‘Didn’t want me’ Robert Redford details sacrifice to land Butch Cassidy role
Elsewhere in the documentary, it was revealed that Robert owed his casting in the Western film to Joanne Woodward, his co-star Paul’s wife.
In an interview with Iain Johnstone, Paul shared that both he and Steve McQueen tried to buy the script before it was given to somebody at 20th Century Fox.
Iain asked if it was him who decided to cast Robert before stating that it was his wife’s idea.
He said: “She read the script and she said, ‘it’s marvellous and the only guy that can play it is Bob Redford.”
“We have a lot of fun together, we bounce off each other real well.”
During his interview Paul revealed that he would have preferred playing his co-star’s part of The Sundance Kid as it was the easier role.
The film, which is loosely based on fact, follows the story of two Western outlaws Robert Parker “Butch Cassidy” and Harry Longbaugh “Sundance Kid”.
After a robbery goes wrong, the duo find themselves on the run as they have a posse tracking them.
As their solution is to try and flee to Bolivia, viewers watch as the film goes on a journey of fast draws, wild rides and outlaw life.
The film won many awards after its release including a BAFTA for for Best Film in 1970 and an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay the same year.
Leave a Reply