ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

"Road to Perdition" is a title with a twofold meaning. In literal terms, Perdition is the name of the town to which Michael Sullivan and his only surviving son, Michael Sullivan, Jr., are headed. But Perdition is also a euphemism for Hell, and in that regard, the road is one Michael Sullivan prays he can keep his son from traveling.

Tom Hanks, who stars as Michael Sullivan, offers, "The message from Michael the father to Michael the son is that you get to choose the road youre on in this life, but dont choose what I have chosenthe road Ive been on all my life. Somewhere in my past, I made the choice to go in a certain direction, and it leads right to perdition."

Director/producer Sam Mendes agrees, observing, "Michael Sullivan considers himself to have been put on the road to hell. Now he is in a battle for the soul of his son. Can a man who has led a bad life achieve redemption through his child? That is one of the central questions asked by the movie."

The first step on the movie "Road to Perdition" was taken by producer Dean Zanuck when he received the graphic novel, written by Max Allan Collins, as part of a pitch. Having never even seen a graphic novel, let alone read one, he began flipping through it and was hooked. "I just loved it," he recalls. "The father and son story had a powerful emotional impact on me, and the illustrations by Richard Piers Rayner provided a great visual of the period. That, combined with the action in the piece, made it very appealing. When I finished it, I said to my wife, I think something special is going to happen with this."

The younger Zanuck immediately sent the book to his father, producer Richard D. Zanuck, who was on location in Morocco. Richard Zanuck picks up the story with, "I read it and was instantly attracted to it. It had wonderful action and colorful characters, and it just had all the elements of being a very entertaining, provocative picture. But it was the relationship between the father and son that develops through the course of the story that really got me. I called Dean and asked him to send a copy over to Steven Spielberg at DreamWorks. To my amazement, two days later the phone rang in my humble little room in Morocco and it was Steven. He said, I love this. Lets do it, and thats how it happened."

The father and son relationship that had struck a chord with the father and son producers would eventually be fleshed out even more in the screenplay by David Self. Richard Zanuck says, "Everyone responded very strongly and very positively to the script. The graphic novel was told in pictures and images, but the screenplay evolved into a much deeper, more complex story. It delves more into the personal side of this father and son and has more heartmore human emotions."

One of those who responded positively was director Sam Mendes, who chose "Road to Perdition" as his follow-up to his Oscar^®-winning film directorial debut "American Beauty." The Zanucks knew Mendes was perfect to helm "Road to Perdition" from their very first meeting with him. "The way he spoke about the story and his plans for the film, we felt the movie elevating before our very eyes," Dean Zanuck states. "He had an extraordinary grasp of the material."

Mendes offers that there were several elements that attracted him to the project, beginning with the script. "David Self had made some clever additions to the graphic novel, but it remained an incredibly simple, powerful story. At its heart, there was the father/son relationship, but it was also a serious gangster movie set in what I consider to be the last mythic American landscapethe 1930s, the Depression era, when there was still space to lose yourself in the vastness of Americawhen there were mystical golden cities rising up, like Chicago. So there was this amazingly varied and enormous canvas on which to tell the story. And, as a narrative, it had a very clear linear drive. It didnt stop; it moved relentlessly forward, and it had this fascinating central character who is morally ambivalent. As an audience, we dont know if this is somebody whowithout wanting to be too simplisticis a good man or a bad man from the beginning of the story to the end."

The central character of "Road to Perdition" is Michael Sullivan, played by two-time Academy Award^® winner Tom Hanks. Hanks had learned of the project early on when Steven Spielberg gave him the graphic novel even before there was a screenplay, telling him it was a great read. Hanks agreed and asked to see a script when it was done.

Hanks comments that one of the things that initially intrigued him about the story was its unpredictability. "I thought this would be the kind of genre movie that would be very familiar to me, but three pages into it, I didnt know where I was or what was going to happen next. I remember thinking that here is this movie that should be predictable but is utterly unpredictable. That, coupled with the realities of what it was going to take to make this period piece, I wondered who they could get to do it justice. It turned out to be Sam Mendes. Chatting with him, I knew we would be in the hands of someone who could tell the story the way it needed to be told."

