STORY

In Revolution Studios' comedy Man of the House, a by-the-book Texas Ranger Roland Sharp (Tommy Lee Jones) tracks down a key informant with the help of an ex-con turned preacher Percy Stevens (Cedric The Entertainer). But when the informant is offed, the hard-headed Sharp is assigned to protect the only witnesses to the crime - a group of University of Texas cheerleaders - by going undercover and moving in with the five uncontrollable college coeds.

For a guy used to ducking bullets and confronting heavily armed drug dealers, he's now up to his elbows in poms-poms.

Revolution Studios Presents Man of the House, A Steven Reuther Production, a Columbia Pictures release. The film stars Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Archer, Brian Van Holt, Christina Milian, Paula Garces, Monica Keena, Kelli Garner, Vanessa Ferlito, R. Lee Ermey and Cedric the Entertainer. The film is directed by Stephen Herek from a screenplay by Robert Ramsey & Matthew Stone and John J. McLaughlin and a story by John J. McLaughlin & Scott Lobdell. The producers are Steven Reuther, Todd Garner and Allyn Stewart. The executive producers are Tommy Lee Jones, Marty Ewing and Derek Dauchy. The director of photography is Peter Menzies, Jr., ACS. The production designer is Nelson Coates. The film is edited by Chris Lebenzon, A.C.E. and Joel Negron. The costume designer is Betsy Heimann. The music supervisor is G. Marq Roswell. The music is by David Newman.

GIVE ME AN 'M'

Veteran producer Steven Reuther, who has guided three-dozen movies to the big screen during a stellar 30-year entertainment career (including four prior projects with Oscar®-winner Tommy Lee Jones), first optioned the Man of the House script about three years ago. The story's original writers, McLaughlin and Lobdell (penning their first Hollywood screenplay) had set their novel premise at a Virginia college, with the lead character an FBI agent.

"Man of the House is a real simple premise and great idea, something I hadnıt seen before," Reuther remarks. "I was in the mood to do something light and comedic and fun. This idea struck me as hysterical -- a Texas Ranger is charged with taking care of five cheerleaders because they've seen a murder. And along the way he has to deal with a shady preacher. It's a total fish-out-of-water story and a lot of fun all the way through."

The heart of the comedy is a toughened lawman stepping into a completely alien world - that of college cheerleaders all living together in one house. "All you have to do is visualize someone like Tommy Lee Jones having to deal with five young, scantily clad women in a confined space and you get it," says actress Kelli Garner, who plays one of the cheerleaders.

Director Stephen Herek, best known for the hit big-screen comedies 101 Dalmatians and Bill & Tedıs Excellent Adventure, also found the juxtaposition of an irascible man's man being thrown into an estrogen-charged environment a natural comedy premise. But there was another element that attracted him, he says. "The story also examines the idea of daughters and fathers and family relationships. So, although he's thrown into the worst place he could possibly be in, as the story progresses, we watch a man who has grown crusty over the years rediscover his heart - which transforms his life."

So beyond the very funny surface of the comedy Man of the House is also a story about fathers and daughters, adds Reuther. "Roland Sharp is a guy who has devoted his life to law enforcement and sacrificed his personal life in the process. He's divorced and has a daughter from whom he is somewhat estranged. During the course of the movie, as he takes care of these five girls, he learns how to be a better father."

As Reuther worked on the development of the story, it became increasingly clear that Roland Sharp was ideally suited to an actor with whom he had worked on such films as JFK, The Client, Cobb and Under Siege, Oscar®-winner Tommy Lee Jones. "As I would read the script, In my mind I could hear him saying the lines and just knew his delivery and intonations would make it even funnier," says Reuther. "Tommy had this wonderful underlying deadpan humor in all his work. His sarcasm and wit beautifully really understated and underplayed. I just imagined his stillness amidst this hive of activity and I started laughing."

