About the Cast

Two-time Academy Award® nominee Edward Norton heads the stellar cast of The Illusionist in the lead role of Eisenheim. Norton rose to prominence starring opposite Richard Gere in Primal Fear, for which he gained his first Academy Award® nomination, and he has gone on to star in numerous Hollywood blockbusters. Norton has headlined in the films Primal Fear; Everyone Says I Love You; The People vs. Larry Flynt; American History X; Rounders; Fight Club; Keeping the Faith; The Score; Death to Smoochy; Frida; Red Dragon and The 25th Hour. Norton was nominated for his second Academy Award® for his performance in American History X. He won a Golden Globe for that performance, and has won numerous other awards for other performances. The film Frida, for which he wrote an uncredited screenplay, was nominated for six Academy Awards® and won two. He also won the Obie Award for his performance off-Broadway in a revival of Burn This by Lanford Wilson.

Norton produced and directed the film Keeping the Faith and is currently producing five other films, including adaptations of Mark Helprin’s A Soldier of the Great War; Somerset Maugham’s The Painted Veil; and Jonathan Lethem’s Motherless Brooklyn, for which he is currently writing the screenplay. Down in the Valley, which he produced, edited and performs in, was recently released.

Norton also recently created Class 5 Films in partnership with his brother Jim Norton, writer Stuart Blumberg and producer Bill Migliore. Class 5’s feature division will produce films through a first-look deal with Universal Pictures and the documentary division will produce nature and science films. Class 5’s first documentary production is a film for the Outdoor Life Network, The Great Rivers Expedition, about a historic white-water adventure that took place in China last winter. Class 5 is also collaborating with the Sea Studios Foundation on their multimillion- dollar series about earth system sciences for National Geographic, Strange Days on the Planet Earth, which Norton hosts and narrates.

Norton is also a committed social and environmental activist.

With a diverse roster of finely etched, award-winning and critically acclaimed performances, Paul Giamatti has established himself as one of the most versatile actors of his generation. Giamatti was last seen in Ron Howard's Cinderella Man, opposite Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger. His performance earned him a SAG Award and Broadcast Film Critics' Award for Best Supporting Actor as well as Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations in the same category.

This summer Giamatti also appears in M. Night Shyamalan's highly anticipated Lady in the Water alongside co-star Bryce Dallas Howard. He also lent his voice talents to the upcoming animated family adventure feature Ant Bully, in theatres August 4, 2006. Giamatti is currently in production on the Weinstein Company's The Nanny Diaries, playing the elusive "Mr. X" opposite Laura Linney and Scarlett Johansson. Later this year, Giamatti will begin production on the David Dobkin holiday film "Joe Claus" with Vince Vaughn and Kevin Spacey for Warner Bros. He recently, wrapped production on the New Line action film Shoot 'Em Up. Next year, he will headline the voice cast of Rob Zombie Presents the Haunted World of El Superbeasto.

Giamatti starred in Alexander Payne's critically-lauded Sideways, for which he earned several accolades for his performance including Best Actor from the Independent Spirit Awards, New York Film Critics Circle and a Golden Globe nomination. In 2004, Giamatti garnered outstanding reviews and commendations (Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actor, National Board of Review Breakthrough performance of the Year) for his portrayal of Harvey Pekar in Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini's American Splendor.

Giamatti first captured the eyes of America in Betty Thomas' hit comedy Private Parts. His extensive list of film credits also includes Milos Forman's Man on the Moon; Julian Goldberger's The Hawk is Dying, Tim Robbins' The Cradle Will Rock; F. Gary Gray's The Negotiator; Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan; Peter Weir's The Truman Show; Mike Newell's Donnie Brasco; Todd Solondz' Storytelling; Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes; Duets, opposite Gwyneth Paltrow, the animated film Robots and Big Momma's House, co-starring Martin Lawrence. Giamatti also appeared in James Foley's Confidence; and John Woo's Paycheck.

