Based on the emotional and inspiring novel by literary

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Run Time: 1 Hour and 50 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for sexual content and some thematic issues
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Based on the emotional and inspiring novel by literary superstar Nicholas Sparks,
The Choice chronicles the power of love from a young couple’s rocky first meeting to a
life-long romance that will be tested as their lives take a turn that neither of them ever
anticipated.
When feisty medical student Gabby Holland moves in next door to perennial ladies’
man Travis Shaw, they embark on a surprising romantic journey neither imagined possible.
Travis has always believed a serious relationship would cramp his easygoing lifestyle, while
Gabby is preparing to settle down with her long-term boyfriend—until an irresistible
attraction between the unlikely couple upends both of their well-planned lives. Spanning a
decade and tracing the evolution of a love affair that is ultimately tested by life's most
defining events, this story features a memorable ensemble of friends and family in Sparks's
beloved North Carolina setting, culminating with the question that every couple must ask
themselves: how far would you go to keep the hope of love alive?
Directed by Ross Katz (Adult Beginners, Lost in Translation), The Choice stars
Benjamin Walker (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, In the Heart of the Sea), Teresa Palmer
(Warm Bodies, I Am Number Four), Maggie Grace (Taken, “Lost”), Alexandra Daddario (San
Andreas, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief), Tom Welling (“Smallville,” Draft
Day), Brett Rice, Brad James, Jesse Boyd, Noree Victoria, Anna Enger, Ashley Leconte
Campbell, Lou Lou Safran and two time Academy Award®-nominee Tom Wilkinson (Best
Actor, In the Bedroom, 2001; Best Supporting Actor, Michael Clayton, 2007).
The film is written for the screen by Bryan Sipe (Demolition, A Million Miles) and
based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook, The Last Song), who produces with
Peter Safran (The Conjuring, Scary Movie) and Theresa Park (The Best of Me, The Longest Ride).
Executive producer is Hans Ritter (Annabelle, Sound of My Voice). Co-producer is Dan Clifton
(Hours, ATM). The director of photography is Alar Kivilo, ACS, CSC (The Blind Side, The
Lake House). Production designer is Mark E. Garner (The Notebook, The Longest Ride). Editors
are Joe Klotz, ACE (Precious, Lee Daniels’ The Butler) and Lucy Donaldson (The Liberator, Mood
Indigo). Costume designer is Alex Bovaird (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Shame). Music is by
Marcelo Zarvos (Rock the Kasbah, American Ultra). Music supervisor is Marguerite Phillips.
Casting is by Mary Vernieu, CSA and Venus Kanani, CSA.
Lionsgate presents a Nicholas Sparks Productions / Safran Company / POW!
production, The Choice.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
With his latest film, The Choice, internationally best-selling author Nicholas Sparks
returns to his beloved North Carolina roots for an inspiring love story about the unexpected
choices, large and small, that come to define a lifetime. One of the world’s most popular
storytellers, Sparks has topped the New York Times bestseller list since 1996 when his first
novel, The Notebook, became a runaway hit. Since then, his books have sold over
100 million copies worldwide and have been translated into more than 50 languages.
Touching, emotional and deeply affecting, his books have also become the basis for
a series of hugely successful movies including this year’s The Longest Ride, as well as The Best of
Me, Safe Haven, The Lucky One, Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, Nights in
Rodanthe, Dear John and The Last Song. To date, films based on Sparks’ inspirational stories
have grossed over three-quarters of a billion dollars and have helped launch the film careers
of a generation of young actors, including Channing Tatum, Ryan Gosling, Mandy Moore,
Rachel McAdams, Zac Efron and Amanda Seyfried.
The Choice, the 11th film based on Sparks’ work, challenges audiences to consider
what they would do for a chance at a lifetime of love, as they watch Travis Shaw and Gabby
Holland journey from the first disorienting flush of passion through an unexpected
courtship that evolves into marriage and a family.
“The Choice may remind people of my very first novel, The Notebook,” says Sparks.
“A couple comes together and we watch their lives unfold. We see what eventually happens
between them and the choices they make. Watching it, you may think the title refers to a
choice that occurs early on, but there are plenty of twists and turns that make the story even
more memorable and profound.”
Nicholas Sparks Productions, launched in 2012 with Theresa Park, Spark’s longtime
literary agent and creative partner, oversaw the making of The Choice, the company’s first
feature film. “This is one of my favorites of Nick’s books,” says Park. “It’s among the most
joyful, devastating and redeeming. Our goal is to capture the lives of these wonderful
characters in a way that is less idealized and more grounded in real life. As always, there is an
aspirational quality to this film, but in a way that feels very real and very attainable — you
feel like this could happen to you.”
Working with Sparks, the master of old-fashioned romance, on a fresh, new look at
the beloved genre brought producer Peter Safran into the fold. “There are never enough
good love stories out there,” says Safran. “We deal with time-honored themes in the way
that only Nicholas Sparks can. Nick taps into feelings that we all experience, which is what I
love about his work. He’s wonderful at creating compelling situations in which two people
you want to be together have to overcome almost impossible hurdles. The Choice takes all of
that to the next level.”
Making a film outside the studio system gave them the opportunity to elevate the
genre, Safran explains. “There have been some wonderful films made from Nick’s work, but
we didn’t want to do the exact same thing again. This movie feels completely current. I love
romantic comedies, so I wanted to approach The Choice with heartfelt humor, as well as
passion and pathos.”
With that in mind, the filmmakers brought in Bryan Sipe, a young screenwriter
whose recent romantic comedy, Demolition, debuted at the 2015 Toronto Film Festival. The
New York-based, North Carolina-educated writer brought a contemporary perspective, as
well as an ear for crisp and fresh dialogue, while shining a brighter light on the supporting
characters.
“It became important to me to create a world around Travis and Gabby, while I
stayed true to the original characters and themes,” he says. “So I gave Travis’s family and
close circle of friends more prominence as a way to share some of his history and show the
world he comes from. I knew if I got that right, the fans would follow.”