Herek saw Jones' highly evolved acting skills as ideal for playing comedy and also understood that the actor was eager to throw himself into the role completely. "He's a highly trained actor and I think this was the kind of comedic role that he had not yet done at this point in his great career," says the director. "The closest thing was the Men in Black™ films, but he went even further out on a limb with this, where the humor was much more physical."

Jones admits that comedy is still a relatively untapped arena for him. "I didn't do a lot of comedy for the first 20 years of my acting life," he says. "I learned a great deal about it from Will Smith (his co-star) and Barry Sonnenfeld (his director) on Men in Black®. You learn your lines and hit your marks ... and stay relaxed. Will said something about that."

"I think people are gonna be so surprised to see how funny Tommy Lee is," says Christina Milian, who portrays the cheerleading captain Anne. "He was great, not only onscreen but off-screen too. He always surprised us with some funny joke or something delightfully goofy. During the course of the production he bonded with us in a very similar way to the way Roland Sharp does with the cheerleaders in the movie. We became like his daughters."

"Tommy Lee's talent is amazing," says actress Monica Keena, who plays Evie, the cheerleader's resident brain. "In playing our father figure, our protector, he got to play these sweet emotional scenes that made me want to cry. Whenever I was in scenes with him, he made me miss my own dad."

According to producer Allyn Stewart, developing the characters of all five cheerleaders was one of the project's real challenges. Of the major characters, five of them were girls that we had to distinguish from one another. We worked very hard during the script development phrase to hone in on who each girl was," says Stewart. "By the time we cast the movie, it had become crystal clear."

"Casting an ensemble can be very tricky," Reuther agrees. "We wanted certain contrasts, so they would all be distinctive. That involved meeting with dozens and dozens of young women. "Fortunately, there is a wealth of talent in this age range. Many of these young women we interviewed could be perceived as newcomers but already had resumes that were pages long. I was thrilled by the process because actor after actor exceeded our expectations. It was a matter of winnowing them down, not struggling to find five young actors to fit the roles."

"I think we saw 200 girls on both coasts," adds Stewart. "We really cast our net very wide. And, as we began to meet people, the essence of the characters started to come alive. After we cast these five actresses, we fine tuned the screenplay to complement each actress that we cast."

Milian immediately focused in on the character of Anne when she read the script and was excited to be offered that very role. "She was perfect for me because she is very much how I am as a person," she says. "I thought I'd be perfect for her and when I met with the producers and director, they started talking about all the different characters. I told them 'I know I'm really Anne. I have to be her.' Luckily, they agreed."

Even if she hadn't asked, says Herek, she probably would have played Anne anyway. "We cast her as the captain of the cheerleading squad because thatıs kind of how she really is - very determined and very talented, both as an actress and as a singer."

In addition to being a flawless beauty, actress Paula Garces, "is also incredibly funny as a person and that brought an additional level or humor to the character of Teresa, who is supposed to be tough and catty, with lots of attitude," says Stewart.

"Teresa is very much her own woman, and she knows exactly what she wants, " says Garces (Clockstoppers, "The Sopranos"). "She's in love with her boyfriend Antonio and is upset with the fact that she can't see him because the girls are sequestered in this house with this cranky tough-guy."

The bouncy blonde Kelli Garner (The Aviator, Bully) plays Barb, the cheerleader who has a crush on Roland Sharp. "It was very cute, because she was as nervy as you can get," says Stewart. "To some, Tommy Lee can be imposing but from the very first read-through Kelli flirted with him - rather innocently since she's only 19. She's a very gifted, inventive actress and she played the whole thing like puppy love and hero worship. It was hilarious, especially since the character of Roland is stoic beyond words."

Adds Herek, "Kelli always arrived on the set with something surprising, an idea that wasn't obvious in the script, a look, a turn of phrase, a sight gag. She was always in the moment." The role of Heather, a laconic character, was given to actress Vanessa Ferlito ("CSI: NY," Spider-Man® 2) "When you think cheerleader, you don't think about someone like Heather," Ferlito confesses. "She's this spiritual, open-minded woman. She has tattoos. She's feminine in her own way, natural and confident."

