It’s one thing for a star to like a script. It’s another for him to sink $21.3 million of his own money into the production to get the film made. Yet that’s exactly what Kevin Costner did with Swing Vote, the new Disney comedy about an affable loser (Costner) who casts the tiebreaking vote in a presidential election. To give the movie a touch of vérité, Costner recruited some of the country’s best-known media personalities, including Larry King and Arianna Huffington, to play themselves. “These people love their business,” Costner says. “I think they like to see it boiled down to terms that aren’t going to go over anybody’s head.” 

Turning the Tables

We debrief the media personalities featured in Swing Vote.

Photographs by Robert Trachtenberg

CAMPBELL BROWN (CNN)

What did you say when you were invited to be in the film?
I had just been hired by CNN to take over the 8 o’clock hour. I was pregnant at the time, and newly pregnant when they called me. So I said, “Okay, guys, let’s do it soon, because right now you can’t tell I’m pregnant, but soon you will.” And they said, “Oh, yeah, we’re gonna do it really soon.” But you know how movies are. It was delayed and delayed and when we finally shot my little scene, I was eight and a half months.

What did you think of the film’s concept?
I’m such a junkie, I love political movies, and this idea seemed a little preposterous but something that the writers were clearly going to be able to have a good time with. I say “preposterous” because we always say, “That would never happen,” and then…look at what happened in 2000, and at what’s happening in this campaign.

What has been the most dramatic moment of the campaign for you?
For me, personally, it was moderating the debate between Hillary and Obama in Austin, Texas.

You’re not the first to play Campbell Brown. Kristen Wiig of Saturday Night Live impersonated you last season.
It was incredibly flattering. She is hilarious. It has to be a huge milestone in your life to be mocked by S.N.L.

TUCKER CARLSON (MSNBC)

What has been the most dramatic moment of the campaign for you?
The week after Hillary Clinton lost the South Carolina primary, when all the columnists who’ve been defending the Clintons for 16 years turned as a group to attack them. That actually shocked me.

If you were to make a movie about this year’s race, whom would you cast as Obama, Clinton, and McCain?
Emma Thompson as Hillary, Tim Robbins as Barack Obama, Harvey Keitel as John McCain.

And how would your movie end?
The most shocking ending would be that Hillary Clinton wins. I would have Hillary winning­—the final scene being the two Clintons meeting in a board room, each with their attorneys, signing a document and saying something like, “A deal’s a deal. We both fulfilled our ends of the bargain.”

Who has the best political mind in Hollywood?
Warren Beatty—you should call him. He’ll take your call and talk to you about it. I am impressed by his intensity and his enthusiasm, and he’s just a champion talker in general. He’s on the varsity squad.

Who’s the best actor in Washington?
There are very few actors in Washington because people over time come to believe their own lines.

How has the media’s role in this election been different from in others?
I think they spent a lot less time trying to hide their allegiances and their love. The press loves Obama, but it’s deeper than that—you have to have been a ninth-grade boy to understand the love they have for Obama; they’re inflamed.

AARON BROWN (PBS)

What’s your role in the movie?
I played myself, which has always been my worst nightmare, that my career would end with me playing me. I remember Mario Machado, Los Angeles local anchor, who was in every movie that needed an anchor, and I thought, Oh, man, I never wanna be that.

What’s the biggest difference between a movie set and a television news set?
Those [movie] people work so slow. It’s unbelievable how long everything takes. I was there for 13 hours. We shot the scene at about 4 in the morning. At one point, they said “Okay, roll.” I started to do Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men because I thought, If I’m gonna act, I wanna do something that’s meaty. And then someone said, “This stuff costs about 10,000 a second, so just do the scene. You’re not that funny.” However, I think I was that funny.

What do you think the plot of Swing Vote, which has the presidential election coming down to one man’s vote, says to voters today?
Average people have been screwed by American politics. Somehow, people who go to work every day and pay their taxes have been completely ignored by the politics and media. I thought the movie’s message of the significance of a single vote was a good and reasonable and accurate one. I thought someone should be saying that. 

How do you think the media has performed in this campaign?
Newspapers and traditional broadcast networks have done a pretty decent job in a fascinating campaign. As far as cable goes, people who hate the president watch Keith Olbermann and people who love the president watch Bill O’Reilly, and at the end of the day neither has learned very much.

If the election did come down to one vote, whom would you trust to break the tie?
Me. I’d trust myself with the tiebreaker vote—more than I’d trust Keith or Bill.

CHRIS MATTHEWS (MSNBC)

Where was your scene in the film shot?
We did it in my studio, right on the Hardball set. That’s why I look so good.

What do you think about the concept of the movie, in which an election comes down to one vote?
It’s amazingly good satire. You have both candidates forcing all their public relations and advertising and personal charm on one voter. You see how outrageous it gets.

There’s a slew of big names in the cast. Whose performances were best?
Nathan Lane is a riot, and Stanley Tucci is great as the Karl Rove character. I’ll be shocked if Madeline Carroll [who plays Kevin Costner’s daughter] doesn’t win an Academy Award. She’s the best child actor I’ve ever seen.

What’s been the most dramatic moment of this election for you?
Barack Obama announcing his candidacy for president in Springfield, Illinois. He was standing in a spot between Lincoln’s office as a state legislator and where he practiced law in his second-floor office on the corner. It was so cold you cannot imagine, but 70,000 people showed up that morning to cheer him.

