People VS Larry Flynt

THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT

Casting
Woody Harrelson has seen his share of controversy, having previously collaborated with Oliver Stone in Natural Born Killers. Though initially repelled by Flynt's notoriety, Harrelson was intrigued by the creative forces pushing the project along. "Only the fact that Milos, one of the greatest filmmakers ever, was directing it attracted me at all," the actor recalls. "After reading the script, and looking deeper into Larry's background, I was a little more impressed. With Larry, you may not like the fact that he's a pornographer, and you may not respect some of his outrageous antics, but you have to respect his honesty. He says what he thinks, even when it's crazy. His honesty always comes through."

Harrelson's budding friendship with Flynt put a unique pressure on the actor, as he struggled to create a fitting portrayal. "I was tearing my hair out," he jokes, "and I can't afford that. At first I was really overcome with concern -- whether I was doing justice to the person he was, the way he moves and talks. And that was also because I was so blown away by what Anthony Hopkins was able to bring to Nixon. Ultimately, I had to come to terms with that, and tell myself it is what it is. Hopefully, it's good.

"I'm also fascinated by Larry's relationship with Althea. It was a very unusual relationship, but very touching, and, with her death at an early age, a very painful one. And Courtney, in that role, absolutely blows me away," Harrelson says.

Producer Stone describes the casting of Courtney Love as "the great battle of this picture." As lead of the popular rock band Hole, Love's own fascinating life and music has put her on Time Magazine's 10 Most Influential People list. Stone notes: "I knew the moment that I saw her name in connection with the part that she was the one. I just knew it. She did several wonderful tests for us. She struck me as highly responsible - maybe crazy in the way that all artists are, and eccentric, but a responsible person, who knew the importance of film and would get it done. Milos loved her, so we both went in and fought hard for her. And eventually, everyone agreed."

In his autobiography, Forman wrote that he will mix experienced actors with newcomers, because one will bring in that technical skill, while the other will bring in a sense of reality. "I've never worked with someone who was that 'in-the-moment' before, to the point that you never knew what she was going to do," says Harrelson. "Courtney's sense of the technical grew in the course of the shoot, but she had this immediacy from the start. The whole life of a scene can come from this sense of not knowing what is going to happen, and that is what it was like to work with Courtney."

"Milos hates acting," explains Courtney Love. "Or at least that's what he tells me whenever I overthink my part. 'I don't like acting,' he'll say. 'I picked you because you don't act."' Adds Yang, "Courtney brings some unrepeatable moments to this movie. She can't do anything the same way twice, and that brings life to what is on the screen."

Love, who has made appearances in "Sid and Nancy," "Basquiat" and "Feeling Minnesota," was initially attracted to the script and the bold, doomed character of Althea. "Then I had to practically crawl on glass to get it, which became another reason to want it," Love remembers. "And I was up against some pretty huge people for it. I found the idea of working with Milos Forman intimidating. So it became a matter of facing this fear, to see that I could do it."

Leasure, in her final years, was a fixture on the LA rock scene, and Love was ambitious in researching the role. "I got a lot of stories from people who knew her then. I also got a lot from Larry, I prepared as much as I could. Althea has an estranged sister that I just couldn't find, so I didn't get a lot of childhood information, but I got to know her in a way. She was a very strong person. Larry and Althea had strengths and weaknesses that complemented each other, like any good couple. She could weed out parasites. He was very open. He was garrulous, but she always thought before she spoke. She was more goal-oriented than he was, and she was an amazing businesswoman; when she took over Hustler's circulation, it went up 375%.

"Althea was also obsessed with Jerry Falwell. Before he even became prominent as the head of the Moral Majority, she'd nominate him as Hustler's 'Asshole of the Month' every time, because she just hated his guts."

Getting to know Althea also had its drawbacks, according to Love: "I've had a few very mournful days thinking about the fact that she's not around. I know I absolutely would have gotten along with her like a house on fire."

Edward Norton, who gained widespread acclaim for his feature debut in Primal Fear, appears as Flynt's longtime counselor and friend, Alan Isaacman. "Larry had several lawyers over the years covered in the film, so the character represents all of them, really," says the young actor. "But Isaacman developed the closest relationship with Larry; they're friends to this day. Since he's also the one who delivered the brilliant Supreme Court argument that's in the film, the character is 90% Isaacman."

Norton worked for a time with Isaacman more to learn the language of libel law than to create a character study. "Milos and I decided early on that we wouldn't worry about portraying Alan Isaacman specifically," Norton recalls. "There were lots of lawyers in Larry's life during the period of the film. For instance, it wasn't Alan who was shot along with Larry on the courthouse steps in Lawrenceville. But it was Alan who brought Larry's case to the Supreme Court."

Like Harrelson, the prospect of working with Forman was the initial attraction for Norton. "He's one of the very few people that I'd say I would definitely jump aboard whatever he was doing, and throw a lot of trust his way," says the actor. "I knew very little about Larry Flynt coming into this; what I've learned since has been fascinating. And it's thematically close to some of Milos's best films. It's like "Cuckoo's Nest" and "Amadeus," in that it shows an outsider's struggles against the established order."

In his approach to several of the film's memorable cameos, Forman followed his dictum of placing non-actors side-by-side with experienced actors. County Prosecutor Simon Leis, who sought to put Larry Flynt out of business from the opening of the Cincinnati Hustler Club, is played by James Carville, the Democratic strategist best known for his central role in Bill Clinton's 1992 Presidential campaign; NYU law professor Burt Neuborne was cast as one of the several legal adversaries faced by Flynt and counsel, Falwell's high-powered attorney, Roy Grutman; and Memphis Circuit Court Judge D' Army Bailey as Judge Thomas Mantke.

To play Judge Morrisey, who presided over Flynt's very first obscenity trial, Forman decided to call on someone who knew the case inside and out -- none other than Flynt himself. Flynt -- who found the task of handing himself a 25--year sentence "a little unsettling" -- proved a natural in the role, according to Forman. "He's seen so many trials," said the director, "he would have to be."

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