JOURNALISTS AND POLITICIANS: CASTING THE PRODUCTION
When casting the role of The Washington Globe's veteran newsman Cal McAffrey, the filmmakers were looking for a performer who could play with grit and street smarts, but also a gruff newsman who is holding on to an old standard in the face of change.  Macdonald explains of his "truth teller": "Cal is the senior metro reporter of the newspaper--a guy who is really smart and should be the editor.  He should be working in politics, but something's held him back.  He represents the nobility of journalism…but also the decline of it."
When considering actors for the part, the team had a fortunate break.  Macdonald recalls: "The studio said to me, 'Who do you want?'  I said, 'I want the best actor in the world, and that's Russell Crowe.'  And they said, 'Okay, let's see.'  So we sent Russell the script.  Three days later, I was on a plane to Australia.  Twenty-four hours after that, he'd agreed to do it, and two weeks later he was on set.  Russell came in, took the character by the scruff of the neck and totally understood who Cal would be."
Hauptman was as pleased as his director at the selection of Crowe to play the hard-nosed reporter who had an affair with his best friend's wife.  "Russell feels this part; he looks it," says the producer.  "He has strong views of what journalists have become today, versus the more idealized version of what they were years back.  Stepping on the other side of that notepad or tape recorder, and having the investigative mind that he does, he dug to the core of who his journalist ought to be."
Crowe found the character refreshingly atypical.  "One of the things that this story goes into is the ambiguity of the concept of an objective press," he states.  "They want to tell you they're objective and their relationships and their lives don't affect what they write.  But in this case, that's not true.  This was one of the things that interested me; they're human.  They do take things personally, and sometimes they can't get themselves out of the story--with both good results and bad."
The actor was interested in how this character could never be 100 percent objective, as he was investigating a murder case in which a good friend was implicated.  "I see Cal as a human who has one train of thought, and that pushes him into action," says Crowe.  "But it's not heroism; he's doing what he feels he should do on behalf of his friend.  So, right from the beginning of the story, his point of view is polluted."
McAffrey's long relationship with both Stephen Collins and Collins' wife, Anne, draws him into wanting to tell the story from their point of view.  Initially, he loses the objectivity that is drilled into members of the fourth estate from their first day of journalism school.  As Macdonald notes: "The guilt of his affair is one of the drivers for Cal, one of the things that makes him want to prove his friend innocent."  Ultimately, however, his dispassion returns and he falls back on ingrained professional instincts.
When casting the role of Stephen Collins, the team looked to Ben Affleck to play the congressman struggling with the murder of his staff assistant/lover, Sonia Baker.  Simultaneously, the character was dealing with the collapse of his marriage and potential halt to his ascension as a power player.  The director explains of Collins: "Stephen has become chairman of this very important committee researching abuses in the Defense Department.  He's a highflier; he's presidential material…the new Kennedy.  Ben Affleck has those looks, that suavity and a huge interest in politics that make him such a great fit for this part."
Joining the production off his acclaimed directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone, Affleck recognized in Macdonald a filmmaker with instincts he could trust.  The actor interpreted Collins as imploding with the consequences of his decisions.  "The moral ambiguity attracted me to this part," says Affleck.  "Here is this powerful, successful young congressman who has absolutely everything to gain…yet he throws it away by having an affair with a woman who winds up murdered.  This coincides with the falling apart of his relationship and the shattering of a code he embraced in the military.  I felt that Stephen believed he was trying to do right by the people in his life he cared for…he just fell apart."
The friendship of his character with Collins leads to conflicts that Crowe found interesting to explore--especially how members of the media can leave themselves open to manipulation.  He says: "Stephen Collins is a chess player who uses those skills to his advantage.  He lives in a world in which agendas are pushed by friends on the inside.  Same thing with the world of the press who, in their rush to beat the competition, are scrambling for inside sources who are often using them to push agendas of their own."
