PRODUCTION NOTES

Chapter One

"It's been said that life is what happens while you're making other plans. To support himself while he worked on what he hoped would be The Great American Novel, Alex accepted a position as an English tutor for a French family vacationing on the island of St. Charles."

Director/Producer Rob Reiner has always been an innovator, pushing the boundaries of any genre he touches - or in the case of his seminal "mockumentary," This is Spinal Tap, inventing an entirely new genre. His universally beloved films Stand by Me, The Princess Bride and When Harry Met Sally have all been called classics. Reiner is always on the lookout for projects that offer something new for his audience, and when he first read Jeremy Leven's script for Alex & Emma, he was immediately struck by its imaginative take on the traditional romantic comedy.

Alex & Emma is loosely based on the story behind the creation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's short novel The Gambler. The book was rooted in Dostoevsky's own compulsion: in devastating debt due to his gambling addiction, the author owed his publisher a book within thirty days or he would have to hand over all rights to his past and future works. In a panic, Dostoevsky hired a stenographer to take dictation of the novel. With her help, he managed to finish the novel in time, and in the process, fell in love with her.

"I feel the best work is taken from a writer's real life as they examine what's happening to them, interpret their own emotions, thoughts and ideas, and put it all into their writing," says Reiner.

Terrified novelist Alex Sheldon is up to his ears in gambling debts owed to a particularly unforgiving creditor - the Cuban mafia. There's only one way he can get the $100,000 he needs in time to save his life: he must deliver a book to his publisher, who is refusing to advance Alex any more money until a completed manuscript hits his desk.

Now Alex is only a month away from the one-year deadline the mafia gave him to pay up, and he hasn't been able to finish a single sentence. When he's visited by two large thugs who illustrate their seriousness by dangling him out a window and torching his laptop, Alex is suddenly bereft of the means to complete his book; even if he could come up with some idea of what the story might be about (which he can't), there's no way he could write the whole thing in time.

At the end of his rope, Alex manages to lure unsuspecting stenographer Emma Dinsmore to his apartment and convinces her (largely by literally fainting on her feet) to help him.

"Emma's first impression of Alex is not so good," says Academy Award-nominated actress Kate Hudson, who was cast as the straight-talking, down-to-earth stenographer. "She shows up to this disheveled apartment owned by a disheveled tenant who got her there under false pretences, and so of course she's weirded out by him - but at the same time she's very curious and maybe a little bit attracted."

After an initially rocky start, the no-nonsense Emma puts away her pepper spray (for the time being) and goads Alex into finally spitting out a beginning to the novel that may or may not save his life.

Alex very quickly learns that Emma is, as Hudson puts it, "a bit of a smartypants." As he dictates his story to her, she can't help but inject her opinion on a regular basis, and the story begins to reflect some of her input - as when Emma expresses her frustration that Alex's physical description of his characters never matches her own inner vision…

As Emma's input begins to creep its way into Alex's story, the intriguing stenographer begins to creep into his mind as well. She challenges, infuriates and motivates him in turns, and she certainly keeps him on schedule - and on his toes - but who is she? They spend every day together, but Alex doesn't know anything about Emma beyond the fact that she peels the skin off of every individual piece of tomato on her pizza and has something to say about everything he writes. As Emma's influence on both Alex and the story grows, the novel subtly begins to mirror their changing relationship.

"This story reveals a little bit about the creative process and the influence of people on that process," says producer Alan Greisman.

"What's fun is that the characters in the book start to tell you about what's happening to the people in real life," explains Reiner. "And what happens to them in real life starts informing what happens to the characters in the book. That's the way creative people work; it's life, imitating art, imitating life."

Chapter Two

"There is no accounting for love - for why one look, one casual touch, one breath of perfumed air, can ignite feelings so strong, it's almost painful."

Reiner feels strongly about the importance of achieving the proper chemistry between his lead actors. "It's always a matter of finding the right match," he says. "In my romantic comedies, the guy is always a little rough around the edges, the girl is a little bit more centered and together, and the story is in how they influence each other."