As an accomplished stage actor, Giamatti received a Drama Desk nomination for Best Supporting Actor as "Jimmy Tomorrow" in Kevin Spacey's Broadway revival of The Iceman Cometh. His other Broadway credits include The Three Sisters directed by Scott Elliot; Racing Demon directed by Richard Eyre; and Arcadia directed by Trevor Nunn. He was also seen Off- Broadway in the ensemble cast of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui with Al Pacino.

For television, Giamatti appeared in The Pentagon Papers with James Spader, HBO's Winchell opposite Stanley Tucci and Jane Anderson's If These Walls Could Talk II.

Jessica Biel, fast becoming one of Hollywood’s most sought after actresses following starring roles in Blade: Trinity, Stealth and most recently Elizabethtown, stars opposite Norton as Sophie, the beautiful noblewoman with whom Eisenheim falls in love.

With a wide range of talent, Biel has become a notable emerging actress to watch. Her television series-acting debut on the WB’s number one rated show, 7th Heaven, helped her emerge as a breakout star.

Biel was recently seen in Cameron Crowe’s Elizabethtown, starring opposite Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst and Susan Sarandon. Biel portrays Ellen, the girlfriend of Drew Baylor (Bloom), in the film that takes place during an outrageous memorial for a Southern patriarch, where an unexpected romance blooms. Jessica was also seen in the film London, co-starring Jason Statham, Chris Evans and Kelli Garner. London is a drama that follows the warped relationship of two young adults.

Jessica Biel starred in Sony Pictures’ Stealth alongside Josh Lucas and Jamie Foxx. This drama is about three pilots in a top-secret military program struggle to bring an artificial intelligence program under control before it initiates the next world war. Jessica was also seen in New Line Cinema’s Blade: Trinity, in which she co-stars with Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson and Ryan Reynolds. Biel’s other film credits include New Line Cinema’s Blockbuster hit remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre; New Line Cinema’s Cellular co-starring Kim Basinger and Chris Evans; Lions Gate Films’ The Rules of Attraction for director Roger Avary; the Warner Bros.’ romantic comedy Summer Catch, co-starring Freddie Prinze Jr.; and the Disney holiday film, I’ll Be Home For Christmas with Jonathan Taylor Thomas. In an impressive display of versatility, Jessica garnered rave notices for her portrayal as the rebellious daughter in Victor Nunez’s critically acclaimed film Ulee’s Gold, with Peter Fonda. The film was selected as the Centerpiece Premiere for the ’97 Sundance Film Festival and presented at Cannes. She will soon be seen in several upcoming projects, including Irwin Winkler’s Home of the Brave and Lee Tamahori’s Next.

Rufus Sewell will this year be seen in Wes Craven’s segment of Paris Je T’aime, Michael Apted’s Amazing Grace and Nancy Meyer’s The Holiday. He recently starred in the critically acclaimed BBC production of The Taming of The Shrew for which he was nominated as Best Actor for a Bafta Television Award. He was previously seen in Charles II: The Last King.

Other recent films include Martin Campbell’s The Legend Of Zorro and Kevin Reynold’s Tristan & Isolde, Brian Helgeland’s A Knight’s Tale, Alex Proyas' futuristic thriller Dark City, Dangerous Beauty with Catherine McCormack, Illuminata directed by and co-starring John Turturro, Susan Sarandon and Christopher Walken, and Paramount Pictures' Bless The Child costarring Kim Basinger and Jimmy Smits.

Sewell first gained attention with his television debut in 1994 as 'Will Ladislaw' in the BBC adaptation of Middlemarch. He gained further acclaim in Christopher Hampton's feature film Carrington, opposite Emma Thompson and Jonathan Pryce, as well as John Schlesinger's Cold Comfort Farm.

