Who Played Me in "Crash"? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Brendan Fraser

Fraser, born on December 3rd, 1968 in Indianapolis, Indiana, was cast as District Attorney Rick Cabot. Rick and his wife were walking to their car one night, and two men came up and robbed them right as they got into their car. Rick gave them the keys and told them to take the car. Back home, Rick talked about the dilemma he faced if he prosecuted these guys or not. Since the people that stole his car were black, he remarked that, if he did not prosecute them, he would lose the law and order vote and, if he did, he would lose the black vote.

His co-worker told him he had a lot of support in the black community, but Rick was still upset about this difficult decision. Fraser was in the movies "Encino Man", "The Mummy Returns", and "Airheads."

Answer: Sandra Bullock

Bullock, a native of Arlington, Virginia, portrayed Jean Cabot in "Crash." Jean was frightened after she and her husband were robbed, and immediately went back home. There, someone changed their locks but Jean was unhappy that it was someone who looked like a gang-banger, so she told her husband to change the locks, again, in the morning.

Her husband told her the guy, who already changed it, looked fine but Jean commented that he would probably sell a new key to one of his gang-banging friends, and this upset the guy. Jean and Rick argued over issues like racism, and she finally told her husband that he needed to start to actually care about what was happening. Later in the movie, Jean tripped down the stairs and was injured but she survived. Bullock starred in the films, "Miss Congeniality", "Hope Floats", and "Demolition Man."

Answer: Michael Pena

Pena, born in 1976 in Chicago, Illinois, got the part of Daniel. Daniel changed locks for a living, and was upset over how the D.A.'s wife, Jean, stereotyped him as some gang-banging hoodlum. After he was done changing their lock, he gave them a key and walked off in disappointment. Later on in the movie, the owner of a shop had a broken lock and asked Daniel to fix it. Daniel fixed it and the owner said it was not fixed but Daniel assured him he repaired it right the first time.

The owner went to Daniel's home one day, and aimed to shoot him but his daughter got in the way. Daniel's daughter survived, to the relief of her mom and dad. Pena had roles in the films "World Trace Center", "Babel", and "Million Dollar Baby."

Answer: Thandie Newton

Newton landed the part of Christine Thayer. Christine was married to a film producer named Cameron and they drove home one night after an awards show and were pulled over by Officer Ryan. Officer Ryan told them both that it appeared as if Christine gave her husband "pleasure" while he operated an automobile and that this constituted to reckless endangerment. Officer Ryan told both Christine and Cameron to step out of the vehicle since he assumed they both had something to drink.

When Christine got mouthy, Officer Ryan patted her down and reached for her private parts, which upset Christine very much.

When she got home, she wanted to file a complaint with Internal Affairs but her husband advised her not to do this. To find out how Officer Ryan saved Christine's life, see the "Interesting Info" section for question nine. Newton starred in the movies "W.", "The Pursuit of Happyness", and "The Chronicles of Riddick."

Answer: Terrence Howard

Howard, born on March 11th, 1969 in Chicago, Illinois, was cast as Cameron Thayer. Cameron directed TV shows for a living, and was also a Buddhist. When Officer Ryan pulled his car over, he apologized to him about what he and his wife, Christine, did and Officer Ryan told him he would let them both off with a warning.

In the middle of the film, Christine visited him at work, and told him she was sorry about what happened the other night and he told her to just go home. In the next scene, Cameron was in his car and a guy named Peter managed to get into the passenger seat and hold him at gunpoint. Cameron told him he would not let him steal his car and they fought.

A police officer noticed the commotion and cornered the car, on a nearby street, and one of the officers that responded was Tom Hansen (he was with Officer Ryan when Ryan frisked Cameron and Christine). Hansen told his fellow police officers he knew Cameron and he asked Cameron to behave or else the cops would shoot him dead and they would be justified. Hansen persuaded his fellow officer to let Cameron go with a harsh warning. Cameron accepted the warning and went straight home. Howard guest starred on the TV series "Soul Food", "NYPD Blue", and "New York Undercover." In 2006, Howard received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role for the film "Hustle and Flow", but lost to Philip Seymour Hoffman for "Capote." Other Oscar nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role that year were Heath Ledger for "Brokeback Mountain", David Strathairn for "Good Night, and Good Luck", and Joaquin Phoenix for "Walk the Line."