With Hudson cast as Emma, versatile actor Luke Wilson became her imperfect match as sloppy romantic Alex Shelton. "I had seen Luke in Bottle Rocket and The Royal Tenenbaums and thought the guy was really funny," Reiner recollects. "He's got this great quirky personality; he's likable and attractive, and I knew he'd be an appealing lead opposite Kate."

Reiner was thrilled with the combination. "Kate is incredibly versatile, funny and attractive, and Luke is charming, sexy and a little bit rough hewn - they complement each other perfectly."

"There's a really fantastic chemistry between them," Greisman states emphatically. "They go far beyond what's on the written page. Simply put, the two best people wound up in front of the camera."

Wilson had the unique opportunity to play both writer Alex Sheldon and Alex's fictional 1920s counterpart, struggling tutor Adam Shipley. "Adam is the period version of Alex," explains Wilson, "but his story is the same. He gets caught up in loving an image, and makes the mistake of passing over the nice girl with substance who really does care about him. Alex is a gambler, and he's been taking risks that he shouldn't have, living beyond his means. He's a good person, but he's not as good a person as he could be."

Wilson and Hudson have been friends for several years, and had always hoped that they might find a project to work on together. As soon as he read the script, Wilson knew Alex & Emma was it. "It had intelligent dialogue, good jokes and good clear cut characters," he says. "The project included the three key elements I look for: a great script, an excellent director, and an actor that I really wanted to work with."

Hudson was similarly excited at the opportunity to finally work with Wilson. "We would always say, 'wouldn't it be funny if we could work together someday?' Now that we have, I can say that the experience has exceeded my expectations of what Luke is like to work with as an actor."

Hudson was also drawn to the project by the story's originality and Reiner's imaginative take on it. "Rob isn't making the typical romantic comedy, all passion and lust; he plays on that with the other characters, but the relationship between Alex and Emma is one of two slightly eccentric characters finding comfort and understanding together."

Working with the seasoned director was a gratifying experience for the actress. "I trust Rob completely, so I feel like the pressure is off of me and I'm able to just have fun and enjoy the process of making the film. With Rob, you don't have to worry about, 'Oh God, was this funny?' - because he'll tell you. He'll come right up and say, 'Nah, nah, that wasn't so funny,' or 'That was great!' It's inspiring to work with people who know exactly what they want."

Hudson has another good reason for appreciating Reiner: "Stand by Me is one of my all-time favorite movies," she reveals. "I think that was when I first started having crushes on boys - it was Keifer and River, the two bad boys."

Upon his arrival in St. Charles, Adam immediately falls in love at first sight with his gorgeous and sophisticated employer, Polina Delacroix. (Emma finds this plot development to be a bit shallow and suspect, but Alex forges on nonetheless.)

Joining the cast as glamorous French heartbreaker Polina is Sophie Marceau, luminous star of French cinema. Alex & Emma is Marceau's second foray into American comedy, and the actress felt very comfortable with Reiner directing. "Comedy is a difficult genre, and if it's not funny it is a disaster, but Rob knows how to make it work very well," she says. "He focuses on exactly what he wants and it's a real pleasure, because it is easygoing and yet very controlled on the set."

"We had Sophie in mind from the very beginning," asserts Greisman. "She's ideal as a beautiful, jet-setting woman who enjoys the finer things in life."

"Polina is looking for money, because that's what she knows - she's always lived a wonderful life in a beautiful house," Marceau reflects. "Unfortunately, the family fortune is getting dry, so she's looking for a kind of bank husband. She's very much a character of the '20s. She is not conscious of her frivolity."

As the summer goes by, Adam grows ever more obsessed with Polina. For her part, Polina enjoys toying with the penniless author, but knows that in the end she will wind up marrying John Shaw, the man who lent her $500,000 - a debt he would be willing to forgive a woman who would become his wife.

