Too Big To Fail premiere: The stars align

Warren Buffett and actor Ed Asner at Too Big to Fail

Hollywood, Wall Street and New York media converged last night at the premiere of Too Big to Fail, the movie.

Michael Douglas, Brian Williams, and Regis Philbin met Warren Buffett, uber-analyst Meredith Whitney, and CNBC's Becky Quick at the Museum of Modern Art, where HBO's screening took place, and at a swishy after-party at Manhattan's Four Seasons restaurant.

Hank Paulson is indisputably the hero of the film based on Andrew Ross Sorkin's book about the global financial meltdown. The former Treasury Secretary wasn't there last night, but William Hurt, who plays him in the film, hobnobbed through the evening -- and told me that he spent several days with Paulson to prep for the part. Hurt went fishing with Paulson and did some birdwatching as well. What you see in the movie, sure enough, is a full-bodied, very human Paulson who suffered physically and emotionally during the 2008 crisis while he kept the system from total collapse.

Many of the actors got to know, or at least meet, the masters of the universe they portray. Tony Shalhoub, known as Monk on TV, told me that he spent time with former Morgan Stanley (MS) CEO John Mack. The two men found plenty in common, Shalhoub said, since both their fathers immigrated to the U.S. from Lebanon -- Shalhoub's to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Mack's to Mooresville, North Carolina.

Matthew Modine, who plays John Thain, told me that he and the former CEO of Merrill Lynch, who sold to Bank of America (BAC) mid-crisis, had planned to get together. But last minute, they mutually decided not to. Fine with Modine, who went with it, portraying the bespectacled Thain with just the right dose of stiffness and selfishness.

Amy Carlson wanted to but couldn't meet Erin Callan, who was Lehman Brothers' CFO and practically disappeared after she got ousted in June of 2008. Carlson learned about Callan, she told me, largely by reading my Fortune profile, "The fall of a Wall Street highflier," last year. Carlson also mentioned that the Lehman (BCS) scenes in Too Big to Fail were shot on the 30th floor of midtown's Citigroup Center. That's interesting trivia since Citigroup (C) CEO Vikram Pandit comes across in the movie as one of the least likable characters among the big bank bosses.

The most revelatory character in Too Big To Fail, as I see it, is Ben Bernanke, the wise Federal Reserve chairman who calmly guides Washington's and Wall Street's honchos to do what is right. Sorkin told me that Paul Giamatti met the Fed boss before playing the role -- and Giamatti, who is consistently great no matter the movie, plays Bernanke beautifully.

As for Buffett, who flew in from Omaha for the screening, he met Ed Asner, who plays him, for the first time last evening. The two hearty, gray-haired men posed for pictures and laughed about their lookalike status. Though one is much beefier and the other is richer. "We're going to remake the movie Twins together," joked the Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) chairman. Buffett's on-the-spot review of Too Big to Fail: "Terrific."

The movie premieres on HBO (TWX) next Monday, May 23.

Posted in: CEOs, entertainment, Erin Callan, Hank Paulson, John Mack, John Thain, media, Meredith Whitney, Postcards, Wall Street, Warren Buffett, Washington

• John Mack and Hank Paulson cast their movie

  by Patricia Sellers

  John Mack interviewed Hank Paulson at New York University's Stern School last evening. The Morgan Stanley (MS) chairman, who recently turned over the CEO reins, told me that he wanted to push some emotional buttons in the former U.S. Treasury Secretary and onetime CEO of Goldman Sachs (GS).

  And he did. The two talked about the hairiest, scariest moments of the global financial crisis. Mack credited Paulson with keeping MORE

  Patricia Sellers - Mar 4, 2010 11:51 AM ET
  Posted in: CEOs, Goldman Sachs, Hank Paulson, John Mack, Morgan Stanley, Postcards, Wall Street, Washington

• Morgan Stanley's Mack speaks about survival

  My Fortune colleague Carol Loomis passed on this YouTube video of a talk that Morgan Stanley (MS) CEO John Mack delivered last week at Wharton. It's a remarkably candid play-by-play of living through the global economic meltdown.

  Mack talks about being pushed by Tim Geithner, then head of the New York Fed, to do a deal with JPMorgan Chase (JPM) or Citigroup (C) or another partner that might stabilize the teetering MORE

  Patricia Sellers - Oct 23, 2009 4:41 PM ET
  Posted in: banks, CEOs, finance, John Mack, Leadership by Geoff Colvin, Morgan Stanley, Postcards, Wall Street

• Morgan Stanley's ex-president starts a hedge fund

  by Patricia Sellers

  Maybe it's a sign of recovery in the financial services industry: Wall Street's two most renowned women dropouts have settled on what to do next. Yesterday on Postcards, you read Sallie Krawcheck's bizarre tale of her bumpy road on the way to Bank of America (BAC). Today, news broke that former Morgan Stanley (MS) co-president Zoe Cruz is starting a hedge fund.