Sparks and his fellow producers were fully supportive of Sipe’s ideas. “When you’re
adapting a novel for the screen, there are always changes that need to be made,” the author
says. “Bryan gave us a reason to assemble a fantastic ensemble cast, but the essence of the
story remains, which is the best of both worlds.”
Sipe says he prefers writing scripts in which the most impressive pyrotechnics come
from human emotion rather than big-ticket special effects. “And what is more
quintessentially human than falling in love? As I got to know Gabby and Travis, I began to
look forward to spending the day with them and watching their love grow. But this kind of
relationship works best the longer you keep them apart and the more obstacles they have to
overcome, so I couldn’t make things too easy for them.”
The producers agree that Sipe’s adaptation added depth to the original story. “The
screenplay is genuinely funny,” says Safran. “The second act is hot and sexy as Travis and
Gabby discover this irresistible attraction. And then the third act is really intense drama.
Throughout, you have two people falling in love and making the difficult choices that can go
along with that. Every step of the way, it feels real.”
The producer continues, “Nick and I were both really blown away by the job he did.
He turned this into a much more of an ensemble piece with a younger, hipper feel. He
stayed true to the characters and what draws them together, while adding tension, humor,
romance and passion.”
The priority for choosing a director, Sparks says, was finding someone with a vision
for the film that matched the potential that he and his fellow producers saw, as well as the
experience to realize that vision. They found that and more in Oscar® nominee Ross Katz
(Best Picture, In the Bedroom, 2001; Best Picture, Lost in Translation, 2003), he says. “He brings
North Carolina alive. He’s great with actors. In his hands, it’s immediately obvious why
Gabby will risk everything for Travis and at the same time you can see why Travis can’t pull
himself away from her.”
After a lengthy career as a producer of films, including the Academy Award®nominated box-office hits In the Bedroom, starring Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson, and Sofia
Coppola’s Lost in Translation, Katz began directing, taking on projects as diverse as the
emotional HBO drama Taking Chance with Kevin Bacon to the romantic comedy Adult
Beginners, starring Nick Kroll, Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale. “Ross’ track record told us
that he could handle all of it — comedy, romance and drama,” says Safran.
Katz first learned about The Choice when his agent called and told him to stop
whatever he was doing and read the script immediately. “There was so much about it that
was surprising, in the best possible way,” the director says. “I was laughing out loud as I read
it. The Choice has all the things that Nicholas Sparks fans look for, including a really fun
courtship, but I didn’t expect it to be so funny. And then it became sexy and romantic and
ultimately very poignant. It is refreshing and surprising. Even people who don’t already love
Nicholas’ books are going to be intrigued and satisfied.
“It’s a story that reminds you to always follow your heart,” the director says. “Life is
a series of choices and each small decision could have a tremendous effect. I hope that
people see themselves and their journeys toward finding a partner, friendships and
commitment.”
The audience can look forward to a story well told, says Sparks. “People will be
delighted by the humor, by the visual beauty of the movie and by the explosive chemistry
between our stars, Ben Walker and Teresa Palmer. I think that this film does an
extraordinary job of moving through all the emotions that make up a full life.”
Anyone looking for a perfect date movie should look no farther than The Choice,
says Safran. “This a film for anybody who has ever fallen in love or even dreamed of falling
in love. Whether you’re watching Gabby and Travis spend their first day together on his
boat with all of his friends or the two of them alone on the porch talking about what they
believe, there’s so much joy on the screen.
“The Choice is an especially beautiful love story about real characters and real
situations,” he adds. “In the midst of watching Gabby and Travis transformed by their love,
we are reminded that life ultimately comes down to the choices we all make, large and small.
I thought it was an inspiring book and we’re proud to have turned it into a movie that does
it justice.”
PARTNERS FOR LIFE
Casting The Choice became a bit like a jigsaw puzzle for the filmmakers, starting
with a charismatic pair of performers to play Travis and Gabby, and then surrounding them
with a group of actors who formed an authentic community of friends and family. “The
casting had to be very specific,” says Katz. “Travis and Gabby, Shep and Steph, they all had
to be people you could know, people you could aspire to be or be friends with, which makes
the film feel very real.”
To play Travis, a veterinarian who has spent his life in his North Carolina
hometown, the producers selected Benjamin Walker. A supremely confident good ol’ boy,
Travis has stayed close to family and friends, but never found the perfect girl. He loves his
house, his dog, and his boat and seems perfectly happy being single, until Gabby comes
along and he can’t escape the undeniable pull between them.
A rangy 6’3”, square-jawed and clear-eyed Walker has built an impressively varied
résumé in film, television and stage that includes Broadway turns as the brooding former
jock, Brick, in the 2013 revival of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (opposite Scarlett Johansson)
and a rock ’n’ rolling president of the United States in the critically acclaimed musical
“Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson,” as well as roles in Ron Howard’s seafaring drama In The
Heart of the Sea and as the title character in Timur Bekmambetov’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire
Hunter.
Walker was the first person the filmmakers met with for the role. “He’s a greatlooking, outdoorsy guy from Georgia, as well as a terrific actor,” says Park. “We wanted him
from the moment we met with him. Ben gives a subtle, nuanced performance that is the
heart of the film.”
Director Katz concurs: “He is all about the team and making the other actors
comfortable. He brings a tremendous amount of joy wherever he goes, as well as lots of
singing and dancing. To this day, his performance in ‘Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson’ is
one of my all-time favorites. He was electrifying.”
What sets The Choice apart, says Walker, is that it is not simply a story about falling
in love. “There are lots of stories about that, but this is about what loving actually is,” the
actor says. “People fall in love every day, but after that, the story is about how you keep it
going and stick together? How do you protect each other? Travis and Gabby have to
overcome serious obstacles to be together first and then life happens. He thought he was
happy being alone, but once he gets a taste of what it would really be like to share his life
with somebody, he fights for it.”
