Movie Production Notes: 

Notes provided by Miramax Films

Synopsis

What's in a name? Plenty. Reserved bachelor Jack Worthing (Colin Firth) enjoys a simple, responsible life with Cecily Cardew (Reese Witherspoon), his utterly romantic but romantically sheltered niece. Their life in the country is quiet and serene, save for the moments when Jack is whisked away to London to fox the problems caused by Ernest Worthing, his wayward and carefree brother.

Trouble is, Jack is Ernest. As an escape from the mundane, Jack assumes the identity of this roguish, imaginary alter-ego. Goodbye simple and responsible, hello wayward and carefree. Once he's in London, Jack teams up with his never-do-well partner-in-crime, Algy Moncreef (Rupert Everett), a man whose penchant for overspending is matched only by his knack for dodging bill-collectors.

Jack is also in love. Well, Ernest is, at least The lucky object of his affection is Gwendolen Fairfax (Frances O'Connor), a rebellious aristocrat with a flair for the dramatic. Jack - as Ernest -proposes to the smitten Gwendolen. Convinced that she is destined to marry a man named Ernest she graciously accepts his offer. But there's a hitch: Gwendolen's mother, the formidable Lady Bracknell (Dame Judi Dench) requires more than just a name from her daughter's suitors. When she interrogates Jack about his social credentials, she learns of his inauspicious beginnings and refuses her consent. Thus, in order to wed Gwendolen, Jack must rid himself of Ernest and find some evidence of a worthy ancestry.

Algy, meanwhile, takes advantage of his friend's preoccupied state by paying a visit to Cecily. When he introduces himself as Ernest, he is delighted to discover that she has long dreamed of marrying the errant brother.

When Jack returns from the city with news of poor Ernest's death, he's shocked to discover that the figment of his imagination has taken on flesh and blood. Further exacerbating the situation is the arrival of Gwendolen - looking for her Ernest - a debt collector wishing to escort Mr. Ernest Worthing to prison, and a furious Lady Brac knell in search of her elusive daughter.

But waiting around the comer is a surprise - one that affects each and every one of them and will reveal, once and for all, The Importance of Being Earnest.

The Players

When one is in town, one amuses oneself. When one is in the county, one amuses other people.

-Jack

John "Jack" Worthing (Colin Firth)

Abandoned as an infant at Victoria Station, Jack Worthing has devoted his adulthood to watching over Cecily Cardew, the granddaughter of the man who adopted him. In order to free himself from his commitments, Jack invents Ernest, a wayward London. dwelling brother. On the pretext of having to bail bin out of trouble, Jack often heads off to the city and becomes Ernest. It s on one of these London trips that Jack meets- and falls for- Gwendolen Fairfax, cousin of his good friend Algernon Moncrieff and daughter of the formidable Lady Bracknell.

Algernon 'Algy' Moncrieff (Rupert Everett)

Algy's wit and charisma are at once a blessing and a curse, simultaneously getting him into and out of trouble. Despite his privileged background, Algy is careless with money and lives far beyond his means. Like Jack, Algy draws on his imagination to temporarily absolve himself of his responsibilities. Hs manufactured alter-ego is Bunbury, a country-dwelling invalid fiend. Conveniently, Bunbury's condition usually becomes critical whenever unwanted social engagements arise a debt collectors get too close, enabling Algy to depart on an urgent pretext

Gwendolen Fairfax (Frances O'Connor)

Sophisticated society girl Gwendolen Fairfax lives a strictly supervised life under the watchful eye of her mother, Lady Bracknell. Romantic and rebellious, Gwendolen s convinced that she can never love a man whose name s not Ernest. To this erg she has her beloved's name tattooed on her body, and runs away to join bin against her mother's wishes.

Cecily Cardew (Reese Witherspoon)

Cecily's a deceptively mature young woman who uses her imagination to free her from the confines of her protective tutor, Mss Prism. She finds solace in daydreaming of the roguish Ernest, a man she has heard much of, but has yet b see in person.

Lady Bracknell (Dame Judi Dench)

Lady Bracknell is one of the most fearsome arbiters of taste in London society. Married to the wealthy Lord Bracknell, her main concern in life is money and social standing. Beneath her daunting exterior, however, Lady Bracknell is a surprisingly sharp-willed woman with a playful approach b life and with a soft spot for her nephew, Algy. Lady Bracknell vets her daughter Gwendolen's suitors very carefully, mindful of her own secret past

Miss Prism (Anna Massey)

As Cecily's tutor, the absent-minded Miss Prism sets a firm, moral example. A prim, straitlaced spinster, she secretly carries a torch for local churchman Rev Canon Chasuble. Her past, however, contains dark secrets and the key la the happiness of those around her.

Rev Canon Chasuble (Tom Wilkinson

The mild-mannered local clergyman, Canon Chasuble reciprocates Miss Prisms affections and her inability to express them. His paintings, however, reveal his true desires and it only requires Miss Prism to catch a glimpse of his artwork in the vestry for their passions to be uncovered.