Mendes has no less admiration for the actor, noting, "How can you not admire Tom Hanks? He's an amazing actor, but whats even better than having a great actor is having a great actor whos never before done what the part is asking of him. Michael Sullivan is a very dark, very mysterious man, and not at all accessible to the audience, at least initially. He is someone who carries with him a sense of guilt and regret for the life he has led, but this regret is never stated; it is just felt and seen. What Tom is able to convey in silence is extraordinary, but then, that would be my definition of a great screen actor."

Though Michael Sullivan is something of an enigma to the audience, Hanks insight into his character began before he ever stepped into the role. "While I was reading this, I actually thought of the verse from The Bible that says, he who sows the wind shall reap the whirlwind, and thats what happens to Sullivan. Hes married, the father of two, and has one of the bigger houses in townand its been paid for with fear, intimidation, violence and blood. Now hes in the midst of something he should have known was coming, but somehow he was able to block out the reality of his world and believe it would have no consequences, and, of course, finally it does. At the moment were dropped into the story, it is literally the last day of that false perspective."

That being said, Hanks is clear that, despite any illusions Sullivan might have held, "I think he very much understands the times in which he lives and how he ended up doing what he does for a living: working for Mr. Rooney, the man who saved his life, probably before he was even conscious that his life needed saving. Therein lies the examination of our fathers, which is no small part of this story. Mr. Rooney is a father figure to Sullivan. Sullivan wants to emulate him, while at the same time, he fears him. Young Michael, Jr. feels the same about his father. This movie is about that moment when the truth is revealed, when you see the flaw in the man you considered to be your father. How do you deal with it? Is it the shattering of your world, or the beginning of a new understanding of the failures we as human beings all have? Does it draw you closer to the man you viewed as the reason youre in the world, or does it drive you away from that person who is responsible for who you are? Its fascinating stuff."

The father and son aspect of the story was also compelling to the man who portrays Mr. John Rooney, Oscar^®-winning screen legend Paul Newman. However, as the patriarch of the family, Newmans perspective was that of a father whose loyalties are tested by his surrogate son, Michael Sullivan, and his real son, Connor Rooney. "Rooneys son Connor is a bad guy, and his adopted son Michael is kind of a good bad guy. Rooney is forced to protect one at the expense of the other, so its an intriguing conflict," he offers.

Newman also appreciated the arc of his character. "He goes through an interesting progression in the film. He starts out robust and powerful and full of vinegar, and becomes a man beaten down by tragedy. Its a marvelous part."

Not surprisingly, Paul Newman was the filmmakers unanimous choice for the role of Mr. Rooney. Richard Zanuck confirms, "We all agreed there was only one actor who could play Rooney. There was no second choice." The producer, whose professional history with Newman includes such films as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "The Sting" and "The Verdict," goes on to say, "Particularly at this stage of his career, Paul is very careful about the roles he chooses, so we were so thrilled that he loved this role. He really is a pros pro. He makes it look easy, but he works very hard. He puts a lot of thought and preparation into everything he does."

Mendes agrees, "Paul was always honing his performance. He would come in having spent hours in his trailer going over the tiniest little pivotal moments, which is really amazing when you think about it. I mean, considering the career hes had, to care that much and not leave anything to chance, was inspiring to everyone. Everybody respects him to such a great degree, and it was just incredible for all of us to have Paul Newman on the set."

While Michael Sullivans father figure is played by the iconic Paul Newman, his son, Michael Sullivan, Jr., is played by newcomer Tyler Hoechlin. Hoechlin won the plum role over a field of more than 2,000 young actors, who were screened by casting director Debra Zane in open calls held in cities across the United States.

Dean Zanuck recalls, "We were looking at tape after tape and no one was hitting the mark. Then Sam called me into his office and said, Dean, I want to show you something. I think weve found our kid."

Mendes says, "Its what you hope forthat you will turn on a tape and within two seconds know this is the one. Then you just pray that when you actually meet the actor, hes everything you hoped he would be. The moment Tyler walked in the room, it was clear he had something special, and I defy anyone not to notice it the minute he appears on the screen. Hes a very skilled young actor with a wisdom in his eyes that belies his years."

