Me and Orson Welles Character Card: Joseph Cotten (James Tupper)

Joseph Cotten, although cast by Welles in a minor role in "Julius Caesar", became a star of the big screen, despite his comment that: "I didn't care about the movies, really. I was tall. I could talk. It was easy to do." Born in Virginia, he began his theatre career as a critic, a profession echoed by his later role in "Citizen Kane". Making his Broadway debut in 1930, he met Welles and joined the Mercury company. Their successful collaborations also included "The Magnificent Ambersons", "Journey Into Fear" (which he co-wrote with producer Welles) and, most memorably Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt" and Carol Reed's "The Third Man". An enduring star, Cotten died at the age of 88 in California.

Canadian actor James Tupper was the last member of the principal cast to join the production, as Orson's friend and regular collaborator Joseph Cotten. He auditioned on a Sunday, was hired on the Tuesday and on the Wednesday he found himself on a plane to Europe. Familiar to television audiences from his role in the popular "Men In Trees", he has extensive stage experience and found the milieu of the story fascinating. "The script was wonderful when I first read it, because I think it had so much of the spirit of doing theatre. It's joyful, you know, people come together and take a risk, pretending to be somebody else in a play, speaking other people's words and you end up forming a kind of family when you do it.

"When I read the script, to me that was a lot of what it was about. It was about a moment that took place a long time ago and it was also about the joy of creating theatre, which is weird in a film. Rick Linklater did a really wise thing, because he put us all in one rehearsal room for a period of time and we did the scenes over and over and over again. And I think, in a weird way, we formed our own company."

James Tupper was born and raised just north of New England in Nova Scotia, Canada, he describes his hometown as a place with old-fashioned charm. Tupper moved to New York where he was immediately spotted by talent agents and managers. While there, he produced and starred in the off-Broadway play "After the Rain," which won the Moliere Prize in Paris the same year. Tupper has been adding to his body of work ever since. Tupper's impressive acting resume includes roles in nationally recognized shows that include "How I Met Your Mother," "CSI: New York," "Gilmore Girls," "Time of Your Life," and "Dr. Vegas." Tupper's career-launching role in "Joe Dirt" led the ruggedly handsome actor to a star role in the critically-acclaimed independent film, "Peroxide Passion," for which he won the Toronto Planet Indie Film Festival's Best Actor Award. Tupper also starred in the Hallmark Channel's original movie "Love's Abiding Joy," written and directed by Michael Landon, Jr. of "Little House on the Prairie" fame. Other star roles for Tupper have included the independent films "For Heaven's Sake," playing the son-in-law of Florence Henderson, and the biopic "Who Flew?", playing legendary novelist Ken Kesey during his time spent writing the award-winning "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (the directorial debut of Ryan Hurst). Tupper enjoyed a starring role alongside Hollywood elite Sissy Spacek and Alfred Woodard in "Pictures Of Hollis Woods." In addition to star roles, Tupper co-conceived and wrote Loudmouth Soup," a fully-improvised film about actors trying to make it in Hollywood, which was released in 2005. On top of taking on television and film roles, Tupper continues to pursue his passion for the stage. He has performed in "King Lear" opposite James Gammon and "The Things We Do For Love" at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles. Currently, James can be seen in the new NBC medical drama, "Mercy," starring opposite "Gossip Girl's" Michelle Trachtenberg.

Based in real theatrical history, Me and Orson Welles is a romantic coming-of-age story about a teenage actor who lucks into a role in Julius Caesar as it's being re-imagined by a brilliant, impetuous young director named Orson Welles at his newly-founded Mercury Theater in NYC, 1937. The rollercoaster week leading up to opening night has the charismatic-but-sometimes-cruel Welles (impressive newcomer ChristIan McKay) staking his career on this risky production while Richard (Zac Efron) mixes with everyone from starlets to stagehands in behind-the-scenes adventures bound to change him. Claire Danes co-stars as Sonja Jones, the unapologetically ambitious assistant to Welles whom Richard tries to woo. Ben Chaplin plays Mercury Theater regular George Coulouris. Zoe Kazan, Eddie Marsan, Kelly Reilly and James Tupper are among the talented ensemble cast.

The fast-moving screenplay by Holly Gent Palmo and Vince Palmo is based on Robert Kaplow's meticulously researched novel of the same name. Oscar-nominated director Richard Linklater is at the helm of the CinemaNX and Detour Film production, opening nationally in select cities November 25, 2009.

Photos by Liam Daniel, Copyright CinemaNX Films One Ltd.