The actor gives Sparks kudos for daring to do something different at this point in an
already hugely successful career. “Nicholas’ movies are all romantic, but I believe he’s
done something new here,” Walker says. “This is both darker and funnier than what some
may expect, which is brave on his part. He could keep doing exactly what he has done in the
past, but instead he’s pushing himself. If you’re a fan of the book, it’s going to illuminate
something new in the story. And if you don’t know the book, you’re going to want to go
read it, because you’ll want to spend more time with these people.”
To play Travis’s reluctant love interest, the producers made up a short list of
actresses, topped by Australian charmer Teresa Palmer. Her sunny outlook and dazzling
smile had made her a contender for the lead in Sparks’ previous film, The Longest Ride, and
her performance in the zombie rom-com Warm Bodies left an unforgettable impression on
the filmmakers.
“Teresa is lightning in a bottle,” says Safran. “She had more energy and enthusiasm
than anyone else on set. She is beautiful and open and giving. It is so much fun to see Teresa
and Ben together, because they both have such over-the-top joie de vivre.”
Gabby is a highly motivated, ambitious young woman on track to become a doctor,
but living next door to Travis’s constant partying is distracting her from her studies. “It isn’t
love at first sight,” says Safran. “It’s actually more irritation and anger. I love the way they
meet. She storms across the lawn to tell him to turn his music down. In one of their first
conversations, Travis says, ‘you really bother me,’ not ‘you make me love you.’”
As it turned out, Palmer is a huge Nicholas Sparks fan. “I was 18 when The Notebook
was released,” she confesses. “I had a Notebook-themed stationery set. You could write letters
to your loved ones on paper printed with images from the movie. To have the opportunity
to be a part of a Nicholas Sparks story was such a dream.”
Palmer even convinced Walker to co-host a screening of the classic romantic drama
for cast and crew the weekend before filming started in North Carolina. “We all sat there
eating pizza and watching The Notebook,” recalls the actress, “I looked around and everyone
was crying.”
Palmer’s talent impressed the filmmakers as much as her enthusiasm. “Teresa is so
wonderful, lovely and charismatic,” says Park. “She’s just radiant in this movie. She’s also
deeply empathic and able to summon great wells of emotion. Her passion for the project and
for the story was so genuine. Everything she does feels authentic and real.”
Reading the script for the first time had her sobbing and laughing out loud at the
same time, says the actress. “Love is the heartbeat of this story, but it feels quite different
from other Nicholas Sparks films. It’s still North Carolina. And there’s a rowboat, which is
quintessential Nicholas Sparks. It’s romantic, but it can be just goofy as well. I love how
funny it is.”
Of course, the film has plenty of drama too, and one of the choices Gabby has to
make means hurting someone she loves very much. “Her head tells her that she needs to
stay with her longtime boyfriend Ryan,” Palmer explains. “But Travis breathes life back into
her and she realizes she isn’t truly being her best self. And of course, something bittersweet
happens. There’s always a little bit of tragedy in a Nicholas Sparks film.”
Whenever Palmer and Walker were on set together, the chemistry was electric,
according the filmmakers. “I love to watch couples begin to fall in love,” says Sparks. “When
your actors connect the way Ben and Teresa have, the interplay between them is
spellbinding. There is so much humor in their relationship and those elements of levity are
spectacular. It adds so much to the film and to the relationship.”
Palmer has nothing but praise for her co-star. “Ben Walker is an amazing, Julliardtrained actor,” she says. “I’m not classically trained, so I have to be completely present when
I am working with him. Finding our characters together helped create some wonderful
unscripted moments.”
For his part, Walker says the room lights up when Palmer walks in. “She’s really
good and really funny. We were able to play in the way that Travis and Gabby play and
improv those little elements of falling in love. We give each other a little bit of a hard time,
but it’s healthy and fun.”
Gabby and Travis begin to build a life together surrounded by Travis’s loved ones.
“For the first time in a film, we’ve gone out of our way to include a lot of friends and
family,” says Sparks. “Those characters help to flesh out who Gabby and Travis are, not just
to each other, but also in the world.”
Travis’s sister Steph, played by Maggie Grace, is a no-nonsense truth-teller and a
constant presence in his life. “Stephanie’s strength is her utter confidence in who she is,”
says Sparks. “She knows Travis better than he does himself, so she helps lead him in the
right direction — in a fun, loving, sisterly way.”
“Steph deserves her own movie,” adds Safran. “She is such a pistol. Maggie is so
unbelievably funny and acerbic in the role. She’s a perfect foil for Ben. When you watch
Ben, Maggie and Tom Wilkinson, who plays their father, together, you feel like you’re really
watching a family.”
Grace lends her own candid humor and high energy to the character. “This feels like
a really American story to me,” she says. “It’s a great date movie, and what the world needs
now is love sweet love.”
An independent straight-shooter, Steph was a great deal of fun to play, she says.
“She and Travis have a slightly combative, tough-love kind of relationship. They’re very
close. She knows even before Travis does that Gabby is the right one for him. I think she
reminds Steph of their late mother.”
The cast bonded immediately, says Grace, which paved the way for the comfortable
dynamic they have on screen. “Ben Walker has that little Southern spark that is wonderful
for Travis and Teresa is such a lovely spirit. When I found out that Tom was playing our
dad, I was so excited. I grew up watching him on BBC!”
Shep, Travis’s father and his partner in their veterinary practice, has a loving but
complicated relationship with his son. Deeply affected by his wife’s premature death, Shep
embraced his faith, while Travis walked away from it. While the character is more peripheral
in the original story, screenwriter Sipe was intrigued by the father-son bond and wanted to
explore it further. With Sparks’ blessing, he made Shep a more important part of his son’s
life. “I’ve always been interested in father-child relationships,” he says. “This gave me a
chance to play around with how traits are passed down from a father to both his son and his
daughter.”