The cub reporter to McAffrey's seasoned vet, The Washington Globe blogger Della Frye first begins to put together the link between seemingly unrelated deaths.  Though she may be, as Macdonald puts it, "easy with her opinions and not so hard on the facts," Frye's familiarity with and navigability of the world of technology makes her, initially, a most unsuitable partner for McAffrey.  But the two find common ground in their drive to get to the bottom of this story.
"Rachel has this fantastic ability to come across as a complete naïf, then turn that perception on its head by skewering her antagonist," offers producer Fellner.  "Her passion for this project and chemistry opposite Russell meant there was no better option to play Della.  As we watched her go head-to-head with him, we knew we'd made the ideal choice in casting."
\Like many of her generation, the actor embraces emerging technology and the instant access to information that has come with it.  "I was interested in the idea of new journalism versus old," says McAdams.  "It's a relevant issue in the face of a changing profession.  But Cal's and Della's motivation is essentially the same: to write good stories.  Her method is more of an instant gratification.  She will get an assignment, do computer research, do a little firsthand research and write it up.  Cal will skip the computer research and go straight to getting his hands dirty."
The relationship of the seasoned reporter with the fresh-faced blogger was an important one for the director to explore.  Macdonald appreciated the fact that the writers had crafted a story among "two people who hate each other and end up not in love, but bonded.  One of the things I love about their relationship--the central relationship of the film--is that it's one between an older man and a younger woman and it's not sexual; it's a mentor-mentee connection.  You don't see that very much in film."
Robin Wright Penn was cast in the role of Anne Collins, a woman caught between loyalty to a husband whose ideals she still admires and a longing for intimacy she no longer knows in her marriage.  It doesn't help matters for Anne that she is still in love with her husband's closest friend, Cal McAffrey.  As an admirer of Macdonald's earlier work, Wright Penn was eager to join the project when she learned of the director.  She was impressed by the level of intelligence and insights in his documentaries and felt he would know how to execute the steps that combine to make a successful political thriller.
Hauptman was particularly impressed by the actor's passion to tell Anne's story, one that is all too common in the media: The wife of a successful political representative stands by a caught philanderer whose career is on the verge of collapse.  The producer recalls a particularly moving performance.  "When Robin gives a speech as Stephen's wife, she's effectively pleading to the journalists at the press conference to leave them alone and focus on the issues," Hauptman says.  "She did it with a lot of integrity and authenticity.  When someone like Robin deeply believes in it, the audience can, too."
Academy Award-winner Helen Mirren was drawn to State of Play by not only the story, but also the fact that she would be representing powerhouse women of the press, some of whom she met prior to her first day on set.  "I liked the smartness of it, the relevance of it, the modernity of it," notes Mirren.  "Plus, I thought it was a great role.  I was lucky enough to be in Ireland before this, doing an interview for The Irish Times when the journalist said, 'You know, the editor of our newspaper is a woman.'  I got very excited and I said, 'Well, I have to meet her.'  She was great." 
Mirren did additional research for the role of tough-as-nails editor Cameron Lynne by joining a working session at the Los Angeles Times.  "They kindly allowed us to sit in on what they call their '4:00 meeting,' which is when they start shaping up the next day's newspaper," she recalls.  "The head of each department pitches his or her own stories to try to get it on the front page.  The feeling in that room was great.  You felt you were in a room with very smart people, but they were also very tough with each other.  No politeness, just very straightforward, very on the nose.  You've got to have nerves of steel in that environment."
Macdonald liked that Mirren empathized with the pressure that the paper's editor was under, one that is a daily experience in newsrooms across the world.  He says: "The Globe has new ownership.  The readership is diving like every newspaper's readership is diving, and Cameron needs this big, sexy story that Cal and Della are chasing.  She needs that fast because that's going to help boost the circulation, as well as her profile with the ownership.  She's torn between her old habits as a journalist and the more commercial tabloid instincts she has that will help the business to survive."
He was pleased the celebrated performer agreed to join the team.  Macdonald says: "That was my best casting idea in the whole process, when I thought, 'Who's better than Helen Mirren at playing controlling and intelligent?  Who's a really strong, beautiful and admirable female who you can imagine in authority?'  Fortunately, Helen agreed to do it."
