"Thirteen Days" Special Issue
This is our "Thirteen Days" Special issue of the Totally Steven! newsletter. For those of you that don't know, "Thirteen Days" is a new movie about the Cuban Missile Crisis, starring Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood, and our own Steven Culp as Bobby Kennedy.
In October of 1962, U-2 spy planes discovered that the Russians were building nuclear missiles in Cuba. President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert had to make quick decisions on how to handle this dangerous situation.
America was at the brink of nuclear war, and this movie shows the conflicts and problems the Kennedys encounteered during those thirteen days.
"Thirteen Days"- The Premiere
The long awaited day had finally arrived. On December 19th "Thirteen Days" premiered at Mann Village Theatre in Westwood, California. Present at the premiere were the three big stars of the movie, Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood and our very own Steven Culp. The premiere was broadcasted on the local news, CNN and featured on "Entertainment Tonight" and "Access Hollywood". Steven looked wonderful, Dressed in a dark suit, a grey/silver shirt and tie, he looked every inch the handsome, talented star that he is. By his side was his wife Barbara, looking beautiful in a black dress and lime green wrap. His father was in attendance as well. All three stars looked excited and proud to have been a part of such a great movie.
Shortly following the premier we were able to enjoy interviews with Steven
on the tv show "One on One", and magazines such as "BackStage West"
(Dec 14, 2000) and "Venice". (Dec 2000)
The movie opened in very limited released on December 25th in Los Angeles
and New York. According to the Los Angeles Times, the theatres were
sold out, earning on opening day $46,658 for that one day. (The movie
was shown on only 8 screens)
The movie will be released nationwide on January 12th.
Reflections on History: A Review of “Thirteen Days”
by Meg Bryant[Warning: this review contains what some might consider spoilers]
For a very tense two-week period in October 1962, the Cuban missile crisis brought the world to the brink of global nuclear war. The “Thirteen Days” began when photographs taken by an American reconnaissance plane produced evidence of Soviet missiles in Cuba—designed to carry nuclear warheads and pointed firectly at the United States, only 90 miles away.
I recently had the opportunity to attend two different advance screenings of the new film that examines this two week period— “Thirteen Days,” starring our own Steven Culp as U.S Attorney General Robert Kennedy, Bruce Greenwood as President John Kennedy, and Kevin Costner as Kenny O’Donnell, special assistant to President Kennedy and close friend to both Kennedy brothers. Now, we all know that Hollywood does not always do history justice (I might offer the aforementioned Kevin Costner’s JFK as a case-in-point), but in the case of “Thirteen Days” Hollywood was responsible with the story.
I am by no means an authority on the subject, but the museum where
I work recently opened an exhibit entitled Unfinished Business:
Kennedy and Cuba—examining the chain of events relating to Cuba
that occurred during the presidency of John F. Kennedy and how
they continue to shape U.S. perceptions of Cuba today.
A key part of this exhibit is, of course, the Cuban missile crisis.
I was closely involved with the development of the exhibit, and over
the course of my work I learned a great deal about the situation
(hopefully making up for my virtually complete lack of knowledge of
the subject five months ago!). Based on my knowledge and research
of the events of October 1962, I am comfortable saying that the
screenwriters of “Thirteen Days” remained faithful to the primary
historical accounts of the events—with a certain amount of
dramatic license and embellishment of certain roles, but nothing
detrimental to the general accuracy of the film.
For the most part the characters were depicted fairly (I even found the embellishment of O’Donnell’s role in the events to be dramatically acceptable), even to the point of verbatim quotes from various accounts of the crisis spoken as dialogue in the film. I got a real sense of the anxiety and tension in the atmosphere during those thirteen days— particularly in the scenes where the joint chiefs confront the President and when Defense Secretary Bob McNamara stands up to Admiral Anderson (watch for this one—it’s a fantastic scene!).
The tension and drama of the crisis was also evident in one of my favorite scenes in the film. Last summer I read Robert Kennedy’s account of the missile crisis, Thirteen Days, and I remember being particularly struck by his description of how Ambassador Adlai Stevenson dramatically revealed the photographic evidence of the missiles at the United Nations in direct contradiction to the Soviet Ambassador’s continued denials. This entire confrontation—and the reaction of the Kennedys to it—was portrayed exceedingly well and accurately in the film.
What the critics are saying
How Did Steven "Become" Bobby Kennedy?
We have read the articles, the comments, about
just how much Steven looks like Bobby Kennedy
in the movie "13 Days". For those that did not
know Steven until now, this may seem like one
of those "well he just looks like the guy" type
casting. But many of us who have been lucky to
enjoy Steven's previous work on JAG, The Waltons,
Abe Lincoln and his many other roles, know that
he does not look like the famous Kennedy. (Fans
will tell you that Steven is much better looking)
So how did he manage to achieve such "Kennedy"
perfection? It took training, work and lots of
dedication.
The first thing that Steven Culp/Webb fans noticed was the change in hair color
and style. Then came the weight loss, we understand a total of 25 pounds.
