Thirteen Days Stars Hit the Books

Working on the new Kennedy-era White House drama Thirteen Days (which will open in wide release on Jan. 12) was kind of like studying for a history exam for stars Kevin Costner, Steven Culp, and Bruce Greenwood.

"We had all done a ton of research," Greenwood, who plays President John F. Kennedy in the movie, tells TV Guide Online. "[All of the actors in the movie] had read a handful of accounts, and some of us had read 20 or more. Although it was a grim subject, we were so full [of] new information every day that it was kind of exciting."

Greenwood's personal recollections of the subject matter — the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis — were vague at best. "My memories were of scampering down the stairs and huddling under a desk," says the actor, recalling the duck-and-cover safety drills at his childhood home in Bethesda, Md.

"Once I started to do the research, I was astounded at the force of will it must have required to avoid pulling the trigger early," he adds of the late President's handling of the crisis. "I respected him before and now my respect for him is profound. It wasn't all parties and top hats."

Greenwood, who next stars in the four-hour A&#038E miniseries remake of Orson Welles's The Magnificent Ambersons, also has nothing but praise for his Thirteen Days co-star Costner. As far as Greenwood's concerned, you can forget those rumors that paint the Dances with Wolves Oscar winner as difficult.

"I can completely debunk it," he says. "I never saw an iota of difficulty with him, ever. When he came on the set, he made sure he was accessible. There was none of that bulls--t at all. Not even a whiff of it."