“Anarchists have a group? They assemble? Doesn’t that completely defeat the purpose?” -- Ana Pascal
An unexpected happenstance that arises in Harold’s quest to change his life story is his first encounter with true love. A dedicated loner since a failed relationship with a co-worker (an auditor who left him for an actuary), Harold doesn’t expect to connect with anyone, let alone an anarchist tax evader. But that’s exactly what happens when he encounters an unusual bakery owner named Ana Pascal.
Ana is a vivacious, rebellious and completely compelling character – which is why the filmmakers turned to Maggie Gyllenhaal to play her. When Forster and Doran met with her, there was simply no doubt she was the embodiment of Ana Pascal.
“She was just ideal,” Forster remembers. “The most important quality for Ana had to be her deep passion, and Maggie has that in her soul. She’s able to give of herself on screen in a way few actresses can.”
“When we met with Maggie, she read the scene in which Ana talks about why she became a baker, and by the time she was through, we were all actually hungry,” recalls Doran. “The way she talked about the almond glaze and the zesty peach icing, we were completely entranced, the same way we knew Harold would be.”
Gyllenhaal is always drawn to iconoclastic characters, but she notes that Ana was unlike any other character she’d previously tackled. “She felt like more of an adult woman than anyone else I’ve played on screen before,” she says. “Yet she’s radical and alive in the way a very youthful person would be. I was drawn to that. Ana’s provocative, but she’s not just a brash punk rocker. She’s wilier than that, and more graceful, and I found that extremely appealing.”
When it came to her onscreen relationship with Ferrell, Gyllenhaal enjoyed the process of moving it along from barbed banter to true romance. “At first Ana hates Harold and that was a lot of fun to play with,” she says. “But what was so interesting is that they start with something really closed-off and fueled by anger and wind up with something truly lovely. I think Ana spots a little tendril of life in Harold and, ultimately, that’s why she falls for him.”
Working with Ferrell was especially rewarding for Gyllenhaal. “Will was constantly surprising me,” she comments. “He would just do little things that would take me off my track, which is exactly what you want when you’re acting. There’s a lot of life to him and I found that intoxicating.”
“I do not like loud music. I do not abide narcotics. And I will gladly and quietly help you kill Harold Crick.” -- Penny Escher
In casting Penny Escher, the “author’s assistant” dispatched to make sure Karen Eiffel finishes her book, the filmmakers made an unexpected choice — music- star-turned-leading-actress Queen Latifah. Forster was looking for someone who would be the polar opposite of Emma Thompson’s character, a strong, healthy, grounded, no-nonsense woman who must try to impose discipline on the fiercely unreceptive author.
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