ABOUT THE CAST

A potent combination of charm and charisma, JUSTIN LONG (Bartleby) is rapidly rising as one of Hollywood’s top young actors. This year alone he undertook seven different, successful film projects. Long was recently seen playing Dean, a four-year waiter, opposite Ryan Reynolds and Anna Farris in the Lions Gate feature Waiting… Produced by Chris Moore, Waiting… is a slice-of-life comedy that follows a group of young waiters at a family-style restaurant. Last summer, he served as the love interest of Lindsay Lohan in Herbie Fully Loaded, Disney’s latest incarnation of its successful Love Bug series. Set to be released this year is the independent feature Dreamland, with Long in the starring role of this basketball-themed drama, opposite Agnes Bruckner. Justin will also be seen in Idiocracy, starring Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph and Dax Shepard. Written and directed by Mike Judge, the director of Office Space, and accompanied by such a humorous cast, Idiocracy is guaranteed to be a hit.

Long is currently co-starring in summer 2006’s blockbuster romantic comedy The Break-Up, sharing the screen with Jennifer Aniston as her flamboyant office co-worker, and reuniting with his Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story co-star Vince Vaughn. He has also completed shooting The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang, a comedy produced by Kevin Spacey and Jared Hess, who wrote and directed Napolean Dynamite.

Justin recently joined Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn in the Twentieth Century Fox comedy Dodgeball. As the high-school student who dreams of making the cheerleading squad, Justin painfully and comically helps in winning the big dodgeball tournament. Prior to Dodgeball, he also provided the voice for Dwayne in Bill Plympton’s animated feature Hair High. Hair High is a gothic high-school comedy with a Carrie-like story that also featured the voices of David Carradine, Dermot Mulroney and Martha Plimpton. Long sent shivers down the spines of audiences with his starring role in the 2001 box-office hit Jeepers Creepers. He also shared the screen with Britney Spears in her feature-film debut, Crossroads. His other film credits include the Daniel Waters satirical comedy Happy Campers; Galaxy Quest, with Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver; and the independent feature Raising Genius, with Wendie Malick and Stephen Root. On the small screen, Long was a favorite of viewers of NBC’s critically acclaimed Ed, for his portrayal of the lovable and quirky Stuckeyville High School student Warren Cheswick.

Onstage, he has appeared in several New York theater productions, including The Hot L Baltimore, starring Sam Rockwell, and The Shadowbox. Born in Fairfield, Connecticut, Long attended Vassar College, where he was a two-year member of the acclaimed sketch-comedy group Laughing Stock.

Long currently splits his time between New York City and Los Angeles. In the short time since he debuted his penchant for dramatic comedy at a gritty open-mike bar in New York City, JONAH HILL (Schrader) has already worked alongside many of the most sought-after actors, directors and producers in Hollywood. His first feature film was I Heart Huckabees with Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin for director David O. Russell. He then secured a small role in Judd Apatow’s summer comedy hit The 40-Yea- Old Virgin with Steve Carell and, after a meeting with Adam Sandler, a small part for him was written into the 20056 summer feature Click. Hill is currently in production on several other upcoming feature projects. In the first, Strange Wilderness for Happy Madison and Twentieth Century Fox, he co-stars with Steve Zahn, Justin Long, and Ashley Scott. 10 Items or Less is an independent feature starring Morgan Freeman for director Brad Silberling. In the independent film One Part Sugar, Hill stars as a confused teenager who turns to a life of buying and selling drugs when he finds out the father who raised him (Dylan Walsh) is not his biological father.

He is currently in production on Evan Almighty, the follow up to Bruce Almighty, which has Steve Carell reviving his famed “Evan Baxter” as a newly appointed congressman in Washington, D.C. Hill plays “Eugene,” one of Baxter’s aides, alongside Wanda Sykes and John Michael Higgins. He will soon begin production on Knocked Up, Judd Apatow’s next project for Universal Pictures, in which he stars with Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen.

Most recently, Hill was seen in the comedy Grandma’s Boy for Twentieth Century Fox and Happy Madison Productions. He also has a recurring role in the improvisational television series Campus Ladies, a comedy from executive producer Cheryl Hines and the co-executive producers of Reno 911! Hill currently resides in Los Angeles.