Rounding out the cheery cheerleader quintet was actress Monica Keena, the curvy Madonna look-alike whose extensive resume includes the horror hit Freddy Vs. Jason as well as her turn as the teen vixen Abby Morgan on the popular WB series "Dawson's Creek." "What Monica brought to the role of Evie was this beautiful feminine softness. She's very beautiful girl with a gentle demeanor," says Herek.

Evie is smart and kind of quiet," Keena observes. "She's definitely the most down-to-earth of the girls. She's also neurotic and nervous about everything. Cheerleading is the only time she let's loose. I was really excited to play a cheerleader, by the way. I grew up in New York and my school didn't have big sports teams. So I never got a chance to be a cheerleader. This, finally, was my chance to live out that fantasy."

Adding to the comic mayhem is the king of comedy Cedric The Entertainer who portrays Percy "Pirouette" Stevens, an ex-con turned preacher who "still has a bit of the hustle mentality left in him," says Cedric. Percy has useful inside information and "since I turned my life over to the Lord, my character thinks he's doing the right thing helping this Texas Ranger track down the criminals."

When the witness Roland is pursuing is eliminated and the cheerleaders become the only witness, we also discover how Percy acquired the nickname "pirouette."

"Back in the late 1980s Percy was a cheerleader for the University of Texas," Cedric explains, "and I added pirouette spins into all my moves, which became famous throughout Texas and the Southern region. People would come from miles around to see me cheer. So I can teach those girls a thing or two about cheerleading as well."

PYRAMID SCHEME

As with her other co-stars, Keena had no high school or college cheerleading experience, something Stewart and Reuther contemplated when casting the five seasoned actresses. "In casting these five, we knew they all had to be in good enough shape to train to become credible cheerleaders," says Reuther. "When we scouted Austin, we made inquiries as to who in Austin might be able to train the girls. The fact that there was this cheer school there, called Cheer Station, was a huge benefit to us."

Herek had pondered whether it was better to cast cheerleaders with acting experience or actresses with some physical prowess. "I went back and forth during the casting process. We decided to find good actresses and put them through cheerleading camp. We hired these guys, Brad W. Page and C. Ladd LeBus, who had a gymnasium where the girls spent a couple of hours each day learning the University of Texas cheerleader routines."

Page and LeBus had previously supervised the cheerleading sequences on the comedy The New Guy. The Baylor graduates (and former cheerleaders themselves) operate a unique company called Cheer Station, which has turned out 161 national cheerleading champions over the years. The duo began their own careers in high school gymnastics and started Cheer Station in 1990 right out of college, according to Page. What began as a private tutor facility at three recreation centers around Austin blossomed into an organization with 600 students who are taught by post-collegiate athletes. LeBus gained distinction as America's first male cheerleader in a national championship competition against 365 other contestants and was the first male to win.

After the duo came on board, they hired some former University of Texas cheerleaders to ensure that the routines were authentic. One of the riskier maneuvers was the university's signature two-and-a-half high pyramid routine. Calling a two-and-a-half pyramid "the legal limit for college cheer stunts," LeBus describes the formidable routine as "a girl standing on a guy's shoulders with another girl standing on top of her. It looks like it's a three high, but since it's a half body, it's called a two-and-a-half high."

"We actually did the pyramids!" Garner confirms. "In three or four weeks of cheerleading boot camp, we worked out five hours a day, two with a personal trainer and three hours at cheer camp. It was really hard. We had to go on a diet, which is hard for me because I love food. On the first day we were sitting on the floor and the trainers were showing us everything we would do. I thought they were crazy. But we did it. We got on the pyramids, high in the air and had to cheer balancing on one foot and doing different poses. We also did a basket toss where four guys put their arms together and they throw you up in the air and catch you. I think we all enjoyed that one very much."

Herek was impressed by the work his actresses put into learning their routines and how effectively they came across. "We literally started with the basics and worked up to acrobatic stunts," he recalls. "By and large, the girls did 99% of what you see onscreen."

