When David (LIAM NEESON) misses his flight home from New York and, as a result, the surprise party his wife Catherine (JULIANNE MOORE) has planned for him, Catherine is forced to swallow her disappointment and any suspicions and return to the waiting guests. Reading a text message sent to David's phone the following morning from one of his female students, Catherine's fear grows. The successful couple, Catherine, a doctor, and David a professor of music, have a 17-year-old son, Michael (MAX THIERIOT), and to an outsider, they have everything. But their careers and raising a child have put strains on the marriage; their relationship is suffering greatly from loss of communication and intimacy.
Two weeks after the surprise party, Catherine and David are at dinner with friends when Catherine excuses herself to use the restroom. There she meets an alluring young woman who, in those brief moments, connects with Catherine—it is Chloe (AMANDA SEYFRIED). Returning to the table where they're now playing ―spot the hooker‖, Catherine watches with interest as Chloe approaches an older businessman. On the drive home Catherine finally asks David if he intentionally missed his flight from New York to stay for drinks. When he claims he did not, she knows she has caught him in a lie.
Now more suspicious than ever that David is having an affair, Catherine seeks out Chloe, an escort, hiring her to test David's fidelity. Meeting regularly, Catherine absorbs the explicit details Chloe shares of her encounters with David, igniting Catherine's jealousy and awakening long- dormant sensations. Soon caught in a web of sexual desire, Catherine finds herself on a journey that places her family in great danger—is it too late to stop Chloe?
Julianne Moore, an actress of exceptional range, has delivered outstanding work in both box office hits and independent features.
Moore recently wrapped production on A Single Man, starring alongside Colin Firth in the feature film debut of fashion designer Tom Ford. She was last seen in Blindness, a film adaptation of Nobel Prize-winning novelist Jose Saramongo's book of the same name, directed by Fernando Meirelles and also starring Mark Ruffalo. Prior to that she was seen in the independent feature Savage Grace, about the Baekeland murders that took place in London in the 1970s. This film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Moore will next be seen in Shelter, an independent psychological thriller, directed by Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein, and also starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
Moore is the ninth person in Academy history to receive two acting Oscar® nominations in the same year for her performances in Far From Heaven (Best Actress nomination) and The Hours (Best Supporting Actress nomination). Far From Heaven, the critically acclaimed film from Focus Features, directed by Todd Haynes, co-stars Dennis Quaid and Dennis Haysbert. She was the recipient of many critics' honors for her performance in this film, including the National Board of Review, Los Angeles Film Critics and Broadcast Film Critics, among others. She won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film and received Golden Globe® and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations in the same category. The Hours (Paramount Pictures), directed by Stephen Daldry, is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Michael Cunningham, and also stars Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep. Among numerous honors for her performance in this film, and in addition to her Oscar® nomination, she received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress.
Moore's additional film credits include: Todd Haynes' I'm Not There; Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men with Clive Owen; Next opposite Nicolas Cage; Joe Roth's Freedomland with Samuel L Jackson; Joe Ruben's The Forgotten with Dominic West; Laws of Attraction co-starring Pierce Brosnan; The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio; Lasse Hallstrom's The Shipping News with Kevin Spacey, Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench; Bart Freundlich's Trust The Man, World Traveler and The Myth of Fingerprints; Hannibal, in which she starred as Clarice Starling - opposite Anthony Hopkins; Evolution with David Duchovny; Neil Jordan's The End of The Affair with Ralph Fiennes (Academy Award®, Golden Globe® and SAG Award nominations for Best Actress); Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights (Academy Award®, Golden Globe® and SAG Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress) and Magnolia (SAG Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress); Robert Altman's Cookie‟s Fortune with Glenn Close and Liv Tyler and Short Cuts (Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Female); Gus Van Sant's re-make of Psycho with Vince Vaughn; An Ideal Husband (Golden Globe® nomination for Best Actress); The Map of The World with Sigourney Weaver; Steven Spielberg's The Lost World; The Big Lebowski starring Jeff Bridges and directed by the Coen Brothers; the Todd Haynes film Safe (Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead); Louis Malle's Vanya on 42nd Street; James Ivory's Surviving Picasso; The Hand That Rocks The Cradle; Benny & Joon; The Fugitive; Nine Months; and Assassins.
Moore's additional honors include the Excellence in Media Award at the 2004 GLAAD Media Awards, the Actor Award at the 2002 Gotham Awards and the "Tribute to Independent Vision" at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. After earning her B.F.A. from Boston University for the Performing Arts, Moore starred in a number of off-Broadway productions, including Caryl Churchill's "Serious Money" and "Ice Cream/Hot Fudge" at the Public Theater. She appeared in Minneapolis in the Guthrie Theater's "Hamlet", and participated in workshop productions of Strindberg's "The Father" with Al Pacino and Wendy Wasserstein's "An American Daughter" with Meryl Streep. Moore made her Broadway debut in 2006 in the Sam Mendes production of "The Vertical Hour", an original play written by David Hare.