Wilkinson, who earned an Academy Award® nomination for In the Bedroom, had to
juggle his always busy schedule, but Katz was determined to cast him as Shep. “My first
thought was nobody else can do this role with the heart and soul of Tom Wilkinson. Tom
brings a gravitas and a grace to everything he does. He doesn’t do a lot of supporting roles,
but thankfully he loved Bryan’s script. I was the happiest director in the world working with
extraordinary players like him.”
Wilkinson was attracted to what he calls a well-told love story. “They’re surprisingly
rare,” observes the actor. “This also has interesting, witty characters, and it’s a touching tale.
The relationship between Shep and his son is quite moving and when Travis and Gabby face
incredible obstacles, that relationship becomes extremely important. And I would walk
through hell to work with Ross. He’s has a fantastic ability to make people happy, while
making very special films.”
Both Gabby and Travis are in longstanding relationships when they first meet,
complicating the budding romance. The filmmakers knew it was be important that their
erstwhile partners be worthy rivals for Gabby and Travis’s affection, making the couple’s
final choice that much more difficult.
Tom Welling, perhaps best known for playing Clark Kent/Superman on the longrunning television series “Smallville,” plays Gabby’s serious boyfriend, Ryan McCarthy, a
handsome doctor from a fine Southern family who is everything that Gabby has ever
dreamed of in a mate.
“Gabby has her life all laid out for her,” says Katz. “She’s going to be a doctor. She’s
going to marry a doctor. It’s all part of the plan, until this rough-around-the-edges playboy
shows up and she throws it all up in the air. We had to make sure Ryan was so appealing that
the decision would be very hard to make.”
Ryan has a plan as well, and it includes being with Gabby. “He thinks he knows
exactly what he’s going to do with his life,” Welling says. “They’re very much in love and
very happy. There’s nothing truly lacking in the relationship, except that Gabby is still
finding herself. The choice she makes is less about Ryan vs. Travis and more about
discovering what she really wants out of life.”
Palmer agrees, adding, “Ryan and Gabby have a wonderful, connected relationship.
Her life with him would be fantastic, but things are never that black and white. The choice
has to be a hard one for her. I mean, anyone who ends up marrying Tom Welling is going to
have an amazing life!”
While Ryan ultimately finds himself losing someone very special to him, Welling says
there is an upside. “Like all the characters, he is faced with real-world choices that will
resonate with our audience and, I hope, inspire them.”
The role of Monica, Travis’s on-again, off-again girlfriend, known to his friends as
“Boomerang” because she always comes back, is played by Alexandra Daddario, recently
seen in San Andreas and the groundbreaking first season of HBO’s “True Detective.”
“We wanted to find the same quality for Monica that we did for Ryan,” says Safran.
“Alexandra is a gorgeous woman and a legitimate rival for Gabby — charming and funny
and smart. Travis is perfectly happy with Monica in and out of his life, until he meets
Gabby.”
The young actress, also an acknowledged Sparks fan, was thrilled to have a role in
The Choice. “I’m a sucker for a good love story. Our script is particularly romantic and
beautifully written. Monica and Travis keep reconnecting, but when he meets Gabby, it’s
over. What I found interesting about Monica is that when she realizes that Travis is in love
with somebody else, she walks away with no regrets.”
Travis’s longtime married-with-children group of friends play as big a part in his
romance with Gabby as they have in the rest of his life. The filmmakers surrounded the
characters with a carefully cast ensemble that includes Brad James and Noree Victoria as
hard-working businessman Ben and his outspoken wife Liz, as well as Jesse C. Boyd and
Anna Enger as Matt and his loving but suspicious wife Megan.
The cast was completed by two little-known actors who play the critical but
nonspeaking roles of Travis’s four-legged sidekick, Moby, and Gabby’s Golden Retriever,
Molly, whose unexpected pregnancy jumpstarts the relationship between the pair. As Moby,
six-year old Bolt, a spunky, fish-gut-loving Australian Shepherd–Saint Bernard mix, kept the
set lively with his antics on and off camera.
A seasoned canine professional, the Japanese-born Bolt has appeared in feature films
including Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3, Star Trek: Into Darkness and Love, The Coopers. His owner
and trainer Gary Mui had Bolt’s look-alike brother, Lewis, waiting in the wings, but as it
turned out, his help was never needed.
“Moby is Travis’s best friend hands down, and when you see Bolt, you understand
why,” says Walker. “He’s got these eyes. Moby can see the truth better than Travis. Even he
knows that Gabby is the girl.”
Maggie Grace says Bolt was, without a doubt, her favorite co-star. “The testimony to
my feelings for Bolt is how many pictures I have of us together,” she says. “I also have a lot
of pictures of him by himself. I looked to forward every scene with him. I might have to get
a dog, but I’m afraid I will be disappointed if it turns out to be un-Boltlike.”
Scenes and hearts weren’t the only things the pooch was adept at stealing. After a
long day of filming a barbeque on the beach, Bolt was finally overcome by the irresistible
aroma of grilling meat. The filmmakers and cast could only laugh as he suddenly darted
between cast members, snatching the food right off their plates as the cameras rolled.
In the role of Gabby’s beloved dog Molly, an elegant three-year-old Golden
Retriever named Grace made her acting debut in The Choice. She behaved with
considerably more discretion on set, according to Palmer. An avowed dog lover, the actress
learned a set of commands for Grace from her owner and trainer Tammy Blackburn so she
could more easily interact with her co-star.
“Like all the dogs on the shoot, Grace is so smart,” the actress says. “We call her
Grace the Face because she’s so photogenic. She not only hits her mark way better than I
do, she improvises too. She would do all these little impromptu moves in the middle of a
scene that totally worked with whatever we were filming. Once she put her little paw up near
my face and gave me kisses at just the right moment. It was so endearing and sweet. Those
real moments and interactions we had with her are going to be remarkable on film.”
