Raising Helen Movie Trailer. “Watching Helen trying to make the transformation from party girl to mom is both emotional – it’s right up Garry Marshall’s alley,” says Academy Award nominee Kate Hudson, the star of Marshall’s new film, “Raising Helen.” “He’s so great at picking out those moments that ring so true from life that you just have to laugh.”
“I like comedies with drama and I like dramas with comedy,” says Marshall. “I like to walk that line, to direct a funny scene and then a serious scene. You can tell if you’ve done it right by watching the audience: you watch where they laugh, you watch where they cry, and if you’ve got the balance right, they come out having had a good time.”
“Kate is just the right star for this picture and Garry is just the right director,” says producer David Hoberman, who marks his fourth collaboration with Marshall. “Kate’s the kind of actress that you’re rooting for from the first frame, and nobody’s better than Garry – he has an amazing ability to walk the tightrope between making the audience cry at the same time he’s making them laugh. It’s quite a gift.”
“He’s extremely talented,” says producer Ashok Amritraj. “He finds the underlying humor in every human situation; he finds a way to make it feel like life. So few directors can work with both comedy and drama; Garry does both to perfection. This is the perfect movie for him.”
“I think one of the keys is that he loves life,” continues Hoberman. “He’s a people magnet who loves telling stories, loves people, especially children. The guy has more friends that love him than anybody I’ve ever come across.”
“Plus, he runs a great set,” adds Amritraj. “He keeps the actors very upbeat and happy; the best I’ve ever seen. Sometimes you wonder how everybody can be having such a good time, but he turns out great movies. It’s great to be working with him.”
“This is a wonderful script,” says Marshall. “It’s funny, poignant and, ultimately, a very positive look at family. Also, it shows what can happen when life changes suddenly and unexpectedly, which it often does.
“Lots of movies come along,” says the veteran director, “and in the end you want to choose something that will hold your attention for an entire year of your life. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for single parents. I have two sisters who are divorced with kids and I have lots of friends in that situation. It’s a tough job to run a family alone and I thought this depicted a single parent in a positive and funny way.”
In casting “Raising Helen,” Hoberman, Amritraj, and Marshall required an actress who could not only handle both the comedic and dramatic aspects of the role, but also carry the film in every scene. They found that star in Kate Hudson, who had shown her romantic comedy chops in the box-office hit “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” as well as her more dramatic role in “Almost Famous,” for which she received an Academy Award nomination. “This is a role that will show Kate’s range as an actress,” says Marshall. “She walks that line between comedy and drama as well as anyone. She has proven her ability in carrying a movie. She’s in every scene, every day. We put a lot on her shoulders and she did an amazing job.”
“There are certain people you hold onto in your memory as a child,” remembers Kate. “Garry is one of them. I recall sitting on his lap when my parents were making a movie with him – he used to let me yell ‘action.’ I was thrilled that Garry wanted to direct me in this movie, sixteen years later.”
“I’ve reached a point in Hollywood where I know everybody and their children and grandchildren,” laughs Marshall. “Now, once again when Kate yells action with me, the circles of life continue.
“There’s not much to teach her about being on a set,” Marshall continues. “She’s been on them all her life and instinctively knows film. There was a special quality about her when she was a kid and I’m glad she pursued this business. She always has an angle, a touch that is special to the scene, and, like me, she has to be doing two things at once. Sometimes it’s hard to believe she’s only 24. She knows an awful lot for her age.”
“It’s impossible not to be charmed by the natural humor and loveable quality that shines through Kate’s performances,” says producer Hoberman. “We were convinced that she would bring those qualities into her relationship with the kids in this movie. This role has given her the opportunity to grow as an actress, not unlike someone else we worked with a while back,” he remembers with a smile: “Julia Roberts in ‘Pretty Woman.’”
“Kate has clearly arrived as one of the major stars of tomorrow,” says Amritraj. “We needed an actor of real ability to portray the wide range of emotion that the role of Helen requires. Kate’s warmth, humor and overall appeal was perfect for the film.”
“I love this character,” says Hudson. “She’s strong, but vulnerable and funny. It’s really an empowering role – for my age, it’s rare that a role so juicy like this comes along, especially one who goes through such a huge transition with so many arcs. “Even in the beginning, when we see Helen as a party girl, before she faces all of her obstacles, she’s still discovering who she wants to be,” Hudson continues. “Later, as she begins to grow up a bit, you see what it is in her that really shines.”