On stage, Sewell made his West End theatrical debut in 1993 as the Czechoslovakian hustler in Making It Better, which won him the London Critics Circles' Best Newcomer Award. Other notable roles include the original production of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia at the National Theatre, Pride And Prejudice at the Royal Exchange in Manchester, as well as As You Like It, The Seagull, and The Government Inspector, all at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. Sewell made his Broadway debut in 1995, opening to rave reviews in the revival of Brian Friel's Translations, opposite Brian Dennehy. Other theatre credits include Rat In the Skull, a Royal Court Production directed by Stephen Daldry. Sewell also starred in the title role of Macbeth on London's West End, and John Osborne's Luther at the Royal National Theatre. This year Sewell will be seen onstage at The Royal Court Theatre and London’s West End in Tom Stoppard’s Rock n’ Roll.

About the Filmmakers

Neil Burger (Writer / Director) is the writer and director of The Illusionist, starring Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti. His screenplay is based on “Eisenheim the Illusionist” by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Steven Millhauser.

Burger also wrote and directed Interview with the Assassin (2002), winner of Best Feature Film at both the Woodstock Film Festival and the Avignon Film Festival and nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards, including Best First Film and Best First Screenplay. Before that, he directed commercials for the likes of Mastercard, IB, and ESPN. Burger was also chosen to create a series of television spots for Amnesty International and their campaign for 'prisoners of conscience.’ He began his film career by creating and directing the award-winning “Books: Feed Your Head” campaign for MTV, promoting language and literature.

Academy Award-nominated producer Michael London (Sideways, The Family Stone, The Illusionist) is the principal and founder of the newly formed independent financing and production company, Groundswell Productions, which was established in February 2006 with a mission to create a thriving home for filmmakers with original voices that reach broad audiences. Backed by two new equity-based film funds, Groundswell has an initial capitalization of $55 million and will have the flexibility to seek foreign pre-sales for projects as well as to make pure equity investments in filmmaker-driven projects. The company’s slate will mix films from established directors and emerging talent alongside comedies and genre films with an original bent. The independent financing and production company plans to make five films annually in the under-$20 million range.

London aims to launch Groundswell’s production slate with The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, writer/director Rawson Thurber’s (Dodgeball) adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Chabon’s debut novel, which will star Peter Sarsgaard and Sienna Miller; and Trust, Robert Edward’s original espionage thriller set in Los Angeles at the height of the Cold War.

Prior to founding Groundswell, London produced the Alexander Payne film Sideways, which won a Golden Globe for Best Picture (comedy or musical), an Independent Spirit Award, and a Best Picture nominee at the 2005 Academy Awards, where it won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. London also produced The Family Stone, written and directed by Thomas Bezucha, and starring Diane Keaton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dermot Mulroney, Luke Wilson, Claire Danes, Rachel McAdams and Craig T. Nelson.

In 2003 London produced House of Sand and Fog starring Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley for Dreamworks and Thirteen starring Holly Hunter and Evan Rachel Wood. Both received Academy Award nominations and 2004 Independent Spirit awards. Thirteen also won Best Director honors at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival where Fox Searchlight acquired worldwide distribution rights to the independently-financed production.

The writing/producing/directing partnership of Brian Koppelman (Producer) and David Levien (Producer) has been quite a productive one. Since 1997, the duo has written the films Rounders, Runaway Jury, Walking Tall and Knockaround Guys, which they also directed. Last year, the duo created the critically acclaimed television series Tilt for ESPN, writing and directing the pilot episode.

The Illusionist marks a continuation of their producing career. Koppelman and Levien also produced Neil Burger’s first feature film, Interview with the Assassin. Separately, each has distinguished himself—Levien as a novelist, whose Wormwood and Swagbelly, A Novel for Today’s Gentleman, garnered strong critical response; and Koppelman in his previous career as an A&R man for various record labels and as an essayist.

