michael Sheen and Helen McCrory, who honed their portrayals of the Blairs in “The Queen,” Dennis Quaid and Hope Davis came to their roles with an equal dose of trepidation and respect.

Says Quaid, “I’ve played real people in the past, most of whom were deceased. Taking on the role of Clinton, who is so well known and such a distinctive character, was rather daunting. But I have a philosophy that the thing which I’m most afraid to do, I should do. Nobody has played Bill Clinton before, except in parody, and I thought this was an opportunity, really.”

The actor benefited from the best kind of research: personal experience. Quaid spent a weekend in the White House with the president in the 1990s and occasionally played golf with him. In addition to having been up-close and personal with Clinton, Quaid read numerous books on him, finding his autobiography to be the most revealing and helpful in examining the day-to-day process of being a president.

Hope Davis watched endless hours of film and video of Hillary Clinton and listened to extensive tapes of speeches in preparation for her role as first lady, as well as reading all of her books.

Turning Quaid into the president was the responsibility of Emmy®-winning hair and makeup designer Daniel Phillips, whose goal was to help the actors slip into their roles without caricaturing, carbon-copy makeup. Although Clinton’s nose is a distinctive characteristic, it was decided to forego any attempt to duplicate it on Quaid. Instead, more subtle touches were chosen.

Phillips oversaw all the actors’ metamorphoses. Michael Sheen’s naturally curly hair had to be straightened for his role as Blair. Helen McCrory wore an array of wigs to reflect the shifts from 1996 to 2000. Hope Davis was fitted with special teeth and various wigs for her Hillary Clinton portrayal.

With the look of the real characters in place, dialogue coach Penny Dyer had to make sure the actors had the authentic voices of the people they were portraying.

“We never attempt to do an impersonation, because that is something that comedians do,” explains Dyer. “Actors inhabit the characters, and my job is to bring the anchor qualities that will help create the reality of that person. It’s not just about vowels and consonants. It’s really about helping them find the physicality, the vocal quality and the energy that informs their character.”

Adds Hope Davis, “We’re not here to try to mimic our characters or become them. We’re trying to show their story, and we walk that line between serving and honoring the story itself and making people know the second they turn on their TV who they are looking at.”

Dyer previously worked with Michael Sheen on both “The Deal” and “The Queen,” but appreciated the “different” Tony Blair who appears in THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP. “This is a Tony Blair who sort of comes into his own, who finds his own power, his own strength – both mental and spiritual,” says Dyer. “We actually hear the political transition in his voice.”

For Hillary Clinton, Dyer describes her vocal quality as “a gift of a voice…a ‘great guns’ voice that has a noticeably bigger vocal energy than Bill’s. So whatever Dennis Quaid is doing, Hope Davis has to take it beyond that.”

BEHIND THE SCENES
The job of visually creating the worlds of the leaders from the United States and the United Kingdom fell to production designer Maria Djurkovic. With the daunting task of creating 71 sets in seven weeks, Djurkovic and her team designed and mounted everything from the Oval Office to Downing Street to the interior of the Elysée Palace in Paris to a refugee camp in Kosovo, all in practical locations and sound stages in and around London.

Despite the familiarity that most audiences have with the images of the president’s Oval Office or the prime minister’s Downing Street address, Djurkovic did not feel slavishly tied to reality. “There was something interesting about not just specifically recreating those spaces, but creating, instead, those worlds by getting the essence of the place,” she explains.

Extensive research and actual visits to some of these locations allowed Djurkovic to exercise her own artistic license, in accordance with director Loncraine, to bring the look and feel of the real locations to the screen. She received cooperation from both the White House and Downing Street and was allowed to tour the facilities. “It was fantastic,” she says. “We had a tour of the West Wing and I stood in the Oval Office and saw Sasha Obama and her dog, Bo, playing in the yard.”

Djurkovic was intrigued with the noticeable differences between the two seats of power. “The White House is far glossier, with a polished look that makes it feel more American. Downing Street, on the other hand, hasn’t had an interior decorator near it ever,” she jokes. “You have a beautiful Sheridan dresser on one side of the fireplace and a photocopier on the other.”

Another contrast could be seen between the opulent spaces and the unstructured set for the refugee camp that the art department literally threw together for the Kosovo scene.

Technorati Tags: HBO, Original Picture, HBO Films, The Special Relationship, Debut, Premiere, May 29, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair

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