Liam Neeson has become one of the leading international motion picture actors today. Whether it is his Academy Award® nominated role of Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg's highly acclaimed Schindler‟s List (1993), his award-winning portrayal of legendary Irish Republican hero in Michael Collins (1996), or his role as controversial sex therapist Alfred Kinsey in the critically acclaimed Kinsey (2004), Neeson continues to display an acting range matched by few.
In 2009 Neeson also completed production of After Life opposite Christina Ricci. The film, scheduled to be released later this year, involves a young woman caught between life and death and a funeral director who appears to have the gift of transitioning the dead.
Neeson's latest release is Pierre Morel's Taken. In the Fox film released January 30, 2009, Neeson stars as an ex-soldier trying to track down the Albanian slave masters who have kidnapped his daughter. He also debuted the BBC film Five Minutes in Heaven to rave reviews at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
In 2008 Neeson once again teamed up with Laura Linney in Richard Eyre's The Other Man. In May of 2008 Neeson appeared in Disney's box office success The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian where he reprised his role as the voice of the Lion, 'Aslan,' in the sequel to the 2005 hit The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. That same year he also returned to the stage at the Lincoln Center Festival in Gate/Beckett: ―Eh Joe" directed by Atom Egoyan.
In 2006 Neeson graced the screen in the classic revenge drama Seraphim Falls opposite Pierce Brosnan. In 2005, he appeared in Ridley Scott's crusades epic Kingdom of Heaven. He also co- starred that year in Batman Begins, directed by Christopher Nolan.
Neeson's portrayal of Alfred Kinsey in Bill Condon's Kinsey, co-starring Laura Linney, garnered him a Best Actor award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Prior to that, Neeson co- starred with Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, and Keira Knightly in the Working Title film Love Actually (2003), written and directed by Richard Curtis.
Neeson returned to Broadway in 2002, co-starring with his friend Laura Linney in Arthur Miller's classic ―The Crucible." Neeson's performance as John Proctor earned both he and Miss Linney a Tony® Award nomination.
In 2001, he starred opposite Harrison Ford in the true story of Russia's nuclear submarine tragedy entitled K-19: The Widowmaker, and starred opposite Sandra Bullock in the black comedy Gun Shy (2000). Neeson starred in the box-office phenomenon Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) in the role of 'Qui-Gon Jinn,' the Master Jedi Knight who bestows his Force-ful wisdom upon 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' and the young 'Anakin Skywalker.' In the same year, he starred opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones in Jan De Bont's The Haunting (1999).
In addition, he starred in the screen adaptation of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables in the role of Jean Valjean, co-starring Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman and Claire Danes. Also that year,
Neeson played Oscar Wilde in David Hare's new play, ―The Judas Kiss" which opened in London's West End and subsequently on Broadway.
Neeson starred in the title role in Neil Jordan's Michael Collins (1996) for which he received Best Actor honors at the Venice Film Festival, a Golden Globe® Best Actor nomination, and London's prestigious Evening Standard Award for Best Actor. The film also received the highest honor in Venice—The Golden Lion Award.
It was in 1993 when Neeson received worldwide attention for his starring role in the Academy Award® winning film Schindler‟s List. In addition to winning an Academy Award® nomination for Best Actor, he was nominated for a Golden Globe® and BAFTA Award.
The Irish-born actor had originally sought a career as a teacher after attending Queens University, Belfast and majoring in physics, computer science and math. Neeson set teaching aside and in 1976 joined the prestigious Lyric Players Theatre in Belfast (―The best training any actor could have."), making his professional acting debut in Joseph Plunkett's ―The Risen People." After two years with the Lyric Players, he joined the famed National Theatre of Ireland, the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Neeson appeared in the Abbey Theatre Festival's production of Brian Friel's ―Translations," and a production of Sean O'Casey's ―The Plough and the Stars" for the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, England where he received a Best Actor Award.
In 1980, John Boorman spotted him playing Lennie in John Steinbeck's ―Of Mice and Men" and cast him in the epic saga of the Arthurian legend, Excalibur. Following this motion picture debut, Neeson has appeared in more than 40 films demonstrating a wide range of characters, including Dino De Laurentiis' epic remake of The Bounty (1984), directed by Roger Donaldson and co-starring Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins; the critically-acclaimed Lamb (1986) for which he received an Evening Standard Drama Award nomination for his haunting portrayal of a priest tormented by doubts about his faith; Andrei Konchalovsky's Duet for One (1986), co- starring Julie Andrews; as a political terrorist in A Prayer for the Dying (1987) with Mickey Rourke and Bob Hoskins; and a Jesuit priest in Roland Joffe's The Mission (1986), co-starring Robert DeNiro and Jeremy Irons.
Neeson received critical acclaim starring opposite Cher as a deaf and mute Vietnam veteran in Peter Yates' courtroom drama Suspect (1987); as the passionate Irish sculptor opposite Diane Keaton in The Good Mother (1988), and as scientist Peyton Westlake whose disfiguring accident forces him into hiding in Sam Raimi's fantasy-thriller Darkman (1990).
