Making News at the Morning Glory Premiere

When Hollywood’s A-list stars gather for a movie premiere, it is always news, especially when the movie in question is packed with top names.
But at the premiere of the new comedy “Morning Glory” held Sunday, Nov. 7, at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York, it was hard to tell where the news left off and the film began.
For “Morning Glory” is all about a morning news show, so it’s a film about news making news. Think “Good Morning America” or the “Today” show, except call it “Daybreak,” then add in Rachel McAdams starring as an up-and-coming young producer, and Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton as two warring on-air news-casting veterans and you’ve got the basis of this romantic comedy.
As McAdams told reporters at an earlier press conference, she discovered that getting into the spirit of her character wasn’t much of a struggle.
“We were fortunate enough to be invited into the control rooms of ‘Good Morning America,’ and the ‘Today’ show, and ‘The Early Show,’ and I just shadowed some executive producers there,” she recalled.
However, finding her way into her character necessarily took some imagination, as McAdams revealed.
“There are not a lot of female producers on those shows, though. It’s very uncommon. So I think there’s only been a handful at those bigger shows, which says something about the hours and what the job requires. I’ve realized it’s actually easier to be an actress than an executive producer on a morning television show! You have a little bit more time to yourself.”
Keaton laughed when asked which morning-show host she modeled for her slightly over-the-top anchorwoman, and immediately responded with “it was absolutely Diane Sawyer.” But Ford had a different take on his character, despite the presence of “Good Morning America” host George Stephanopoulos at the night’s gala event.
“I didn’t want to imitate anybody else,” Ford said in his usual gruff style. “So I didn’t pattern my character after any particular newsman.”
All three stars posed prettily with the others involved with “Morning Glory,” including actors Jeff Goldblum, Patrick Wilson, Ty Burrell, Mike Malloy and John Pankow, as well as producer J. J. Abrams, director Roger Michell and singer Natasha Bedingfield, whose song “Strip Me” is used in the movie.
Also on hand for the premiere were morning-show host Hoda Kotb, “Boardwalk Empire” star Gretchen Mol and Mario Lopez, who was reporting the news about the movie about the news for the television gossip show “Extra.”