BLAKE LIVELY (Monica) is fresh from the success of her screen debut in Warner Bros.’ The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Lively was nominated for the 2005 Teen Choice Award for Breakthrough Performance for her work in that film. She was also honored at the December 2005 Hollywood Life Breakthrough Awards. Lively recently completed production on the independent feature Elvis and Anabelle, directed by Will Geiger. She stars opposite Max Minghella and Mary Steenburgen. Lively currently resides in Los Angeles.

Born on a bee farm in Boring, Oregon, to a family allergic to bees, MARIA THAYER (Rory) later studied performing arts at The Juilliard School. Her television credits include, among others, CBS’s Big Apple, BBC’s 12:21 and NBC’s Miss Match, Law and Order: Criminal Intent and the final episode of Will & Grace. Her film work includes Todd Solondz’s Storytelling and Hitch, with Will Smith. Thayer also performed in the independent film Scratch, for which she won Best Actress at the Columbia Film Festival. The actor originated the character of Tammi Littlenut on Strangers with Candy on Comedy Central and reprises her role in the summer 2006 film version of the television show.

ANTHONY HEALD (Dean Van Horne) was born Philip Anthony Mair Heald on August 25, 1944 in New Rochelle, New York. He graduated from Massapequa High School on Long Island, New York, in 1962, and from Michigan State University in 1970. Heald acted in plays throughout high school and college, and spent 15 years working in regional theater repertory companies before settling in New York. He quickly established himself, playing Tom in a 1980 off-Broadway production of The Glass Menagerie, and two years later made his Broadway debut alongside Holly Hunter in Beth Henley’s The Wake of Jamey Foster. Since his debut, Heald’s theater work has been both extensive and acclaimed. His performances in Anything Goes and Love! Valour! Compassion! earned him Tony Award nominations, and he was recognized with an Obie Award for his work in the productions of The Foreigner, Digby, Henry V and Quartermaine’s Terms. He was a member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival acting company for the 1997-1999 seasons, and remains active in the Ashland, Oregon, film and theater communities.

Heald first got his foot in the Hollywood door in 1983 when he appeared in the Meryl Streep film Silkwood, though his first prominent role was not until 1987’s Outrageous Fortune, where he appeared as Weldon, the government agent posing as an acting student. Of his more than 20 big-screen performances, Heald is probably best known to film audiences for his portrayal of Dr. Frederick Chilton in the 1991 Academy Award®-winning film The Silence of the Lambs. Some of Heald’s other film appearances include three film adaptations of John Grisham novels (The Pelican Brief, The Client, and A Time to Kill), as well as the films Kiss of Death, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Postcards from the Edge and, most recently, Proof of Life.

Heald’s television work has included appearances as a guest performer on many of television’s top-rated programs, including The Practice; Frasier; Law & Order; The XFiles; Miami Vice; Murder, She Wrote; and Cheers. Most recently he was seen on Fox Television’s Boston Public, as high-school vice principal Scott Guber, a role written specifically for him by series creator David E. Kelley.

In addition to his work onstage, onscreen and in film, Heald is one of the most prolific readers in the field of audiobooks. He has recorded more than 60 titles to date, including works as varied as the classic tale Where the Red Fern Grows, The New York Times bestsellers such as The Pelican Brief, Jurassic Park and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and a sizable number of titles in the Star Wars audiobook library. Heald currently resides in Ashland, Oregon, with his family.

ADAM HERSCHMAN (Glen) makes his feature film debut in Accepted. Herschman made such an impression on Team Shady Acres that they created a role completely catered to his unique presence and sense of humor.

Prior to the filming of Accepted, Herschman’s on-screen experience was limited to commercials. He loves babies, puppy dogs and kitty cats. Herschman resides in Los Angeles.

As an actor, choreographer and dancer, COLUMBUS SHORT (Hands) is quickly making a name for himself. Short’s previous film credits include roles in War of the Worlds and You Got Served. His television credits include roles on ER, Judging Amy and That’s So Raven.

Born in Kansas City, Short relocated to Los Angeles when he was five years old and immediately began working in youth theater, including a production of The Wizard of Oz. He attended the Orange County High School of the Arts before leaving to join the Broadway tour of Stomp. Upon completing his stint on the tour, Short returned to Los Angeles and began working as a choreographer and tour director—before returning to acting—for pop superstars such as Britney Spears, Ashanti and Brandy.