"Shaw is an extremely wealthy man," says David Paymer, who plays the moneyed businessman who competes with Adam for Polina's hand in marriage, "and Polina is a woman of very expensive tastes, so he has a considerable advantage over Adam."

Prior to Alex & Emma, Paymer had worked with Reiner on his film The American President. "Rob always lets me play these really unique roles," says Paymer. "He gives me incredible lines, and helps me deliver them with the utmost zing."

Reiner himself joins the cast as Wirtschafter, Alex's heartless publisher. The director enjoyed the experience of working with himself. "I'm easy to direct," he compliments. "I don't give myself a lot of back talk."

Chapter Three

"There was something in Anna's eyes that Adam, until now blinded by his love for Polina, saw for the first time - a deep sadness combined with a quiet strength that made her seem incredibly beautiful."

The novel that Alex is dictating to Emma includes the initially inconsequential character of an "au pair," but as the story develops, she moves to the forefront - reflecting Alex's developing real-world perceptions of Emma.

First, he writes her as Ylva, a stern Swedish woman. Then Ylva becomes Elsa the bawdy German, before transforming momentarily into Eldora the black-haired Spanish beauty. Finally, she becomes Anna, the American girl from Philadelphia that Adam finds himself spending more and more time with as the summer goes on.

Anna is everything that Polina is not - caring, honest, and very down-to-earth. Not surprisingly, of all the incarnations of the mutable au pair, Anna is the most similar to Emma. Soon life begins to truly imitate art as both Alex and Adam find that love may be closer than they'd thought.

The role of Emma called for Hudson to play all four of the au pairs who parade through the story; while they are all essentially offshoots of Emma, each has a different look and accent. "The role was an unbelievable challenge, but so much fun for me," Hudson enthuses. "Rob is a very quick shooter, and when you're playing so many different characters, you find you're asking yourself, 'Am I Swedish today?'"

Luckily, the world of Alex's novel isn't grounded in reality - Hudson refers to it as "The Great Gatsby meets The Princess Bride. It's not about actually being Swedish," she points out. "It's about Emma suddenly being Swedish in the version of the '20s that Alex invents for his book; it's part of the joke." Verbal anachronisms abound, and the actors were allowed to take liberties in playing their literary characters very broadly.

"We weren't doing a full-on period piece, so we had fun with the '20s stuff," says Wilson. "People carried themselves differently back then. Everybody in that day and age seems so well put together, much more prim and proper and polite. But Adam talks like he would in the present day - for instance, instead of saying 'Good evening,' I say, 'How ya doin'?' But just putting on that period wardrobe puts you in a different frame of mind."

As Alex begins to recognize his growing feelings for Emma, Adam finds himself torn between the dazzling Polina and sweet, affectionate Anna. But Polina's hold on him is undeniable, and her imminent wedding to Shaw puts added pressure on his already muddled judgment regarding the situation.

Indeed, Adam's fate is in question: can he let go of the insubstantial fantasy life he dreams of living with Polina in time to win the heart of the woman he truly loves? Or will he fall into the same trap as Alex, gambling away his only chance at happiness?

Of course, Adam's fate is inextricably tied to that of his creator, and Alex is truly a gambler at heart.

Chapter Four

"Though he had always considered himself a member in good standing of that great army of destitute artists, upon arriving at the Delacroix estate, Adam began to consider that he may have been a bit hasty in condemning the acquisition of large sums of money."

The film is set on the East Coast - Alex and Emma live and work in Boston and Alex's book is set on the fictional New England island of St. Charles. Production designer John Larena created the interiors of Alex and Emma's apartments, the Delacroix kitchen and its guest quarters entirely at the Sunland Soundstages. With the exception of one day of shooting on location in Boston, the city's exteriors were shot on the Universal Backlot and all other scenes were shot on location in and around greater Los Angeles.

