Jude Law came aboard as the lost, caddish Dan before he committed to the similarly fidelity-challenged lead in Alfie. Law says he doesn't consider playing back-to-back gadabouts overkill: ''I've just come out of a marriage of six years [he is divorced from actress Sadie Frost]. And those [roles] just seemed appealing, because it was a time in my life when it seemed right to be investigating those things in a place where I'm comfortable, which is my work, you know? But I see them as complementary. They certainly don't tread on each other's toes.''
Clive Owen was the only veteran of the play. ''When I first read for the play, I read for the part of Larry in a workshop production. Patrick felt I was too young for it,'' recalls the actor, who was cast as the younger Dan in the 1997 production at London's Royal National Theatre. ''Cut to six, seven years later, and Mike Nichols wants me to play Larry. I was just so excited.'' Nichols hadn't even seen Owen on stage in Closer — he selected him for his searing turn in 2000's Croupier.
As rehearsals were about to begin, biology threw a monkey wrench into the works. Cate Blanchett, originally slated to play adulterous photographer Anna, had to drop out because of impending motherhood. Roberts then expressed interest, and Nichols was thrilled, but, as Closer producer and former Sony studio chief John Calley puts it, ''the magnitude seemed daunting.'' Calley won't comment on the budget or Roberts' effect on it, except to say ''everyone pitched in and made it work from a budget perspective. Everybody made special deals to make this possible.'' So Roberts stepped into the role — and then became pregnant herself.
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