The film's cast includes Harry Belafonte, Joy
Bryant, Nick Cannon, Emilio Estevez, Laurence Fishburne, Heather Graham,
Anthony Hopkins, Helen Hunt, Ashton Kutcher, Lindsay Lohan, William H. Macy,
Demi Moore, Martin Sheen, Christian Slater, Sharon Stone and Elijah Wood, among
others.
No actor was cast to play
Kennedy, instead, the filmmakers chose to use archival footage - much coming
from the CBS News Archive - to represent the politician. Material licensed for
the project includes Kennedy's entire victory speech, campaign footage and
speeches given from the Ambassador Hotel.
The filmmakers also sourced
newsreel clips from the CBS News Archive - which is represented globally by BBC
Motion Gallery - to show the day unfolding as reported by the CBS anchors.
Additional footage included bombs falling in Vietnam and the Cesar Chavez
protests, all designed to provide historical context. It's estimated that 85
percent of the stock footage used in the film was sourced from the CBS News
Archives.