Beautiful Ann Devereaux (Renée Zellweger) has just left her husband Dan (Kevin Bacon), a society bandleader, and taken to the road with her teenage sons, George (Logan Lerman) and Robbie (Mark Rendall), in search of a suitable new mate.  But it’s 1953, years past Ann’s courting days.  Now it seems that the losers and playboys outnumber the eligible and willing bachelors.  The three of them get to know each other much better than they’d ever expected facing many obstacles. Ultimately, George discovers the determination, dignity and love underneath his mother’s exterior.  And Ann makes a different family for herself and her sons than any of them had imagined. 

Screenwriter Charlie Peters explains that the story behind My One and Only began with an exchange between the late entertainment mogul Merv Griffin and George Hamilton about the actor’s early life and experiences with his mother. 

“I was called by Bob Kosberg, a producer friend; he said that Merv had come across an interesting story,” recalls Peters.  “I met with Merv at the venerable Hollywood hangout Trader Vic’s, and George Hamilton arrived in his white Rolls Royce.  He sat down and just started telling me about his mother and how he ended up in Los Angeles, where he was eventually discovered.”

 Peters loved the tale and soon built upon it, turning it into a script that captured the attitudes of the early 50s, combined with the humor and irony of Hamilton’s unique story and profiles of some unforgettable characters.

For almost 10 years the script was stuck in development until Merv Griffin got it back from independent producer, Aaron Ryder. It was Ryder who believed that Renée Zellweger’s “charm and un-forced sense of comedy” was perfect for what he calls “a classic role.” As Ann Devereaux.

Zellweger read the script while on another shoot and couldn’t put it down.  “It made me laugh out loud in so many places,” recalls Zellweger.  “I loved how quick-witted all the characters were, I loved the flow of it.  I couldn’t wait to find out who would play the boys and who would play Dan, and I couldn’t wait to get to the set and start working on Ann.”

 “At the start of the story, Ann likes to think of herself as a little Katherine Hepburn around the edges,” says Zellweger.  “She has idealized her life as a New York socialite and is just going through the motions as a mother.  After leaving Dan, she intends to set up the same camp somewhere else with another provider and get on with her life of being fabulous, but she accidentally evolves into a very capable person.”

With two young actors who are in essentially every scene, the casting of Ann’s two boys, George and Robbie, had to be just right.  It was particularly in the case of casting George because “he is kind of a young curmudgeon and his humor is somewhat cynical,” explains the director.  “To find a young boy who had those qualities without the life experience is hard, because I didn’t want George to be offensive; he had to show warmth.” 

 Casting the older son, Robbie, Mark Rendall’s “sensitive boy” mannerisms brought humor to his role as George’s half brother, immersed in the glamour of 1950’s Hollywood, with a film allusion ready for every occasion.  “I think Robbie doesn’t really have any questions as to who he is,” says Rendall. “Ann is supportive because she’s an extremely dramatic but kind of elegant person, and she loves having Robbie as her pal and confidante.”

 In many ways, director Richard Loncraine sees Robbie as the most stable person in the family, a strong contrast to high-living bandleader Dan Devereaux.  “Dan was a tricky role to cast, because, though he’s only in three very good scenes in the movie; they really have to resonate,” recalls Loncraine.  “George wants to be with his father all the way through the film; he’s constantly talking about him and ringing him up.  I think his presence is always there.” 

 Zellweger was excited to hear that Kevin Bacon had accepted the part, as it would be their first screen pairing. “That it happened to be this role, I couldn’t think of anything more perfect,” she enthuses.  “I love that he brings this boyishness to Dan that makes you just love him in spite of himself.”

“I was drawn to the idea of a man who just does not really want to grow up,” says Bacon of Devereaux, whose emotional age he estimates as closer to his son George’s.  “I think in all walks of life, but certainly in music, you meet a lot of cats who are like that because the lifestyle is so fun, traveling, playing music, hanging out in dressing rooms and having girls around. Part of the lifestyle is to be childlike and Dan’s life just kind of happens in rhythm.  He just kind of moves through life in 4/4 or 6/8 or swinging; it’s the way he lives.”