Palmer’s son Bodhi, who also plays one of Gabby and Travis’s children, was less
than a year old during filming and became obsessed with Grace, the actress says. “He would
climb all over her and she would just lick him. When they took her away to start the scene,
he cried. He would put his hands out and says, “Dodos,” which is what he called the dog.
They were very sweet together.”
Rounding out the canine ensemble are pups Tony Baloney (Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2)
and Little Louie (Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3), who portray the pampered pets of Ryan’s wealthy
parents, and Dreyfus, a recent rescue who made his acting debut as Grace’s understudy.
The dogs’ 20-plus days on set reflect the significant role they play in the story,
according to Katz. “I admit I was nervous wreck when we were getting ready to shoot,
because the dogs have to do so much,” the director says. “They’re not just window dressing.
They have actual tasks they need to perform and story points they need to convey. I know
human actors that can’t do what they had to do. And Bolt and Gracie were so much fun to
work with. They brought so much joy to the set. I know they say you’re not supposed to
work with animals or children because it can be really difficult, but in this movie we worked
with a lot of animals and children and it was fantastic.”
NORTH CAROLINA STYLE
Nicholas Sparks famously sets his romances in his bucolic home state of North
Carolina, often on the tranquil Intracoastal Waterway and the soft sand beaches of the coast.
The Choice is no exception. Shot over 30 days in and around Wilmington, the production
used many practical locations, including well-known local hangouts The Dockside
Restaurant and Airlie Gardens, as well as spending several days on the Intracoastal in a 32foot, 250-horsepower Regulator sport-fishing boat with Ben Walker at the helm.
“The Intracoastal is a stunning waterway surrounded by beautiful green marsh
grass,” says Katz. “It is beach community-meets-small town and just exquisite. I wanted to
emphasize Travis’s relationship to the environment, while introducing the audience to North
Carolina, because it’s a very special place. People talk about visiting the Grand Canyon when
they talk about iconic American places. But I would recommend North Carolina to anyone.
It’s magnificent.”
Katz showcases the Tar Heel State’s picturesque landscape with wide-angle lenses,
making the most of the breathtaking natural beauty of the coast. His instructions to director
of photography Alar Kivilo (who also shot Sparks’ The Lucky One) were to highlight the
pristine beauty of the setting with simple and realistic shots.
From the beginning, he knew he would film The Choice in wide screen in order to
envelope the audience in the lush environment. “One of Nick’s signature’s in the way he
creates a world you want to be part of,” the director explains. “Within the first 10-minutes of
the film, I think you’ll be saying, ‘I want to live there.’”
Park says she and Sparks are always happy filming in the state. “There’s no other
place we love better,” she acknowledges. “It is almost like a Nicholas Sparks character at this
point. We’ve had so many great experiences shooting there. The small towns have a certain
flavor. The people are very warm and the landscape so varied. Each area is very distinctive
and uniquely beautiful.”
Production designer Mark Garner is a longtime Sparks collaborator, having worked
on four previous films based on his novels. One of his biggest challenges was to find two
adjoining houses for Gabby and Travis that would reflect their differing priorities and
provide a clear sightline from her house into his yard. He came up with an ambitious
solution.
Garner located a spacious 1940s Colonial with a sprawling green lawn overlooking
the Intracoastal that fit the bill in all ways but one. There was no cottage close enough to
serve as Gabby’s home. But, he decided, the lot was big enough to build one. He
constructed an 860 square-foot, one bedroom cottage specially designed to accommodate
the film crew and their equipment. The finished product so impressed the homeowners that
they asked to have it left on the property.
“I’m particularly proud of how the cottage came together,” Garner says. “As a
production designer, I always try to build backstory for the characters. Gabby’s cottage tells
us what we need to know about her history through the design and the objects it holds.”
“Mark is so talented and so passionate,” says Park. “The way he’s able to translate
Nick’s sensibility into an actual physical environment is incredible. Every single little item in
the cottage, whether it was a framed photograph or a pair of earrings or a coffee mug, was in
some way a reflection of Gabby. He gave thought to things like the kind of flowers that
Gabby would have. He sourced extraordinary materials and when he couldn’t find what he
wanted, he made it himself.”
Garner also helped create a very special oasis for Travis and Gabby: a private island
that becomes their secret hideaway. “We had to cobble together the ‘island’ from several
different locations,” says Katz. “Alar Kivilo and Mark Garner did the most beautiful job. It’s
gorgeous and you’ll never know it isn’t really an island. There’s a typically Sparks moment
when Travis takes Gabby there in the middle of the night and they discover the stars and the
moon and the sky. It’s a very private moment that we are able share with the audience.”
The Choice takes audiences through the entire spectrum of emotions, from laughter
and joy to sorrow and loss, says Park. “That’s always Nick’s goal when he writes a book,”
she adds. “It’s the rainbow of emotions of a lifetime compressed into a very short time
period and it always leaves the audience deeply affected. This movie will take you on that
ride, and leave you thinking, ‘Wow, what if that happened to me?’”
The film demonstrates that some choices that seem inconsequential in the moment
will turn out to be very important in the long run, Safran says. “And the things that seem
monumental may end up being unimportant. Gabby has to choose between Travis and
Ryan, but that’s almost the superficial choice, as we discover in the third act.”
Fans of Sparks’ books and movies will leave the theater both surprised and satisfied,
according to Katz. “We have expanded on Nick’s beloved style by amping up the humor and
the humanity so central to it. This film offers a window into the choices we make in our
lives, the reasons we make those choices and the effects that those choices have on us,
through characters you will really connect to. They could be your friend, could be your lover,
sister or brother. They could be you.”