Bob Yari (Producer) is President and founder of the Yari Film Group (YFG), dedicated to film financing and production. With over 18 films produced over the last 2 years and over 22 projects currently in development, YFG has emerged as one of the most successful independent film companies in Hollywood, with a creative output that varies in both genre and budget, but always attains mass commercial appeal.

The Yari Film Group’s most recent films include the Oscar®-winning Best Picture Crash, the acclaimed ensemble drama directed by Paul Haggis and released by Lions Gate Films; House of D, David Duchovny’s recent directorial debut, also released by Lions Gate; last year’s A Love Song for Bobby Long, starring John Travolta and Scarlett Johannson; and the Miramax action thriller Hostage, starring Bruce Willis. Other films include The Matador, starring Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear, which was acquired by Miramax upon premiering at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival; Sony Pictures Classics’ Thumbsucker, starring Lou Pucci, Tilda Swinton, Vince Vaughn and Keanu Reeves; and Focus Features’ Winter Passing, starring Ed Harris, Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel.

Additional BYP productions include: Prime, starring Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman; Find Me Guilty, a dramatic comedy starring Vin Diesel and directed by Sidney Lumet; Jump Shot, starring Danny DeVito and Kim Basinger, and directed by Mark Rydell; and First Snow, starring Guy Pearce.

Yari began his career with Edgar J. Scherick Associates in Hollywood after receiving a degree in cinematography, and has served in a variety of positions including as director of Mind Games; as executive producer of Agent Cody Banks, starring Frankie Muniz and Hilary Duff; and of Laws of Attraction, starring Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore.

Yari is also a well-versed real estate executive, with projects spanning syndication, construction, development and redevelopment of commercial and residential assets throughout the United States.

Steven Millhauser (Based on the Story by), novelist and short story writer, won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for his most well-known novel, Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer (1996), which chronicles the life of an entrepreneur whose career peaks when he builds a fabulous hotel in turn-of-the-century Manhattan. Time magazine described Martin Dressler as “an urban fable about civilization and its discontents,” and praised Millhauser for “lowering the barrier between realism and myth.”

Millhauser impressed both critics and readers with his fresh approach to childhood and adolescence in his first two novels, Edwin Mullhouse: The Life and Death of an American Writer, 1943-1954, by Jeffrey Cartwright (1972), which won the Prix Médicis Étranger Award in France for the best foreign novel, and Portrait of a Romantic (1977). In a Washington Post review of Portrait of a Romantic, William Kennedy described the book as “written in immaculate prose. . .a prodigious feat of memory, with an enormous density of felt and observed life.”

In addition, Millhauser has published a fourth novel, From the Realm of Morpheus (1986), and three collections of short stories, The Barnum Museum (1990), In the Penny Arcade (1986) and Little Kingdoms (1993).

Millhauser received the Lannan Literary Award for Fiction in 1994 and an Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1987. He is a Professor of English at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Cathy Schulman (Producer), was also one of the producers of the feature film CRASH, directed by Paul Haggis and starring Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, William Fichtner, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Thandie Newton, Ryan Phillippe and Larenz Tate, was released in May 2005 by Lions Gate Films. Other films produced by Schulman were THUMBSUCKER, EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH and SIDEWAYS OF NEW YORK.

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The Illusionist (2006)

Directed by Neil Burger
Screenplay by Neil Burger (screenplay)
Story by Steven Millhauser (short story Eisenheim the Illusionist)

Cast (in credits order)

