Becky (Rachel McAdams) is a hard-working morning TV show producer, or at least she was until she got fired. Desperate to get a job, she finally gets an interview with Jerry (Jeff Goldblum) – who is desperate to hire a producer for the struggling show “Daybreak”. Becky accepts the job and it proves to be more difficult than even she might be able to handle. She has to fire the sexist co-host, then try to convince egotistical news reporter, Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford), to take the job, and then try and get him to actually do the job, properly. And she has to do this while falling for handsome Adam (Patrick Wilson), and trying to save the show from plummeting ratings. Will Becky be able to hold on to her dream job and her sanity?
Information
| Rachel as: | Becky Fuller |
| Other cast: | Harrison Ford (Mike Pomeroy), Diane Keaton (Colleen Peck), Jeff Goldblum (Jerry Barnes), Patrick Wilson (Adam Bennett), Ty Burrell (Paul McVee), John Pankow (Lenny Bergman), J. Elaine Marcos (Lisa Bartlett), Matt Malloy (Ernie Appleby) |
| Alternative Title: | None |
| Directed by: | Roger Michell |
| Written by: | Aline Brosh McKenna |
| Production Status: | Available on DVD/Blu-Ray/Digital HD |
| World Premiere: | November 7, 2010 in New York, United States |
| Theatrical Release: | November 10, 2010 (US) | January 21, 2011 (UK) |
| Genre: | Comedy/Drama/Romance |
| Rated: | Rated PG-13 for some sexual content including dialogue, language and brief drug references |
| Distributor: | Paramount Pictures |
| Run time: | 107 min |
| Production budget: | $40.000.000 (Estimated) |
| Box office: | $31,011,732 (US) | $60,040,976 (Worldwide) |
| Producers: | J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, Sherryl Clark, Udi Nedivi, Guy Riedel, Lindsey Weber |
| Original Music by: | David Arnold |
| Cinematography by: | Alwin H. Kuchler |
Related Media
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Production Notes
“We needed someone you really want to root for,” says J.J. Abrams. “She had to be bubbly and fun, but the treacherous part was that she also had to have an equal amount of depth and sophistication. Rachel McAdams brought all of that. She nails the classical comedy stuff, but her character is also full of heart, honesty and emotion.”
Adds Sherryl Clark: “Rachel is a breath of fresh air. She jumped in with both feet and I think she makes Becky very relatable. Everyone feels like an underdog at some point in their life, and Rachel just captures that feeling.”
McAdams right away felt a kinship with Becky, in both her foibles and her unflagging spirit.
“I think a lot of young people have had the experience where you come in fresh to a brand new job and suddenly, you find yourself up against a bunch of seasoned professionals who want to do things their way,” she says. “What I love is that Becky takes that situation head-on, approaches it with the same amount of vigor she brings to everything she does, and turns it upside down.”
McAdams worked closely with screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna to get to know her doggedly determined character backwards and forwards.
“Aline is such a great writer and she knows her characters so well that she was great to have involved in the process,” says the actress. “It was really exciting for me to be able to talk to her throughout the production, to get ideas from her and bounce new thoughts off her, and we were constantly adding little bits here and there and enhancing the character.”
With Becky Fuller-like intensity, McAdams also dove into her own personal research, visiting nearly all the morning shows in New York to analyze how they really work.
Production Process
Mid-December 2008 it was reported that Rachel was in talks to join Harrison Ford in “Morning Glory.” Early April 2009 it was reported that Diane Keaton and Jeff Goldblum joined the cast and that production was expected to begin in May. The movie was filmed in New York on location. It began June 2009 and ended august of the same year. A part of the film was filmed in the MediaMix Studios in New Jersey. The movie was originally scheduled to be released June 2010 but got pushed back closer to the year-end holidays in response to a test screening.
Trivia & Facts
The clouds disappeared just in time to film the scene
Quotes from Rachel
“I don’t think I’m quite as high-strung, I hope I’m not as [high-strung] as Becky is. She’s a go-getter.”
–On her character Becky Fuller (MTV)
“I love getting in there and being really physical. When it started to look like she was going to be fairly physical, [director] Roger [Mitchell] asked me to run around New York in high heels, and I love that stuff,” she said. “So, yeah, that’s I guess what I have that [high energy] for, but I don’t manifest it the same way Becky did.”
–On her character Becky Fuller (MTV)
“I instantly liked her when I read the script. Becky was just this very scattered, goofy, kind of nutty character who is in charge of everything. She’s trying to keep this whole big fiasco together and she wants to stop it from completely coming apart at the seams, yet she is completely coming apart at the seams. I liked that juxtaposition.”
–On her character Becky Fuller (Cinema)
“I’m really excited about Morning Glory and I really hope it reaches an audience and people enjoy it, because so many people put so much into it. But that’s all I’m thinking about, I had a really great time doing it and I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. That’s kind of where my head’s at with everything these days — you never know what’s really going to happen.”
–On Morning Glory (Canoe)
Quotes from Cast & Crew
“There’s a good chance that this movie will be a breakthrough for her. She will emerge as a bonafide movie star. Luckily, she has created the foundation to be very graceful thus even occurs.”
