The Special Relationship

Michael Sheen plays former Prime Minister Tony Blair for the third time. His two previous appearances as Blair were in The Queen (2006) and The Deal (2003).

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Helen McCrory also played Cherie Blair alongside Michael Sheen's Tony Blair in The Queen (2006).

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Peter Morgan and Michael Sheen discussed developing this film in 2007. It was initially going to focus on Tony Blair's relationship with former American President George W. Bush.

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Because the real figures' appearances were in place, dialogue coach Penny Dyer had to make sure the actors had the original voices of the people they were playing. Dyer explained: "We never attempt an impersonation, because that's what comedians do. The actors inhabit the characters and my job is to bring the supporting qualities that will help create that person's reality. It's not just about vowels and consonants. It's really about helping them find the physicality, the vocal quality and the energy that shaped their characters."

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Mark Bazeley reprises his role from The Queen (2006), in which he also played Tony Blair's aide Alastair Campbell.

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Dennis Quaid also played the President of the United States in American Dreamz (2006).

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This made-for-television film received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations, among them Outstanding Made for Television Movie, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for Dennis Quaid as former Arkansas Governor and American President Bill Clinton, and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for Hope Davis as former US Senator, Secretary of State, FLOTUS and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Michael Sheen received a nomination in a miniseries or film category for playing United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Peter Morgan received one for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special, but the production won none of these categories.

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Great care was taken to ensure the line between factual research and artistic licence was not blurred. Researchers, consultants and fact-checkers were used to make sure the events depicted were reflected fairly and accurately.

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The five-year period covered by this made-for-television feature film runs from 1997 to 2001.

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While preparing for the role of FLOTUS, Hope Davis watched hours of Hillary Clinton's film and video and listened to extensive speech tapes as she prepared for the First Lady role, and she also read all of her books.

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Actress Hope Davis was fitted with special teeth and various wigs for the role of former American First Lady (FLOTUS) and later US Senator Hillary Clinton.

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Dialogue coach Penny Dyer described the vocal quality of Hillary Clinton, played by Hope Davis, as "a gift of a voice… a 'great weapon' voice with much more vocal energy than Bill's ['Bill Clinton']. So whatever Dennis Quaid [as Bill] is doing, Hope Davis has to take it beyond that." Actress Hope Davis added: "We're not here to try to impersonate our characters or become them. We're trying to show their story, and we walk the line between serving and honouring the story and making sure people know who they're looking at when they turn on the TV."

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Helen McCrory returns to the role of Cherie Blair, which she previously played in The Queen (2006). Between the two actors playing Tony Blair and his wife Cherie Blair, Michael Sheen and Helen McCrory, there is a level of comfort because they have known each other for years since theatre school. Although they had never acted together before The Queen (2006), they had previously run a theatre production company together and produced plays at the Donmar Theatre in London.

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Production Designer Maria Djurkovic was struck by the visible differences between the two seats of British and American power. She joked: "The White House has a much glossier look, much more American-feeling. Downing Street, on the other hand, has never been near an interior designer. There's a beautiful Sheridan chest on one side of the fireplace and a photocopier on the other."

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Before Dennis Quaid was cast, Russell Crowe, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alec Baldwin and Tim Robbins were considered for the role of Bill Clinton.

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David Morrissey was asked to reprise the role of Gordon Brown, but he left before filming because his character had only one scene. Chris Wilson ultimately played the role.

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Writer Peter Morgan initially planned to make his directorial debut with this television film, but reportedly gave up that ambition about a month before principal photography.

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Richard Loncraine replaced the television film's writer, Peter Morgan, as director.

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Producer Frank Doelger said: "What makes Peter's [Peter Morgan] script so rich is the unique perspective he adopts in telling the story. He talks about the lost opportunity not only for the Clintons ['Bill Clinton' and Hillary Clinton], but I think for the world. He sheds new light on events people think they know and offers them a context that has never been treated dramatically before."

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Star Dennis Quaid drew on the best kind of research to play former US President Bill Clinton: personal experience. Quaid spent a weekend at the White House with former American President Clinton in the 1990s and occasionally played golf with him. As well as being close and personal with Clinton, Quaid read numerous books about him and found his autobiography the most illuminating and useful book for studying the day-to-day process of being president.

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In The Special Relationship (2010), Michael Sheen reprises the role of Tony Blair, whom he had played in Peter Morgan's The Deal (2003) and The Queen (2006). Sheen explained: "I wanted to see the trilogy through. I wanted the opportunity to explore the character of Blair a little more comprehensively, a little more fully." Unlike the first two films, which focused on two specific episodes during Blair's time in office, The Special Relationship (2010) shows the man's progression and recounts his so-called "Bambi"-like political rise before becoming Prime Minister, his growing confidence as he acquired a firmer political footing, and his eventual status as a senior statesman working hand in hand with the new American President, George W. Bush.