Milian, who says she's afraid of heights was as skeptical as her fellow actors when they first got underway. "I thought we would have stunt doubles, so I was a bit nervous," she admits. But I went for it anyway."

"Christina had done some music videos, so she had pretty good rhythm and was toned," says Page. "Still, I was amazed that after only four weeks of training she was able to do extended stunts and transitional stunts that only elite athletes do. Her partner was throwing her for a half-twist and holding her with one hand, the kind of maneuver even some current UT athletes can't do."

"When they first started I was very conservative in my approach," adds LeBus. "I decided to go slow so they were always comfortable. Remember they were eventually going to be 10 feet in the air standing on someone's hand. That requires a great deal of trust. But after a month they hit all their stunts. They all turned into cheerleaders themselves because, when they were challenged by something they'd cheer each other on, which is the essence of cheerleading, trying to motivate."

MUTUAL ADMIRATION SOCIETY

"Those girls had a lot of confidence," says Tommy Lee Jones of his co-stars. "It's justified because it derives from their talent. They had some solid acting experience, and we were an acting company. We were all supportive of each other. It was a good company to be part of."

"Tommy was awesome," actress Ferlito asserts. "He's wickedly smart, incredibly talented. I watched, I listened and I learned."

Garner echoes Ferlito's sentiments. "He's a great actor, and yes, I was a bit intimidated by him at first, in part because he's such an overwhelming talent. But he's also the sweetest man, like a teddy bear."

While Garner's character has a crush on Jones' Texas Ranger in the film, her-co-star Keena admits to "having a real crush on him when I was younger. So I was really excited to meet him. I was very impressed."

Milian's first reaction to landing a role in a film starring Tommy Lee Jones was "Wow!" she admits. "I'd better be on point every second that he's around. If I forget my lines even once … But, he turned out to be the coolest guy, really down to earth."

BIG T

What better place for a tall Texan like Jones to shine before the cameras than his home, the Lone Star State. Though the story was originally set in Virginia, says Reuther, "we knew it could play anywhere and because Tommy Lee is from Texas, we felt we could relocate the story there and change the character from an FBI agent to a Texas Ranger."

Jones had no objections to the change. "I didn't choose the location but I was certainly happy they chose Texas," he smiles. "Austin is a very friendly environment to filmmakers. And we enjoyed a great deal of cooperation from the University of Texas. They were forthcoming and cooperative - a real pleasure for me and the entire company."

Director Herek's alma mater (he attended the UT film school) granted him complete access to their ample campus, which more than 52,000 students (the largest enrollment in the nation) call home from August through May. "It was kind of like a homecoming in a way," says Herek, "but it was also kind of surreal to be there on the campus where I went to film school. They were very helpful. They had lent their campus to movies before, but had never given permission to use their name and logos. We worked with the school's actual cheerleaders and their coach and football staff and they allowed us to shoot during football games."

While cameras were present at an actual UT Longhorn game early in the season to capture crowd reactions, Herek also staged his own football action at the sprawling Texas Memorial (choreographed by veteran stuntman Allan Graf, who played college football for the NCAA's 1972 national champion USC Trojans). The company filled the stands with over 9,000 cheering extras for the three-day shoot to cheer including the Texas Spirit groups, a colorful coalition of diehard football devotees who don the most unusual costumes as they rally the Longhorns to victory. "We actually got to shoot the UT cheerleaders in their stadium filled with 85,000 people," Reuther enthuses. "The pageantry was huge and spectacular. It's this giant production number that they put on once a week. College football is just amazing and we tried to give a feel for all that in the film."

"The UT football program is epic," adds producer Stewart. "Everything about it is ritualized to an almost Olympian level. It was so much fun to shoot the actual football game. All we had to do was turn on the cameras and watch the drama unfold. They have steam when the players run through the tunnel and come out on the field. There are 350 band members, who are also included in the movie. For our three-day shoot, the band really put their hearts into it. They gave it their all."

