
“FIVE” is an anthology of five short films exploring the impact of breast
cancer on people’s lives directed by Jennifer Aniston, Alicia Keys, Demi
Moore, Patty Jenkins and Penelope Spheeris.
Through an interconnected story arc that uses humor and drama to focus on
the effect breast cancer and its different stages of diagnosis have on
relationships and the way women perceive themselves while searching for
strength, comfort, medical breakthroughs and, ultimately, a cure. Five
highlights the shared experience each short film’s title character
Charlotte (Goodwin), Cheyanne (Fonseca), Lili (Dawson), Mia
(Clarkson) and Pearl (Tripplehorn) endures from the moment of diagnosis.
Each touching storyline is tied together by chronologically featuring
Pearl, beginning as a confused child bravely facing the loss of her mother
(Goodwin) to breast cancer to her adult life as a mother and oncologist
treating other patients (Fonseca, Dawson and Clarkson) before she herself is
diagnosed with the same disease that took her mother.
Lifetime’s FIVE Cast Bios:
The all-star ensemble cast includes Academy Award nominee Patricia Clarkson
(Pieces of April), Rosario Dawson (Sin City), Lyndsy Fonseca (How I Met
Your Mother), Ginnifer Goodwin (Big Love), Josh Holloway (Lost), Taylor
Kinney (The Vampire Diaries), Jenifer Lewis (The Princess and the Frog),
Jennifer Morrison (House M.D.), Kathy Najimy (WALL-E), Golden Globe
Award winner Bob Newhart (Horrible Bosses), Annie Potts (Law & Order:
SVU), Tracee Ellis Ross (Girlfriends), Emmy and Golden Globe winner Tony
Shalhoub (Monk), and Emmy nominees Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development)
and Jeanne Tripplehorn (Big Love).
FIVE – On October 10,2011, Patricia Clarkson, Rosario Dawson, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Holloway, Jennifer Morrison, Kathy Najimy, Bob Newhart, Annie Potts, Tony Shalhoub, Jeffrey Tambor and Jeanne Tripplehorn Round Out Groundbreaking Anthology’s All-Star Cast Anthology of Short Films Directed by Jennifer Aniston, Alicia Keys, Demi Moore,Patty Jenkins and Penelope Spheeris Explores Impact of Breast Cancer on People’s Lives
– Lifetime Television will premiere its groundbreaking original movie Five (formerly Project Five), an anthology of five short films exploring the impact of breast cancer on people’s lives directed by Jennifer Aniston, Alicia Keys, Demi Moore, Independent Spirit Award winner Patty Jenkins (The Killing) and Penelope Spheeris (Wayne’s World), on Monday, October 10, 2011.
From executive producers Aniston, Marta Kauffman (Friends), Paula Wagner (The Last Samurai, Mission: Impossible), Kristin Hahn (The Departed, The Switch), Kevin Chinoy (Greg the Bunny, Warren the Ape) and Francesca Silvestri (Greg the Bunny, Warren the Ape), Five features an all-star ensemble cast including Academy Award® nominee Patricia Clarkson (Pieces of April), Rosario Dawson (Sin City), Lyndsy Fonseca (How I Met Your Mother), Ginnifer Goodwin (Big Love), Josh Holloway (Lost), Taylor Kinney (The Vampire Diaries), Jenifer Lewis (The Princess and the Frog), Jennifer Morrison (House M.D.), Kathy Najimy (WALL-E), Golden Globe® Award winner Bob Newhart (Horrible Bosses), Annie Potts (Law & Order: SVU), Tracee Ellis Ross (Girlfriends), Emmy® and Golden Globewinner Tony Shalhoub (Monk), and Emmy nominees Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development) and Jeanne Tripplehorn (Big Love). The project was cast by Randi Hiller and Tamara-Lee Notcutt. The inspiration for the five films was brought to the producers by co-executive producer Mike Wiese of JWT.
Through an interconnected story arc developed by Kauffman that uses humor and drama to focus on the effect breast cancer and its different stages of diagnosis have on relationships and the way women perceive themselves while searching for strength, comfort, medical breakthroughs and, ultimately, a cure, Five highlights the shared experience each short film’s title character – “Charlotte” (Goodwin), “Cheyanne” (Fonseca), “Lili” (Dawson), “Mia” (Clarkson) and “Pearl”
(Tripplehorn) – endures from the moment of diagnosis. Each touching storyline is tied together by chronologically featuring “Pearl,” beginning as a confused child bravely facing the loss of her mother (Goodwin) to breast cancer to her adult life as a mother and oncologist treating other patients (Fonseca, Dawson and Clarkson) before she herself is diagnosed with, and ultimately beats, the same disease that took her mother.