The stately summer home of the Delacroix family was played by the Langton House, located in historic South Pasadena. St. Charles' ferry dock and boardwalk were shot at Ports O' Call Village in the coastal town of San Pedro, and the beach picnic was shot at nearby Cabrillo Beach. The beautifully preserved Victorian Doheny Mansion served as multiple locations for the film, including the St. Charles Casino interiors and exteriors, as well as the ornate interior of the Orantes Mansion Ballroom.

Great care was taken to make sure that all of the locations were dressed to look the part. The most dramatic transformation was seen at Ports O'Call Village. Hundreds of 1920s-garbed extras were brought in, and the docks were adorned with naval antiquities and period floral and vegetable carts. This was one of the first scenes depicting Alex's story and it was very important to set the stage for the time period and the look of his tale.

Costume designer Shay Cunliffe found the project to be an exciting change of pace, having most recently worked on films set in the present day. Although Alex & Emma is set in contemporary Boston, Cunliffe was tasked with creating wardrobe for Alex's fantasy world of 1920s New England. While she enjoyed searching out '20s-era clothes, she soon found how difficult it is to find authentic clothes from that time that are in good condition.

Cunliffe went to numerous outlets and private collectors to put together her wardrobe palette. The dresses and aprons worn by each of the au pairs represent the fruits of her labor, as all were original '20s-era. The designer had to find a way to express each of the au pairs' individual personalities, and at the same time, communicate that they are all based on the same person. "I tried to maintain some continuity between their clothes, while still underscoring the humor of their different nationalities."

Polina is wealthy and extravagant, and her wardrobe needed to reflect this. Cunliffe was able to find a surprising number of original dresses that were perfect for Polina, but in the end her gowns were a mix of new and old.

"When you look at yourself being transformed into somebody very different, you believe what you see in the mirror," says Marceau. "And the '20s have a lot of personality. They came just after women were wearing corsets, and were very cooped up in their clothes. The twenties liberated women. It was a great moment of liberation, of freedom, of life and of happiness."

Cunliffe designed John Shaw's suits to reflect his wealth and stature and Adam's wardrobe to reflect his penniless state. She felt that as a writer, Adam would have a very small amount of clothes, and chose to use fabrics that wrinkle very easily such as linen and cotton. "We wanted to give him the look and feel of a struggling writer living out of a suitcase." She also wanted to convey Adam as an outsider in this world of money - "there is always a contrast between Adam's wardrobe and everyone else. He is always a little out of step."

Cunliffe designed very distinct looks for Alex and Emma as well. Their wardrobe was meant to convey the fact that the two have extremely limited resources. Cunliffe wanted to use "clothes that didn't look trendy - that were timeless but totally lived in." Alex, as a stressed-out writer, dressed very casual and rumpled. "We tried to make his clothes look as worn as possible, to wash them as little as possible and most importantly - never iron them. He needed to look like he just picked his clothes up off the floor and put them on."

Emma's style, on the other hand, is very neat and business-like. She wears suits that are nice, but "were likely purchased at a bargain store like Filene's Basement. They were meant to have a dreary modesty to them in the beginning," adds Cunliffe, "but as time passes, they very subtly move away from Emma's straight-laced rigid persona and we tried to show someone who is opening up. We didn't radically alter the clothes but we allowed them to fit her body in a different way."

Cunliffe's biggest challenge was finding '20s-era clothes for the over two hundred extras in the boardwalk, ferry boat and casino scenes. She soon found that local thrift stores were the perfect creative tool. "It turns out that many '70s and early '80s-era skirts or cardigan jackets, if you accessorize them right, will work quite well," she reveals. She was able to find a number of beautifully preserved beaded dresses and vintage tuxedos for the casino scene.

Setting and costumes were integral in creating the alluring atmosphere of Alex & Emma's fantasy world. "There's such a romantic feel to the twenties," says Reiner. "It was a wilder time, and a more romantic time. It's a nice juxtaposition to the modern day."