Directors Note

1 never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read on the train.

-Gwendolen

"Oscar Wilde must be one of the funniest writers of all time. He was funny a hundred years ago as a modern writer, and he's no less funny now, nor indeed any less modern.

In fact, I'd call him eternally modern. The freshness of his wit and vision remains breathtaking; and the fact that behind the glittering surface lies an enormous humanity is genuinely inspiring. True to the paradoxes that he is master of, Wilde is never more insightful nor profound than when his touch is at its lightest

So here's a story that is, as Wilde described it, a 'delicate bubble of fancy.' The art - it seems - is as light as air no matter that al the while it charges our prejudices and berates our intolerance. It touches on themes of identity and social injustice without ever breaking swat

What I hope to do is capture the spirit and energy of the original and bring to it a contemporary vision and sensibility. There seems to me to be great opportunities on film to bring out and develop some of the play's latent qualities. It has been a very happy surprise in the making of the film to see how some scenes turned out to be more moving than I'd imagined. This is, I believe, because Mile film can lend scale to storytelling, it also allows a greater intimacy and insight into its characters' lives.

As a story of mistaken identity and incredible revelations, its roots in Shakespeare and Restoration Comedy are intentionally clear, but I am particularly intrigued by its specific relationship to A Midsummer Night's Dream. In both stories there are lovers escaping the rigours of the city. In the dream they enter the woods, while here the countryside is a land where anything seams possible, where love, the great transformer, is on the loose.

In developing this, I wanted to shed a little light on the fears and fantasies of the characters. I enjoy the chance to hint at the hysteria beneath some of these repressed Victorians, to highlight the strange passions that drive the women to insist on a certain Christian ram for their loved ones. In fact, I sometimes see this story as a demand for the respect of other people's desires, however lunatic or ridiculous they may be.

Performances are clearly crucial in a piece such as this. I was keen to assemble a cast that would be undaunted by the language, whose individual charm would bring pathos to scenes that can become brittle. I was after actors whose quick wits would make the insanely witty dialogue seem, well, almost natural.

Overall, what fuels my enthusiasm for this project is tilde's great generosity of spit and his desire to entertain. And what I wish for, is that we can pass some of this pleasure on."

From Stage to Screen

I have always been of the opinion that a man who desires to get married should know either everything or nothing.

-Lady Bracknell

More than a century after his death, the wit and wisdom of Oscar Wilde remains as relevant as ever. No one knows this more than director Oliver Parker, who fist brought Wilde to film audiences with his lauded adaptation of An Ideal Husband in 1999: "I was incredibly encouraged by the way Wilde's work has such a contemporary feel," he explains. "The humor really hasn't dimmed in arty way - a century on and his wit still has the same spark."

The Importance of Being Earnest began with a conversation between Harvey Weinstein, Oliver Parker and producer Bamaby Thompson at the Los Angeles premiere of An Ideal Husband. The premiere screening audience reaction had been overwhelmingly positive, and the filmmakers immediately pondered their next collaboration. Earnest was the obvious choice. "It seemed to be the next logical step," Thompson says, recalling the meeting.

The Importance of Being Earnest was last brought to the screen in 1952 by director Sir Anthony Asquith. Aware that comparisons could be made with Asquith's memorable adaptation, Parker set out to create a unique visual style. "I liked the idea of giving it another airing with a more modem, cinematic approach," explains Parker. "It seemed a good opportunity to draw it out into something with more scale and dimension. When adapting the script it was important to me that we remained true to Wilde's writing while presenting it as naturally as possible."

These minor changes began with the screenplay. Parker remained faithful to the well-known three-act version of Wilde's work, though he also dipped into the Me-staged four act version that Wilde originally wrote and later revised. Parker used this version primarily to enhance some of the characters. "I've taken some of the dialogue from the four act version to bolster the Chasuble/Prism romance." he explains. "It's nice to have another angle on the romantic stories that weave through the whole piece."

"I would say the script is 96 per cent Wilde," Thompson jokes. "Oliver's primary focus was opening it out, making it cinematic and making it visual."

"As an adapter of the work," says Thompson, "Oliver's incredibly in tune with Oscar Wilde, in the sense of getting into his head and saying, 'Okay, if Wide was writing this as a script for a movie, how would he express it? What kind of attitude would he have to it?' But

to be a good director, there are two more things that you need: one is to know what you want and the other is to know how to get it Oliver's background as an actor has really helped him to understand how do talk to actors and how to get them to do the things that he wants them to do - but also give them the confidence to go their own way. I think that's something all the actors really respond to."

Once on set, Parker found his cast more than fulfilled his expectations. "It's been a terrific atmosphere," he says. "It's one of those pieces where you have to work quite hard to get on top of the material because there's a lot of dialogue and it's very precise, but once the discipline is there you can then have a lot of fun with it. I think we al realized that quite early on, and the cast has been incredibly supportive - to me and each other."