Short will next star in Save the Last Dance 2, for Paramount Pictures and MTV Films, in which he plays the male lead opposite Izabella Miko. He is currently in production as the lead of the Sony Screen Gems production Steppin’, for director Sylvain White. He will star in this film, co-starring Ne-Yo, Brian J. White and Meagan Good, as a young man who, after the death of his brother, is sent to live in Atlanta, where he is introduced to college and fraternity life. Short resides in Los Angeles.

LEWIS BLACK (Uncle Ben) is at home on the stage as an actor, playwright and stand-up comedian. He has performed his caustic, cranky, bile-spewing, dead-on social and political comedy throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States…for which he has received critical acclaim and occasional hate mail. As “America’s Foremost Commentator on Everything,” he is a weekly political commentator on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Black is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama. As a playwright, he has authored over 40 plays that have been produced in theaters across the country. As an actor, Black has appeared in such films as Jacob’s Ladder, The Hard Way, The Night We Never Met and Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters. In 2006, he will co-star with Wilmer Valderrama in this Christmas’ Unaccompanied Minors for Warner Bros. and costars with Robin Williams in this October’s Man of the Year, directed by Barry Levinson for Universal Pictures.

His television acting credits include The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, Homicide: Life of the Street , Mad About You and Law and Order. Black has been featured on CBS Sports’ NFL Today and in Final Four coverage. He is also a regular guest on Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

Black received the award for “Funniest Male Stand Up Comic” at the American Comedy Awards in 2001. In 2004, he was recognized by the Pollstar Awards for his blockbuster comedy tour Rules of Enragement. This year, he received a Grammy nomination for his comedy CD of the same name. His new CD, “Lewis Black:The Carnegie Hall Performance,” was released in April 2006.

A milestone for Black was starring in a one-hour stand-up special for HBO, Black on Broadway, which was also a successful DVD release. His second HBO special from the Warner Theatre, in Washington D.C., Red, White and Screwed, aired in June of this year. Black’s first book, Nothing’s Sacred (April 2005, Simon and Schuster), debuted on The New York Times bestseller list.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

STEVE PINK (Directed by) grew up in Chicago and went on to attend college at Berkeley, where he majored in peace and conflict studies. However, his true interest was in theater and film and he returned to Chicago, where he co-founded with John Cusack the theater company New Crime Productions. Under that aegis, he directed Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist and the American stage premiere of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He also produced a western entitled The Jack Bull for HBO. His screenwriting credits include Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity.

After graduating college—and during his work with New Crime Productions— Pink worked as a social worker for the homeless mentally ill, where he initiated a theater program for the adult mentally ill. Accepted marks Pink’s directorial debut.

ADAM COOPER & BILL COLLAGE (Written by) co-wrote the screenplay for the comedy New York Minute. After Accepted wrapped, they signed on to write Get Smart, which Peter Segal will direct, to star Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart.

MARK PEREZ (Written by / Story by / Executive Producer) started his career in 1999 as an inaugural member of Disney’s Writers in Residence Program. Within a year, he had two movies greenlit at the studio and has since become one of the most soughtafter comedy writers in Hollywood.

His spec script Accepted sold in one day, following a competitive bidding war. Universal Pictures and Tom Shadyac’s Shady Acres snatched up the screenplay, and it was put into production within 18 months.

Perez recently set up Cellmates, a high-concept comedy, at Regency Enterprises, where he will make his directorial debut. He also recently wrote Twist for the studio, with Raja Gosnell attached to direct. Throughout the course of his career, Perez has worked in features and television with comedic icons such as Steve Martin, Ben Stiller and Diane Keaton.

In addition to Accepted, Perez’s writing credits include The Country Bears and Herbie Fully Loaded.

TOM SHADYAC (Produced by) has established himself as one of Hollywood’s most successful directors. His most recent production, Evan Almighty, starring Steve Carell—which Shadyac is directing and producing—is the follow-up to his 2003 blockbuster comedy Bruce Almighty, with Jim Carrey.