Only 13 years old when he landed the role of Michael Sullivan, Jr., Hoechlin showed remarkable insight into his character and his relationship with his father, offering, "Michael loves his dad dearly and desperately wants to be close to him. He trieshe keeps going after itbut he doesnt really get anything back. Then suddenly theyre the only two left, and they begin to develop a stronger relationship as his dad starts to realize that Michael is all he has now and how much hes been missing. I think the journey is of a father and son getting to know each other, and also finding out who they themselves are."

Though he could understand the character, Hoechlin could barely grasp it when Mendes informed him that he had gotten the part. "It didnt really sink in for about two weeks until I was leaving for location," he remembers. "Finally it hit me, Oh my gosh, Im going to work with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman and Jude Law. It was almost beyond comprehension."

Dean Zanuck found it interesting to note that, together with those three actors whom Hoechlin so greatly admires, the young actor was an important facet of a cast that mirrors the generational aspects of the story. "We had four generations of great actors, starting with the iconic Paul Newman; then Tom Hanks, who is arguably the biggest actor of today; to Jude Law, who is a fast-rising star; and finally Tyler Hoechlin, a newcomer who amazed us all."

Jude Law plays the role of Maguire, a press photographer who moonlights as a hit man. Maguire is the only main male character in the piece who is not directly linked to the father/son theme, but it was nevertheless one of the main selling points for the actor, as he felt it set the film apart from the traditional gangster genre. "Its not a typical gangster movie; its about a father and son finding each other in the most adverse of situations. Its about parents and children, betrayal and honesty, and people and emotions and relationships, which weve all experienced. These are the epic qualities of life, which for me are what all great films are about," Law says.

Although Law is somewhat younger than Maguire was originally described in the script, Sam Mendes had no doubt that he would be right for the role. "Jude was up to the task, no question. He is an utterly fearless actor. He has no concerns about playing someone quite unlike himself, and here he was a silent, gentle assassin, a man of the shadows, and all the more frightening for it," the director asserts.

"I was looking for a part like this, a character role that was far from anything Id ever done, and this was definitely it," Law remarks. "Maguire is a crime scene photographer, specializing in capturing dead bodies at murder scenes, and hes also become a very successful paid assassin."

Law also saw an interesting correlation between the fundamental accoutrements of Maguires double life. "I think every time you see Maguire load and point his camera, it has the dual symbolism of a gun because, to Maguire, the taking of the photo after the act of murder is more important, really. The actual murder is sort of by-the-by; hed never let a living body get in the way of a good photo."

A collection of Maguires favorite photographs are seen on the walls of his seedy apartment, and Mendes reveals that some are actual police stills from the 1930s. "We used photographs taken of crime scenes during that period, and despite their goriness, they are strangely beautiful and very powerful. They gave Jude an enormous sense that these people really did exist."

One character in "Road to Perdition" actually did exist in real life, the powerful mobster Frank Nitti, played by Stanley Tucci. "Frank Nitti was Al Capones right-hand man, who, they say, for all intents and purposes, ran the organization," Tucci comments. "Both Rooney and Sullivan come to him for help, leaving Nitti torn between the two and having to figure out exactly what to do."

Mendes says, "When I read the character of Nitti, I immediately thought of Stanley Tucci. I had always wanted to work with him and hoped Id be fortunate enough to get him for this, and I was thrilled when he said hed do it."

Both Maguire and Nitti are brought into the story through the actions of Connor Rooney, played by British actor Daniel Craig. "The real key to Connor is his relationship with his father," Craig observes. "Connor was brought up to be a violent man. Hes his fathers son, yet he has always had to play second fiddle to Michael Sullivan who is his fathers favorite, even though hes not his real son. So theres a lot churned up inside Connor and it fuels what he does. Maybe hes not justified in his actions, but its the path he chooses. And once he gets going, theres a domino effect and nothing and nobody can stop it."

Sam Mendes agrees, "Connor is the person who sets the story in motion. I wanted a relative unknown to play him so the audience wouldnt know from the first moment that he was going to be a central player. I felt if this character were to work, he would almost have to creep up on the audience. Danny is dark, brooding and hugely charismatic, but there is also a great vulnerability there. I knew when I met him that he was the right man for the job."