Indeed, the dialogue of The Importance Of Being Earnest is very much concerned with the gap between reality and fantasy, and Parker gives us a glimpse of Wilde's characters' inner lives. The Importance of Being Earnest allows us to see these characters dance awkwardly between their invented and real identities.

Wide is the ultimate dealer in ambiguity. Everything is laced with paradox, and so b find a cinematic equivalent of that is an exciting challenge. One element of the piece that appealed to me was that all the characters are suppressing an active interior life which is something film is well equipped to explore" explains Parker.

Witherspoon adds: "Oliver's taken some license and I think it really adds to the screenplay. There's something in seeing people's inner desires that really tells you more about their character."

Rupert Everett, too, was quick to see the implications of these scenes. "I like them a lot," he says, "They represent another facet of what Oscar Wide vas writing about; which is the difference between the facade somebody presents and the interior beneath it For example, Cecily has a fantasy about my character -what she wants me to be like - but that's very different from the person I really am in the movie."

Despite such modifications, however, Parker stresses that these touches are very much in the spit of Wilde and his original play. "Many people think of Wilde's work as the preserve of a certain class and a certain generation," he says, "but I think he was in love with youth. It feels much more contemporary than it might otherwise have been, especially having someone like Reese, who really does bring to it a terrifically bright, modem girl's consciousness. All of these things subliminally influence the nature of the piece."

"The Importance of Being Earnest has an enormous universality," Firth observes. "For those who don't know Oscar Wilde, I think this will be a way to reach people who might never have come to see it in the theatre or enjoyed it as a text. Perhaps audiences wit be rolling in the aisles. Or perhaps they'll be gripped by it and it'll have a mystery and curiosity about it"

For his part, Parker identifies the film's glorious, irreverent sense of humor as the key to its durability. "I think its genuinely funny," he says, "and that's one of the things people don't expel from a period piece. The dialogue is very sharp, and I think people of any age wig enjoy that But its got an energy too, and a lot of romance. I'm sue people will be surprised. If they don't come to it with an open mind, I hope they end with one."

Casting

London society is full of women of the very highest bath who have, of their own free choice, remained thirty-five for years.

-Lady Bracknell

First on board for The Importance of Being Earnest was An Ideal Husband alum Rupert Everett, who plays the wily Algernon 'Algy' Moncrieff, Jack Worthing's partner-in-crime. "He's a debonair character whose primary aim is to have a good tine, preferably at someone else's expense," Everett says of his character.

"Rupert was the natural choice for the part." says Thompson, "He'd always wanted to play Algernon." Parker was eager to collaborate with Everett again: "ft was terrific to be re-united with the Rupert Everett after such a great experience on An Ideal Husband. He is quite an exceptional talent"

As for Colin Firth, Thompson observes, "He was our first choice for Jack, and he accepted immediately."

Firth says he was intrigued by the role of the sly, dry Jack. "Jack is arguably the least witty and the most earnest," he explains. "I find that new possibilities keep popping up with him. Is he anxious and stiff or is he rather laid-back and debonair? The answer is that there's probably a bit of a progression through all those things."

The film marks the first time (besides being in separate scenes in Shakespeare in Love) Firth and Everett have waked together since their appearance in the landmark British movie Another Country, released in 1984. "It really was very exciting to see Colin and Rupert working on and off screen together," says Parker. "There's a real rapport there, and their history through Another Country has stood them in good stead. I think the two characters in the stay instinctively have that"

Firth claims that it was the material that drew him b the project, not the costume, or the setting. "You can't get better writing," he says. "If you're talking about light comedy, Wilde is the pinnacle of English wit"

"The original play is brilliant," he continues. "I know it's a great cliché when people say, 'Oh, actually, it's very subversive,' but it is. When you scratch the surface it's very cheeky and wicked, and the sheer quality of it means it's possible to endlessly reinvent it It's

structured perfectly as a piece of theater, but Oliver's been extremely audacious in opening it up. I've been amazed at how much freedom there is within it."

The language also struck a chord with Dame Judi Dench, who played Lady Bracknell in a 1982 production at the National Theatre and, in her younger days, Cecily Cardew. "It's a perfectly written piece;" she says, "and the language is simply wonderful. You don't really hear such exquisitely constructed sentences anymore, unless you go to Wilde."

Dench was the last b join the shoot, and Parker agrees that she performed spectacularly well under the circumstances. "It must have been very difficult for her," he says, "Coming in during the last two or three weeks of the shoot, you have to hit the ground naming -Lady Bracknell doesn't just enter a scene and stroll through. She is the most formidable and imposing character of the film, but Judi's so easy with it; she's astonishing."

