Synopsis

Following the Watergate scandal, British television personality David Frost pursues an unlikely interview with disgraced former president Richard Nixon. As Frost struggles to finance and produce the project, Nixon prepares to control the narrative and rehabilitate his public image. The tense series of conversations becomes a battle of strategy, ego, and accountability, culminating in a confrontation that could redefine both men's legacies.

Factoids & Trivia

• Peter Morgan adapted the screenplay from his own stage play, which premiered in London in 2006 before moving to Broadway in 2007.

• Frank Langella and Michael Sheen reprised their stage roles as Nixon and Frost for the film version. The production's original stage pairing was reportedly an important condition of Ron Howard's involvement.

• The movie expands the play by showing the preparation, financing, and production problems surrounding the interviews, rather than concentrating exclusively on the televised conversations.

• Several Southern California locations stood in for the story's international settings. The production used Nixon's former retreat, La Casa Pacifica, the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, the Beverly Hilton, and Marina del Rey, which doubled for Sydney Harbor.

• The Nixon Library's replica of the White House East Room was used in the film. The library's parking lot also served as the setting for the helicopter sequence.

• The real 1977 interviews were sold for a reported $600,000, a financial risk that becomes a major part of the film's behind-the-scenes drama.

• Morgan and Howard added a scene based on Nixon's fondness for the Richard Rodgers composition "Victory at Sea," showing Nixon jogging in place while listening to it.

• The production was completed in 38 shooting days, despite losing approximately half a day when a soundstage lost power.

• Frost/Nixon received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing.