Following its critically acclaimed, award-winning Broadway run, All The Way a riveting behind-the-scenes look at President Lyndon B. Johnson’s tumultuous first year in office in the wake of President Kennedy’s assassination, comes to Asia the same time as the US exclusively on HBO – Sunday, May 22 at 8am with same-day primetime encore at 9pm. Also available on HBO GO.
Bryan Cranston (four-time Emmy® winner for “Breaking Bad”) reprises his Tony Award-winning role for the HBO Original Movie, which is directed by Jay Roach (Emmy® winner for HBO’s “Game Change” and “Recount”) from a screenplay by Robert Schenkkan (two-time Emmy® nominee and Writers Guild Award winner for HBO’s “The Pacific”), who has adapted his Tony Award-winning play of the same name.
Co-starring with Cranston are Anthony Mackie (Martin Luther King, Jr.), Melissa Leo (Lady Bird Johnson), Bradley Whitford (Hubert Humphrey) and Frank Langella (Sen. Richard Russell). Additional cast members include Joe Morton (Roy Wilkins), Stephen Root (J. Edgar Hoover), Marque Richardson (Bob Moses), Aisha Hinds (Fanny Lou Hamer), Todd Weeks (Walter Jenkins), Mo McRae (Stokely Carmichael) and Spencer Garrett (Walter Reuther).
This HBO Original Movie follows President Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) during his early administration, as he stakes his presidency on what would be an historic, unprecedented Civil Rights Act. Johnson finds himself caught between the moral imperative of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the expectations of the southern Democratic Party leaders who brought Johnson to power. As King battles to press Johnson while controlling more radical elements of the Civil Rights movement, Johnson navigates the bill through Congress, winning a landslide victory against Barry Goldwater, but causing the South to defect from the Democratic Party.
ALL THE WAY is produced for HBO by Amblin Television, Tale Told Productions, Moonshot Entertainment and Everyman Pictures, with Steven Spielberg, Robert Schenkkan, Bryan Cranston, Jay Roach, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey (“The Americans”) executive producing, and James Degus (“Sneaky Pete”) co-executive producing.
The 2014 Broadway production of “All the Way,” starring Cranston, swept the awards season, winning Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League and Tony awards, as well as the Steinberg/American Theater Critics Award, the inaugural Edward M. Kennedy Award and Boston’s Elliot Norton Award. The play also set Broadway box-office records twice for biggest weekly gross of a new play (non-musical).
Other HBO playdate: May 28 (1.10am)
On HBO Signature: June 11 (10pm), June 12 (2.20pm) and June 26 (12.10am)
ABOUT THE STORY
Raised in Texas, writer Robert Schenkkan’s interest in LBJ goes much deeper than a playwright’s search for theatrical fodder. His father knew Johnson when he was a senator and sought his support in creating the first public television and radio station in the Southwest. There are stories of visiting LBJ’s ranch, where, on one occasion, the family station wagon was pushed out of a muddy ditch by the man himself. As a young boy, Schenkkan volunteered at Johnson campaign headquarters with his mother and watched his family celebrate Johnson’s 1964 win over Barry Goldwater.
That year marked a critical moment in U.S. history. Segregation was being rocked by a strong counter-movement of social justice. Change was no longer just a possibility, but a necessity. A large cast of players, who would do battle and set the stage for this social shift, surrounded Johnson, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Bob Moses, Stokely Carmichael, Sen. Hubert Humphrey, Gov. George Wallace, Sen. Richard Russell, J. Edgar Hoover, Sen. Everett Dirksen and Ralph Abernathy. Strong women such as Lady Bird Johnson and Fannie Lou Hamer made their voices heard and helped to change the course of events.
“All the Way” was not just LBJ’s campaign slogan, but also captured the do-or-die mentality of all the players on the political battlefield. To what lengths would they go? What lines – political, legal and moral – were they prepared to cross? And at what cost? Each character in the film wrestles with these questions, and many are surprised by the personal discoveries they make.
“I am pleased that, thanks to HBO, Robert Schenkkan’s Tony Award-winning play will now reach television,” says executive producer Steven Spielberg. “With Jay Roach directing and Bryan Cranston’s brilliant portrayal of LBJ, audiences will be able to share in this larger-than-life president’s role in a crucial turning point in American history.”
Having directed “Recount” and “Game Change” for HBO, director Jay Roach was no stranger to politically themed films, and was attracted to ALL THE WAY for its revealing portrait of LBJ, showing the dichotomy of a man many consider to be one of the great leaders of all time. Yet on a personal level, Johnson was plagued by low self-esteem and haunted by fears of humiliation and loneliness. Roach saw ALL THE WAY as LBJ’s journey from his own private hell to the great arena of power and politics.
“This story is as relevant in 2016 as it was when LBJ was thrust into office in 1963,” says Roach. “Racial inequality and discrimination once again dominate the headlines, and the country looks to political leaders with the power to make significant change. ALL THE WAY reminds us of a leader who stood for the rights of others despite the opposition, and who surrounded himself with extraordinary people who shared his vision and worked to make it a reality.”
ALL THE WAY was filmed in Los Angeles on sets designed by Mark Ricker, with costumes designed by Daniel Orlandi. Jim Denault was the director of photography; Carol Littleton was the editor. The striking physical transformations of the actors into their characters were designed and supervised by Bill Corso along with Frank Perez.
