Dermot Mulroney ('Georgia Rule', 'My Best Friend's Wedding') and Oscar(R) and Golden Globe(R) Nominated Actress Emily Watson ('Breaking The Waves', 'Hilary And Jackie') to Star in the Lifetime Original Movie, 'The Memory Keeper's Daughter', Based On Kim Edwards' Best-Selling Novel

DGA Award-Winner Mick Jackson ('Live From Baghdad', 'Tuesdays With Morrie') to Direct

Popular Novel Has Spent Over Sixty Weeks on The New York Times Best Seller List and Named USA Today's 'Book of the Year' for 2006

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 24 -- Film actors Dermot Mulroney ("My Best Friend's Wedding") and Emily Watson ("Breaking the Waves"), twice nominated for an Academy Award(R) and nominated three times for a Golden Globe(R), have been cast in the highly anticipated Lifetime Original Movie event, "The Memory Keeper's Daughter," based on Kim Edwards' best-selling, critically acclaimed novel of the same name.

Named by USA Today as its "Book of the Year" for 2006, the novel has five million copies in print and has spent over sixty weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list*, holding the number one spot for seven weeks. Production begins this November, with DGA Award-winning and Emmy(R) nominated director Mick Jackson ("Live from Baghdad," "Tuesdays with Morrie") set to direct. "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" will premiere in March 2008 on Lifetime Television.

In "The Memory Keeper's Daughter," a secret shapes the lives of two families over a quarter of a century, beginning in 1964. During a paralyzing winter storm, Dr. David Henry (Mulroney) is forced to deliver his own twin babies. With his wife Norah under heavy sedation, he welcomes a healthy son, Paul, and a daughter, Phoebe, who has Down syndrome. Hoping to spare his wife any heartache for having to care for a special needs child, David tells Norah their daughter died at birth and orders the nurse, Caroline (Watson), to place Phoebe in an institution. However, unable to abandon the newborn, the nurse secretly decides to raise Phoebe as her own in another city. As years pass, the two families' lives are in stark contrast to each other. David's overwhelming guilt surrounding his deception shatters the Henry's marriage and Norah mourns the loss of their child. Meanwhile, Caroline's relationship with Phoebe becomes the most rewarding and fulfilling experience of her life.

Dermot Mulroney is best known for his starring role opposite Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz in the romantic comedy "My Best Friend's Wedding." Proving to be a versatile actor, Mulroney starred as a disturbed police captain caught up in the murder spree of the real-life serial killer in "Zodiac" opposite Jake Gyllenhaal; and in Garry Marshall's family drama "Georgia Rule" with Jane Fonda, Felicity Huffman and Lindsay Lohan.

Mulroney's additional feature film credits include "The Family Stone," "Must Love Dogs," "The Wedding Date," "About Schmidt" and "How to Make an American Quilt." He can next be seen in "Flash of Genius" with Greg Kinnear.

British actress Emily Watson made her screen debut in "Breaking the Waves," for which she received Oscar(R) and Golden Globe(R) nominations. Watson went on to earn additional Oscar(R) and Golden Globe(R) nods for her role in "Hilary and Jackie." Watson gained success in the leading roles for "Metroland" and "Mill on the Floss," later starring as Daniel Day-Lewis' long-suffering love interest in "The Boxer." She also starred in "Angela's Ashes" and Robert Altman's "Gosford Park." Most recently, Watson starred in the adaptation of Thomas Harris' "Silence of the Lambs" prequel, "Red Dragon," opposite Adam Sandler in "Punch Drunk Love" and in "Miss Potter" with Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor. Watson picked up her third Golden Globe(R) nomination for her role in HBO's "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers." She can soon be seen in the upcoming films "Fireflies in the Garden" with Julia Roberts and in "Synecdoche" along side Michelle Williams and Philip Seymour Hoffman. A renowned feature film and television director, producer and author, Mick Jackson is best known for directing "The Bodyguard," starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, and "Tuesdays with Morrie," starring Jack Lemmon, for which he received a DGA Award. He also received two additional DGA Awards and two Emmy(R) nominations for his direction of HBO's "Live from Baghdad" and "Indictment: The McMartin Trial." His other television credits include "Numb3rs," "Jack and Bobby," "A Very British Coup," Life Story" and "Threads."

Author Kim Edwards has also penned an award-winning short story collection, The Secrets of a Fire King. A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, she currently teaches writing at the University of Kentucky.

Other books previously adapted into popular movies by Lifetime include four titles from Nora Roberts including "Nora Roberts' Angels Fall" with Heather Locklear and "Nora Roberts' Montana Sky" with John Corbett; Jodi Picoult's "The Pact" and "Plain Truth"; Joyce Carol Oates' "We Were the Mulvaneys"; Luanne Rice's "Beach Girls"; and Sue Monk Kidd's "The Mermaid Chair."

"The Memory Keeper's Daughter" is produced by Jaffe/Braunstein Films for Lifetime Television. Howard Braunstein and Michael Jaffe (Lifetime's "Odd Girl Out," "Elvis") serve as executive producers. John Pielmeier ("Hitler: The Rise of Evil") wrote the teleplay, to be directed by Jackson.

LIFETIME is the leader in women's television and one of the top-rated basic cable television networks. A diverse, multi-media company, LIFETIME is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and their families. LIFETIME Television, LMN, Lifetime Real Women and Lifetime Digital (including LifetimeTV.com) are part of LIFETIME Entertainment Services, a 50/50 joint venture of The Hearst Corporation and The Walt Disney Company.

* Beginning the week of 9/23/07, the New York Times Best Seller List for paperback fiction books was divided into two lists, "Trade Fiction" and "Mass-Market Fiction." The Memory Keeper's Daughter is currently still on the best seller list, with six weeks on the "Trade Fiction" list.

SOURCE LIFETIME Networks
http://www.lifetimetv.com