Event Calendar

EVENT DAY(S):
02/02/06 - Thursday

HOURS:
Normal show time is 10 pm (eastern) but check local listings to be certain.

LOCATION:
NBC Network

ALSA helped actor James Woods prepare for his starring role as a college professor with ALS on the February 2 episode of NBC’s “ER."

Multiple award-winning actor James Woods ("Casino," "Nixon") will star as a person with ALS on NBC's critically-acclaimed "ER." The episode, titled “Body and Soul,” is entirely devoted to Woods’ character and is scheduled to air on Thursday, February 2 (check local listings).

“The ALS Association is very grateful to the producers of “ER” for their decision to devote an entire episode of the show to ALS. We also would like to thank the cast and crew for treating this difficult subject with the sensitivity it deserves,” said ALSA President and CEO Gary Leo. “Lastly, we are fortunate that “ER” chose James Woods to play a character with ALS. Obviously the considerable amount of time he spent researching the disease helped contribute to an outstanding performance. He is an actor who takes his craft seriously.”

The technical adviser for the episode was former vice president of ALSA’s Patient Services Department, Mary Lyon, who believes the show does an excellent job of exploring the impacts of ALS and is superior to many previous television attempts.

“The show will take it a step further to raise awareness about exactly how ALS affects individuals,” Lyon said. “It is more than a 30 second explanation. Instead of people saying, ‘I always wondered what ALS was,’ the audience will see first-hand what the disease does to the human body and to the human spirit.”

To gain a better understanding of ALS, before filming began, Woods, who plays Dr. Nate Lennox, once a professor of Dr. Abby Lockhart's (Maura Tierney), as well as the episode’s writer, Joe Sachs and the director, Paul McCrane, met with six people with ALS who receive care from ALSA’s Greater Los Angeles, Orange County and Arizona chapters.    

The final script was also based on ALS videos which ALSA provided and the input from Lyon, who was present on the set for eight 12-hour days.

“It is going to be an exciting and provocative show,” Lyon said. “It was very well directed and brilliantly acted. I found it to be spellbinding in many of the scenes with Mr. Woods. It was a beautiful script, very realistic and authentic.”

From the outset, including when Lyon attended the show’s concept meeting, and during the meeting with the ALS patients at Warner Brothers headquarters in Burbank, she said she knew Woods and the people from “ER” were on the right track.

And the key to getting things “right” included the use of the correct technology.   Eye Response Technologies in Virginia and Permobil in Tennessee provided the equipment that Woods uses in this “ER” episode.  Eye Response Technologies’ innovative system allows Woods’ character to communicate with other actors in the show via a speech generation device that follows eye movements, while Permobil’s powered wheelchair, the C500 Corpus model, gave the actor mobility. 

“In the seven and one-half years that I have been working with the ALS community, I felt it was the most important experience that I ever had. The writer, director and actor did a lot of homework. They were committed to getting things right.”

Lyon also believes that people with ALS who watch the show will be able to relate to Woods’ character. “Everyone sort of responds to ALS individually, just as everyone is a different person. Not everyone will have the same reaction as the character does. Some people will live their lives differently. The choices he makes and the things that happen to him are very believable and is the experience for many people."

Woods, the son of a US Intelligence officer, completed a degree in political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Upon completion, he headed off to New York to pursue an acting career. After appearing in a number of theater productions, Woods landed his first television role in "All the Way Home" and followed that with supporting roles in "The Way We Were" and "The Choirboys." However, it was Woods’ bold performance in "The Onion Field" that brought him serious attention.

Woods followed up with roles in "The Black Marble," "Videodrome," "Once Upon a Time in America" and scored a best actor Academy Award nomination in Oliver Stone's "Salvador." During the 1990's Woods' credits include "Casino," "Nixon" and "Ghosts of Mississippi."

Woods has further expanded his work to encompass animated productions including "Hercules" and "Stuart Little 2." His recent live-action credits include "The Virgin Suicides," "Riding in Cars with Boys," "Any Given Sunday" and the comedy-horror spoof "Scary Movie 2."

Currently in its twelfth season, "ER" is executive-produced by Michael Crichton, John Wells, Christopher Chulack, R. Scott Gemmill and David Zabel. The drama is a production of Constant Productions and Amblin Television in association with Warner Brothers Television Production, Inc.