LAKEVIEW TERRACE
PRODUCTION NOTES
Moving into a dream home on a quiet Southern California cul-de-sac becomes a nightmarish ordeal for a young couple in Lakeview Terrace, the latest explosive film from award-winning director Neil LaBute. Chris and Lisa Mattson (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) have just moved into their new suburban house when they become the target of their next-door neighbor. A stern, single father, this tightly wound LAPD officer (Samuel L. Jackson) has appointed himself the watchdog of the neighborhood. His nightly foot patrols and overly watchful eyes bring comfort to some, but he becomes increasingly harassing to the newlyweds. These persistent intrusions into their lives ultimately turn tragic when the couple decides to fight back.
Old guard and new school clash in Lakeview Terrace, a button-pushing thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction), Patrick Wilson (Little Children), Kerry Washington (Ray, The Last King of Scotland) and Jay Hernandez (Grindhouse). Screen Gems presents an Overbrook Entertainment Production, directed by Neil LaBute (Your Friends and Neighbors, In the Company of Men) from a screenplay by David Loughery (The Three Musketeers; Star Trek V:The Final Frontier)and Howard Korder (Stealing Sinatra), based on the story by Loughery. The film is produced by Overbrook’s James Lassiter and Will Smith (ATL). Joe Pichirallo, John Cameron, David Loughery and Jeff Graup are the executive producers. Rogier Stoffers, N.S.C. (Disturbia) is director of photography. Production designer is Bruton Jones (Solstice) and the film is edited by Joel Plotch (The Wicker Man). The costume designer is Lynette Meyer (Nurse Betty). The music is by Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna. The casting is by Heidi Levitt, CSA.
Veteran Los Angeles cop Abel Turner (Jackson) guards his neighborhood with the same zeal he brings to his patrol route. The single father of a teenaged daughter and preteen son, Abel is one-man security force, ensuring that his strict standards of behavior are adhered to, even if it means ruffling a few feathers in the process.
Chris (Patrick Wilson) and Lisa Mattson (Kerry Washington), a progressive and upwardly mobile couple, move in next door to Turner, who disapproves of their interracial marriage. Hoping to rid the neighborhood of anything or anyone he deems “undesirable,” Turner launches an escalating series of pranks and insults against the Mattsons. From ignoring their request to focus his high-voltage safety lights away from their bedroom to disrupting a housewarming party, Abel takes full advantage of his police connections to antagonize his new neighbors with impunity, hoping to get them to pick up and move out.
When their air conditioning unit is sabotaged in the middle of a heat wave and their car tires are mysteriously slashed, the Mattsons begin to suspect Abel is behind their troubles.But without proof, they can only try to negotiate a truce—an offer Abel does not accept.
Abel’s anger flares when his use of inappropriate force on the job lands him on extended leave and he discovers his daughter has been spending time with Lisa. Devoting himself fulltime to harassing his young neighbors, he raises the stakes by hosting a raucous bachelor party at his house that goes on into the wee hours. With music still blasting at 3:00 am, Chris attempts to reason with Turner in an attempt to get some quiet. But Abel turns the tables on Chris, forcing him into a compromising position with the party strippers that is taped and presented to Lisa.
As Abel crosses the line from annoying neighbor to dangerous adversary, the couple tries to fight back, which only feeds Turner’s fury. With the resentment between the neighbors building daily, it’s only a matter of time before the situation escalates into a potentially deadly stand off.
Lakeview Terrace is rated PG-13 for intense thematic material, violence, sexuality, language and some drug references. The running time is 1 hour, 46 minutes.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
“Not everybody here is someone you’d choose to live next to.”– Abel Turner
“A lot of people have asked me what the whitest white guy in America is doing writing a movie that deals with interracial issues,” says Lakeview Terrace screenwriter David Loughery. “I wanted to challenge myself and kind of get outside my comfort zone, so I wrote a thriller that dealt with issues we don’t usually see in that context.”
Loughery thinks many people will see themselves in the characters he has created. “I think people will identify with the situation. Whatever feelings they have about race and color and relationships, they’ll bring to the theater and they will compare it to the action we’re seeing on screen.”
Director Neil LaBute exploded onto the movie scene with his 1997 feature film debut, In the Company of Men, a razor sharp exploration of sexual politics. In the succeeding years, LaBute has built a reputation as a controversial filmmaker and playwright who is unafraid to pull back the mantle of civility covering the ugliest side of human nature.