Shadyac began his directing career in 1994 with the breakout hit Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, starring Jim Carrey. He then segued into the smash hit The Nutty Professor, starring Eddie Murphy. In 1997, he re-teamed with Carrey for the box-office sensation Liar Liar. Shadyac also directed Robin Williams in the Golden Globe-nominated Patch Adams and directed Kevin Costner in the sci-fi thriller Dragonfly.

Shadyac’s multifaceted career includes producing through his Shady Acres Entertainment banner, based at Universal Pictures. In addition to directing and producing feature films, Shadyac found success in the world of primetime television, producing the comedy series 8 Simple Rules…for Dating My Teenage Daughter for Touchstone/ABC. Shadyac attended UCLA film school, working towards his master’s degree. At age 23, he became the youngest staff joke writer for Bob Hope.

MICHAEL BOSTICK (Produced by) is currently producing Evan Almighty, starring Steve Carell, and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James. Bostick was a producer of Bruce Almighty, 2003’s summer blockbuster comedy starring Jim Carrey, which grossed more than $484 million worldwide. Bostick also served as executive producer on the feature film Dragonfly, directed by Shadyac. In television, Bostick was an executive producer on the ABC series 8 Simple Rule…for Dating My Teenage Daughter, starring John Ritter and winner of a People’s Choice Award for “Favorite Television New Comedy Series.”

Prior to joining Shady Acres, Bostick was an executive with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment for nearly 10 years, ultimately serving as president of Imagine Films. Helping manage the slate of feature film projects creatively through development and production, he most notably was responsible for bringing in and supervising two of the most successful films in the company’s history: Apollo 13 (as associate producer), nominated for nine Academy Awards®, including Best Picture; and Liar Liar (as executive producer). Both movies were awarded People’s Choice Awards. In 1999, Bostick won an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a Producer’s Guild Award for producing the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, with Tom Hanks as executive producer. The show also was honored with best miniseries awards from both the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Television Critics Association. Bostick started his film career at Walt Disney and Touchstone Pictures, working as a creative executive for nearly two years. In addition to developing a number of films at Disney, he was instrumental in the creation of the New Writers Fellowship Program aimed at discovering and developing minority talent.

Bostick received a masters degree from the Peter Stark Motion Picture Producing Program at the University of Southern California School of Cinema and Television. Prior to entering the film industry, Bostick worked in advertising and magazine publishing in San Antonio. He is a cum laude graduate of Trinity University, with majors in journalism and business administration.

LOUIS G. FRIEDMAN (Executive Producer) served as executive producer on MGM’s Into the Blue, Universal Pictures’ American Wedding, Blue Crush and How High, the studio’s first hi-definition feature film. Prior to this, he co-produced the original American Pie for Universal Pictures, Slackers for Screen Gems and The Third Wheel for Miramax Films. A cum laude graduate from the University of California at Davis, Friedman is a seasoned assistant director, production manager, production executive and line producer, having worked on Titanic, Starship Troopers and television series JAG; Fallen Angels; LA Law; Murder, She Wrote; and Hunter. As a production executive and production manager for George Lucas’ Lucasfilm Ltd., Friedman contributed to More American Graffiti, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. In addition to his work on Accepted, BRIAN LUTZ (Executive Producer) served as a producer on a 1997 rock’ n’ roll sex comedy about a young girl who will do anything to become a rock star, Pink as the Day She Was Born, and the television film Just Your Luck, starring Jon Favreau, Virginia Madsen and Vince Vaughn.

MATTHEW F. LEONETTI’s ASC (Director of Photography) recent credits include Fever Pitch, starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon; the hit horror film Dawn of the Dead; the science fiction drama The Butterfly Effect, starring Ashton Kutcher; and the 2003 summer hit 2 Fast 2 Furious. Additional credits include Rush Hour 2, starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker; the thriller Along Came a Spider, starring Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd; Star Trek: Insurrection; Species II; Strange Days; Star Trek: Generations; Dead Again; Dragnet; Jagged Edge; Weird Science; Fast Times at Ridgemont High; Poltergeist; and Breaking Away. These are among the 40 films he has photographed over the past three decades. A native of California, Leonetti studied finance at Loyola Marymount University but was always interested in motion pictures, having learned the business from his father, who was a gaffer. After college, he worked as an assistant cameraman at a commercial house and, following a stint in the Army, he began working in the camera department on movies. He worked his way to camera operator by 1969 and, three years later, he had become a cinematographer.

