Steven Culp Online | Robert Kennedy in "Thirteen Days"

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(Jun 6, 2012)

For German fans:

Seit dem 3. Mai 2012 gibt es in Deutschland Stevens Film "Thirteen Days" auch auf Blu Ray (!) Erhältlich unter anderem bei Amazon.de.

(April 4, 2001, Variety.com, by Charles Lyons)

Unlucky 'Thirteen'?

Somehow "Thirteen Days," directed by Roger Donaldson and staring Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood, Steven Culp and Dylan Baker, got lost in the Christmas and pre-Oscar shuffles.

What went wrong?

Made for about $75 million to $85 million and released on Christmas Day by New Line, the Cuban missile crisis drama pulled in just $34.5 million domestically and vanished with little fanfare.

Prolific producer Armyan Bernstein says it was poor timing.

"When you're disappointed, it's always easy to second-guess yourself," reflects Bernstein. "If we had opened the movie around the time of the presidential election, we might have seen different results -- for both the movie and the election."

Other sources suggest New Line, coming off of a bad year, may have dropped the ball in marketing the pic. But the film's poor showing reflects a wider problem in Hollywood.

As studios turn their attention toward crafting stories for the teen audience, notes Bernstein, adult dramas like "Thirteen Days" are becoming increasingly tricky to market and release.

"Movies like "Thirteen Days" and "The Insider" need big bear-hugs and cheerleaders," says Bernstein, whose producing credits include "Air Force One" and "The Hurricane." "There's not a lot of room in the marketplace for them.

"But how do you measure success? I am always going to place my bet on movies that are about something. "Traffic" got there, and I am proud of the people who made it."

(January 19, 2001, San Francisco Chronicle, by Ruthe Stein)

Being Bobby

Steven Culp showed up at the Delancey Street screening room the other day still wearing his hair in that familiar Bobby Kennedy overgrown mop. Culp got used to the style while playing Bobby in "Thirteen Days." However, he no longer sports the false upper teeth he was fitted with for the movie. That would be too Kennedy-esque.

Friends from Culp's American Conservatory Theater days came to the screening. Culp starred in ACT's 1994 production of "Angels in America" as a Mormon in deep denial over his homosexual feelings. The process of preparing for that role or a Kennedy brother was the same. "You have to assimilate all this stuff about a person so it seems natural. The fact that there was so much material about Bobby made it easier. I had a point of reference."

Culp had appeared as Bobby before, in the HBO movie "Norma Jean and Marilyn," as in Monroe. "I don't really think I look like him, so it's funny that I played him twice. It was really just a coincidence."

(January 16, 2001, AP online)

Culp Calls '13 Days' Training Tough

Steven Culp says getting ready to play Robert F. Kennedy in the Cuban missile crisis drama "Thirteen Days" was like going to boot camp.

"There was a month of preparation where I started working with a trainer who I worked with the entire time to get that really skinny, you know, wiry body, researching all day, working on the accent, watching films, you know, getting fitted for false teeth," he said recently.

Culp first played Bobby Kennedy in the 1996 TV movie "Norma Jean & Marilyn," but he said he doesn't want to make a career of becoming an RFK impersonator.

His previous films include "Nurse Betty" and "James and the Giant Peach."

(January 14, 2001, Variety.com, by Tom Tapp)

Roles to Remember

As RFK, Steven Culp, faces both a hostile U.S. military and the Cuban missile crisis in "Thirteen Days."

(January 14, 2001, Reading Eagle, by Susan King)

Excerpt: The Making of a President

"Thirteen Days" also stars Kevin Costner as presidential advisor Kenny O'Donnell and Steven Culp as Bobby Kennedy. A mutual respect developed between Culp and Greenwood during the production.

"I don't think he is that much older than I," said Culp, "but I think we did fall into a big brother-little brother rhythm. We never actually talked about it on the set, but it was something I felt was happening. I think he felt it too, but we chose not to talk about it because you might begin to ruin it a little bit. We fell really easily into this, what I would think is a Kennedy-like camaraderie."

(January 9, 2001, CNN.com, by Paul Clinton)

Relive a frightening 'Thirteen Days'

Costner is the star, and despite his latest, less-than-successful attempt at mimicking an accent (this time slaughtering the speech patterns indigenous to Massachusetts residents), he nails the role. His character's grace under pressure, his maneuvering along the corridors of power and his relationship with the Kennedys all ring true.

However, Canadian character actor Greenwood's portrayal of JFK steals the show; it is compelling and believable. Culp is also extremely good as brother Bobby, capturing the attorney general's badgering intensity.

(January 9, 2001, The Hollywood Reporter)

Steven Culp has signed with Paradigm. Culp is receiving kudos for his onscreen portrayal of Robert F. Kennedy in New Line Cinema's "Thirteen Days." His other feature credits include "James and the Giant Peach" and "Gross Anatomy."

Paradigm Talent Agency
360 North Crescent Dr., North Bldg.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210

(January 8, 2001, Sarasota Herald Tribune, by Angela Dawson)

Excerpt: Costner returns to Camelot in "Thirteen Days"

Casting the Kennedy brothers was more difficult, Donaldson says, as most people have an image in their minds of what John and Robert Kennedy looked and sounded like. For Greenwood and Culp, it was a matter of interpreting rather than imitating these beloved historical figures.

"I tried to catch the spirit of him," says Culp, who plays the tough-talking RFK. "These guys went by instinct, and what they felt was the moral imperative."

To get their Boston accents just right, the two actors would phone each other after work and engage in what they call "the dueling Kennedys."

"We found that when we were around each other, we started to sound alike. But there were differences in the way (the real Kennedy brothers) talked, and we worked on giving our characters a unique voice," says Greenwood.

