 Longtime friend Matthew Broderick agreed to play the relatively small role of Ben for scale, and his commitment inspired Hunt to approach Bette Midler and Colin Firth, who were impressed by her passion for the project and agreed to work for minimum pay as well.Although she originally did not intend to portray April, Hunt decided that casting herself in the role ultimately would lighten her work load as a director since she would have one less performance to help mould.Janeane Garofalo and Tim Robbins make brief cameo appearances as themselves.