Connor Rooneys resentment towards Michael Sullivan is tied to the fates of Sullivans wife, Annie, and youngest son, Peter. The only woman in the main cast of "Road to Perdition," Jennifer Jason Leigh plays Annie, who, the actress notes, "had to make a definite impression in a short amount of time. It seemed like a real challenge because, with very little dialogue, we need to learn about this marriage and get a feeling of what their family life was like. Annie loves her husband very much. She doesnt ask him too much about his workyou didnt back thenbut shes seen him come home enough times with blood on his shirt to know there is stuff going down that makes her worried for her kids. She has a good life and is grateful for it, but its a life tinged with fear."

Mendes, who had directed Leigh in the revival of the musical "Cabaret," says, "I had hoped to have an opportunity to work with her on film as well, and I happened to bump into her at a screening and asked her to play the part. I thought, I should be so lucky, and I was, because she said yes."

Liam Aiken, who plays Peter Sullivan, is the youngest member of the cast, but hardly the least experienced. Richard Zanuck notes, "Hes a real professional at a very young age. Hes just a remarkable young manvery impressive."

Mendes adds, "He is very intelligent and has a great sense of humor. He listens very carefully and responds to what the other actors are giving him, which is a sign of a born actor, in my opinion. What was really interesting about both Liam and Tyler Hoechlin is that they came in for two weeks of rehearsals with Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leighand didnt bat an eyelid. They were there every day with the heavy hitters, patiently watching and listening to every scene being rehearsed, so they were part of the fabric of the movie from a very early stage."

The ensemble of talent in front of the camera was matched by the award-winning creative team assembled to work behind the camera, beginning with the man Sam Mendes calls "my central working relationship," cinematographer Conrad Hall, who also lensed "American Beauty" for the director. "I cant even describe how attached Ive become to him and how immensely grateful I am to him," Mendes continues. "In the midst of the chaos and the siege mentality that happens on a movie set, when Conrad puts his eye to the eyepiece of the camera, magic begins to happen. If you ask him how he knows where to point the camera, hell tell you, I point it at the story, but its more than that: his artistry with light adds a dimension to the story that you could not have imagined. There is no such thing as an unimportant shot for him, and so he can drive you mad spending longer than you ever expected to light. But when youre in the screening room, you thank God every day for Conrad Hall."

Collaborating for the first time with the director were production designer Dennis Gassner, costume designer Albert Wolsky, and editor Jill Bilcock. "These are all very special peopleincredibly gifted and at the top of their profession," Mendes says. "It was like having an entire engine room of ideas and creative energy behind me."

"Road to Perdition" is set in 1931 when the country was in the grip of the Great Depression, prohibition was still the law of the land, and gangsters like Al Capone were at the height of their power. Long before the cameras rolled, research was the order of the day for everyone involved in the production. "The challenges of a period movie are obvious," Mendes comments. "Everything must be discussed in detail before you begin, because everything has to be made or re-created. It was also important to me that the movie pay witness to the time, rather than announce it. I wanted the audience to feel that they were looking through a window into this world, and I wanted to put a lie to some of the perceived notions about gangsters. You will see no double-breasted pin-stripe suits, no spats, and only one machine gun, and that has a very specific and unusual presence in the movie."

In at least one instance, the research resulted in a major thematic element of the movie. Mendes reveals, "In planning the wake held at the beginning of the movie, we discovered they sometimes kept corpses on ice to stop the body from decomposing, and as the ice melts, the water would drip into buckets. The linking of water with death then became a recurring image in the film. It speaks of the mutability of water and links it to the uncontrollability of fate. These are things that humans cant control. In other words, the dam might burst at any moment. All that came out of a tiny piece of research."

Research was especially important for the movies design teams. Costume designer Albert Wolsky soon learned that re-creating the wardrobe of the times was made all the more challenging by the fact that its chief distinction was its lack of distinction. "Its not the hotsy totsy of the roaring 20s and its not the very slinky style of the mid-to-late 30s. Its a very difficult period; it slips away from you in seconds," he remarks.

As part of his research, Wolsky set out to find real clothing of the period, which was in itself problematic. He and his team looked throughout the United States and even Europe, but found that very little remained of the actual clothing. "It was the Depression; nobody kept those clothes," Wolsky explains. "There was no reason to; they were just worn out clothes with nothing to commend them."