ABOUT THE CAST
BENJAMIN WALKER [Travis Shaw] graduated from the Julliard Actor Training
Program in 2004. Afterward, he appeared in the Clint Eastwood directed Flags of Our Fathers
for DreamWorks SKG and Bill Condon directed Kinsey for Fox Searchlight. In 2007,
Benjamin performed in the Broadway revival of Inherit the Wind, starring Tony Award®
winners Christopher Plummer, Brain Dennehy, and Denis O'Hare, under the direction of
Doug Hughes. In 2008, he performed in Roundabout Theatre's production of Les Liaisons
Dangereuses opposite Lauren Linney, which was nominated for six Tony Awards®. Benjamin
played the title role in the Alex Timbers' musical, “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,” in the
show's world premiere at the Kirk Douglas Theater in Los Angeles, CA. After “Bloody
Bloody Andrew Jackson” re-opened in New York to rave reviews this spring, the production
has moved to Broadway this fall where Benjamin returned in the starring role of 'Andrew
Jackson.'
Benjamin will next be seen in the Ron Howard film In the Heart of the Sea, alongside
Chris Hemsworth. The film is based on the 1820 event, in which a whaling ship is preyed
upon by a sperm whale, stranding its crew at sea for 90 days. The film is scheduled to be
released in theaters on December 11, 2015.
On Thursday, March 24th, Walker will return to his Broadway roots in the iconic role
of ‘Patrick Bateman’ in Rupert Goold’s musical adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s “American
Psycho.” The story follows 26-year-old Patrick Bateman: a sophisticated, rich and
devastatingly handsome Wall Street banker in 1980s New York City with a murderous,
psychopathic alter ego that he hides from his friends and co-workers.
Last year, Benjamin completed production on The Missionary. The Missionary is a HBO
drama about Roy (Walker), a young American missionary who gets caught up in Cold War
intrigue while helping a young woman escape East Berlin.
In 2013, Benjamin appeared in the Broadway play of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, in
which he played 'Brick.' The Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' 1955 family drama
focuses on the couple Brick and Maggie "The Cat" dealing with ghosts of the past and an
uncertain future. The play began previews on December 18, 2012, opened on January 17,
2013 and ended its 15-week engagement on March 20, 2013.
That same year, Benjamin appeared in HBO's Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight as
'Kevin Kennedy,' a Supreme Court clerk who wrote the legal briefs resulting in the guarantee
of Ali's status as a conscientious objector. Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight premiered on
October 5, 2013.
In 2012, Benjamin starred in Timur Bekmambetov's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire
Hunter for 20th Century Fox and producer Tim Burton, in which he played 'Lincoln,' based
on the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith of the same name. The film opened in the U.S. on
June 24, 2012.
TERESA PALMER [Gabby] is becoming one of the most globally recognized
actresses, bringing her talents to the US and worldwide from Adelaide, Australia. She has
starred in many major films including Summit Entertainment's box office hit Warm Bodies
with Nicholas Hoult and John Malkovich, based on the popular novel, as well as Michael
Bay and Steven Spielberg's I Am Number Four with Dianna Agron and Alex Pettyfer.
She will next star in in Warner Bros. highly anticipated remake of the 1990’s hit film
Point Break opposite Edgar Ramirez and Luke Bracey. She will also be seen in the crime
thriller Triple Nine, starring as part of an all-star cast with Kate Winslet, Casey Affleck,
Chiwitel Ejiofor, and Woody Harrelson, among many others, and also Terence Malick’s
Knight Of Cups with Christian Bale, both next year.
Palmer recently starred in the tumultuous love story The Ever After, which she also
co-wrote and produced with Mark Webber, Cut Bank, starring opposite Liam Hemsworth,
and the Australian film Kill Me Three Times. She recently shot Message from the King with
Chadwick Boseman, the lead role in the thriller Lights Out, produced by James Wan, and Mel
Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge with Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn and Luke Bracey.
Her additional film credits include Parts Per Billion with Josh Hartnett and Rosario
Dawson;
the 1960s
period
drama Love
And
Honor
starring
with
Liam
Hemsworth; the Australian thriller Wish You Were Here with Joel Edgerton; Relativity Media's
80's coming-of-age comedy Take Me Home Tonight with Topher Grace and Anna Faris; Jon
Turteltaub's The Sorcerer's Apprentice for Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Walt Disney
Pictures with Nicolas
Cage; Adam
Shankman's
comedy
Bedtime
Stories with Adam
Sandler; December Boys with Daniel Radcliffe; and Restraint with Stephen Moyer.
Palmer was
awarded
the
2011
Australians
in
Film
Breakthrough
Award, commending the level of success she has already garnered in her young
career. She was named one of Australia's 'Stars of Tomorrow' by Screen International
and first caught the attention of audiences worldwide with her leading role in, 2:37, an
Australian independent film that screened to acclaim at both the Cannes Film Festival in 'Un
Certain Regard' and at the Toronto International Film Festival. The Australian Film Institute
nominated Palmer as Best Actress for her complex portrayal of a high school student with a
dark secret in the film. Beyond her acting pursuits, she has also segued into working behind
the camera as a director, writer and producer developing both features and documentaries.
Additionally, she is the global face of Artistry Cosmetics (Amway) and has
done several advertising campaigns with them that have been seen worldwide. She also
started a health and wellness blog called YOURZENLIFE.com. Palmer resides in Los
Angeles, California.
MAGGIE GRACE [Steph] is known to film audiences worldwide for her role in
Fox’s Taken franchise, in which she plays Liam Neeson’s daughter Kim. Grace last reprised
in early 2015 with the third installment in the series, Tak3n. She is currently in production
on the indie feature The Scent of Rain and Lightning, based on the Nancy Pickard book of the
same title. Grace serves as a producer on the film, in addition to starring alongside Maika
Monroe. Prior to that project, Grace completed production in the indie drama Showing Roots
alongside Uzo Aduba.