For Loughery, La Bute’s unique sensibilities made him the perfect director for Lakeview Terrace. “This is a guy who really knows how to push an audience’s buttons,” he points out. “The films he makes and the plays he writes are—in a good way—excruciating to sit through, because the situations he creates are so incredibly uncomfortable. I knew that Neil would bring something to this movie that another director couldn’t. He brought a real tension to it, so the behavior between these characters feels very, very real.”
When the script for Lakeview Terrace came his way, LaBute saw an an opportunity to create a complex story, set in Los Angeles, that could be interpreted on many different levels.“I’d been living in Los Angeles long enough to be aware of the idea of fires encroaching on homes and racial tension and that kind of road rage thing,” says LaBute.
Although the clash of opposites in the movie is racially charged, LaBute and Loughery are in agreement that the issue of race is just one facet of the escalating battle between neighbors in the story. “Lakeview Terrace isn’t so much about race as it is about personal space, boundaries, turf and the lengths people will go to protect their property,” says the writer. “I think everybody has had a situation here they’ve just moved in next to somebody who is ruining the quality of your life. It may be a barking dog or a kid with a garage band or something else, but we all know how little things between neighbors can escalate into gigantic feuds. This is the ultimate version of that story.”
“The conflict is about someone who has grown up with a certain set of values and doesn't believe in the kind of arrangement he sees across the fence,” says the director. Everyone has lived next door or under or over another person, and felt ‘Oh my God, what are they doing in there? Why are they making that noise at this time?’ When one of those neighbors is a policeman, it removes that first line of defense and makes for a very suspenseful sense of, ‘What do I do now?’
“That element is certainly not a racial element,” LaBute continues. “You could pick a good actor of any ethnicity for the part of Abel Turner. Tommy Lee Jones, Edward James Olmos, they could play the part of this man who is someone who will not give in to his neighbors.”
In the end, says Loughery, he wants the audience to be uncomfortable watching Lakeview Terrace. “I want them to kind of twitch in their seats, but at the same time I want to make sure that they’re entertained and have a great time.”
Samuel L. Jackson had read the script and agreed to play the role of Abel when the film was still in the early stages of development. “At the first reading, I though it was a compelling story,” says Jackson, whose substantial body of work includes such acclaimed films as Pulp Fiction and Jungle Fever. “It’s about an interesting kind of personality clash, with a twist in terms of who might be called the racist in the film. I just happen to be playing someone who everybody normally thinks of as a person from a dominant culture. It'll be universal in the way it plays out.”
Jackson knew LaBute’s background as a playwright would be instrumental in developing the script and the characters. “Neilhad a very interesting take,” says Jackson. “He also allowed us to come up with things that worked and fit into the story. He let us do the things we needed to do to bring a sense of reality and honesty.”
Actress Kerry Washington, who plays Lisa, says the strength of the script’s characters and story are the key to its dramatic success. “The film is really well written,” says the actress, probably best known for her portrayal of Ray Charles’ wife Della Bea Robinson in Ray. “For me, the best films are about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances and this film is mostly about three ordinary people who just find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Abel, Chris and Lisa are all pretty normal people who have all the pressures of the world thrown on them, from pregnancy to death. Life seems impossible to navigate. We find these people at their breaking points.”
Patrick Wilson, who plays Lisa’s husband Chris, praises LaBute’s ability and willingness to explore the complexities of the interactions between the story’s three principals. “He knows how to capture flawed relationships and take you where these characters are going,” says the actor.“He keeps driving the characters forward. He always knows what they want. That comes from being such a great playwright. There's also a real directness and rawness in his writing that I love. He gives men especially really rich characters.”
“Neil is amazing,” concurs Washington. “He's one of these people who always has a sense of humor. Whether it's 7 a.m. or midnight, he's there in good spirits. And he's a real team player. He respects everybody in their various positions and he wants everybody to do their best job. To me, that's the most important thing about a director, being able to hire the best people possible and then let them work their magic and you see him do that with every department. He really allows everybody to be a part of the process—that's what I love about filmmaking—it is really a collaborative effort.”
ABOUT THE CASTING
Hey, it might be nice living next to a cop.
We can borrow his handcuffs. -CHRIS
When Loughery heard that Samuel L. Jackson had been cast as Abel Turner, he was sure the filmmakers had made the right choice. “I thought, this is exactly the guy for this part,” he remembers. “He’s menacing and charming at the same time, so this character is both likable and threatening. It’s really a great performance.”
Jackson, he says, uses humor to diffuse the sense of danger Turner cultivates. “He has an odd sense of humor and I think that’s really a great addition to the character,” says the writer. “I guess you would say he’s the villain of the piece, but he doesn’t see himself that way. He’s protecting his property and he’s doing what he thinks is right for his family and for himself.”
