When it was announced that Angelina Jolie would play Marianne Pearl, widow of kidnapped and killed reporter Daniel in A Mighty Heart, there was nothing about who would play the man himself.
Now the information is out – Dan Futterman, an actor who enjoyed much more success as a screenwriter with this year’s Capote – was signed at the same time as Jolie, but director Michael Winterbottom chose to keep his casting a secret. Why? In true Winterbottom style, the actor was spirited to Pakistan for a strictly guarded 10-day location shoot.
"It was important to shoot in the actual places where things happened," Futterman told the Washington Post on his return. "There are lots of little things that were important to Michael, not least of all the people and the sound of the language spoken."
And Futterman – who was selected after a two-hour meeting with Winterbottom – revealed that the focus of the film will be more on the search for Pearl than his life story. "We talked a lot about the balance, showing enough to make an impact. By all accounts, he and Mariane had a really blessed relationship."
A Mighty Heart should arrive in cinemas next year.