As for preparing for Helen, Hudson says, “I think my preparation for this role came by drawing on my strong family unit. We’ve always been taught that you can find humor in everything and the ability to laugh at yourself, even through tough times, is a huge asset in getting through almost anything.”
“Helen is a new kind of role for me – she’s a character who really has to take on a lot more responsibility,” says Hudson. “We put a lot of thought into that – the transformation that she has to make. It’s even reflected in her clothes – nobody would buy it if Helen was a mom in threeinch heels. Nobody’s like that. But Garry knows that that could even be a focal point for some of the comedy as she becomes less concerned with the material world.”
As Kate Hudson was the ideal Helen, Joan Cusack was the unanimous choice among the filmmakers for the role of Kate’s older sister, Jenny. Garry Marshall, who first collaborated with Cusack on “Runaway Bride,” says, “Joan has the unique ability to play a pesty sister – a character who might turn off a lot of people – in a way that makes her entertaining and funny, even sweet. It’s a difficult balance and nobody does it better than Joan.”
Producer Hoberman agrees wholeheartedly, noting, “Sometimes when you’re casting a movie you just know it’s right. And then as you’re making the movie, suddenly no one else could have done the role. Joan is that person. She brings the right amount of quirkiness to this uptight sister, to make her sympathetic and really funny.”
Joan Cusack welcomed the opportunity to create a character who has her life really invested in being a mom. “There’s something about my character that’s not very cool, and, I like that,” says the Academy Award nominated actress. “Jenny’s character resonates to me at this particular time in my life. I, too, am a mom, and I like the idea of portraying a mom, who, although is un-cool, evolves into becoming appealing because she is so well meaning. This part focuses on the importance of raising children, which I happen to feel is my most important job in life. And I think my character does it with both warmth and humor. “Garry has such a joy for life, and he brings that to everything he does,” says Cusack. “I think most people are professionals who want to do a good job, but having fun while you’re doing a good job, enjoying yourself while you’re working, is another thing. It makes for a great, creative environment.”
John Corbett, who most recently starred in the record-setting independent feature “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” as well as the acclaimed television series “Sex & the City” and “Lucky,” welcomed the opportunity to work with Garry Marshall. The popular television and motion picture actor takes the role of Pastor Dan. “Chuck Minsky, who is the cinematographer on both ‘Lucky’ and ‘Raising Helen,’ showed me a script and suggested me for Pastor Dan. I read it, called Garry, we met, met Kate, and it was a go,” recalls Corbett. “I’ve been doing this job for over 20 years and it’s the first time I felt bold enough to pick up a phone and call a director to tell them I wanted to be in his movie. It was very cool.”
“In my films the guys all have to be funny, handsome, sexy, but most importantly, charming. John is all that and… he’s very tall. I think he’s six foot eleven,” jokes Marshall. Even if their heights made the match a challenge to film, their personalities were perfectly suited to each other. “Ultimately, I really wanted to work with Kate,” says Corbett. “I knew that I could have fun acting with Kate – it’s like playing tennis. You want to play with somebody on your level, and ever since I saw her in ‘Almost Famous,’ I knew that I wanted to work with her someday. “I like working with Kate,” notes the actor.
“She observes everything around her and takes it in, uses it. She’ll just be sitting around, and then she’ll say, ‘Look at that guy over there – look what he’s doing with his leg.’ Something most of us would never notice in a million years. And she’ll use that when she acts.”
To play the kids that Helen suddenly finds herself raising, the filmmakers turned to three talented young performers. 14-year-old Hayden Panettiere plays Audrey, and siblings Spencer Breslin and Abigail Breslin mimic their off-screen relationship as Henry and Sarah. Panettiere says that Audrey is a real teen with a real teen’s issues. “Her hormones are raging and she moves to New York City,” the actress notes.
“Her eyes open up a bit; she’s not a little girl anymore. She falls in with the wrong crowd a bit; it’s up to Helen to be the mom that Audrey needs. “This is my first role where I get to play a teen,” says Panettiere. “My roles up until now have been mostly tomboyish roles – with my hair pulled back, no makeup, and tomboy clothes. I’m glad to be playing something a little different this time, but my personality, I guess, is still a little closer to the tomboy personality.”