With Jackson signed on to play Turner, director Neil LaBute’s challenge was to put together a supporting cast strong enough to keep up with the actor, famed for his dynamic onscreen presence.
Patrick Wilson, who plays Chris Mattson, is a well known stage actor with two Tony nominations to his credit, as well as leading roles in the film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, Children of Menand the award-winning HBO production of “Angels in America.” He didn’t hesitate when he was offered this role. “I loved the script when I first read it,” he says. “I’m interested in projects that are not only challenging to the actors, but that also touch the social conscience and maybe make people think a little.
“I would never set out to do a movie just to make a statement,” he adds. “But it's nice when you do a movie that reflects the world as it really is and when you play characters that are flawed. It's a character-driven story and also really enjoyable to watch.
“The mystery with a person like Chris, or any soft-spoken guy, is how does he really feel?” says Wilson. “He's not just this great guy who's always smiling. He's got his own issues and little secrets here and there.”
Wilson points out that Chris reacts to Abel in much the same way as he does to Lisa’s disapproving father. “Part of the challenge in their relationship is that both Lisa’s father and this neighbor are overbearing and antagonistic forces in this man's life. Is that because they are just these two men or is it because they're black men? Chris, I believe, doesn't care what race they are. It's just these two men telling him how to live his life.”
Although Jackson was familiar with Wilson’s acting work, the two had never actually crossed paths. “It was great to watch him find things and realize that he could relax and just do whatever he wanted with us and with me,” says Jackson. “And I guess because we connected in that way, we were able to let go in a very interesting process when we had our really angry stuff.”
Wilson is no newcomer to film, but working with a movie star of Jackson’s caliber initially proved intimidating for him. “Our rehearsal process was probably about two minutes of saying hello and talking about golf,” he remembers. “At the beginning, actors can be like two fighters trying to get used to each other in the ring, you know? The first rounds are just sort of dancing around and trying to get used to each other. He's been in so many movies and so many of his characters are so present in my consciousness.”
When the script for Lakeview Terrace reached Kerry Washington, she was instantly intrigued. “I really, really liked the idea of seeing this couple on screen,” she says. “I felt like we hadn’t really seen this kind of hip, progressive interracial couple before.”
Patrick Wilson was impressed by the fresh approach Washington brought to the role. “Kerry played this role in way I didn’t even see on the page,” he says. “She has such optimism to her character and such joy in the relationship between Lisa and Chris.”
Washington has equally high praise for her co-star. “He brought so much to this character and to the dynamic between husband and wife. He's the kind of actor that inspires me to be a better actor. Because when I watch him work, I know I'm going to look really bad if I don't do my homework.”
Washington wanted to play Lisa because, she says, “I think Lisa defies a lot of stereotypes about what a black woman is, and yet, to me, she represents a lot of black women. She’s modern, smart and open-minded, an adventurous black woman in a healthy relationship. She just feels like somebody I would know.”
Her role in Lakeview Terrace also brings together many of the elements Washington loves as an actor. “I love doing films with stunts and action and danger, but what draws me most to a project is the characters and what the real story is. This film is an opportunity for all of that. It has many interesting, multi-faceted and very real characters, within the context of something that's thrilling and exciting.”
Although Washington and Jackson have long traveled in the same social circles, this is their first time working together. “We see each other in the strangest places,” says Jackson. “We have run into each other in Cannes and at premieres and at parties, but I never had the opportunity to work with her. And wow! She has such great energy and abandon.”
For her part, Washington says, “Sam Jackson in the role of Abel Turner is brilliant casting. I just love him no matter what he does, but it's so great to see him in this role, because Abel is really smart, really charismatic, really likeable, and yet he's a man who's in an enormous amount of pain that he is taking out on Lisa and Chris.”
Lisa’s other important relationship in the film is with Abel’s daughter, Celia. “I love the scenes between Lisa and Celia,” says Washington. “I think a big part of the conflict is generational. This isn't just a story about racial misunderstanding. It's also a story about economic misunderstanding, social misunderstanding, age misunderstanding. Lisa is able to connect with Celia in a way that she's not necessarily able to connect with Abel just because they are closer in age.”
Making just her fifth film appearance, the young actress who plays Celia, Regine Nehy, holds her own in an emotional scene with Washington and Jackson in which Abel Turner discovers his daughter has secretly been spending time with Lisa. “My character gets really intrigued with Kerry’s because she has a crush on a guy at school who is of a different race,” says Nehy. “So she wants to get advice from Kerry on how to kind of keep it away from her dad.”