What articles of clothing they did manage to obtain served as patterns for some of the principal costumes. Using the actual clothing was impossible due to its delicate condition, as well as the need for multiples of each costume. "Its not like today. People then wore the same thing over and over. And in this movie in particular, once Michael Sullivan and his son are on the road, the changes are minimalits just the same suit, the same hat, the same coatgetting more and more worn," Wolsky states. "It means making more copies than you would usually need for normal wear and tear, and because we were shooting out of sequence, you cant use the same costume from day to day. It doesnt work that way."

The scarcity of authentic clothing and the demand for so many multiples meant the costumes would have to be manufactured from scratch, which led to another problem: Modern fabrics are much more lightweight so todays suits, for example, fall differently on the body than those of the early 30s. "Without the right fabric, you lose the period," Wolsky contends. "We tested the current fabrics and there was just no way to fake it. The weight dramatically affects the way the clothes move."

The only choice was to have the fabric specially woven in the correct weight for the period costumes. After some trial and error, Wolsky tracked down a weaver in upstate New York named Rabbit Goody, owner of Thistle Hill Weavers, who did what the costume designer says was "wonderful work" in weaving the enormous amount of fabric needed for the production. The new fabric then had to be aged and dyed to complete the effect.

Shades of browns, blacks and dark greens comprised the dominant color palette for the costumes. Wolsky says, "I knew from Sams description that it wasnt about individual details, it was about color and silhouettes. I also felt that it was impossible to show the Depression in cheerful, bright colors, so I tried to pull back as much color as I could."

That approach fit in perfectly with what Conrad Hall was trying to achieve through the camera. "The film shouldnt be colorful, so I tried to make it as monochromatic as I could. Its not exactly film noir, more of a soft noir, if you willsoft shadows rather than harsh ones," the cinematographer says. "I especially loved all the costumes with the hats. I could burn a light down and keep the face totally shaded."

Stage lights notwithstanding, makeup artist Daniel Streipekes first edict to the cast was to stay out of the sun so they would have that Midwest-in-the-winter look, as opposed to California suntans. For Tom Hanks, Streipeke says, "We wanted to take some of the vulnerability out of his face. He needed to look like a powerful, tough guy, without being too clichéd about it."

The greatest transformation was reserved for Jude Law, whose good looks are obscured by Maguires seedy countenance. "We gave Jude a sallow skin tone and beat up hands, which would come from being in a darkroom with his hands in photo fluids all the time," Streipeke describes. "We also lowered the gum line in his mouth and rotted his teeth, which works for the ferret-like character he plays."

Law also allowed hair stylist Kathryn Blondell to thin his hair. "Its very painstaking work and the initial cut took two days," Blondell relates. "I went section by section and hair by hair, cutting them out with very tiny scissors. I needed jewelers glasses to do it."

"You can flesh out a character so much with those subtleties, which became very relevant to portraying Maguire because he says so little," Law notes. "He has to make a visual impressionnot so obvious that he couldnt disappear into a crowd, but if you were to look closer, youd see something a little off-center and slightly twisted."

The personalities and lives of the different characters were also reflected in the production design. "The design is all character-oriented," production designer Dennis Gassner affirms. "What Sam and I tried to do was come up with a variety of settings that support the mood of the characters, as well as the story."

Gassner points out that the Sullivan home is in cool blue tones, to reflect the wintry atmosphere that exists both outside and inside the house. By comparison, the color scheme of the Rooney house is much warmer because, the designer points out, "although he is a gangster, he has a certain warmth and charm. He is also old money, so he has a classic sense of style."

Filming on "Road to Perdition" took place entirely on location in Chicago, Illinois and the surrounding towns. "I wanted to shoot on location and, in Chicago, what you see on screen is whats actually there. It still exists," Mendes says.

The fact that it has existed for the better part of a century meant that Gassner and his team had to go in and turn the clock back 70 years. "Doing a period film is basically undoing whats been done to a piece of art and then restyling it properly to fit the time," the designer observes.

One area that needed little redressing was the Pullman area on the outskirts of Chicago, which is named for Henry Pullman who built the town for those building his Pullman trains. "The Pullman area has remained virtually untouched by the passage of time, so it became a location cornerstone for our film," Gassner says. Among the shooting sites found in the Pullman area was the historic Florence Hotel, which was used for both interiors and exteriors, as well as a warehouse and an alleyway that became the settings for two pivotal confrontations.

