Finding Forrester
Finding Forrester is a 2000 American drama film written by Mike Rich and directed by Gus Van Sant. An African-American teenager, Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown), is invited to attend a prestigious private high school. By chance, Jamal befriends a reclusive writer, William Forrester (Sean Connery), through whom he refines his talent for writing and comes to terms with his identity. Anna Paquin, F. Murray Abraham, Michael Pitt, Glenn Fitzgerald, April Grace and Busta Rhymes star in supporting roles. Although the film is not based on a true story, film critics have compared the character portrayed by Connery with real life writer J.D. Salinger. Connery later acknowledged that the inspiration for his role was indeed Salinger.
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery is a retired Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards (one of them being a BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award) and three Golden Globes (including the Cecil B. DeMille Award and a Henrietta Award). He was knighted by Elizabeth II in July 2000 after receiving a Kennedy Center Honors in the US in 1999. Connery is best known for portraying the character James Bond, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. In 1988, Connery won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Untouchables. His film career also includes such films as Marnie, The Name of the Rose, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Hunt for Red October, Highlander, Murder on the Orient Express, Dragonheart, and The Rock.
Rob Brown
Rob Brown (born March 1, 1984) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the films Finding Forrester (2000), Coach Carter (2005), Take the Lead (2006), and The Express (2008), and for starring in the HBO series Treme (2010-13). He is currently cast in the NBC drama Blindspot as FBI Agent Edgar Reade.
Gus Van Sant
Gus Green Van Sant, is an American film director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician and author who has earned acclaim as both an independent and more mainstream filmmaker. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultures, in particular homosexuality; as such, Van Sant is considered one of the most prominent auteurs of the New Queer Cinema movement.