Who Played Me in "A Beautiful Mind"? Quiz

Answer: Russell Crowe

Crowe, born on April 7th, 1964, in Wellington, New Zealand, got the role of John Nash in this biopic. John Nash was introduced as a student studying for his PhD at Princeton. He was not that popular with the other grad students but quickly made a lot of friends. Before he finished his studies, he had trouble publishing newer ideas on Mathematics. Several members of Princeton's Mathematics Department told him that, because his colleagues published and went to classes, they would find easy placement after obtaining a degree.

He received his PhD in Mathematics after he published his idea on Adam Smith's theory of competition in economics and defied more than 150 years of economic theory. Nash was diagnosed with schizophrenia, when he was involuntarily committed to Macarthur Psychiatric Hospital.

At first, he denied being a schizophrenic but John accepted this. John won the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economics due to his economic equilibrium that he developed as a graduate student at Princeton. Crowe had parts in the films, "L.A. Confidential", "The Insider", and "The Quick and the Dead."

Answer: Jennifer Connelly

Connelly, a native of Catskills Mountains, New York, was cast as Alicia Lordes Nash in "A Beautiful Mind". We first met Alicia when she was a student of John's at MIT. On her first day of class, as John's student, John wrote a math problem on the board that he said would take some students several months to solve whereas, for others, it would take their lives. Alicia went to John's office and said she solved the problem but he told her she was incorrect. Alicia asked John to take her to dinner and he accepted. John and Alicia had a romantic relationship and eventually married. Alicia started noticing John's strange behavior and phoned up a nearby mental institute to see if they could help. Dr. Rosen, John's psychiatrist, told her John had schizophrenia and patients with that disorder were often paranoid.

He told Alicia that John's delusions started when he was at Princeton, such as of an imaginary roommate named Charles Herman. Alicia told Dr. Rosen that Charles was not imaginary and Dr. Rosen asked her if she ever met Charles, seen a photo of him, or if he went to her wedding when she married John. Dr. Rosen said, when he phoned Princeton, their housing records showed that John lived alone. Alicia broke the news to John that he was mentally ill and helped him heal and get better.

She accompanied him to Stockholm, Sweden, in 1994, when John accepted the Nobel Prize for Economics. Connelly starred in the movies, "The Rocketeer", "Dark Water", and "The House of Sand and Fog." She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Alicia Nash in "A Beautiful Mind".

Answer: David B. Allen

Allen had a small role, in this film, as John Nash, Jr. We saw many scenes of John and Alicia's son, as a baby, but only one when he was a teen. In the scene where we saw a teenage John Nash, Jr., he headed off to school and told his father that he had his books. Professor Nash gave him his books and proceeded to Princeton to teach a class (Nash's old friend, Martin Hansen, was the head of the Mathematics Department at Princeton and got John a position as a professor after he was hospitalized for schizophrenia). We learned, from Professor Nash, that his son studied at Harvard. An adult John Nash, Jr. was seen in the film's final scenes, when he took his Nobel Prize winning father and mother back home. Allen's only acting credit was as John Nash, Jr. in "A Beautiful Mind."

Answer: Ed Harris

Harris, born in 1950 in New Jersey, landed the part of William Parcher. When Professor Nash first went to Wheeler labs, he imagined that the people at Wheeler wanted his expertise to crack a code of an enemy telecommunication. It was here where he "met" William Parcher and gave him the nickname of "Big Brother".

When Professor Nash went to deliver documents, for the government to pick up, Parcher told John to come with him since Russians were on their heels and about to attack them. After Nash learned that Parcher was a delusion of his, he accepted this and took medication to avoid the delusions.

At one point, John stopped taking his medication and went out to the woods to a cabin where Parcher persuaded him to continue breaking codes (this was evident when Alicia saw the cabin plastered with magazine articles that were used for "code breaking"). John learned to ignore Parcher and went about his daily life. Harris was seen in the films, "The Rock", "The Hours", and "The Abyss."

Answer: Adam Goldberg

Goldberg was cast as Sol in "A Beautiful Mind". Sol was first seen as a PhD candidate for Mathematics at Princeton, the same time John Nash was there as well. When Nash got his PhD and placement to work at Wheeler labs, his advisor told him that Wheeler wanted him to pick two people to work on his team at Wheeler. One of the two people who John picked was Sol. Sol's office was right near John's and he noticed John behaving strangely, such as yelling at a guy who was not there. Sol followed John to where he dropped off documents for the government to pick up and got the documents himself. Alicia got the documents, thanks to Sol, and told John that this conspiracy involving Russian spies was all in his mind.