Neeson next starred in David Leland's gritty contemporary drama Crossing the Line based on William McIlvanney's acclaimed novel, The Big Man about an unemployed Scottish miner desperate for money that is thrust into the high-stakes world of bare-knuckle boxing/
In 1992, he starred as both a Nazi engineer in David Seltzer's adaptation of Susan Isaac's best- selling novel Shining Through opposite Michael Douglas; and as a disgraced policeman accused of murder in the erotic thriller Under Suspicion. Neeson then continued to star in a succession of film, most notably playing the sensitive art historian vying for the affections of Mia Farrow and Judy Davis in Woody Allen's controversial Husbands and Wives (1992).
His other credits include Ethan Frome (1993) with Joan Allen, Michael Apted's Nell (1994), starring opposite Jodie Foster and Natasha Richardson; Before and After (1996) with Meryl Streep; and the title role in Michael Canton-Jones' Rob Roy (1995), co-starring Jessica Lange.
Neeson made his Broadway debut in 1993 receiving a Tony® Award nomination in the Roundabout Theater's revival of Eugene O'Neill's 1921 drama ―Anna Christie," co-starring Natasha Richardson.
With her notable roles in film and television, Amanda Seyfried has quickly captured the attention of audiences worldwide.
Seyfried will next be seen starring in the Fox Film Jennifer‟s Body written by Diablo Cody (Juno) and directed by Karyn Kusaman. Seyfried will star as 'Needy', who is best friends with 'Jennifer' (Megan Fox), a possessed cheerleader who turns into a killer. The film will be released on September 18, 2009.
Most recently, Seyfried starred in the Universal Pictures hit film, Mamma Mia! The film is based on the hit Broadway musical where a bride-to-be is trying to find her real father featuring songs from the popular 70's group, ABBA. Seyfried highlights her vocal and dancing skills as Sophie the daughter of Donna (Meryl Streep). The film, directed by Phyllida Lloyd, filmed in London and Greece and was released this past summer and has grossed more than $500,000,000 internationally.
Seyfried recently wrapped production on the adaptation of the Nicolas Sparks bestseller Dear John, opposite Channing Tatum. She will play a young woman who meets and falls in love with a soldier (Tatum) while he's on leave. Lasse Hallstrom (The Cider House Rules, Chocolat) directed the adapted script by Jamie Linden. The film will be released by Sony Screen Gems.
Seyfried has received critical praise for her starring role in HBO's Golden Globe Award nominated drama, ―Big Love." She stars as Sarah Henrickson, the oldest teenage daughter of Bill (Bill Paxton) and Barb Hendrickson (Jeanne Tripplehorn) who struggles with growing up in a polygamist family. ―Big Love" has recently returned for Season 3 on January 18, 2009.
The Pennsylvania native started her career by modeling at the age of 11. She soon turned to acting and landed her first contract role as Lucy Montgomery on ―As the World Turns" in 2000. In 2002, ―All My Children" signed her to the contract role of Joni Stafford.
Seyfried's television credits include a heart wrenching performance of a rape victim on ―Law and Order: SVU," the girlfriend of an ill young man in ―House," and in ―Justice," where she played a young woman who accidentally kills an older man whom she'd been dating and is successfully defended by Victor Garber's character and a role in the ―Veronica Mars" pilot.
Her breakthrough role was in Mean Girls, the Lorne Michaels/Tina Fey/Paramount hit in the spring of 2004 where Amanda co-starred with Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams. They won the Best On-Screen Team Award at the MTV Movie Awards that year.
In 2005, she starred in Nine Lives which screened at the Sundance Film Festival to great acclaim. Written and directed by Rodrigo Garcia, the film also starred Sissy Spacek, Glenn Close, Holly Hunter, Robin Wright Penn and Dakota Fanning.
In 2006, she appeared in Alpha Dog, directed by Nick Cassavetes, and starring Justin Timberlake, Sharon Stone, Emile Hirsch, and Bruce Willis. Also in 2006, she starred in American Gun with Donald Sutherland, Forest Whitaker, and Marcia Gay Harden. Seyfried currently divides her time between Los Angeles and New York.
Max Thieriot recently finished shooting the lead role in the thriller 25/8 for Wes Craven and Universal/Rogue Pictures. A fantastic starring turn for Thieriot, the film is set for release worldwide October 31st, 2009.
Prior to 25/8, Thieriot wrapped the independent feature Driving Lessons for Vivi Friedman. He stars in the film alongside Dermot Mulroney, Hope Davis, Chi McBride and Selma Blair.
Thieriot was last seen in Kit Kitteridge: An American Girl with Abigail Breslin and Chris O'Donnell and was recently seen in Doug Liman's Jumper opposite Hayden Christensen and Rachel Bilson, playing the character of young 'David' (Christensen). He also starred in Nancy Drew playing Emma Roberts' love interest and appeared in The Astronaut Farmer as Billy Bob Thornton's son.
Thieriot started out modeling for GAP and appeared in two short films before being cast in 2004's Catch That Kid for 20th Century Fox starring opposite Kristen Stewart. He then went on to star opposite Vin Diesel in The Pacifier for Walt Disney Pictures.
Thieriot was born in Los Altos Hills, California and now resides in Los Angeles.