Also in 2015, Grace starred opposite Max Greenfield, Jason Ritter and Aubrey Plaza
in the indie film About Alex. In 2012 she reprised her role as Irina in Summit
Entertainment’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 following part one of the film series
the previous year. Also in 2012, Grace starred in Lockout, an action-thriller opposite Guy
Pearce. In addition to the CBS Films/ Sony Pictures action crime drama Faster with Dwayne
Johnson and Billy Bob Thornton, and the 20th Century Fox action romance Knight and Day
with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, Grace is no stranger to independent projects, with
notable roles in The Experiment with Adrian Brody and Forest Whitaker, The Jane Austen Book
Club with Maria Bello, Emily Blunt and Kathy Baker, and Flying Lessons with Cary Elwes and
Hal Holbrook.
Beloved by television audiences as Shannon Rutherford on J.J. Abrams’
groundbreaking ABC television series Lost, Grace recently had the recurring role of Faith on
the popular Showtime series Californication with David Duchovny. Other television credits
include roles on Masters of Sex, The Following, CSI: Miami, Cold Case and Law & Order: Special
Victims Unit, among others. On stage, she made her Broadway debut in 2013 in William
Inge’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Picnic, opposite Mare Winningham, Ellen Burstyn and
Sebastian Stan.
ALEXANDRA DADDARIO [Monica] garnered massive critical, fan and viral
attention with her breakout role on Season 1 of Emmy-nominated HBO series, “True
Detective,” alongside Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey. Daddario played
scene-stealer, Lisa Tragnetti, a beautiful court reporter whose affair with Harrelson’s
character takes a dark turn. This past summer, she starred opposite Dwayne “The Rock”
Johnson in Warner Bros/New Line blockbuster, San Andreas, which grossed over $470M
worldwide.
She will be seen next in the film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ The Choice and
romantic comedy, The Layover, directed by William H. Macy.
Previously, Daddario was best known as Annabeth Chase in Fox’s Percy Jackson
young-adult film franchise, based on the best-selling Rick Riordan book series.
Daddario has been working in the industry for almost a decade. Past film credits
include Joe Dante-directed film, Burying The Ex, which premiered at the 2014 Venice Film
Festival; Lionsgate’s Texas Chainsaw 3D which opened number one at the box office on
January 4, 2013; Farrelly Brothers’ Hall Pass (2011), Bereavement (2011), The Attic (2008), The
Babysitters (2007), The Hottest State (2006), and The Squid and the Whale (2005).
Past TV credits include New Girl, Parenthood, White Collar, Law & Order: Criminal
Intent, Nurse Jackie, “Damages” (2009), and The Sopranos. She got her start on All My Children
in 2003.
Daddario was named one of V Magazine’s “Faces to Watch in 2011” and was
nominated for an MTV Movie Award in 2013.
TOM WILKINSON [Shep] - is an award-winning actor of stage and screen with
an envious roster of credits to his name. Wilkinson was most recently seen in the Paramount
Pictures drama Selma, and can next be seen in Oliver Stone's Snowden film as well as Simon
Aboud's independent This Beautiful Fantastic.
Wilkinson received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actor in
Tony Gilroy's Academy Award®-nominated Michael Clayton. He received an Academy
Award® nomination for Leading Actor for his unforgettable performance in Todd Field's
acclaimed drama In the Bedroom, opposite Sissy Spacek. Wilkinson also received a BAFTA
nomination, won the Independent Spirit Award, a Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize
and a New York Film Critics Circle Award for the role.
Prior to that, Wilkinson won a BAFTA for his role in the 1997 British and
international box-office sensation The Full Monty, and garnered another BAFTA nomination
the following year for his performance in the Oscar®-winning Best Picture Shakespeare in
Love. He received Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award nominations for his courageous
performance in HBO's 2003 film Normal, opposite Jessica Lange. Wilkinson won an Emmy®
Award and a Golden Globe® Award for Supporting Actor for the HBO miniseries John
Adams, in which he portrayed Benjamin Franklin.
Other US television include Joe Kennedy in The Kennedys (Emmy® nomination) and
HBO's Recount (Golden Globe® nomination) playing James Baker opposite Kevin Spacey
and John Hurt.
TOM WELLING [Ryan] is perhaps best known for his role of Clark
Kent/Superman on the long-running CW television series Smallville. He also directed
multiple episodes of the series and served as executive producer.
Welling most recently starred in the football drama Draft Day starring Kevin Costner
and Jennifer Garner and the drama Parkland with Zac Efron and Billy Bob Thornton. His
other feature film credits include Cheaper by the Dozen, Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and The Fog.
His television credits include acting roles in Undeclared and Judging Amy as well as
executive producing the series Hellcats starring Aly Michalka and Ashley Tisdale.
ABOUT THE FILMAKERS
ROSS KATZ [Director] is an award-winning film and television producer whose
transition into directing has garnered him additional accolades and critical acclaim. Katz
made his directorial debut in 2009 with the HBO drama Taking Chance starring Kevin Bacon.
The film, which he also wrote, received an Emmy® and Golden Globe® nominations, and
cemented him permanently in his new role as a director. His sophomore effort, the feature
comedy Adult Beginners, produced by Jay and Mark Duplass, and starring Nick Kroll and
Rose Byrne, opened at the 2104 Toronto International Film Festival to tremendous reviews
and was recently released in Spring 2015.
Katz also produced award-winning movies like the 2001 crime drama In the Bedroom
starring Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson, which became a box office hit grossing over $43
million worldwide. The film also won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance and amassed five
Academy Award® nominations including Best Picture. His follow-up projects include the
HBO film, The Laramie Project, and Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation both of which launched
him into the pantheon of independent cinema with an Emmy® nomination for Outstanding
Made for Television Movie for The Laramie Project and a Golden Globe® for Best Motion
Picture-Comedy or Musical, and an Academy Award® Best Picture nomination for Lost in
Translation.
BRYAN SIPE’s [Screenwriter] most recent feature film credit includes Demolition
directed by Jean-Marc Vallee; starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts and Chris Cooper. Sipe
is currently working on an adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel The Guardian.
The New Jersey-born screenwriter attended college at the University of North
Carolina at Wilmington before dropping out a few credits shy of graduation to begin his
practical education as a filmmaker. At 21 years old, he co-wrote and directed his first feature,
A Million Miles, taking it to film festivals around the country, ultimately landing and staying in
Los Angeles.