Dench mirrors Parker's enthusiasm. "I've known Oliver for an extremely long time," she reveals, 'really, since he was quite a small boy - and so I was thrilled to be asked. I've performed the part before, so the groundwork was done, but that doesn't really prepare you for filming. On stage you can choose to slightly amend it or do something else each night, whereas on film you have to commit to one way and that is very, very difficult indeed."

Despite the tight scheduling, Dench found the cast most helpful as she eased into such a demanding role. "I felt like the new girl at school," she laughs. "But Rupert and Colin were terrific-two naughty boys, as they should be -so I was welcomed very quickly."

"I'm always asked about Lady Bracknell," Dench says of her character. "But I don't think that she's necessarily the monster she is made out to be. She did rather well for herself earlier on and so that's a bit of a clue to her -she had no fortune when she ma Tied Lord Bracknell. I think that when her guard is down, she could be quite a lot of fun, but she is definitely formidable and frightening."

This compassion for her character is something Parker wanted all along. "Dame Judi is following in the footsteps of a famous performance by Edith Evans," he says, "and we were looking for something different than that extraordinary, powerful, terrifying creature. Judi always brings a real humanity and a warmth to her characters, even when she's bringing austerity, so it adds another layer."

This side of Lady Bracknell was an unexpected bonus for the director. "She's got great charm," he says, "so ifs lovely to see her and Algy have almost a flirtatious relationship -that took me by surprise, and it was fantastic."

To complete the cast Thompson and Parker needed to find two young women to play Gwendolen and Cecily. "The women were a bit more complicated," admits Thompson. So much of the satire and wit of The Importance of Being Earnest is spoken trough its female characters. Their main goal, after all, is "to love someone whose name is Ernest" Parker sought out actors who could simultaneously convey and satirize their emotions.

Parker found his Cecily in Reese Witherspoon, a near-expert in satire, having starred in both Election and Legally Blond. 'We'd had a lot of success in casting Julianne Moore for An Ideal Husband, so it seemed interesting to bring an American in, to give it another edge. We started looking around for our Cecily, and Reese Witherspoon carne up very early as being an interesting person to approach."

"I always work really hard to get as far away from the last thing that I've done as I possibly can," Witherspoon explains. "I've never waked on a costume drama, or been asked to put on an English accent, so, yes, it was definitely a challenge." Despite these artistic challenges, Witherspoon found the script both familiar and fresh. "What I liked most about the script was that it had a contemporary feel to it. It vas a wonderful adaptation and the characters all seemed to be very modem, especially the women. They're very headstrong and very self assured."

O'Connor mirrors Witherspoon's belief that there is a contemporary independence about the female characters in The Importance of Being Earnest "She's a society girl, and she's a kind of modem woman in some ways," She says of her character. "She's quite protected but she's very smart She's very good with words."

Parker had seen O'Connor in Patricia Rozema's Mansfield Park and in Madame Bovary, and knew that she was no stranger to plying strong women period films. He also found that she and Witherspoon added an international feel to the production. "Ifs not her own culture this springs from," Parker says of O'Connor. "But she can come at it from a different angle. There's a wonderful vivacity."

Rounding out the cast are Anna Massey and Tom Wilkinson, whose roles were slightly expanded by Parker's use of the four act version of the play. Wilkinson was pleased to join the group, several of whom he had worked with before. "I thought it was an intelligent take on the play. I know most of the people and worked with two or three of them before. Once you've got that sorted out, you can always work together."

Perhaps the most enthusiastic member of the cast was Massey, who had prior experience playing Miss Prism. "Oscar Wide must have been in the roan when (Parker) was doing the script It's joyous, and filled out for a film. I had played the part in the theater. It's one of my favorite parts, and it's one of my favorite plays. I think it has to be one of the great comedies."

Like Wilkinson, Massey had also worked with several members of the cast. "I've acted with Rupert before. I played his mother in Another Country. Judi was Lady Bracknell in the production in which I had played Miss Prism. So it's a reunion!"

Filming

The chin a little higher, dear. Style largely depends on the way the chin is worn. They are worn very high, just at present.

Lady Bracknell

Shooting began on the film in April 2001 and marked a historic moment in British film history-there-launch of the famous Ealing Studios. Purchased last year by a consortium of Fragile Films, The Idea Factory and The Manhattan Loft Corporation, the Studios were launched in 1902 and enjoyed a critical boom in the 1940s with a steady stream of enduring comedies such as The Ladykillers, The Lavender Hill Mob and Passport To Pimlico The Importance Of Being Earnest marks the fist film bearing the Ealing logo since 1959.

"It's a happy coincidence that this film came together at the same tine as the buying of the studio and the re- launching of the Ealing logo happened," says Thompson. "Ealing's always stood for a certain kind of Britishness, a smart and funny attitude, a certain quality of acting and the ability of very good dramatic actors b be funny as well. Hopefully, when people see this film they will see the spirit of old Ealing in it"

Locations manager Christian McWilliams was in Morocco, working on Tony Scott's Spy Game, when he received the call from Parker's production office. "I was surrounded by palm tees in the middle of shooting a war film," he recalls, "and suddenly I was asked to think about period England."

