What in your own life has helped you connect with the story?
John Crowley: I moved to London when I was 27 to direct a play at the National Theatre. Having been back and forth from London since I was about ten, I knew London better than I knew Dublin.
What compelled you to make this film?
Vanderbilt: I’ve always been fascinated with journalism and I always sort of looked at it as the road not taken.
Can you talk about finding this role and the decision to take it?
I had read the book maybe a year before the script was sent to me and I just loved it. A book hadn’t suspended my disbelief in that way, and I’m always reading. I love to read.
How did you develop this story?
Aaron Sorkin: I like claustrophobic spaces and compressed periods of time, especially when there’s a ticking clock. I like being behind the scenes, in this case literally behind the scenes.
What was it about the riverboat casinos in Iowa that compelled you to write this story?
It was really interesting to see the anti-glamorous version of a casino. There was a story in there somewhere that we hadn’t seen on film before.