Another amazing Austin landmark Herek used was the Governor's mansion in downtown Austin, in the shadows of one of the country's most majestic governmental edifices, the towering State Capital building on North Congress Street. While California recently anointed an actor as governor, Texas has a governor who is interested in acting. Governor Rick Perry welcomed the filmmakers to his stately, Greek revival mansion (built in 1855) for a half-day of filming early in the schedule. The politician, who served as Lt. Governor under Governor George W. Bush, made his big screen debut (playing himself) opposite Jones before the company moved to the state capital complex for additional scenes in the movie.

"Governor Perry and I have been friends for a while," Jones points out. "I campaigned for him when he ran for Secretary of Agriculture the first time. He made a pretty good hand around the movie set. He hit his marks, knew his lines and was quite consistent. He has some talent as an actor for sure."

Other locations around Austin included the Millennium Youth Complex (where Jones and his cheerleading co-stars donned roller blades for a scene in which Sharp takes the girls skating), a downtown iron-and-steel manufacturing plant (where Herek staged the film's action-packed opening sequence) and Threadgill's, Austin's landmark music club (Janis Joplin got her start there), which was used for a bittersweet scene between Sharp and his teenage daughter, played by big screen newcomer Shannon Marie Woodward (FOX-TV's "Grounded for Life").

More key sites in the Austin area included a county road south of town, which doubled for the Mexican border crossing in the film's action-filled climax. Herek also shot a scene at the plaza adjoining the UT Tower, recreating the annual "Hex Rally," during which UT students attempt to put the whammy on their archrivals, Texas A&M's Aggies.

The West Campus neighborhood adjacent to the University of Texas was also a critical location for the movie, as it was there that production designer Nelson Coates (Antwone Fisher, Runaway Jury) found what the company affectionately called the "cheer house" - a former bed-and-breakfast whose exteriors doubled for the sorority house where Sharp looks after his precocious quintet of eye-witnesses.

"One of the first things we had to do was find the house," says Coates, another Texas native and former high school and college cheerleader. "This particular house was on a corner two blocks from campus. There were several houses in the vicinity that looked like they could have been frats or sororities. Most importantly, there was another house across the street that had two huge plate-glass windows on the second floor. That was perfect for the command post manned by Sharp's Tontos, the other Texas Rangers watching the cheer house."

"Once we found the house, that helped us in fashioning the look for the rest of the movie," Coates continues.

When not in their signature burnt orange-and-white cheerleading outfits (crafted by veteran costume designer Betsy Heimann from the actual wardrobe worn by UT's cheerleading squad), the five actresses tantalized and tortured Jones' character on the dormitory set "that was radically different from the interiors of the real house," says Coates. "The real house was a mish-mash of styles, a bit Edwardian and Victorian, with a little Greek Revival. We cleaned it up to give it more of a Texan feel inside. It became our home for a major visual chunk of the shoot. Everyone was really surprised when they walked into the cheer house set because it had so much detail. It really felt like people lived there, which is good since I didn't want anybody to feel like it was a set. I tried to give it a sense of hand-me-down. I took my cues from what I found in the Austin-UT area, especially the west campus area, where there are lots of fraternities and sororities."

"There's this little Texas lamp shade in the living room that I found out in Fredericksburg, Texas," Coates continues. "There's a Texas pillow in the staircase that I purchased in the Texas State Museum shop. I wanted subtle jokes throughout the entire set since we spend so much time there in the story. At the same time, I wanted this to feel believable and plausible."

For Jones, the story's true believability comes out of the audience's ability "to see yourself in these characters. Fathers and daughters will recognize themselves. Young people can recognize their parents. Parents can recognize their kids. If all that happens, we'll be off to a good start. Oh, and it better be funny."

The actor has an 11-year-old daughter in real life and that was a determining factor in signing on to the movie. "It was kind of a gift to her," says Herek. "He wanted to appear in a movie that appealed to young women her age and to his adult audience as well."