“I call her Hayden Planetarium,” jokes Garry Marshall. “We looked everywhere for a 16-yearold girl who could play something with attitude. We weren’t finding anybody – and then we found a 13-year-old who was perfect.” Panettiere was also impressed with her young co-stars’ abilities. “I’ve known Spencer and Abigail for a long time – we all live in New York. They’re incredibly professional and prepared – even more than some of the adults I’ve worked with.”
Spencer Breslin, who starred in “The Cat in the Hat,” is brother to both his on-screen and offscreen sister, Abigail, who starred opposite Mel Gibson in “Signs.” “It’s not a big stretch,” says big brother Spencer. “It’s actually pretty cool. Not many people have had the chance to work with their real siblings, playing siblings,” says the young performer, who has been in front of the camera since age 3.
Spencer is the funniest kid – you give him any kind of a line and he’ll make it funny,” says Garry Marshall. “And Abigail, you could forget she’s a child actor. I know full-grown actors who have trouble getting a master shot – a shot with the whole scene – in one take, but Abigail gets it right every time. They’re both very professional.”
Exterior shots for “Raising Helen” were shot entirely in New York, firmly placing it in not only Garry Marshall’s hometown, but also in one of the most colorful cities in the world. Filming on location is about interfacing with the real, everyday life of a city, which, in this case helped to vividly create Helen’s world. “It was vitally important to us that we shoot in New York City,” says Hoberman. “It was important to visually move Helen from Manhattan into Queens for the integrity of the story.”
Production designer Steven Jordan says, “One of the things I liked about this project is that being a New York based designer, it gave me an advantage in terms of accurate detailing of all the apartments, especially in Queens. I was looking for the kind of place that you could almost smell the curries and cabbage. A view of the Empire State Building was down the street from Helen’s apartment in Queens, which was a daily, poignant reminder to Helen of her previous life. When we duplicated the apartment on the stage, Garry would often stop in the hallway before going into the apartment and marvel at how much it reminded him of his home in the Bronx, where he was raised. That was a great compliment.”
The scenes shot in New York takes the production through the streets of Manhattan into the blue-collar neighborhoods of Queens and back to the reality of Helen’s business in Soho. The story creates a gentle arc through the city. Helen’s Manhattan apartment was shot in Greenwich Village and the petting zoo in Central Park Zoo became the backdrop for scenes between Kate Hudson, John Corbett and the kids. Forest Hills in Queens served as Pastor Dan’s St. Barbara’s School, and picturesque Battery Park is where Helen, Dan and the kids walk together near the Statue of Liberty at the end of the film.
“It was great to shoot in New York City – one of the greatest cities in the world,” says Hudson. “When you’re shooting on the streets in the springtime, at night with all the lights, it’s just a magical experience – you’re thinking, ‘Wow, this is the greatest job in the world.’ The city so alive and vibrant.”
Principal photography began in Canoga Park, California, which became the site of Massey Motors, where Hector Elizondo gives Helen a job selling “previously owned cars.”
Moving about the city, Garry Marshall shot in La Boheme Restaurant in trendy West Hollywood; at Pickwick Ice Center in Burbank, where John Corbett and Kate Hudson take a romantic spin on the ice; at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood which became Pastor Dan’s office and school campus for Audrey, Henry and Sarah. They worked in the residential streets of South Pasadena where Lindsay’s suburban home came to life and at several stages on the Universal Studios Lot.
Raising Helen (2004)
Directed by: Garry Marshall
Starring: Kate Hudson, John Corbett, Joan Cusack, Amber Valletta, Hayden Panettiere, Helen Mirren, Spencer Breslin, Abigail Breslin, Sakina Jaffrey, Felicity Huffman
Screenplay by: Jack Amiel, Michael Begler
Production Design by: Steven J. Jordan
Cinematography by: Charles Minsky
Film Editing by: Bruce Green, Tara Timpone
Costume Design by: Gary Jones
Set Decoration by: Suzette Sheets
Art Direction by: William Hiney
Music by: John Debney, Mark Vogel
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for thematic issues involving teens
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures
Release Date: May 28, 2004
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