The lady is Annette Bening (Warren's wife
and the gentleman is Adrian Paul, another "Highlander".
Annette Bening was born on May 29, 1958 in Topeka, Kansas, the youngest of four children. Her family moved to California when she was young, and she grew up there. She graduated from San Francisco State University and began her acting career with the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, eventually moving to New York where she acted on the stage (including a Tony-award nomination in 1987 for her work in the Broadway play "Coastal Disturbances") and got her first film roles, in a few TV movies.
As is so often the case, her first big-screen role was in a forgettable movie, this one the 1988 Dan Aykroyd vehicle The Great Outdoors (1988). However, her next work on-screen was in Milos Forman's Valmont (1989), a film adaptation of de Laclos's "Les Liaisons Dangereuses." Unfortunately, de Laclos's story had also just served as the source of a more Hollywoodized and successful movie version, Dangerous Liaisons (1988), which had been released the previous year, and Foreman's treatment went little noticed.
Bening's career turned an important corner the following year when she co-starred with Anjelica Huston and John Cusack in Stephen Frears's powerful, entertaining screen adaptation of Jim Thompson's novel The Grifters (1990), and her artful turn as a con artist gained her the first of several Academy award nominations. On the strength of this performance Warren Beatty cast Bening as Virginia Hill, Bugsy Siegel's fiery actress moll, in his Bugsy (1991), the story of Siegel's founding of Las Vegas. Although the movie itself did not fare well, it resulted in a relationship with Beatty which led to Bening's pregnancy and then her marriage to Beatty in 1992 - it was the second marriage for Bening, who had been separated from her first husband since 1986 but did not finalize her divorce until 1991. The couple then collaborated on the extravagant flop Love Affair (1994), though the next year her career rebounded with her turn as Queen Elizabeth in the highly-regarded 1995 production of Richard III (1995). Notable performances have since included an obsessive, pushy real estate agent in American Beauty (1999), and as the eponymous character in István Szabó's screen adaptation of the Maugham novel Being Julia (2004) - both were duly noted by the Academy, with Oscar nominations.
Bening has great poise and screen presence, and at her best can turn in a very strong performance. Although her resume often features long stretches of mediocre productions before the next good part turns up, when it does, it proves worth the wait. Bening has four children with Beatty.
Adrian Paul
Born and raised in London, England, Adrian Paul boasts a colorful background. Born of an Italian mother and a British father, he first became a model, then a dancer and choreographer in Europe. He is well-traveled and speaks English, French, and Italian fluently. In 1985, he left Europe and came to the United States to pursue a dance and modeling career. Even though he had studied Shakespeare and performed in school plays when he was younger, acting was not a focus. Shortly after his arrival in America, he was urged to audition. His first role came on the ABC television series, "The Colbys" as the Russian expatriate ballet dancer, Kolya. This led to a role in the Broadway play "Bouncers" in 1987 and to a guest appearance on the television show "Beauty and the Beast" in 1988. His first film appearance was in the 1989 film "Last Rites" with Tom Berenger. He went on to have a starring role in the Roger Corman film, "Masque of the Red Death", a re-telling of the Edgar Allen Poe tale. He appeared in a regular role in the second season of the television series "War of the Worlds" and made a pilot for CBS Television for a series called "The Owl". In 1992, he was cast in the role that would bring him to the most prominence to date...that of Duncan MacLeod in the syndicated series, "Highlander".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spouse
Meilani Paul (1990 - 1997) (divorced)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trivia
Has studied Martial Arts for 7 years including: Kung Fu forms choy La Fut and Hung Gar, Tae-Kwon-Do, and boxing; Has also done extensive sword training with the Japanese Katana
Favorite authors: Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams and Anne Rice
Played semi-pro soccer and is still a soccer fan
In the fall of 1993, he was lauded as a hero when a thief ran through the set of "Highlander" with a stolen video camera and Paul pounced on him, holding the suspect until police could arrive.
Given title "Sexiest Action Star" from People Magazine. [November 2000]
