COMMENT

Tim Roth

When Robert Miller (Richard Gere) is brought under the suspicion of the NYPD, it’s Detective Michael Bryer who relentlessly pursues him. Tim Roth is one of the director’s favorite actors of all time. “Tim performance as Mr. Orange in Reservoir Dogs made me want to make movies and I had to try not to talk too much about it,” he laughs. “Tim plays Robert’s antagonist so I needed someone with the power, intelligence and viciousness that would make you believe he’s a real threat to Robert. Tim brought those qualities in spades.”

Roth had just completed another season of Lie To Me and was ready for something different. “The idea of doing an American character again was appealing and it was very tidily and dryly written which I liked.”

“Roth brought a particular fury to the part and really made a lasting impression with his character, a cop pursuing justice who is also corrupt – because he’s also flawed,” explains Jarecki. “I think that’s what these characters share in common. Nobody’s perfect and nobody gets away clean.”

Detective Bryer knows Robert is guilty of his crimes but there’s nothing he can do about it — and his greatest fear is that Robert walks away free. “Bryer isn’t impressed by his wealth — he’s pissed off by it. He thinks guys like Miller are crooks so it’s just like dealing with a crook who’s got the wherewithal to get away with it if he can buy his way out of a situation,” the actor explains. “He’s seen these rich guys get away with things and he’s reached the point where he’s not gonna let that happen again.”

Jarecki always had a very specific idea in mind for Jimmy Grant, something in his head he couldn’t get past, to the point that the producers wondered if this person really existed. They looked at every young African American actor they could find, viewing around 60 tapes. In the end they met with ten people. “I kept thinking, its 3am in the morning, who can you call who you can trust?” says the director. “It’s a very complex part. They know each other and have shared a past experience that has deep resonance and now they are very much in each other’s lives again in a pressure cooker situation where Jimmy goes on the line for Robert. What kind of guy would do that in this terrible circumstance?”

Nate Parker

Gere’s agent introduced Jarecki to Nate Parker whose work he was already a fan of from The Secret Life Of Bees and The Great Debaters. “Andrew rang me and said ‘Nate’s doing this.’ I told him ‘I love Nate, but I have so many ideas in my head right now.’ But Andrew kept calling, each time in a low but forceful tone, simply repeating, ‘Yeah, yeah, I know you have your process, but Nate’s doing this’ insisting he was the only man for the part. As soon as I actually met Nate, I realized that somehow without knowing it, I had written the script for him all along. You really believe in Jimmy and hope for him when you watch this character because you have faith in him and that’s what Nate brings to the role. As Brit Marling once said to me, ‘Nate radiates integrity.’”

What excited Parker about the project was the screenplay and the way his character was written. “I read a lot of scripts with parts for African American men and only two out of 40 are actually representing us in a way that’s positive.” Parker also felt very connected to Jimmy. “I grew up in Norfolk, Virginia in the Projects Tower Park with cement floors and perforated steel stairs so I know that environment. I know the difficulties you face everyday just getting out of bed.”

To prepare for his role, Parker spent time with a kid from a program he works with in Brooklyn for underserved communities who reminded him of Jimmy. “We just talked and talked about Brooklyn and the streets — what’s going on here? What are the struggles of the lifestyle? He was as a really great help to get me there.”

Gere was impressed with Parker’s performance. “One of my earlier films was with Denzel Washington and I remember coming home one night and saying to my agent — hey, I just worked with this terrific actor — Denzel, who of course became one of our great leading men and I think Nate has that in him. He’s his own person obviously but he’s got that potential inside him. He’s wonderful.”

When Parker first met Gere he welcomed the young actor with a hug and said, “I’m so glad you are here,” instantly putting him at ease. “For someone who’s an up-and-coming actor, Richard’s a legend. He’s been one of the best for decades and to have him receive me in that way instantly made me open up in rehearsals and gave me the confidence to talk to him about the scenes and how I felt.”

The rehearsal process was one of the true luxuries of Arbitrage; that the director and actors were able to have nearly a full month’s rehearsal before filming began. “Richard was the most committed partner I could have hoped for in a lead actor,” notes Jarecki. “He said to me early on, ‘you know I like to be there from the time the first assistant’s desk is rolled in.’ True to his word he came to my apartment every day for a month and we met with every actor in the film.” The actors gathered around Jarecki’s laptop rewriting scenes and dialogue, typing out pages and acting out scenes over and over faster than the new pages could come out of the printer, something they could never have achieved on set.

“Nick really prepared himself more than any other director I have seen,” Bickford comments. “The rehearsal period cemented his relationship with the actors. It gave him a solid foundation for shooting and brought a whole other layer to this thriller.”

As part of their research, Jarecki, Marling and Gere toured the New York stock exchange and lunched with powerful corporate-raiders, meeting all sorts of traders and hedge fund operators. “What Richard kept asking them was about their wives, their personal lives, not just business. Their support and honesty about who they were became a great asset.” The cast and Jarecki also continued to work through the Vanity Fair articles, underlining passages, making notes and discussing them in terms of the screenplay and their character’s motives.

Jarecki insisted on a fun and open environment for rehearsals. “We weren’t trying to execute something I had already written. We were trying to discover things in the process, to explore themes and characters and make the dialogue better. That passion carried through to the set and once we got there we were free to take even more chances.”

By the time the filmmakers were in production, they still hadn’t cast the role of Mayfield, a name the audience keeps hearing throughout the movie. Says Jarecki, “It’s the Orson Welles part — you’re hearing about him the whole movie and then — boom, in he comes. So I knew we needed someone truly powerful and believable.” It was Bickford’s idea to cast Graydon Carter, the Editor-In-Chief of Vanity Fair and an old friend. “Graydon is the one person I know who has been consistently writing and commissioning the best writing about the financial crisis. To cast him as the head of a bank in the forefront of Robert’s crime seemed authentic — no stunt casting!”

Although he always knew the role would be a great cameo opportunity, Jarecki never could have predicted it would be Carter, “particularly because he’s responsible for the incredible financial writing that inspired our movie,” says Jarecki. “The filmmakers had been looking for an actor who could bring bravado, credibility and power to that part and although he isn’t a trained actor,” the director insists, “Graydon has the stature, grace, and intelligence to carry off that role.”