When Sol went over to John's residence, one day, John joked with Sol and asked him if he had met Harvey (there was no Harvey). Sol worried that John had another delusion but John told him there was no point in being nuts if you could not have fun. Goldberg had guest starring stints on the TV series', "Law & Order: Criminal Intent", "My Name Is Earl", and "Will & Grace".

Answer: Anthony Rapp

Rapp, born on October 26th, 1971, in Joliet, Illinois, nabbed the part of Bender for this blockbuster hit. Bender, like Sol, attended Princeton when John was there and he got a PhD in Mathematics. John asked that Bender be part of his team at Wheeler.

When John was first hospitalized, his doctor, Dr. Rosen, asked Alicia to get details of her husband's work that would assist him in treating John. Bender accompanied Alicia to Wheeler, along with Sol, and mentioned to her that what John worked on was classified, but Alicia was determined to learn of John's work.

When Alicia saw that John's office was full of magazine and newspaper cutouts, she asked Bender and Sol how come they did not notice this and they did not have a legitimate answer. Rapp guest starred on the TV series', "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit", "The X Files", and "The Lazarus Man".

Answer: Vivien Cardone

Cardone, a native of Port Jefferson, New York, was cast as Marcee. Marcee was introduced as Charles Herman's niece, who Charles took care of when Marcee's mother (Charles' sister) died in a car accident. Charles was revealed to be imaginary so that meant Marcee was not real, either.

When John tried to ignore Marcee, for his own health, Marcee, in one scene, held out her arms so John could hug her but John refused. When John went to audit a course at Princeton, he told Charles that he could not be his friend and also said to Marcee that he had to ignore her, despite how much he loved her. Cardone's only other acting credits were several episodes of the TV series, "Everwood", and a role in the film, "All Roads Lead Home".

Answer: Austin Pendleton

Pendleton, born in 1940 in Ohio, got the small term role of Thomas King. King came to Nash, after one of Nash's classes, and told him he was being considered for the Nobel Prize for Economics. King said the reason for this was due to Nash's theories that have influenced solutions for areas like antitrust cases and international trading. King took Nash to a hall where they served tea, at Princeton, and they talked for a little bit.

Many men came up to Nash and gave him pens, which was a salute to one who led the way to excellence in the world. Pendleton. Pendleton was seen in the movies, "Piccadilly Jim", "Uptown Girls", and "Amistad".

Answer: Josh Lucas

Lucas portrayed Martin Hansen in this film. Hansen was, at first, a rival of John's at Princeton, during John's days there, as a student. However, Hansen and John eventually became friends. When John went back to Princeton as an older man, he met with Hansen and Hansen told him he was now Head of the Mathematics Department. During their meeting, John "saw" Charles outside Hansen's office and Charles frustrated him that John slammed his newspaper on Hansen's desk.

He asked Hansen to ignore that and Hansen agreed. Hansen saw John during one of his delusions and calmed John down. John asked Hansen if he could get a teaching job at Princeton and Hansen told him that teaching a class of 50 students could be daunting, especially since John was a terrible teacher. Hansen got John a teaching job at Princeton. Lucas starred in the films, "Sweet Home Alabama", "Poseidon", and "Glory Road".

Answer: Paul Bettany

Bettany, born on May 27th, 1971, in London, England, landed the role of Charles Herman in "A Beautiful Mind". John "met" Charles when he was his imaginary roommate (John did not know, at this time, that Charles was not real). Charles was a Literature student and bashed math, since he found it boring.

When John went to Harvard to give a lecture, Charles saw John's name on the lecture slate and said he had to attend. After John was first admitted to Macarthur Psychiatric Hospital, he "saw" Charles and said he did not mean to get him involved. John saw Charles look down and thought that Charles had him committed. Dr. Rosen, who was in the room at that time, told John that Charles was not there. Princeton's housing records confirmed that John lived alone and did not have a roommate named Charles Herman.

When John tried to ignore Charles, Charles told him it would not work. John "said" goodbye to Charles right before he audited a class at Princeton. Bettany was seen in the movies, "The Da Vinci Code", "Firewall", and "Wimbledon".