"Webbies" immediately started to notice the change and were quick to
ask, what had happened to "JAG's" Webb. Hollywood magic had happened.
Steven had started to work on the movie "13 Days" in which his appearance
had to be changed to fit one of the famous political figures of our time,
Robert Kennedy.
"In addition to all the research and working on the voice and watching tapes to
sort of try to get what he was like physically, I also worked with a trainer. I
was on a very strict diet for the 4 or 5 months we were shooting. I'm naturally
taller. We had to whittle me down to this lean wiry body. It made me look smaller
and slighter in the facial structure."
"Then we went through different hair coloring and combings to find the one that
looked most like Bobby. Some people say there is a superficial resemblance. The
false teeth, the training the hair coloring lent to the illusion."
"It didn't just happen. I remember there was
one day where I'd been training for 2 or 3 weeks.
They had to make our suits. I was standing in
front of the mirror after working out for 2 weeks
and I saw this skinny little torso coming out of
these 60's suit pants. I said, that's the guy.
This was very specific with the trainer. I worked
with Rory Leidelmeier. He was a former Mr. America.
The whole regime and the dietary regime was meant
to build me into lean muscles. It was kind of like
sculpting it. And I also think the intense physical
training helped me to inseminate Bobby's inner life."
The change also included false teeth.
Director Roger Donaldson insisted that Culp wear false teeth. Gary Archer, the
man who designed Mike Meyers's Austin's teeth, designed the Kennedy's pearly
whites. (Both Steven and Bruce Greenwood used false teeth in the movie)
The false teeth also helped Steven with the Kennedy's accent. Steven explains:
"Then we found a set of false teeth. The first set we found were pretty close
to Bobby's teeth, but they were too big for my jaw. I had false upper teeth."
"There's this sort of high tonality to Bobby's voice, and as soon as I put
in the teeth it made the opening different. It did something to my vocal aperture"
Then came the accent. Steven spent time training and practicing with a dialect
coach to master Bobby's Boston accent.
Before and during the filming of the movie, Steven and Bruce came up with an
idea to practice on their accent. They would call each other on the phone and do
what Steven called "dueling Kennedy's".
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Did all the work pay off? Critics seem to think so.
"I love Greenwood and Culp as the Kennedy Brothers
here... Like Hopkins' Nixon, they possessed the
characters they played through impressionistic
manners.... The hair is there, the gestures... a
look in the eye... a quarter turn this way and
that. Without an admiration for these two and the
work they do...everything would fall apart."
"Acting nominations? Steven Culp's Bobby would deserve
one in my eyes."
"Steven Culp is a-dead-ringer for Robert F. Kennedy"
A member of JAG's production team, had this to say about it:
"I can tell you SC gives a Bravo Zulu performance. He is Bobby Kennedy!"
(quotes are from various print and on line sources)
Totally Steven's "Thirteen Days" Contests!
This is your chance to win a "Thirteen Days" movie poster!
We have put together a "Thirteen Days" trivia game.
You can possibly find the answers to the questions on
the various links and sites dedicated to the movie, or
you can wait until you see the movie to get the answers.
There is no "due" date for the contest. The contest
will simply end when the first entry with all correct
anwers is received by us. The winner will be notifed
as well as a message posted at the Webb/Culp mailing
list and the SC Fan Connection Notification List.
If this is too hard for you, we do have an Anagram
Contest. Unscramble the letters to find words related
to the movie.
The entry with the most correct answers wins the
30 plus pages of production notes sent to us with the
Official Press Kit for the movie and three 8X10 black
& white photos of Steven as Bobby Kennedy.
"13 days" Anagrams
What Is Available For The Fans?
For the real big fans of Steven and "13 Days", there are a few things you can collect. The soundtrack of the movie is now available in several stores across the nation. You can also order it on line at MySimon The movie poster is available through All Posters or PosterVille Here at Totally Steven! we have several of the Production Notes that were sent out with the press kits, available to the fans. (These are approximatelly 40 pages of notes about the movie, cast, production staff etc...) If you are interested you can contact us and we will send them out to you. (You just pay for the cost of shipping. Apprx. $3.20 for priority mail if you are in the States) Also available are four 8X10 black and white photos of Steven as Robert Kennedy. If you are interested you can contact us and we will pick them up for you on our next trip into Hollywood. We have also put together a short tape with the programs we have caught on television about the movie. The tape contains the 30 minute special on the movie that was shown on cable tv during the month of November. (Includes scenes from the movie, interviews with Steven, Bruce and Kevin.) Tapes also contain scenes from the movie premiere, ET, CNN and "One on One". If interested just email us at: culpfan@yahoo.com You only pay for the cost of the tape and shipping.
The "Thirteen Days" T-shirt is also available through the New
Line Store. The shirt is $15.50 and you can order it on line.
Click on "select more merchandise" and then look for the
tittle of the movie.
Steven at the Premier of "Thirteen Days"