{"id":159446,"date":"2025-11-29T17:13:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T17:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/159446\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T17:13:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T17:13:09","slug":"james-l-brooks-dishes-on-his-ella-mccay-actors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/159446\/","title":{"rendered":"James L. Brooks Dishes on His ‘Ella McCay’ Actors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tFor James L. Brooks<\/a>, working with actors isn\u2019t just a necessary part of being a filmmaker, it\u2019s the reason he loves the gig. \u201cIt\u2019s what I do,\u201d he told The Hollywood Reporter. \u201cWorking with actors is why I am there. I care about it.\u201d The veteran writer, director, producer and showrunner has six decades of experience at it. The award-winning 85-year-old \u2014 he owns three Oscars, a historic 22 Emmys, a Golden Globe and honors from the DGA, PGA and WGA \u2014 is responsible for some beloved classics like Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News and As Good as it Gets (in addition to that little animated TV show called The Simpsons) and he\u2019s got a new entry heading to theaters Dec. 12 in Ella McCay from 20th Century Studios. It casts Emma Mackey<\/a> as the title character in the story of what happens when she becomes governor of her home state in a surprise twist at 34 years old. The early days of her tenure grow quite complicated due to navigating intense family dynamics with her husband, father and brother leading to unexpected consequences. Mackey stars with Jamie Lee Curtis<\/a>, Woody Harrelson<\/a>, Albert Brooks<\/a>, Jack Lowden, Julie Kavner<\/a>, Spike Fearn, Rebecca Hall<\/a>, Kumail Nanjiani and Ayo Edebiri<\/a>. During the film\u2019s junket at Maybourne Beverly Hills, Brooks managed to heap praise on 10 of his actors in 10 minutes.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tFearn, Curtis, Lowden, Mackey and Brooks at London\u2019s Picturehouse Central on Nov. 24, 2025.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(Photo by StillMoving.Net for The Walt Disney Company Limited)<\/p>\n

\t\tEmma Mackey as Ella McCay\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI knew her work a little from Sex Education, and we met during a long hunt to find the actor to play the title role. We looked everywhere, and I was auditioning for a long time. I went to London and that\u2019s where I first saw her. She did a monologue from the movie, and I knew. There\u2019s a radiance to her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tJamie Lee Curtis as Ella McCay\u2019s Aunt Helen\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe truth is, she\u2019s exactly who you hope she is. And what you think you see, that\u2019s who she is. She has this sense about her and it carries across to everybody, from the crew to her co-stars. Everybody is equal. There\u2019s a humanism that is just in her and it carries over to the work spirit. She\u2019s a spectacular human and she\u2019s earned that. She wasn\u2019t born with it. She lived her life and came out of her life with that. She\u2019s one of the best people I\u2019ve ever known in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tCurtis as Helen and Mackey as the title character.<\/p>\n

\t\tWoody Harrelson as Ella McCay\u2019s Father Eddie\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe\u2019s an old friend. I\u2019ve known him since before Cheers, and we\u2019ve remained pals over the years. He was one of the first people that I reached out to for this because he works a lot. His enthusiasm is unfailing, and so is his spirit. He brings the commitment and the fun to work. He\u2019s playing a different kind of guy on this movie but he was a joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tHarrelson as Eddie McCay<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto Courtesy of 20th Century Studios<\/p>\n

\t\tAlbert Brooks as Outgoing Governor Bill\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAlbert and I go back forever. He\u2019s been a pal forever, and God knows he\u2019s one of the funniest people on the planet. He\u2019s also a terrific actor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tBrooks as Governor Bill<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto by Claire Folger\/20th Century Studios<\/p>\n

\t\tSpike Fearn as Casey McCay\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe\u2019s a natural. He was 22 when he auditioned and he infused the material with his own sense of being to make all the scenes original. When you watch him, you feel like you\u2019ve never seen anything like it before because you\u2019ve never seen anyone like him before. He\u2019s remarkably talented as such a young age, and I hope that Hollywood doesn\u2019t sent that absolute innocence that he has for a long time.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t\tAyo Edebiri as Casey\u2019s Girlfriend Susan\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019d seen her work on The Bear and she\u2019s great. She comes from improv so she\u2019s fantastic to work with. Suddenly in the middle of the scene, she can change the rhythm to create a different feeling. It\u2019s really interesting. She\u2019s great.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tEdibri as Susan and Fearn as Casey<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto by Claire Folger\/20th Century Studios<\/p>\n

\t\tJulie Kavner as Ella McCay\u2019s Assistant\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve known her since she was 19. She was on Rhoda and she killed on it. She\u2019s been Marge Simpson forever. She\u2019s singular, original and a comic force.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tJack Lowden as Ella McCay\u2019s Husband\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI haven\u2019t had a puppy for a while but working with Jack Lowden is a bit like that. He\u2019s a director\u2019s dream. Working with someone like him is part of the richness of the work. We\u2019re about to do a scene so we talk about it, exchange ideas and I explain what I want. I barely get through a sentence and he\u2019s off doing it. He loves the work, he gets the joke, and he\u2019s there for you the entire time. He\u2019s got the spirit, and he\u2019s killer in the film.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tKavner as Estelle and Lowden as Ryan<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of 20th Century Studios<\/p>\n

\t\tKumail Nanjiani as Trooper Nash\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe had to do some tough stuff because his scenes call for somebody who you might almost see as an extra in the early parts of the film because he\u2019s not talking or doing much. But then he has his moments when his character shows up for work. And because he\u2019s a stand-up, he nails it.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tNanijani as Trooper Nash <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto by Claire Folger\/20th Century Studios<\/p>\n

\t\tRebecca Hall as Ella McCay\u2019s Mother\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cShe\u2019s royalty, in a way. Her father was director of the National Theatre in England and she\u2019s one of the great beauties. She\u2019s in the opening scene of the film and she\u2019s so soulful. She has a scene that could end some movies but it opens here and she makes a strong impression.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tInterview edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tFearn, Curtis, Lowden and Mackey<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(Photo by StillMoving.Net for The Walt Disney Company Limited)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For James L. Brooks, working with actors isn\u2019t just a necessary part of being a filmmaker, it\u2019s the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[96106,5314,96107,146,85,46,96108,18889,96109,96110,70809],"class_list":{"0":"post-159446","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-albert-brooks","9":"tag-ayo-edebiri","10":"tag-emma-mackey","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-israel","14":"tag-james-l-brooks","15":"tag-jamie-lee-curtis","16":"tag-julie-kavner","17":"tag-rebecca-hall","18":"tag-woody-harrelson"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}