RUSTY SMITH (Production Designer) began his career in theater, designing the Broadway and off-Broadway productions of Blood Knot by Athol Fugard and The Good Times Are Killing Me, by Lynda Barry. One of Smith’s first feature film credits was the Roger Corman production One Night Stand, starring Ally Sheedy, directed by Talia Shire. Subsequent films include several for director Jay Roach, including Meet the Fockers, Meet the Parents, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Austin Powers in Goldmember and Mystery, Alaska. Other film credits include Elf, Camp Nowhere, Serving Sara and The Beautician and the Beast. He also designed the HBO film 61*. SCOTT HILL (Film Editor) is a talented editor whose most recent motion picture credits include the comedies Monster-in-Law, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! and Just Married.

Hill is currently working with Tom Shadyac on the comedy Evan Almighty and previously collaborated with the director as an editor on Bruce Almighty and as assistant editor on Liar Liar, Patch Adams and Dragonfly. As an assistant editor, his credits include The Ladies Man, Galaxy Quest, Brokedown Palace and A Walk in the Clouds. GENEVIEVE TYRRELL (Costume Designer) recently designed the wardrobe for the hit movie The Dukes of Hazzard which, among other things, required her to recreate Daisy Duke’s infamously skimpy denim cut-off shorts for Jessica Simpson. She also designed the costumes for the pilot of the Fox series Kitchen Confidential, based on Anthony Bourdain’s best-selling memoir. She has twice worked with director Doug Liman, on his cult hits Swingers and Go. Other films include Freaky Friday, with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan; the family comedy The Country Bears; the independent feature The United States of Leland, starring Kevin Spacey and Don Cheadle; Suicide Kings; Guinevere; Drive Me Crazy; and The Way of the Gun. Her television credits include Entourage and Cold Case.

As a songwriter, composer, musician and producer DAVID SCHOMMER (Music by) brought a diverse background to Accepted. Schommer performed with the critically acclaimed first U.S. cast of Stomp in 1993. He has remixed songs for everyone from Bob Marley to DMX, on top of songwriting and producing for such acts as Carole King, The Baha Men, Donna Summers and, for his latest project, Bole 2 Harlem. Prior to Accepted, his musical contributions have been featured in Garfield, Super Size Me, The Lizzie McGuire Movie and Thirteen.

*****

Cast (in credits order)

Justin Long .... Bartleby Gaines
Jonah Hill .... Sherman Schrader
Adam Herschman .... Glen
Blake Lively .... Monica
Columbus Short .... Hands
Maria Thayer .... Rory
Lewis Black .... Uncle Ben
Mark Derwin .... Jack Gaines
Ann Cusack .... Diane Gaines
Hannah Marks .... Lizzie Gaines
Robin Taylor .... Abernathy (A.D.D.) (as Robin Lord Taylor)
Diora Baird .... Kiki
Brendan Miller .... Wayne
Joe Hursley .... Maurice
Jeremy Howard .... Freaky Student
Anthony Heald .... Dean Van Horne
Travis Van Winkle .... Hoyt Ambrose
Kaitlin Doubleday .... Gwynn
Sam Horrigan .... Mike Welsh
Ross Patterson .... Mike McNaughton
Artie Baxter .... Mike Chambers
Kellan Lutz .... Dwayne
Chantelle Tibbs .... Confused Kid
Yorke Fryer .... S. H. Student in Hallway #1
Skyler Stone .... S. H. Student in Hallway #2
Jim Leung .... S. H. Student in Hallway #3
Ernest Shaun Reyes .... Random S. H. Student (as Shaun Reyes)
Lisa Gleave .... Kiki’s Best Friend #1
Alejandra Gutierrez .... Kiki’s Best Friend #2
Jim O'Heir .... Mr. Schrader
Darcy Shean .... Mrs. Schrader
Jay Harik .... Family Friend
Mathew Vigil .... Shoe Store Boy
Debbon Ayer .... Shoe Store Mother
Carla Jimenez .... Shoe Store Manager
Ned Schmidtke .... Board Chairman
Tim Bagley .... Vice Principal Matthews
Ray Santiago .... Boy Going to Princeton
Margaret Travolta .... Academic Counselor
Brian Powell .... Economics Teacher