Answer: Loretta Devine

Devine, a native of Houston, Texas, had the small role of Shaniqua Johnson. Ms. Johnson worked for an insurance company that handled Officer Ryan's father's business. When Ryan's father had health problems, Officer Ryan called up Ms. Johnson and asked her for advice and she told him to make an appointment to come in while they were open to discuss his father's case. On the phone, Officer Ryan asked for Ms. Johnson's name and she told him her name was Shaniqua.

He replied that it was no surprise she had that name so she hung up.

In the middle of the film, Officer Ryan met with Shaniqua, at her office, and apologized to her for his behavior over the phone. At this meeting, Officer Ryan spoke to her about his father but then he got nasty with Shaniqua, and she had security escort him out of her office.

At the end of the film, Shaniqua was in her car and someone rear-ended her. She was last seen getting out of her car to confront the guy who hit her in the rear. Devine had stints on the TV series "Eli Stone", "Boston Legal", and "Supernatural."

Answer: Don Cheadle

Cheadle, born in 1964 in Kansas City, Missouri, got the part of Detective Graham Waters. Waters came from a poor family and tried his hardest not to deal with them, especially his criminal brother, Peter, who was involved in robbing D.A. Cabot's car. Waters told his mother he would help find Peter but he was also caught up in a case that involved a racist white cop who shot and killed a corrupt African American police officer.

Another officer, Flanagan, informed Waters that his brother, Peter, had a warrant for his arrest and it would be his third felony, which meant, if convicted, Peter would get a life sentence, via the three strikes law. Cheadle was seen in the movies "Swordfish", "Rush Hour 2", and "Traffic." In 2005, Cheadle received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role for the movie "Hotel Rwanda", but lost to Jamie Foxx for "Ray." Other Oscar nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role that year were Johnny Depp for "Finding Neverland", Clint Eastwood for "Million Dollar Baby", and Leonardo DiCaprio for "The Aviator."

Answer: Jennifer Esposito

Esposito was cast in the role of Ria, a fellow police detective. Ria and Graham were partners, as detectives, and both investigated the case that involved a racist white cop killing a corrupt black cop. In one scene, they had sex and were interrupted by a phone call from Graham's mother, in which she urged Graham to find his brother. Ria was upset with Graham over how nasty he was to his mother, and Graham started to badmouth Hispanics, which upset Ria. Ria, in turn, was disrespectful towards Asians when she poked fun of an Asian woman's flubbing the word "brake", as she said "blake" instead. Espositio guest starred on the TV shows "Law & Order", "Judging Amy", and "Prince Street."

Answer: Matt Dillon

Dillon, born on February 18th, 1964 in New Rochelle, New York, was cast as Officer John Ryan. Officer Ryan pulled over Cameron and Christine Thayer when he believed that Christine did something sexually inappropriate to Cameron while he drove his car.

He frisked Christine and asked her if she had any weapons and she told him she had on a cocktail dress and it was unlikely. Officer Ryan responded that she would be surprised at where he had found weapons. In the middle of the movie, Officer Ryan responded to a call in which there was a car wreck. Christine was involved in the wreck, and her car had flipped over and she was stuck inside.

When Officer Ryan reached for her, in her car, she pulled back and told him to get another officer to rescue her.

He told her there was no time and that she had to trust him to get her out. Officer Ryan was successful in getting Christine out of the car before it blew to smithereens. Dillon starred in the films "The Outsiders", "There's Something about Mary", and "Wild Things." In 2006, he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role of Officer John Ryan in "Crash" but he lost to George Clooney for "Syriana." Other Oscar nominees for Best Supporting Actor that year were William Hurt for "A History of Violence", Jake Gyllenhaal for "Brokeback Mountain", and Paul Giamatti for "Cinderella Man."

Answer: Larenz Tate

Tate, a native of Chicago, Illinois, had the role of Peter Waters. Peter was Graham's younger brother and had a lot of trouble with the law. He and his friend, Anthony, tended to steal cars and they managed to steal D.A. Cabot's car. Eventually, Peter did not want to be involved in stealing cars anymore, and he decided to hitch a ride out of town. Officer Tom Hansen picked up Peter and they started to talk, in the car.

At one point, their discussion turned into an argument and Hansen watched as Peter reached for his pocket. Hansen assumed Peter was going to shoot him so he got his gun and shot Peter dead. Hansen saw that Peter had a harmless object in his pocket, and regretted killing Peter. Graham went to the hospital and comforted his mom, as they grieved for Peter.

However, Graham's mom blamed him for Peter's death since he did not reach him in time. Tate had guest starring roles on the TV shows "Waterfront", "South Central", and "Family Matters."