Parker decided to make great use of locations, and much of the film hakes place in the beautiful landscapes of rural Buckinghamshire. "It definitely it will add a total crew dimension b the film;" says Everett 'because half of it is set in London." Witherspoon agrees. "Ifs been very inspiring, being outdoors," she says. "It added a sort of magical element"

"It was very important b have a sense of a dreamy English summer," Thompson says, "particularly for the second half of the film, and we were incredibly fortunate. The sun shone everyday for all the three or four weeks that we were scheduled to work outside, so I hick that the firm will have that sprit to it. The whole thing had a sense of setting off to go on a picnic, and if that sense of fun comes through then I think that will be exactly what we hoped b get when we startled the journey."

For the setting of Jack's county house, the production settled for West Wycombe Park. We looked at over 30 venues before we found it," McWilliams says. "It was perfect for our needs. Over 50 per cent of filming was outside so we needed a wide range of grounds to shoot in, and West Wycombe has fantastic variety." Owned by the Dashwood family since 1698, West Wycombe became a regular meeting place for the infamous Hell Fire Club.

Another difficulty for the locations team was re-creating The Savoy, one of London's most famous hotels. Shooting on lotion was logistically impossible. St Ermine's Hotel in London graciously agreed to have their ballroom transformed by the design team intro the 19th century dining rooms of The Savoy. "I've never known a hotel agree to a crew completely making over one of their rooms," says McWilliams. "In this case we were given permission to transform their ballroom, re-creating The Savoy dining room as it was in 1902." The management were so impressed by the transformation they have kept the room intact

The Importance of Oscar Wilde

Gwendolen, it is a terrible thing fore man to find out suddenly that all his life he has been speaking the truth. Can you forgive me?

-Jack

The Importance Of Being Earnest was written at the very height of Oscar Wilde's fame. Since leaving Oxford University and moving to London in 1878, the Dublin-born writer had established himself as a great wit, publishing many plays, essays and poems. Wide was approaching his 39th birthday when, in 1893, he wrote the play while on vacation.

The play opened at the St James's Theatre on Valentine's Day, 1895, and was an immediate success. This was tanned, however, by Wilde's decision to pursue a libel case against the Marquis of Queensberry, who had publicly rebuked the miter for his increasingly open homosexual affairs. Within months, the tables honed and Wide himself was in the dock charged with ads of 'gross indecency'. The Importance of Being Earnest rapidly turned from a major success into a major embarrassment First Wilde's name was removed from the front of the theatre, then on May 8th the production dosed entirely. Less than three weeks later, on May 25th, Wide was found guilty and sentenced to two years' behind bars.

He was a broken man, and after such a prolific period, he felt disinclined to write. The works that he did produce in this period were melancholy and moving, with little of his effervescent wit By 1899, his health had started to fail him, and Wade could see the end was coming. His wits had not deserted him, however, and on October 29th,1900, after a night out with friends that taxed his rapidly fading strength, he acknowledged that he eras not long for this world. "My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death," he said "One a the other of us has lo go." A month later, on November 30, the wallpaper emerged victorious.

Cast Biographies

Rupert Everett (Algernon Moncrieff)

In 1997 Rupert Everett won a Golden Globe nomination for his role in the hit comedy My Best Friend's Wedding. The film also earned him an American Comedy Award and a Blockbuster Entertainment Award. One of Britain's most celebrated actors, Everett has starred in a host of box office hits inducing John Madden's Shakespeare in Love, Nick Hytner's The Madness of King George, Michael Hoffman's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Robert Altman's Ready to Wear.

The Importance of Being Earnest is Everett's second project with Oliver Parker, having starred as Lord Arthur Goring in Parker's previous Wilde adaptation, An Ideal Husband, for which he was also nominated for a Golden Globe.

Everett first gained recognition as an actor for his performance in the film Another Country, a role he had originated on the London stage. His theatre work has since been extensive both in the UK and the US. Everett is also the author of two novels, Hello Darling Are You Working? and The Hairdressers of St. Tropez.

Colin Firth (Jack Worthing)

Colin Fit was most recently seen as Mark Darcy in the hit British comedy Bridget Jones's Diary. His work in film has included leading roles in John Madden's Shakespeare In Love; Jocelyn Moorhouse's A Thousand Acres and Anthony Minghella's The English Patient Other film credits include Fever Pitch, Relative Values, Circle of Friends and the title role in Valmont.

He played Mr. Darcy in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor. Firth's other work in television includes the role of John McCarthy in Granada TV's acclaimed production of Hostages. His London stage debut was in the West End production of Another Country playing Benett, and Firth went on b play Judd in the 1984 film adaptation.