Sipes’ screenplay for Demolition was selected for the much-coveted Black List and
soon after his spec pilot for Americano sold to NBC with Parkes/MacDonald producing.
That working relationship would continue with Walter Parkes, an award-winning producer,
becoming a mentor. Parkes next hired him to write the remake of the Hitchcock classic The
Man Who Knew Too Much for Paramount. Next came another spec pilot, Valentine, that Sipe
sold to HBO with Parkes/MacDonald producing and Kevin Bacon attached to star. After
one more development project with NBC, Sipe moved on to begin his adaptation of The
Choice.
NICHOLAS SPARKS [Producer, Novel] is one of the world’s most beloved
storytellers. All of his books have been New York Times bestsellers, with over 100 million
copies sold worldwide, in more than 50 languages, including over 65 million copies in the
United States alone.
Sparks wrote one of his best-known stories, The Notebook, over a period of six
months at age 28. It was published in 1996 , and he followed with the novels Message in a
Bottle (1998), A Walk to Remember (1999), The Rescue (2000), A Bend in the Road (2001),
Nights in Rodanthe (2002), The Guardian (2003), The Wedding (2003), True Believer (2005)
and its sequel, At First Sight (2005), Dear John (2006), The Choice (2007), The Lucky One
(2008), The Last Song (2009), Safe Haven (2010), The Best of Me (2011), and The Longest
Ride (2013), as well as the 2004 non-fiction memoir Three Weeks With My Brother, cowritten with his brother Micah. His eighteenth novel, See Me, will be published on October
13, 2015.
The Choice is Sparks’s eleventh film adaptation and will open on February 5, 2016.
Including this year’s The Longest Ride, along with The Best of Me, Safe Haven, The Lucky One,
Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, Nights in Rodanthe, Dear John and The Last
Song, adaptations of Nicholas Sparks novels have a cumulative worldwide gross of over
three-quarters of a billion dollars.
In 2012, Sparks and his publishing agent and creative partner Theresa Park, launched
Nicholas Sparks Productions, with Park as President of Production. Sparks and Theresa
Park partnered with Peter Safran to produce and finance the film. A film version of The
Guardian is also in development, as is a film based on football hall of famer Gayle Sayers’s
life and memoir.
Not only a film, but also a television production company, NSP currently has an
exclusive overall deal with Warner Bros. Television and is developing a new slate of projects
including a musical series, several comedies, a dark family cable drama, and a Young Adult
book series for ABC Family. Most recently, the CW Network announced that it is
developing a series based on Sparks’s bestselling 1996 novel (and the 2004 New Line sleeper
hit film) The Notebook. The project is a Nicholas Sparks Productions in association with
Warner Bros. Television. Sparks will serve as an executive producer on the project along
with Theresa Park. Todd Graff is the writer and executive producer.
Sparks lives in North Carolina. He contributes to a variety of local and national
charities, and is a major contributor to the Creative Writing Program (MFA) at the
University of Notre Dame, where he provides scholarships, internships, and a fellowship
annually. He co-founded The Epiphany School in New Bern, North Carolina in 2006. As a
former full scholarship athlete (he still holds a track and field record at the University of
Notre Dame) he also spent four years coaching track and field athletes at the local public
high school. In 2009, the team he coached at New Bern High School set a World Junior
Indoor Record in the 4 x400 meter, in New York. The record still stands.
The Nicholas Sparks Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to improving
cultural and international understanding through global education experiences for students
of all ages, was launched in 2011. Between the foundation, and the personal gifts of the
Sparks family, more than $15 million dollars have been distributed to deserving charities,
scholarship programs, and projects.
Because the Sparks family covers all operational
expenses of the foundation, 100% of donations are devoted to programs.
PETER SAFRAN [Producer] is the President and founder of The Safran
Company, a leading Hollywood production company. Safran’s eye for talent and diligent
work ethic have made for a prolific body of work that includes mega-hit, The Conjuring, for
New Line Cinema directed by James Wan, written by Carey and Chad Hayes, and starring
Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as the real-life paranormal investigators Ed & Lorraine
Warren. Safran continued to produce the juggernaut franchise with the recent box office
success, Annabelle, a spin-off of the supernatural thriller, which earned over $250 million
worldwide since its October 3, 2014 opening, making it one of the genre’s biggest earners of
2014.
Safran is currently in post-production on three films: Safran re-teamed with the
director and writer of Annabelle, John Leonetti and Gary Dauberman, to make The Wolves At
The Door for New Line; MINE, the contained psychological thriller starring Armie Hammer,
is in the final stages of post; and in June, Safran wrapped The Belko Experiment written by
James Gunn and directed by Greg McLean for MGM.
The next chapter in The Conjuring series, The Conjuring 2, is currently in production.
Also in production is The Crucifixion written by the Hayes brothers (The Conjuring) and being
directed by Xavier Gens (Hitman).
Born in New York and raised in London, Safran graduated from Princeton
University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He earned his law degree at New
York University’s School of Law and honed his negotiation skills as a corporate attorney in
New York City.
THERESA PARK [Producer] is the president of Nicholas Sparks Productions as
well as the principal of POW! Productions. She was a producer on THE BEST OF ME
(Relativity, 2014) and THE LONGEST RIDE (Fox 2000, 2015), and executive produced
DELIVERANCE CREEK (Lifetime, 2014) before partnering with Peter Safran and
Nicholas Sparks on THE CHOICE (Lionsgate, 2016). She is also the founder of Park
Literary + Media, a full-service literary agency with expertise in brand development and
cross-platform promotion for authors and content creators. A graduate of U.C. Santa Cruz
and Harvard Law School, she lives in New York City with her husband and two sons.
UNI T PRODUCTION MANAGER
Christopher Bromley
FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Chad Graves
SECOND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Katarzyna Malec