Edward Norton .... Eisenheim
Paul Giamatti .... Chief Inspector Uhl
Jessica Biel .... Sophie
Rufus Sewell .... Crown Prince Leopold
Eddie Marsan .... Josef Fischer
Jake Wood .... Jurka
Tom Fisher .... Willigut
Aaron Johnson .... Young Eisenheim
Eleanor Tomlinson .... Young Sophie
Karl Johnson .... Doctor/Old Man
Vincent Franklin .... Loschek
Nicholas Blane .... Herr Doebler
Philip McGough .... Dr. Hofzinser
Erich Redman .... Count Rainer
Michael Carter .... Von Thurnburg
Matthew Blood-Smyth .... Man Who Incites Riot
David Forest .... Traveling Magician
Laurie Athey .... Aristocratic Boy #1
Andreas Grothusen .... Eisenheim's Father
Brian Caspe .... Eisenheim's Assistant
Ellen Savaria .... Mrs. Uhl
Elias Zerael Bauer .... Street Urchin Messenger (as Elias Bauer)
Vitezslav Bouchner .... Sophie's Driver
David O'Kelly .... Archduke #1
Richard Rowlands .... Archduke #2
Rueben-Henry Biggs .... Frankel
Robert Russell
Noel le Bon .... Arrested Man
David Fellowes .... Respectable Man
Eve Kelemenova .... Sobbing Woman
John Early .... Man on Street
Jan Nemejovsky .... Senior Officer #1
Ivo Novák .... Senior Officer #2
Vladimir Kulhavy .... Train Conductor
Nancy Bishop .... Audience Member
Dusan Fager .... Audience Member
Brendan Gunn .... Audience Member
Ryan James .... Audience Member
Alistair Macnaughtan .... Audience Member
Petr Meissel .... Audience Member
Anezka Novak .... Audience Member
Jeff Smith .... Audience Member
Noelle Trkulja .... Audience Member
Ivan Urbánek .... Audience Member
Jaroslav Vízner .... Audience Member

Produced by
Jane Garnett .... executive producer
Joey Horvitz .... executive producer
Tom Karnowski .... co-producer
Brian Koppelman .... producer
David Levien .... producer
Ted Liebowitz .... executive producer
Michael London .... producer
David Minkowski .... co-producer
Tom Nunan .... executive producer
Cathy Schulman .... producer
Matthew Stillman .... co-producer
Bob Yari .... producer
Michael Zaltstein .... associate producer

Original Music by Philip Glass

Cinematography by Dick Pope

Film Editing by Naomi Geraghty

Casting by
Deborah Aquila
Nina Gold
Mary Tricia Wood

Production Design by Ondrej Nekvasil

Set Decoration by Petra Habova

Costume Design by Ngila Dickson

Makeup Department
Anita Burger .... hair stylist
Denise Dellavalle .... makeup artist
Linda Eisenhamerova .... key hair stylist
Julie Pearce .... makeup department head
Ivo Strangmüller .... key makeup artist

Production Management
Vaclav Eisenhamer .... unit production manager
Jiri Husak .... unit manager
Robert Katz .... executive in charge of production
Chris Miller .... post-production producer: Visionbox Media Group

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jakub Dvorak .... second assistant director
Jan Mensik .... first assistant director
Kieron Phipps .... first assistant director

Art Department
Klara Holubova .... on-set art director
Stefan Mily .... assistant property master
Jan Svoboda .... art department coordinator
Kurt Van Der Basch .... storyboard artist

Sound Department
Michael Babcock .... sound designer
Michael Babcock .... sound re-recording mixer
Tomas Cervenka .... cable person
Eric Flickinger .... sound recordist
Petr Forejt .... production sound mixer
Terry Garcia .... assistant sound editor
Peter Gleaves .... adr mixer
J. Paul Huntsman .... supervising sound editor
Mark L. Mangino .... dialogue editor
Mark L. Mangino .... sound editor
Alyson Dee Moore .... foley artist
Roman Rigo .... boom operator
Gregory H. Watkins .... sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Ondrej Pryca .... special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Patrick Clancey .... digital opticals
Ntana Key .... digital colorist assist
Vít Komrzy .... visual effects producer
Jirí Linhart .... visual effects
Viktor Muller .... visual effects supervisor
Peter Nemec .... flame artist
Robert Pik .... digital compositor
Steven J. Scott .... supervising digital colorist: EFilm
Jan Vseticek .... visual effects coordinator