Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. "I have to say, frankly, that in the beginning my discipline was not in line with the program. I was a bit too cavalier and I was not always attentive to the very letter of the word. But gradually I came to realise I was in the wrong. And when I surrendered to the word...I learned a wonderful freedom. Aaron Sorkin is a masterful composer." Which "West Wing" mainstay - who was not initially meant to have a central role - said this?
2. "The thing that first drew me to playing -- was his big soliloquy in the pilot. It was the humor - I knew it was hilarious when I read it...This part, I just felt like everything I had done in my life, every experience I had ever had, everything I've ever read, enjoyed, loved; every failure I've ever had, every success led me to this point to be able to play --"
Which actor looking for redemption from his past said this of playing his character in "The West Wing"?
3. "I had done 'A Few Good Men' on Broadway in 1990 and met Aaron doing that...I'm just a dear, dear friend of Aaron's. I was in [sic] his wedding. He called me one day and said there's a part of a reporter and possibly love interest with --. I hadn't read the script or read the scene but I said I'm on the plane."
Which "West Wing" actor in the role of a recurring character jumped at the chance to work again with Aaron Sorkin?
4. "I learned along with -- , as did the American people. The show raises the awareness in a wonderful way . It doesn't talk down to the audience." Which "West Wing" actor said that of her character? It probably also taught her to be wary around swimming pools.
5. "I remember I was pushing for sons for the President. Aaron [Sorkin] said, 'No, no, no. These guys are his sons." I said, 'Oh, they're a little old, aren't they?' But I see his point, Bartlett really is a very strong father figure. The great humanity. The heart he has. And the interplay, He loves to have fun and play these awful word games, geographical games, and Latin. He loves to show off and trap them."
Which chess-playing, Latin-quoting "West Wing" stalwart analysed Jed Bartlett in these words?
6. Which 'West Wing" actress said of her early appearances:
"I was wearing something with a lot of décolletage. There were a lot of letters saying 'how dare she', while others said, 'how great'. Her style is very womanly. Even though I wear suits all the time. I've got long hair and it's not in a serviceable bob. I like that she's got a little verve to her. There's a great balance to her intelligence"?
The character also needed to know her Latin verbs.
7. "We're often asked if we aren't idealizing the motivations of these people and I honestly don't think we are. I think if you go and sit down with a bunch of people from the Clinton White House and a bunch of people from the Bush White House, whoever you might disagree with, I guarantee you that they're there because they believe it."
Which actor, whose "West Wing" character had not always been a Bartlett supporter, compared the real and fictional in these words?
8. "For me it was the realization of a dream. I had been trying to get on television for ten years since I was fifteen years old. To finally make it on with a show such as this, I couldn't ask for anything better. It was definitely worth the wait. Before I even went in and read for the show, I was able to see the pilot. I was amazed. I couldn't believe that something of this caliber was going to be on TV every week. I wanted to be on it."
Which somewhat awe-struck actor revealed in the chance to be part of the "West Wing" in a role that almost became a part of the first family?
9. Sometimes an actor or actress can bring emotions from their private life to bear on their screen role. Which "West Wing" actress spoke of one of her most moving storylines in this way:
"I have two sons. Fortunately they're both alive. I lived through the Vietnam War. I had brothers that were in Vietnam. I remember families who lost loved ones. As a matter of fact, my sons were a little disturbed by the scene. They didn't like the idea of their mother talking about them being dead...it was very easy to relate to that storyline because it couldn't be that far from the truth"?
10. Many of the stars who appeared on "The West Wing" had extensive acting experience and were not to be easily awed. But which previously Academy-Award winner said of her role:
"Aaron has created one of the most ideal roles that I could have ever hoped for. -- is the role that's closest to how I am in everyday life"?
11. When "The West Wing" was first mooted, one of the soon-to-be leading stars had not been interested in doing television. She later recalled "I was filming "American Beauty" and "Nurse Betty" at the same time. And also doing a film for a friend on mine on the weekends. So I was a little crazy. I wasn't really looking to do a television series at all. I got the script and I just responded to the snappy writing. I loved the banter and I thought, God if I were to to television, this would be the type of television I would do." Which star probably thinks "Good decision" when she looks at the awards that "The West Wing' brought her?
12. "I actually read for C.J.'s role first. And I read for -- and I just loved the part right away; even though it was petite, it was fully formed. The character was there. All of the elements that are there now were there just like golden nuggets in the first show." Which "West Wing" actress was disappointed not to get the role she wanted, but ended up delighted with the one she got?
13. One "West Wing" actor was in the right place at the right time to get the role and later said: "I heard about the pilot, and the agents and managers were saying this is the one of the year. This is the really well-written one. I didn't want to do TV at all. The only reason I was even interested was because a movie fell through."
Which stalwart found that his new role meant enduring for seven years some changes in his appearance?
14. "Aaron Sorkin called me and said he had written a pilot for a show about the White House and asked if I'd like to be a consultant. I said I would since I thought the pilot was really good. But I didn't think anyone would ever make it. I thought, gosh, the last thing that people are going to want at the end of a day of news dominated by White House is a TV show about White House intrigue"
Which crew member with experience of a real West Wing need not have worried?
15. One of the trademarks of "The West Wing" was the 'walk-and-talk' sequences in which the actors moved through the rooms of the White House speaking their lines as they went.
It reminded one of the actors of his early days in the business (probably before his time in a Golden State legal drama).
Who said: "As an actor, I adore walk-and-talk because I spent the first twenty years of my career onstage and it's the closest to stage work in that there's not inter-cutting. So I like them. I find them very exciting"?
Source: Author
darksplash
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
MotherGoose before going online.
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