If the election did come down to one vote, whom would you trust to break the tie?
Whoever wrote Swing Vote.

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON (Huffington Post)

What was it like being on set?
We filmed my scene all night. In fact, they’d gotten me a hotel room, but I never even saw it. We kept shooting, and I eventually just went straight from the set to the airport the next morning. In between shots, we would go to Kevin’s trailer and sit outside under the stars while he played guitar. There were laptops all over the set, and I kept pulling up the homepage of the Huffington Post on each of them.

How is the role of the media in this election different from previous years?
The internet-driven, 24-7 news cycle, combined with the whatever-you-say-or-do-will-end-up-on-YouTube nature of this year’s campaign, has helped make for an especially dynamic race. It seemed like every other day brought a new mini controversy. And, for all of us at HuffPost, this was very good news.

Who’s the best actor in Washington?
George Bush, for his ability to convince voters that he is a brush-clearing Texas rancher and not an Ivy League preppy. And John McCain, for acting like he’s still the political maverick he was in 2000. But that’s a performance I predict won’t be sustainable.

Who’s got the best political mind in Hollywood?
Norman Lear.

If you were to make a movie about this year’s race, whom would you cast as Obama, Clinton, and McCain?
Will Smith is Obama; he’s got the charisma—and the ears. Edie Falco is Hillary. Dennis Hopper is McCain. Or Russell Crowe or Kevin Spacey. They all fly off the handle very well.

And how would your movie end?
Obama is in a hotel room with Michelle (let’s go with Halle Berry). They are getting ready to go down and meet their jubilant supporters. The phone rings. It’s McCain calling with congratulations. He’s very gracious, though he does throw in a “Hamas put you over the top” zinger. Somewhere in upstate New York, Hillary Clinton is downing a shot of whiskey, throwing darts at a photo of Mark Penn, and muttering about what might have been. In the other room, Bill Clinton is on the phone trying to score tickets to Obama’s inaugural ball—and thinking he’ll probably go stag.

LAWRENCE O’DONNELL (The West Wing)

What did you think of the film’s concept?
I thought it was a wonderful explanation of the tension that exists in elections now that they’ve become so close. It’s not something that would even be conceivable in the ’90s.

If you were to make a movie about this year’s race, whom would you cast as Obama, Clinton, and McCain?
Well, I sort of did this already when I was writing for the West Wing, and I cast Alan Alda as the John McCain candidate and Jimmy Smits as the Barack Obama-type candidate. But I think I’d make an adjustment on Jimmy and cast Don Cheadle. And for Hillary, I’d have to go with the best and cast Meryl Streep.

And how would your movie end?
Obama is gonna win. I would see it playing out with him winning clearly enough that they knew by middle of the afternoon. I would cover all of the agony that’s going on in the McCain campaign, because that’s actually where more of the drama is: on the losing side.

If the election did come down to one vote, whom would you trust to break the tie?
My mother.

LARRY KING (CNN)

Movies are practically your second career, right?
This is my 23rd film.

What’s your favorite political film?
Advise & Consent—Henry Fonda is the secretary of state and there’s a strong opposition to him because he’s too liberal. And I think Bulworth will be a classic. For some reason, it didn’t do well and it got bad reviews, but 20 years from now Bulworth will be a major American film. It’s way up there on my favorite list.

What has been the most dramatic moment of the campaign for you?
Obama claiming the nomination—that was dramatic without being surprising. You had a historic event that everyone knew was coming. And that’s rare. Also: McCain emerging from the depths of being counted totally out—one of the great comeback stories of American history. The surprisingly poor show of Giuliani. And the emergence of Hillary, who was once 30 points ahead.

What camera-friendly qualities do Obama, McCain, and Hillary have?
I like being around John McCain. He’s forthcoming. While he is not a great speaker at the podium, he is a terrific guest. Hillary is very smart. She knows her subject matter. I’ve known her a long time, but I had no idea she was this good as a campaigner. And Obama—there’s never been anything like Obama. He’s the best off-the-cuff speaker, and all the Republicans realize it. He’s to the manner born. He enters a room and he changes the room.

BILL MAHER (HBO)

How did you come to be in the movie?
My friend Kevin Costner asked me. He and some other folks came by after we shot an episode of Real Time. The crew was ready and they came on the set and we pretended to do an episode.

If you were to make a movie about this year’s race, whom would you cast as Obama, Clinton, and McCain?
For Obama, Denzel. Annette Bening for Hillary. Paul Newman for McCain.

And how would your movie end?
We elect the black guy, and we find out that the deep, deep rot in America was not really our fault but was all on Bush—which I don’t really believe is true.

What has been the most dramatic moment of this election for you?
Obama’s speech about race. His first Reverend Wright speech, not the one where he had to say, “You know what? This motherfucker is wack. I got it wrong the first time. I do renounce him.” But the first speech was just genius. I love that speech.

Who has the best political mind in Hollywood?
Warren Beatty.

Who’s the best actor in D.C.?
I’d have to go with Larry Craig. Larry Craig, God love him, he was gonna quit after they caught him in the men’s room, and then they made a cause of it. He said, “Wait a second, somebody has to stand up for people who have a really wide stance and get accused of homosexual activity when they’re just trying to have a bowel movement in a comfortable manner in a public place, and no one is standing up for these people, and I will!” And he got his Irish up about that, he got all angry about that. “I’m not going anywhere!”