Casting Calls Trivia Quiz

Answer: Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe is a Kiwi, i.e., a New Zealander, born in 1964. He is an actor, producer and musician. Among the awards he's won are the Academy Award for Best Actor for "Gladiator" and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in "A Beautiful Mind". The following films refer to the roles above.
In "Cinderella Man" (2005), Crowe played 'rags-to-riches" boxer James J. Braddock in the 1930s. "Gladiator" (2000) was the story of Roman General Maximus. "A Beautiful Mind" (2001) described the life of the brilliant and schizophrenic mathematician, John Forbes Nash, Jr.

Answer: Meryl Streep

What can you say about the most nominated actress in Academy Award history? Mary Louise 'Meryl' Streep was born in Summit, New Jersey in 1949. She married Don Gummer in 1978 and they have four children. She is one of the most versatile performers, and could probably play an inanimate object and make it believable.

Her holocaust survivor was "Sophie's Choice" in 1982. She was Miranda Priestly, editor of "Runway" magazine in "The Devil Wears Prada" in 2006, and a recovering alcoholic in "Postcards from the Edge" (1990), based on the novel by Carrie Fisher.

Answer: Robert De Niro

One of the finest actors of his generation, Robert De Niro has an ability to transform himself physically to fit his different roles. Lean, mean former marine Travis Bickle was the unstable Vietnam vet who becomes a "Taxi Driver" on the mean streets of New York in the 1976 movie. ("You talkin' to me?").
In "Raging Bull" (1980), De Niro gained 60 pounds as the aging fighter Jake La Motta, and in "Goodfellas" (1990) he plays "Jimmy the Gent" Conroy, a slick, well-dressed gangster who loves to hijack trucks.

Answer: Jack Nicholson

I didn't include Jack Nicolson's stunning portrayal of the rebel Randall P. McMurphy because it was too difficult to categorize. Over his 60 year career there are so many roles to chose from. I chose one of my favorites, with Jack as Melvin Udall the obsessive-compulsive writer in 1997's "As Good as It Gets"; he tells his girlfriend "You make me want to be a better man".

Then, of course, there's Jack Torrance, caretaker at the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining" from 1980. Finally, there was the 1992 Danny DeVito directed movie "Hoffa", where Jack plays union boss Jimmy Hoffa who vanished in July 1975.

Answer: Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence was discovered by a talent scout in New York City at the age of 14. She has been on a roll (role) ever since. She has portrayed the mutant Raven/Mystique in "X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016) and the previous films in the "X-Men" franchise. Jennifer played the inventor of the self-wringing Miracle Mop and self-made businesswoman Joy Mangano in "Joy" (2015). Before that, in 2010, Lawrence played Ree Dolly, an Ozark teenager who tries to take care of her siblings and find her father in "Winter's Bone".
(Sorry, no Katniss Everdeen!)

Answer: Morgan Freeman

With that voice, who could be better to play God than the marvelous Morgan Freeman? Anyone remember 'Easy Reader' from the TV show "The Electric Company"? ("Hey, you guys!") That was just the start of Morgan Freeman's remarkable career which includes a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for "Million Dollar Baby" and multiple nominations in movies like "Street Smart" and "Invictus". I chose Freeman's prisoner, Red Redding in "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994) where he befriends fellow inmate Andy Dufresne.

In 1989, he was Hoke Colburn who was "Driving Miss Daisy". Finally, in the 2003 movie "Bruce Almighty", he had the ultimate role, that of God himself!

Answer: Sandra Bullock

If they gave out an award for "America's Sweetheart", Sandra Bullock would have to be in the running. Did you know that she won an Oscar and a Razzie in the same weekend in 2010? And she showed up to accept them both. That is classy! In her role as an FBI agent, Bullock played Gracie Hart who had to go undercover at a beauty pageant in "Miss Congeniality" in 2000.

In 2013 she was Dr. Ryan Stone, a medical engineer floating around in space in (or should I say without) "Gravity". In "28 Days" (2000), she plays a New York writer who gets drunk and winds up being sentenced to court-ordered rehab.

Answer: Halle Berry

The always lovely, often married Halle Berry is an actress, producer and former model. Did you know that she was named after a department store, i.e., Halle's in Cleveland, Ohio? She became the first black actress to win an Oscar for Best Actress for her performance as a prisoner's wife in the 2001 movie "Monster's Ball". On the other side of the pendulum, she was Patience Phillips, a shy graphic designer who becomes the criminal known as "Catwoman" (2004). In "Die Another Day" (2002), Halle plays Jinx, an NSA agent who is romanced by Bond...James Bond.

Answer: Clark Gable

Going back several decades, Clark Gable (1901-1960) was called "The King of Hollywood". He started out as an extra in 13 movies between 1924 and 1930. In 1935 he won a Best Actor Academy Award for "It Happened One Night" opposite Claudette Colbert. As the Southern gentleman, Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind" (1939), he was nominated for an Oscar but he lost to Robert Donat (Mr. Chips).

In "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1935), he was Fletcher Christian who led a mutiny against Captain Bligh on the HMS 'Bounty'.

In his last role, Gable played aging cowboy Gay Langland, in the 1961 film "The Misfits".

Answer: Whoopi Goldberg

You may know that Caryn Johnson is the given name of Whoopi Goldberg, but do you know how she got her stage name? Her mother suggested that a Jewish name would get her further in Hollywood, hence Goldberg. As far as the Whoopi part, she was gassy and was told she's like a whoopi cushion...and a star was born. Back to her roles, in the 1992 film "Sister Act", lounge singer Deloris Van Cartier sees her boyfriend commit a murder and, for her protection, winds up as a nun in a California convent. ("How do you solve a problem like"... Deloris?). Whoopi was Celie, an abused Southern woman in "The Color Purple" (1985), and a basketball coach in 1996's "Eddie".