Reese Witherspoon (Cecily Cardew)

Reese Witherspoon's winning performance as 'Elle Woods' drove Legally Blonde to almost $100 million in domestic box-office, making it one of the most successful films of 2001. Witherspoon earned Golden Globe and Golden Satellite Nominations for Best Actress, and the movie was nominated for Best Musical or Comedy.

Prior to Legally Blonde, Witherspoon was best known for her performance as the over-achieving but endearing high school mastermind, "Tracy Flick," in Alexander Payne's satirically edged comedy, Election. The role earned Witherspoon the Best Actress Award from the National Society of Film Critics as well as a Golden Globe Nomination

A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Witherspoon first attracted attention with her memorable feature film debut in Robert Mulligan's caning-of-age drama, The Man in The Moon. She went on to play the lead in the dramatic adventure, A Far Off Place, and stirred opposite Patricia Arquetle in Diane Keaton's critically acclaimed Lifetime feature, Wildflower.

In 1995, Witherspoon starred opposite Mark Wahlberg in Fear, and received rave reviews for her performance in Freeway, produced by Oliver Stone and directed by Matthew Bright Witherspoon's other credits include Gary Ross' Pleasantville, Robert Benton's Twilight, and Cruel Intentions, Best Laid Plans, and American Psycho.

Witherspoon just wrapped Sweet Home Alabama a contemporary romantic comedy directed by Andy Tennant She stars as a New York City fashion designer, who, upon accepting a marriage proposal from her ideal man, must rush hone b rural Alabama b extract a divorce from her high school husband and confront the town she hasn't seen in eight years.

Witherspoon has launched a production company, TYPE A Films, housed at Intermedia, where she has a number of feature film projects in development

Frances O'Connor (Gwendolen Fairfax)

O'Connor was last seen on screen starring opposite Jude Law and Haley Joel Osment in Steven Spielberg's AI. for Warner Bros. Her portrayal of Monica Swinton garnered her a 2001 AFI "Best Supporting Actress" Award nomination.

O'Connor is currently working on Richard Donner's Timeline opposite Paul Walker and Gerard Butler in Montreal. Frances will portray an archaeology grad student who ventures to 14th century France to retrieve her professor where she gets trapped.

O'Connor's other film credits include starring in About Adam, opposite Kate Hudson and Stuart Townsend; "Bedazzled" opposite Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley-, Patricia Rozema's critically acclaimed Mansfield Park Bill Bennett's Kiss or Kilt, Cherie Nowlan's Thank God He Met Lizzie with Cate Blanchett, and Peter Duncan's A Little Bit of Soul with Geoffrey Rush. O'Connor made her debut in Love and Other Catastrophes, for which she was nominated for an AF I Award.

On television, O'Connor starred opposite Greg Wise in the BBC's adaptation of Flaubert's classic novel, Madame Bovary for PBS. Set in nineteenth-century France, the tale of the romantic daughter of a country squire who throws herself into love affairs and runs up ruinous debts to escape her mundane country life. Her performance garnered her a 2001 Golden Globe nomination for "Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television." O'Connor's other television credits include the

television film, Halifax: The Feeding and regular roles on such Australian series as Shark Bay, and Law of the Land. O'Connor has also appeared on Frontline, Snowy River: the McGregor Saga and Blue Heelers. O'Connor recently starred on stage in the West End production of Tennessee Williams! Cat On A Hot Tin Roof opposite Brendan Fraser in London. O'Connor played the role of Maggie Pollitt and Fraser played Brick. Tony Award winner Anthony Page directed. O'Connor's other theatre work includes starring In Peter Whelen's "The Herbal Bed with the Melbourne Theatre Company.

She will next appear in John Woo's Windtalkers with Nicholas Cage, Christian Slater and Adam Beach.

Dame Judi Dench (Lady Bracknell)

Judi Dench was most recently seen in her Academy Award nominated performance as Iris Murdoch in Iris. Other recent films include The Shipping News, Chocolat (for which she was nominated for an Academy Award) Shakespeare In Love (for which she won a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award and a BAFTA award) and Mrs Brown (for which she received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination and won a BAFTA award). She played M in the James Bond films The World Is Not Enough, Tomorrow Never Dies and Goldeneye. Her other credits include Tea With Mussolini, Hamlet, Jack and Sarah, Henry V, A Handful of Dust 84 Charing Cross Road, A Room With A View (for which she won a BAFTA award), Wetherby, Dead Cert, A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Study In Terror and The Third Secret.

Dench's television work includes roles in Last of The Blonde Bombshells (for which she won a Best Actress BAFTA and a Golden Globe award), As Time Goes By, Absolute Hell, The Torch, Make and Break, Saigon, Smiley's People, Love In A Cold Climate, A Fine Romance, The Cherry Orchard and Comedy of Errors.

