Laura Linney To Star with James McAvoy in New Indie Comedy Film

Director Jacob Estes, who made a splash with his 2004 thriller "Mean Creek," has recruited as stellar cast for his new black comedy "The Details." According to Variety, James McAvoy, Laura Linney, Elizabeth Banks and Anna Friel have all signed on for the independently financed feature.

Also scripted by Estes, the picture centers on a couple played by McAvoy and Banks who find an infestation of raccoons in their back yard. Things get out of hand as they disagree on how to deal with eliminating the animals from destroying their property.

Linney will play the lead role in Manhattan Theatre Club's upcoming New York premiere of TIME STANDS STILL by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Donald Margulies. This will mark Linney's third play by Margulies at Manhattan Theatre Club.

She made her off-Broadway debut at MTC during the 1991-1992 season in John Patrick Shanley's Beggars in the House of Plenty. That same season she created the role of "Grete" in MTC's premiere of Margulies' Sight Unseen. Twelve years later, Lynne Meadow asked her to play the lead role of "Patricia" in the MTC Broadway Revival of Sight Unseen, directed by Daniel Sullivan, for which she received a Tony nomination. Linney has a special relationship with Donald Margulies, MTC and Daniel Sullivan.

The limited engagement, to be directed by Tony winner Daniel Sullivan (Accent on Youth, Sight Unseen on Broadway, Brooklyn Boy, Dinner with Friends) will begin previews at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street) on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 in preparation for a Thursday, January 28, 2010 opening night. The production had previously been announced to play MTC's New York City Center - Stage I.

This new production of TIME STANDS STILL marks the fourth collaboration for Margulies and director Daniel Sullivan.

Manhattan Theatre Club's complete Broadway season at the Samuel J. Friedman will feature a new production of George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber's THE ROYAL FAMILY, the New York premiere of Donald Margulies' TIME STANDS STILL, and the Broadway premiere of Margulies' COLLECTED STORIES.  For more information on Manhattan Theatre Club, please visit www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.

You can subscribe to MTC by calling (212) 399-3030, Monday - Friday, noon - 8 PM with a major credit card. Subscriptions will also be available online at www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.

The year of 2008 was a year to remember for Laura Linney. She received an Academy Award nomination in the lead actress category for her role in the box office hit, "The Savages," opposite Phillip Seymour Hoffman and also starred in the critically acclaimed HBO miniseries "John Adams," for which she won an Emmy Award, a SAG Award and a Golden Globe. Additionally, Laura wrapped filming on the James Ivory film, "City of Your Final Destination," opposite Sir Anthony Hopkins and "Sympathy for Delicious," with Orlando Bloom and Mark Ruffalo. She can next be seen in the Richard Eyre directed, "The Other Man" with Liam Neeson and Antonio Banderas. Laura's additional credits include, Kenneth Lonergan's "You Can Count On Me" for which she was nominated for an Oscar, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Golden Globe Award and an Independent Spirit Award. She received the award for Best Actress from the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics for her work in that film. In 2006, she received Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award nominations for her work in "The Squid and the Whale." In 2004, she starred in "Kinsey," opposite Liam Neeson and directed by Bill Condon, for which she was nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In addition, she won the award for "Best Supporting Actress" by the National Board of Review for her work in "Kinsey." In 2003, Laura appeared in The Ensemble romantic comedy "Love Actually," written and directed by Richard Curtis. She was also seen that year in "Mystic River," directed by Clint Eastwood. Laura was nominated for "Best Supporting Actress in a Drama" by The British Academy of Film and Television Arts for "Mystic River. Her other credits include "Congo," "Absolute Power," directed by Clint Eastwood, "Primal Fear" opposite Richard Gere and directed by Gregory Hoblit, "The Truman Show" opposite Jim Carrey, "The House of Mirth," "Lorenzo's Oil," "Dave," "Searching for Bobby Fischer," "A Simple Twist of Fate," "The Mothman Prophecies," "The Life of David Gale," "PS," "The Exorcism of Emily Rose," "Breach," "Man of the Year," "Driving Lessons," "Jindabyne," "The Hottest State" and "The Nanny Diaries." Laura returned to television in 2004 on the NBC comedy "Frasier." She appeared in four episodes as Dr. Frasier Crane's love interest, Charlotte. For this role, Laura won a 2004 Emmy Award for "Best Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series." She previously won an Emmy for "Outstanding Lead Actress" for Showtime's "Wild Iris" opposite Gena Rowlands. Additional television appearances include the lead role of Mary Ann Singleton in PBS's "Tales of the City" based on the novels by Armistead Maupin, a role which she reprised in "More Tales of the City" for Showtime. Laura was also seen opposite JoAnne Woodward in the HallMark Hall of Fame presentation of "Blind Spot" and opposite Steven Weber in "Love Letters" directed by Stanley Donen. Linney is a graduate of Juilliard. Last year, Laura starred in the Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of Christopher Hampton's "Les Liaisons Dangereuse" with Ben Daniels. She was nominated for a Tony for her performance in Richard Eyre's "The Crucible," opposite Liam Neeson. In 2004, Laura starred in Donald Margulies' Broadway staging of "Sight Unseen," the same play she did 12 years ago. For her role as Patricia she received a Tony nomination as well as nominations from the Drama League, the Drama Desk Club and the Outer Critic Circle for "Outstanding Actress" in a play. Her additional theatre credits include roles in the Broadway presentations of "Six Degrees of Separation;" "The Seagull;" "Hedda Gabler," for which she won a 1994 Calloway Award; Phillip Barry's "Holiday," a comedy of manners, opposite Tony Goldwyn; "Honour," "Sight Unseen," for which she earned a Theatre World Award and a Drama Desk nomination; and John Guare's "Landscape of the Body" at the Yale Repertory Theatre.

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