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Actress Helen McCrory, a strong admirer of the former First Lady of the United Kingdom, found Cherie Blair "quite formidable" and said she was pleased with her new public persona since Blair left office, noting: "The press portrayed her very badly, but now Cherie has come into her own professionally. She has written a book, she raises her voice much more, and she puts her money where her mouth is by supporting women's entrepreneurial progress in Eastern Europe and India."

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Unlike Michael Sheen and Helen McCrory, who played the Blairs — Tony Blair and Cherie Blair — in The Queen (2006), Dennis Quaid and Hope Davis came to the roles of the Clintons — Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton — with equal measures of fear and respect.

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Turning Dennis Quaid into former American President Bill Clinton was the responsibility of hair and make-up designer Daniel Phillips, whose aim was to help the actors enter their roles without caricatured, carbon-copy make-up. Although Clinton's nose is a distinctive feature, it was decided to abandon any attempt to replicate it on Quaid. Subtler touches were chosen instead.

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To play former Cherie Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, actress Helen McCrory wore a series of wigs reflecting the years 1996-2000.

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Michael Sheen's naturally curly hair had to be straightened to resemble the character of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

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Dialogue coach Penny Dyer had previously worked with Michael Sheen on both The Deal (2003) and The Queen (2006), but she appreciated the "different" Tony Blair who appears in The Special Relationship (2010). Dyer said: "This is a Tony Blair who has sort of come into his own, who has found his own power, both mentally and spiritually. We actually hear the political transition in his voice."

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Star Dennis Quaid said of the role of former American President Bill Clinton: "I've played real people in the past, most of whom were dead. Taking on Clinton, a very well-known and distinctive character, was quite daunting. But I have a philosophy that I should do the thing I'm most afraid of doing. No one had played Bill Clinton before except in parody, and I thought it was a real opportunity."

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Although most viewers are familiar with images of the American President's Oval Office or the British Prime Minister's address at Downing Street, production designer Maria Djurkovic did not feel bound to reality. She explained: "There was something interesting about not just recreating these spaces exactly, but instead taking the essence of the space and creating these worlds."

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The job of visually creating the worlds of world leaders in the United Kingdom and the United States fell to production designer Maria Djurkovic. Faced with the daunting task of creating seventy-one sets in seven weeks, Djurkovic and her team set about designing and assembling everything from the American President's Oval Office in the White House in Washington, D.C., USA, to the British Prime Minister's home at 10 Downing Street in London, England, the interior of the Élysée Palace in Paris, France, and a refugee camp in Kosovo in Southeastern Europe, at practical locations and sound stages in and around London.

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Hair and make-up designer Daniel Phillips oversaw the transformations of all the lead actors and actresses into real-life characters: Hope Davis into former US Senator and First Lady Hillary Clinton; Dennis Quaid into former American President Bill Clinton; Michael Sheen into former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; and Helen McCrory into former British First Lady Cherie Blair.

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Turning the screenplay into a film was the task of director Richard Loncraine. Producer Frank Doelger said: "Richard is a master at bringing the written page to life. He has a remarkable way of realizing a scene that takes its content beyond just the conversation. In a politically based film like this, that's very important."

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One of a series of political films/politically themed pictures featuring actor Michael Sheen. The films include The Deal (2003), The Queen (2006), Frost/Nixon (2008), The Special Relationship (2010) and Kill the Messenger (2014).

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Both Adam Godley and Michael Sheen played Kenneth Williams in television films, Godley in Cor, Blimey! (2000) and Sheen in Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! (2006).

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Producer Tracey Scoffield said: "Peter [Peter Morgan], as a writer, has the ability to go behind closed doors and present fact-based characters in a way that is quite convincing and real, and to show them doing surprising things. Because he chooses to use humour in his stories and to show people in domestic settings doing and saying things we normally couldn't imagine, we get the pleasure of feeling that we are eavesdropping or being given privileged access."

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Extensive research and actual visits to various locations allowed production designer Maria Djurkovic to use her own artistic licence, in keeping with director Richard Loncraine, to bring the look and feel of real locations to the screen. She received cooperation from both the US White House and Downing Street in the United Kingdom and was allowed to tour the facilities. She said: "It was wonderful. We took a tour of the West Wing and I stood in the Oval Office and saw Sasha Obama playing in the garden with her dog Beau."

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At the start of the film there are many similarities between Tony Blair and Bill Clinton; both are centre-left progressive politicians driven by personal ambition, but equally by the belief that they can change the world and do great good. What begins as a formal friendship between two national figures turns into a genuine connection, a meeting of kindred spirits and ideological soulmates pursuing their own internal agendas. The world watches the experienced and charismatic American President take the less experienced British Prime Minister under his political wing and show him his famous tricks of the trade. Their professional simpatico spills over into their personal lives and brings the two couples together.

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The opening title card of The Special Relationship states: "Washington 1992".

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