Her extensive stage work includes Amy's View, directed by Richard Eyre (for which she received a Tony Award for Best Actress), A Little Night Music, The Seagull, Coriolanus, The Plough and the Stars, Macbeth, The Cherry Orchard, Look Back In Anger, Much Ado About Nothing and Cabaret.

Tom Wilkinson (Reverend Chasuble)

One of the busiest actors in both Britain and the United States, Tom Wilkinson just won raves and an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Matt in Todd Field's In The Bedroom. His diverse list of credits includes The Patriot, Shakespeare in Love (for which he received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor) and Brett Ratner's smash hit Rush Hour. Wilkinson came to international notoriety with his performance as Gerald in the Academy Award-nominated The Full Monty for which he also received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Most recently, he appeared with Salma Hayek in Chain of Fools, with Martin Lawrence in Black Knight, and in the British thriller The Essex Boys. Wilkinson's other film credits include Sandra Goldbachers The Governess, Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility

and Ride With The Devil Brian Gilberts Wilde, Gillian Armstrong's Oscar and Lucinda, Antonia Bird's Priest, Jim Sheridan's In the Name of the Father, and David Hare's Wetherby.

A renowned stage actor in his native England, Wilkinson has performed with such prestigious companies as the Oxford Playhouse, the National Theater, and the Royal Shakespeare Company. His stage work includes the title portrayals in Peer Gynt. Brand, and Henry V. He has also performed in productions of Three Sisters, Uncle Vanya, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, The Crucible, and As You Like It.

Anna Massey (Miss Prism)

A highly respected actress with a long and prolific career in film, television and theatre, Massey recently completed Khaled El Hogan's Room to Rent. She will next be seen in Neil Labute's, Possession.

Previous television credits include the role of Sarah Cole in the 1997 BBC drama A Respectable Trade, Mme Dupont in the Darling Buds of May and Edith Hope in Giles Foster's Hotel Du Lac for which she won a BAFTA Award fix Best Actress. She was awarded the Royal Television Society Award for Best Actress in Sacred Hearts.

Massey previously played the role of Miss Prism alongside Dame Judi Dench's Lady Bracknell in a production at the Royal National Theatre for which she received a SWET Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her extensive theatre credits include Elizabeth in May Stuart at the National Theatre, Bel in Moonlight at the Almeida and Adriane Utterwood in Heartbreak House at the National Theatre for which she received a Plays and Players Award for Best Actress.

Crew Biographies

Oliver Parker (Director)

Director and Screenwriter Oliver Parker has worked extensively as an actor, and theatre and film director.

His most recent film was the highly acclaimed hit An Ideal Husband, which he adapted and directed. Starring Cate Blanchett, Minnie Driver, Rupert Everett, Julianne Moore and Jeremy Northam, the film was nominated for two Golden Globes and three BAFTAs.

In 1995, Parker directed his adaptation of Othello starring Laurence Fishbume, Irene Jacob and Kenneth Branagh for Castle Rock

Entertainment

In 1994, Parker wrote, directed and acted alongside his brother Nathaniel Parker in his first short film Unsigned, which was featured at the London Film Festival that year. In 1995, he made two short films: A Little Loving, starring Helena Bonham Carter and The Short Cut.

For television, in 1996, Oliver directed two monologues Billingsgate Alfie, starring Jim Broadbent and Copper Clive starring Steve Tompkinson. Both projects were written by Tony Grounds for the "First Sign Of Madness" series for Carlton Television.

Barnaby Thompson (Producer)

Fragile Films was set up in 1996 when Barnaby Thompson returned to the UK after working for seven years in the U.S.A. To date, Fragile has produced Spiceworld, An Ideal Husband, Kevin and Perry Go Large, Mel Smith's High Heels And Low Lifes and Peter Cattaneo's Lucky Break. Fragile Films is part of a consortium that recently acquired Ealing Studios. Over a five year period the studios that were once home to Britain's most enduring comedies will be developed to encompass the most progressive multi-media digital studio of its kind in Europe, bringing the creative talents of writers, producers, directors, designers and actors under one roof.

Prior to this, Thompson was vice President, Creative Affairs at Lorne Michael's Broadway Pictures. During his tenure, he co. produced The Kids In The Hall, Brain Candy, which was nominated for four Canadian Genies; Tommy Boy starring Chris Farley and David Spade; Lassie directed by Dan Petrie; Coneheads, starring Dan Aykroyd and Wayne's World 1 & 2, with Mike Myers and Dana Carvey. All these films were made for Paramount Pictures.

Before moving to America in 1990, Thompson ran the UK -based independent production company World's End Productions. There he produced and directed many award-winning documentary films, including Jimi Hendrix, which won the Silver Plaque at the Chicago Film Festival and The Forgotten Holocaust, which received the Silver Medal at the New York Film Festival. He also produced Dear Rosie, a short film nominated for both British and American Academy Awards.