Under Kauffman’s supervision, writers Stephen Godchaux (Spin City, Dead Like Me), Jill Gordon (Cupid, My So-Called Life), Howard Morris (Women are Crazy, Men are Stupid), Deirdre O’Connor (The Electric Company) and Wendy West (Dexter, The Closer) have written the films included in Five, which is produced by Sony Pictures Television, Echo Films, Chestnut Ridge Productions and Freestyle Picture Company.
ABOUT THE FIVE ANTHOLOGY
Directed by Moore and written by Godchaux, Five’s opening film, Charlotte, takes place the night man first walks on the moon in July 1969, when a young “Pearl” (Ava Acres) is more concerned about why her family is not letting her see her mother, “Charlotte” (Goodwin), who lies in her bedroom dying from breast cancer. When she sneaks in to see and ultimately say goodbye to her mother, “Pearl” develops a lifelong passion to help others afflicted with the disease and eventually opens an oncology clinic where she will treat the women we meet throughout Five. Charlotte also stars Tripplehorn, Holloway, Potts, Morrison and Newhart.
In Cheyanne, directed by Spheeris and written by Morris, sexy, young stripper “Cheyanne” (Fonseca) and her handsome newlywed husband “Tommy” (Kinney) struggle to redefine their passionate relationship, as well as who they are as individuals, when Cheyenne is shocked with a breast cancer diagnosis. Looking at a severe prognosis, “Cheyanne’s” aggressive treatment ultimately results in the removal of both of her breasts, which have defined her life physically, financially and emotionally.
Lili, directed by Keys and written by Gordon, follows “Lili,” a fiercely independent career-minded woman (Dawson), who recruits her sister (Ross) to help tell their hard-nosed mother (Lewis) that she has breast cancer. As they work through their past issues, “Lili’s” mother and sister ultimately become her strongest allies when she needs her family the most. Lili also stars Tambor as a male patient diagnosed with breast cancer.
Directed by Aniston, written by West and told in a series of humorous and dramatic flashbacks, Mia is a survivor’s tale that highlights all of the highs and lows of “Mia’s” (Clarkson) two-year journey from diagnosis with breast cancer during which she gives away all of her worldly possessions, holds a hilarious mock funeral while still alive and enters into a second marriage to “Mitch” (Shalhoub), the new love of her life. Mia also features Najimy as her friend “Rocky.”
In Pearl, directed by Jenkins and written by O’Connor, “Pearl” (Tripplehorn), the successful oncologist we have followed from childhood, suddenly finds herself in the patient’s seat when she is diagnosed with breast cancer. Through this process, she finally understands what her parents experienced that night in 1969 and finds the strength to tell her young daughter that everything is going to be OK…something she never heard as a child. Pearl also stars Clarkson, Shalhoub, Tambor, Newhart, Dawson, Ross and Lewis.
Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of deaths among women, affecting one in every eight females, with one in 35 of those women often dying from the disease. While breast cancer death rates are going down – likely a result of early detection – it’s estimated that nearly 200,000 new cases are diagnosed annually, with 40,000 deaths attributed to the disease each year. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among African American women, who are more likely to die from the disease than other ethnicities due to later detection and delayed treatment. Among Hispanic women, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death. There are currently 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.
Long at the forefront in the ongoing battle to fight breast cancer for more than 17 years, Lifetime’s Stop Breast Cancer for Life initiative has been dedicated to offering women the most up-to-date, comprehensive information about the disease.
Reaching women and families across the country in partnership with its cable affiliates, advertising sponsors and leading non-profit organizations, Lifetime has collected more than 25 million petition signatures to urge Congress to pass the bipartisan Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act, which would end “drive-through mastectomies,” the practice where women are sometimes forced to leave the hospital just hours after invasive breast surgery. Lifetime and its audience are now urging the health insurance industry to allow women to stay in the hospital up to 48 hours after a mastectomy as a standard of care.
Past Lifetime Original Movies addressing breast cancer include Living Proof, produced by Renée Zellweger and Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Drop Dead Diva) and starring Harry Connick Jr., Amanda Bynes, Angie Harmon, Amy Madigan and others; the Emmy® Award nominated Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy, with Sarah Chalke; and Matters of Life & Dating, starring Ricki Lake.
FIVE premieres Monday, October 10th at 9/8c on Lifetime
FIVE Premieres Monday, October 10th at 9/8c on Lifetime.
Lifetime Five Website: http://www.mylifetime.com/movies/five
Five, A lifetime movie about Breast Cancer
Five Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/fivethemovie
Five Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/fivethemovie
Videos:
“Five” Directors Video Link: http://youtu.be/gH1oY1P4b0I
“Five” Characters Video Link: http://youtu.be/0nph_oiKy18