Several key players were needed to introduce audiences to Pointcorp, a private military contractor that has been using its power to set up the only man who stands in its way of even more lucrative contracts with the Department of Defense, Stephen Collins.  Explains Macdonald of the firm's pull: "Pointcorp is a mercenary company.  There's been a fashion over the last two decades for privatization of life in America.  And that privatization has now even reached into the military, into the CIA and the FBI, spying, wiretapping, all that."
Asked to join State of Play as Sonia's contact at Pointcorp, flashy publicist Dominic Foy, was Jason Bateman.  The actor Macdonald calls "the most brilliant ad-libber I've come across" portrayed the sleazy operator who helps ensnare the young intern into the world of political espionage.  To do so, Bateman would have to pull out all the stops as a performer.  Though it was challenging for Bateman get into the part of the self-absorbed, whiny, despicable man who leeches off anyone he can to fuel his addiction to power, drugs and youth, his co-stars loved watching him revel in the part.
As he found the dynamics relevant to today's relationship between journalism and our political leaders, Jeff Daniels was drawn to the role of cutthroat Senator George Fergus.  He states: "What's interesting about the film are the parallels between what's going on today with the media and politics.  It's a strange time because of 24/7 cable networks and all-day every-day journalism--whether there's anything to cover or not--that they need to feed the monster."
Supporting the cast of the political thriller is an accomplished team of performers.  Together, they help the audience, as Macdonald puts it, "examine the various clues, the bread crumbs that Cal and Della follow together."  They include Doubt's VIOLA DAVIS as McAffrey's contact at the D.C. coroner's office, Dr. Judith Franklin; Quantum of Solace's DAVID HARBOUR as Pointcorp insider Red Six; Garden State's MICHAEL WESTON and Knockaround Guys' JOSH MOSTEL as, respectively, The Washington Globe's pot-smoking reporters Hank and Pete; Miami Vice's BARRY SHABAKA HENLEY as the paper's harried metro editor, Gene Stavitz; Four Christmases' KATY MIXON as Sonia's seductive roommate, Rhonda Silver; Ray's HARRY LENIX as McAffrey's contact with the D.C. police, Detective Bell; Artificial Intelligence: AI's MICHAEL BERRESSE as hit man Robert Bingham; and Forgetting Sarah Marshall's MARIA THAYER as Sonia Baker, the gorgeous congressional staffer who meets an untimely end. 

CAMERAS AND COSTUMES
As they worked with designer Friedberg, cinematographer Prieto and Macdonald ensured that every decision was in service of the director's desire to, "visually show the change from journalists being the glowing stars--investigative heroes in the '70s--to being now sometimes thought of as the lowest of the low."
Adding to the distinct look of the film, Prieto used two different kinds of cameras: the standard Panavision--fitted with a new generation of anamorphic lenses that had not yet been tried in a feature film--and a Genesis digital camera.  "We made the decision that we were exploring two worlds, and they should each be distinct," Prieto explains.  "We used anamorphic lenses for the world of journalism and digital for the world of politics--partly because whenever we, as average citizens, see politics, it's through a video camera." 
It was also important to the DP and Macdonald to differentiate the characters through use of lenses.  "Cal is more sloppy in his demeanor, in the way he keeps his apartment," says Prieto.  "Stephen's world is more formal, with sharper edges.  Of course, it doesn't look super-obvious.  The hope is that the audience will feel differently when they see different parts of the movie.  Then they come together and the climactic scene is on film, handheld, because the congressman is entering Cal's world."
Jacqueline West selected State of Play's costumes with the same attention to gritty realism.  "Kevin had a very definite feeling and look and mood he wanted for the movie," she notes.  "We were both inspired by movies from the '70s and the colors in them.  Kevin likes the realism that you see on the streets."

READ MORE: CORRIDORS OF POWER: DESIGN AND LOCATIONS

READ INTERVIEW WITH KEVIN MACDONALD

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