Uri Fruchtmann (Executive Producer)

Uri Fruchtmann's background is in producing, directing and writing. He has made several award-winning television films, inducing A House For Pele, Price Of Bread and Obi. His involvement with the music world provided the inspiration for several music documentaries he made, including Atlantic - Hip to the Tip, about the great soul label and the reggae music documentary Stir It Up.

Tony Pierce-Roberts (Director of Photography)

Tony Pierce Roberts is one of the most respected cameramen in the business. Oscar and BAFTA nominated for both Room with a View and Howard's End, he has had enjoyed a long and fruitful collaboration over many years with UK film outfit Merchant Ivory. Hs work on Tinker Tailor, Soldier and Spy and Caught On A Train won him two BAFTA Awards for Best Film Cameraman. He also holds The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cinematography and The London Evening Standard Award for Outstanding Technical Achievement

His feature credits include A Private Function, A Tiger's Tale, Out Cold, Remains Of The Day for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Cinematography, Slaves Of New York, The Client, Surviving Picasso, Disclosure and The Dark Half.

Luciana Arrighi (Art Director)

Since her training at the BBC, Luciana Arrighi has enjoyed a distinguished career designing both sets and costumes for opera, theatre and films in England and Australia. Her career to date has been acknowledged with accolades including Academy Award Nominations for Best Art Direction for Anna And The King, Best Production Design for The Remains Of The Day, and an Oscar for Best Production Design for Howards End.

Luciana has also worked as Costume Designer for the Vienna State Opera's Othello and her most theatre work has included Costume Designer for Peter Wood's production of School For Scandal at The National Theatre, London.

Maurizio Millenotti (Costume Designer)

Maurizio Millenotti's prolific and successful career as a costume designer has spanned three decades. His work on an extraordinary array of top European and US films including those of Frederico Fellini and Franco Zefirelli has earned him a formidable international reputation.

His career found its origins in Opera and Ballet. In 1984, he worked on Piero Faggioni's production of Carmen for Teatro La Scald, ad in 1993, Franco Zeffirelli's Aida. His English language cinematic costume design work includes Mel Gibson's Hamlet and Bernard Rose's Anna Karenina (featuring Sophie Marceau in the title lead). Millenotti also designed the costumes for Peter Greenaway's the Belly Of An Architect, Fellini's La Voce Della Luna and The Ship Sails On, Bernard Rose' Immortal Beloved, Tornatore's Malena and The Legend Of 1900, and Steve Barron's Arabian Nights.

Guy Bensley (Editor)

Guy Bensley previously worked with Oliver Parker on Bafta and Golden Globe nominated An Ideal Husband. He began his career working on television documentaries such as Black Leather Jacket, Bombay Brownwash and comedy drama Preston Front. In 1990, Bensley edited Dear Rosie, an 11-minute drama directed by Pete Cattaneo and produced by Bamaby Thompson, and for which received a BAFTA and an Academy Award nomination for Best Short Film. He was nominated again by the Academy for Best Shat Film for Brooms in 1995. Other feature films include Dad Savage starring Patrick Stewart.

Bensley's most recent work was popular television drama Lorna Doone.

Charlie Mole (Composer)

The Importance of Being Earnest is the third film Charlie Mole has worked on with director Oliver Parker. The dark and moody orchestral score he wrote for Othello (Lawrence Fishbume, Kenneth Branagh/Castlerock) 'stands up there with those of James Homer, Danny Elfman and John Williams' (US soundtrack review). Following his success with this, Parker asked him again to come on board to score An Ideal Husband (starring Cate Blanchett, Minnie Driver, Rupert Everett, Julianne Moore and Jeremy Northam). Mole's versatility means he is equally at home scoring contemporary, cutting edge films, such as John Duigan's thriller Paranoid for Sky Pictures or the recently completed Mel Smith film High Heels and Low Lifes for Fragile/Buena Vista.

Mole is also one of the UK's top pop/R&B songwriters, having worked with Chaka Khan, Savage Garden, and Lenny Kravitz.

Peter King (Hair & Make-up designer)

Peter King is one of the most respected hair and make-up designers in the business. Winner of three BAFTA nominations for his work on Quills, An Ideal Husband and Velvet Goldmine, additional film credits include The Lord Of The Rings, Little Voice, Avengers, The Tango Lesson, and Portrait Of A Lady.

David Brown (Line Producer)

A freelance producer and line producer, David Brown's recent credits include Enigma, Up At The Villa and Whatever Happened To Harold Smith.

From 1993-95 he was the production supervisor for Lucas Films World Wide Production, whose titles include Star Wars - The Phantom Menace and the Young Indiana Jones series.

David's credits as 1st Assistant Director include The Big Man, Waterland, The Secret Garden, and Wind In The Willows.
 
 

Ratings:  PG  - mild sensuality 
Time:  97 min. 
Official Web Site:  http://www.miramax.com/importanceofbeingearnest/in 
 

 © Copyright Miramax Films 2002
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.