  Cruz, who spent her entire career at MORE

  Patricia Sellers - Oct 9, 2009 12:21 PM ET
  Posted in: banks, finance, FORTUNE MPWomen, John Mack, Morgan Stanley, Postcards, Sallie Krawcheck, Wall Street, Zoe Cruz

• Morgan Stanley's Mack chooses a successor

  Addendum: Morgan Stanley sources say that Wallid Chammah, widely viewed and ID'd below as a contender to be CEO of Morgan Stanley, took himself out of the race a year ago, after he and his family moved to London. James Gorman's rivals for the top job, in fact, were outsiders. Spencer Stuart recruiter Tom Neff gave the board a list of names known to include  usual suspects such as ex-Merrill MORE

  Patricia Sellers - Sep 10, 2009 5:26 PM ET
  Posted in: banks, CEOs, finance, John Mack, Morgan Stanley, Postcards, Wall Street

• CIT CEO Peek: Three strikes!

  by Patricia Sellers

  As CIT gets a lifeline to stave off bankruptcy--a $3 billion deal with bondholders is reportedly in the works--the CEO who got the company into trouble is hanging on. But Jeff Peek's reputation is in tatters.

  This is the third time in eight years that Peek has failed to grab the golden ring and redeem his reputation. First at Merrill Lynch (BAC), then at Credit Suisse Group (CSGKF), and MORE

  Patricia Sellers - Jul 20, 2009 4:36 PM ET
  Posted in: banks, CEOs, CIT, finance, Jeff Peek, John Mack, Morgan Stanley, Postcards, Wall Street

• Why P&G's president quit

  by Patricia Sellers

  Procter & Gamble (PG) lost its president today: Susan Arnold, a 29-year veteran who drove the company's high-margin beauty business to $20 billion in sales and went on to oversee all of P&G's brands, stepped down one day after her 55th birthday.

  "My dad retired at 62," Arnold said, phoning this afternoon on her way to a Walt Disney (DIS) board meeting. "Then he got really sick. You know MORE

  Patricia Sellers - Mar 9, 2009 2:57 PM ET
  Posted in: A.G. Lafley, Amy Brinkley, Andrea Jung, Avon, Bank of America, banks, boards, Brands, Carrie Cox, CEOs, consumer goods, Disney, DuPont, Ellen Kullman, Fortune Most Powerful Women list, FORTUNE MPWomen, headhunters, John Mack, Leadership by Geoff Colvin, management, McDonald's, Morgan Stanley, Most Powerful Women, P&G, Personal Power, pharmaceuticals, Postcards, Power Shift, Procter & Gamble, Susan Arnold, Zoe Cruz

• Wrath for Rubin, and Mack's shot at redemption

  Such wrath! Readers' comments on Friday's post about Bob Rubin were angrier than I ever expected. A half-dozen commenters suggested that the onetime U.S. Treasury Secretary, whose reputation collapsed along with the fortunes of Citigroup (C), should go to jail for bungling the job that he's now leaving. On the one hand, I'm tempted to say: Calm down! There's no evidence - not a whiff - that Rubin did anything MORE

  Patricia Sellers - Jan 12, 2009 2:28 PM ET
  Posted in: Bank of America, banks, Bob Rubin, CEOs, Citigroup, finance, Hank Paulson, Jamie Dimon, John Mack, JPMorgan Chase, Ken Lewis, Leadership by Geoff Colvin, management, Morgan Stanley, Postcards, Power Shift, Wall Street, Washington

• CEOs step up to a higher calling

  Is the role of the Fortune 500 CEO changing? I think it is. Of course, we've never seen so many corporate chiefs gain fame by testifying in the halls of Congress -- and then get skewered on Saturday Night Live. Any leader's nightmare, indeed. But as the world spins out of control, even the admired CEOs (a rare breed!) are feeling a need to step up and broaden their traditional MORE

  Patricia Sellers - Dec 12, 2008 4:42 PM ET
  Posted in: A.G. Lafley, banks, CEOs, Christie Hefner, consumer goods, Guest Post, Indra Nooyi, Jamie Dimon, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, John Mack, JPMorgan Chase, Leadership by Geoff Colvin, Lee Scott, management, Morgan Stanley, Netflix, PepsiCo, philanthropy, Playboy, politics, Postcards, Power Shift, Procter & Gamble, Reed Hastings, retail, Steve Reinemund, Wake Forest, Wal-Mart, Wall Street, Washington, Yale, Yale CEO SUmmit

• Coopetition, frenemies and mergers in the making

  This morning, I read about the potential merger of General Motors (GM) and Chrysler. Then I read about the benign rivalry of two divas of the blog world, Arianna Huffington and Tina Brown. Two stories that have nothing to do with each other? You would think. But actually, they do. They point to a new reality of the business world: Competition isn't what it used to be. Competition becomes coopetition. MORE

  Patricia Sellers - Oct 27, 2008 5:14 PM ET
  Posted in: Ariana Huffington, Arianna Huffington, auto industry, banks, CEOs, Chrysler, Citigroup, Coke, consumer goods, Coopetition, Daily Beast, General Motors, GM, Goldman Sachs, Google, Hank Paulson, Huffington Post, Indra Nooyi, John Mack, Lloyd Blankfein, Martin Sorrell, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Muhtar Kent, Pepsi, Postcards, Roberto Goizueta, Roger Enrico, Silicon Valley, technology, Tina Brown, Vikram Pandit, WPP, Yahoo