Adaptation (2002)

***Adaptation*** is a 2002 American meta comedy-drama film directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman. It features an ensemble cast including Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, and Chris Cooper, with Cara Seymour, Brian Cox, Tilda Swinton, Ron Livingston, and Maggie Gyllenhaal in supporting roles.

Kaufman based *Adaptation* on his struggles to adapt Susan Orlean's 1998 nonfiction book *The Orchid Thief* while suffering from writer's block. It involves elements adapted from the book, plus fictitious elements, including Kaufman's twin brother (also credited as a writer for the film) and a romance between Orlean and Laroche. It culminates in completely invented elements, including versions of Orlean and Laroche three years after the events of *The Orchid Thief*.

*Adaptation* was praised for its direction, screenplay, humor, and the performances of Cage, Cooper, and Streep. It received awards at the 75th Academy Awards, 60th Golden Globe Awards, and 56th British Academy Film Awards, with Cooper winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and Kaufman winning the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. A British Film Institute poll ranked it one of the thirty best films of the 2000s.

## Shooting

* Filming was from March of 2001 - June of 2001.

## Cast

* Nicolas Cage - Charlie Kaufman / Donald Kaufman
* Tilda Swinton - Valerie Thomas
* Meryl Streep - Susan Orlean
* Chris Cooper - John Laroche
* Jay Tavare - Matthew Osceola
* Litefoot - Russell (as G. Paul Davis)
* Roger Willie - Randy
* Jim Beaver - Ranger Tony
* Cara Seymour - Amelia Kavan
* Doug Jones - Augustus Margary
* Stephen Tobolowsky - Ranger Steve Neely (scenes deleted)
* Gary Farmer - Buster Baxley
* Peter Jason - Defense Attorney
* Gregory Itzin - Prosecutor
* Curtis Hanson - Orlean's Husband
* Agnes NaDene Baddoo - Orlean Dinner Guest (as Agnes Badoo)
* Paul Fortune - Orlean Dinner Guest
* Paul Jasmin - Orlean Dinner Guest
* Lisa Love - Orlean Dinner Guest
* Wendy Mogel - Orlean Dinner Guest
* David O. Russell - Orlean Dinner Guest
* Judy Greer - Alice the Waitress
* Maggie Gyllenhaal - Caroline Cunningham
* Bob Stephenson - David
* Bob Yerkes - Charles Darwin
* Lynn Court - Laroche's Dad
* Roger E. Fanter - Laroche's Uncle Jim
* Sandra Lee Gimpel - Laroche's Mom (as Sandra Gimpel)
* Caron Colvett - Laroche's Wife
* Larry Krask - EMT
* Ron Livingston - Marty Bowen
* Brian Cox - Robert McKee
* John Etter - McKee Lecture Attendee
* Ray Berrios - Police Officer
* Nancy Lenehan - Kaufman's Mother (voice)

**Rest of cast listed alphabetically:**

* Susan Orlean - Woman in Supermarket (scenes deleted)
* Lance Acord - Himself (uncredited)
* Brigitte Bogle - Teenage Orlean (uncredited)
* Ryan Bosch - Partygoer (uncredited)
* Jan Citron - Flower Shop Patron (uncredited)
* Curt Clendenin - Restaurant Customer (uncredited)
* Lathan Crowe - Orchid Vendor (uncredited)
* John Cusack - Himself (uncredited)
* Donald Dowd - Cafe Customer (uncredited)
* Chip Godwin - Bicycle Messenger (uncredited)
* Spike Jonze - Himself (uncredited)
* Catherine Keener - Herself (uncredited)
* Jake Magnuson - Cafe Customer (uncredited)
* John Malkovich - Himself (uncredited)
* Thomas Patrick Smith - Himself (uncredited)
* Rheagan Wallace - Kim Canetti (uncredited)
* Anne Zogby - Wardrobe Supervisor (uncredited)