The Illinois State Film Commission provided the filmmakers with another location mainstay when they helped the production team convert the Armory in Chicago into a soundstage, where the interiors of the Sullivan house and Rooney mansion were constructed. The exterior of the Sullivan home was found in the town of Barrington, Illinois, while the small community of West Dundee doubled for Rock Island, the town where the Sullivans and Rooneys live and where Michael Sullivan and his son begin their journey.

Rising in sharp contrast to those rural communities is the city of Chicago, which Mendes intended to be "a kind of Oz in the middle of the movie," at least to young Michael Sullivan, who had never before ventured out of his hometown. Filming took place on La Salle Street in downtown Chicago, where the buildings of the period are juxtaposed with a few modern-day structures that would later be removed digitally. Dozens of vintage cars were obtained by the production to fill the street, along with hundreds of extras in period costumes that Albert Wolsky had designed to be decidedly more upscale than the small-town wardrobe seen earlier.

In what appears to be a series of different towns, one of the films key sequences is the string of bank robberies perpetrated by Michael Sullivan. What was interesting was that Mendes had conceived of the sequence as a continuous tracking movement from left to right. Hall expounds, "Rather than as a montage, where shots fade out and fade in, Sam wanted the bank robberies to move from one directly into the other, without a cut in between."

The problem with that plan was that the action in one of the locations chosen for the robberies would only work shooting from right to left, but not from left to right. Rather than switch the plan, Gassner and his team switched the location, so to speak, by reversing every telltale elementincluding all the street signs, license plates, and even the steering wheels in the carsto a mirror image. With that done, Mendes and Hall could shoot from right to left and flip the film to accomplish the desired left-to-right sequence.

For the bank robbery scenes, young Tyler Hoechlin had to learn to drive, and the then-13-year-old actor was only too happy to oblige. Stunt coordinator and second unit director Doug Coleman, who served as the driving instructor, says that the teenager did a wonderful job. Nevertheless, Coleman had a set of controls installed in the back seat for a stunt driver, just to be on the safe side.

The journey of Michael Sullivan and his son takes place mainly during the winter and, likewise, so did filming on "Road to Perdition." The Midwest winter coldwhich dropped to as low as minus-30 degreestested the endurance of the entire production team. "Winter in the Midwest is a pretty bleak time," Tom Hanks attests. "It was bitter cold, but I think that breeds a hardy type of person. You have to be tough to get through winters back there."

Though the atmosphere was freezing, the weather didnt always cooperate in providing the blanket of snow needed for some scenes. Special effects coordinator Allen Hall and his crew took over where Mother Nature left off, fabricating several football fields worth of fake snow to create the wintry landscape. The effects team was also responsible for generating the drenching "rain" that was all-too-real for the cast and crew.

"There was an enormous amount of manufactured weather. We had snow, rain, ice, sleet, you name it. And let me tell you, they dont always mix; they become a kind of awful mush," Mendes laughs. "There were times I cursed the day I ever decided that the first 20 minutes of the movie should take place in a snowscape. But," the director adds, "there was a very deliberate reason for it. The reason there is snow and ice in the opening of the story is it symbolizes a frozen worldfrozen in the emotional sense. Its a paralyzed family until the father and oldest son are thrown together by tragedy and they begin to have the relationship they never had before. So out of the bad comes good, and everything that was intended to be set in ice at the beginning begins to thaw."

Dean Zanuck reflects, "Michael Sullivan and his son start the movie far apart from each other, but a terrible turn of events brings them very much together. Its an emotional journey as much as a physical one that they go through."

"Its an exploration into a mans relationship with his son, and of how a fuller and more meaningful relationship is brought about by tragedy. That is the crux of the story," Richard Zanuck remarks.

"At the center of the film is the relationship between a father and a son, but there are actually two fathers and two sons," Mendes adds. "One of the great ironies of the film is that, though the two fathers love each other, in each having to protect his less favored son, they are set on a course of mutual destruction."

Mendes concludes, "That is the core of the story: two men protecting their children. In the end, what can be more important than that?"