–Diane Keaton, co-star (Instyle)
“I’ve worked with Rachel before and I feel that she has a broad range. This is an unusual role for her. I was surprised that she was cast. You don’t think of her as carrying a kind of lighter tone, because she’s a great dramatic actress. And there’s so much going on in her face besides the beauty of it. You want to follow her on a journey because she’s so intelligent. And looking at the challenge of this for her, I think it’s going to be great for her career. She’s funny and light and awkward. I’ve never seen her play awkward before. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen her like this. She’s strong. She’s a strong actress. That’s why she could handle the light aspect very well. And usually she’s not called upon to that. And she does it with grace, and that’s the mark of a brilliant actress.”
–Diane Keaton, co-star (Oregon Live)
“Energetic, organized, intelligent, medium hight. I have my own ideal daughter so I’ll at that. I would be proud of her if she was my daughter.”
–Harrison Ford, co-star (AuFemenin)
“She’s more than gorgeous. She’s really good at what she does and she’s a pleasure to work with. Rachel has a rare capacity to keep all the comedy balls in the air and maintain an emotional vulnerability at the same time.”
–Harrison Ford, co-star (The Hollywood News)
“She’s fantastic. I have just spent a couple of days listening to her talk about how nervous and doubting she was about doing comedy. She’s so funny, and her skill set for doing physical comedy is remarkable, like Mary Tyler Moore.”
–Patrick Wilson, co-star (Fresnobee)
“She sort of embodies what Stanislavski said about ‘love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art. She’s not egotistical. While still being passionate and committed, she doesn’t seem to be overly identified with her roles or as an actress.”
–Jeff Goldblum, co-star (New York Times)
“She just radiates life. She has two sets of muscles. One is a kind of railway map of the script, which must be adhered to, and the other is emotional, meaning she can see what floats through the window on the day of shooting and go with that.”
–Roger Michell, director (New York Times)
“She did that [brining energy on set] every day on the set. It was such a delight to see every day what new little treat she’d bring into the room.”
–Roger Michell, director (DVD Commentary)
“She’s terribly physically funny as well. When I first talked to her about doing the part, she admitted to being frightened of it, partly because she considered herself to be not comedic actress. Whereas, in fact, I think she proves herself to be anything but not a comedic actress. People talk about actors having, like, funny legs or funny feet. And Rachel’s definitely got funny legs. She’s got a great sense of physical comedy, which she puts to good use in subtle ways all the way through the film.”
–Roger Michell, director (DVD Commentary)
“I think she’s clinically hesitant. She finds it very, very hard to choose her projects. But when she makes a choice, then she’s 120 percent committed to this film.”
–Roger Michell, director (New York Times)
“One of the things I love about …. The one of the ways in which Rachel became indistinguishable to me from Becky Fuller, the character, was this. She has tremendous energy and verve and she’s always running and leaping”
–Aline Brosh McKenna, writer (DVD Commentary)
“She’s just got this incredible verve. She brings a ton of energy to every scene in this movie.”
–Aline Brosh McKenna, writer (DVD Commentary)
Critical Reception
“If you spend enough time with Rachel McAdams, it’s easy to get lost in the pleasure of her company, or at least become enjoyably distracted. Effortlessly likable, she has a way of keeping you tethered to her character even when your attention begins to wander.”
–Manohla Dargis (New York Times)
“McAdams fortunately lands on the right side of the equation here… While the character could have easily edged into cartoonish territory, McAdams keeps her wits about her, exhibiting a flustery physicality that is delightful to watch.”
–Andrew Barker (Variety)
“Michell at least allows his actors to relax and have fun with the material. McAdams is his secret weapon: If she can wheedle some charm out of a guy whose face looks as if it’s been carved from a potato, she can do pretty much anything.”
–Stephanie Zacharek (MovieLine)
“Morning Glory is a funny entertainment to begin with, and then Rachel McAdams transforms it … She plays as lovable a lead as anyone since Amy Adams in Junebug … Morning Glory could have been routine. It’s Rachel McAdams’ life force that illuminates it. She positions herself barely on the right side of manic. She’s always on, always optimistic, always hoping.”
–Roger Ebert (SunTime)
Awards & Nominations
☆ 2011 AARP Movies for Grownups Awards for Best Supporting Actress (Diane Keaton)
Promotional Tour
| November 7th | 2010 New York Press Junket | Images Videos |
| November 7th | 2010 New York Premiere | Arrivals | After Party Videos |
| November 8th | 2010 The Today Show | Images Videos |
| November 8th | 2010 The Early Show | Images Videos |
| November 8th | 2010 Live with Regis & Kelly | Outside Videos |
| January 9th | 2011 Berlin Premiere | Arrivals | Q&A Videos |
| January 10th | 2011 SAT.1 Frühstücksfernsehen | Images Videos |
| January 11th | 2011 London Press Conference | Images Videos |
| January 11th | 2011 London Premiere | Arrivals | Videos |
| January 12th | 2011 DayBreak | Images | Videos |
| January 13th | 2011 Madrid Photocall | Images | Videos |
| January 13th | 2011 Madrid Press Conference | Images | Videos |
| January 14th | 2011 Paris Photocall | Images |
| January 14th | 2011 Paris Press Conference | Images |