(December 21, 2000, Variety.com, by Gred Reifsteck)

Big night for 'Days': Greenwood ruins million-dollar shot


	Steven Culp, Armyan Bernstein and writer David Self at the 'Thirteen Days' party.

HOLLYWOOD -- Resorting to gallows humor was the way the cast kept its energy high, confessed star Steven Culp at the preem of New Line's "Thirteen Days" on Tuesday at the Mann Village Theater in Westwood.

Head prankster and star Bruce Greenwood related one of the practical jokes he played on helmer Roger Donaldson.

"When Kevin (Costner) is in front of the White House during the big demonstration scene, I put on some regular clothes and stood in the crowd and kept walking back and forth with a sign saying 'Send the Gonzalez kid back to Cuba,' " Greenwood said. "They printed the shot, and everyone except Roger had seen it. When he saw it he screamed, 'Are you out of your mind, this is a million-dollar shot!' "

On a more serious note, Costner talked about how a historical pic will play with the generation of the presidential recount.

"Some people call it arrogance, or pettiness, but the code I have for choosing a movie is I know it will be watched five or 10 years from now," Costner said.

Joining the stars at the presidential-themed after-party at the UCLA Armand Hammer Museum were New Line's Bob Shaye, Michael DeLuca, Rolf Mittweg and Joe Nimziki; Beacon's Armyan Bernstein, Marc Abraham and Thomas Bliss; producer Peter Almond; and guests Lawrence Bender, Joely Fisher, Eriq LaSalle, Sam Neill, Erik Palladino and Alan Thicke.

(December 24, 2000, Los Angeles Times)

Movies

The 1962 Cuban missile crisis unfolds through the eyes of Kennedy confidant Kenny O'Donnell in "13 Days." Roger Donaldson directs Steven Culp, above, as Robert F. Kennedy, Bruce Greenwood as John F. Kennedy and Kevin Costner as their trusted advisor. Opens Christmas Day in selected theaters.

(December 5, 2000, Variety.com, by Carl DiOrio)

'Thirteen Days' Gets Delayed Launch

HOLLYWOOD - New Line Cinema has moved its box office chestnuts out of the holiday frying pan and into the new year's fire. The studio's wide release of the Kevin Costner historical drama "Thirteen Days," previously set for a crowded Dec. 22, is now planned for Jan. 12 (Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend).

"The marketplace is really crowded during that time," New Line distribution president David Tuckerman said of the abandoned date. "And they're all high-profile films."

Beginning Christmas Day, "Thirteen Days" will get a limited release for Academy Award consideration in four theaters each in Los Angeles and New York.

"Every review we've gotten has been spectacular, so a limited release for awards consideration just seemed like the right thing to do," Tuckerman said. "Every indication is that it's going to be on everyone's 10-best lists, so we feel we've got a shot at all the major awards."

(September 27, 2000, Beaver County Times)

Holiday Films Full of Big Stars

Dec 20

"Thirteen Days": This fact-based drama concerns the bring-of-war negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. Kevin Costner stars as presidential aide Kenny O'Donnell, who advised President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert Kennedy (played by Bruce Greenwood and Steven Culp, respectively) on a course of action. It's based on David Self's book. Roger Donaldson directed.

(October 8, 1999,Variety.com)

Kevin Costner segues from appearing with the Kennedys -- JFK and Bobby -- in "Thirteen Days," a retelling of the Cuban Missile Crisis, to appear for Ethel Kennedy, Oct. 15 and 16.

Costner gets two days off from the film to play in Ethel Kennedy's 10th annual Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Golf Tourney in Hyannis Port. It supports the Memorial's inner city and human rights projects, the legacy of RFK's life and work. Two years ago, Ethel K. escorted Costner on a tour of the JFK library in Boston. He has since met with other Kennedy family members including Joe Jr. Coca-Cola and Nike sponsor the tourney, which raised $500,000 last year.

In "Thirteen Days," Costner plays Kenny O'Donnell who was a classmate of Bobby's at Harvard and became an aide to JFK -- he was plugged into everything transpiring during the Cuban crisis. Costner plays "everyman" who sees what is happening -- and who knows how close we came to a nuclear war. Although we know the outcome, the picture promises to be a nail-biter.

JFK is played by Bruce Greenwood ("Double Jeopardy") and Steven Culp (CBS' "JAG") plays Bobby Kennedy. Celeb golfers also attending include Alec Baldwin, Bill Murray, Frank Gifford, Peter Gallagher, Bill Russell and Rafer Johnson. And among other Kennedys to be there, RFK Jr. and daughter Rory whose documentary, "American Hollow" airs on HBO next month.

(September 27, 1999, Variety.com, by Vanessa Torres)

Steven Culp (CBS' "JAG") and Tim Kelleher ("The Negotiator") have joined the Beacon/Universal pic "Thirteen Days," starring Kevin Costner.

Culp, who has extensive TV credits, will next appear in Neil LaBute's "Nurse Betty," starring Renee Zellweger. He is repped by Suzanne Bennett of the Paul Kohner Agency and manager Miriam Milgrom.

Paul Kohner Talent Agency
9300 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 555
Beverly Hills, CA 90212

(August 23, 1999)

"Thirteen Days" ... will begin shooting on September 20.

The following is from the Hollywood Reporter's production listings:

Thirteen Days (Drama) (Start Sept. 20) Shooting in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Florida; Cast: Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood; Prd., Armyan Bernstein; Dir., Roger Donaldson; Scr., David Self; U.S. Dstrb, New Line; Intl Dstrb, Beacon Communications

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Steven Culp in "Thirteen Days"