Trivia / McCabe & Mrs. Miller

• Actor-Inspired Element: Many of the people playing small parts, bit roles, and extras were allowed to create their own characters for the movie.
• California Doubling: Set in Washington state, but filmed in suburban Vancouver, with the town entirely built from scratch.
• The Danza: Jeremy Berg and Maysie the prostitute share their names with the actors playing them (Jeremy Newsom and Maysie Hoy).
• Fake American: Many of the supporting roles are played by Canadian actors.
• Permanent Placeholder: Robert Altman originally used Leonard Cohen's songs as a temporary music track during the initial editing, then decided he wanted them in the film. He approached Cohen and learned that Cohen had loved his previous film Brewster McCloud. Cohen granted Altman full rights for the three songs used in the film, plus a royalty percentage for copies of the Songs of Leonard Cohen album sold after the film's release.
• Wag the Director: Warren Beatty loved to perform multiple takes of his scenes. Once, when Robert Altman was ready to wrap shooting for the day, Beatty insisted on more takes. Altman left and had his assistant shoot them and Beatty did over thirty takes of the scene. Altman got his revenge by ordering Beatty to do 25 takes of a scene involving Beatty in the snow.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Robert Altman's initial preference for the role of John McCabe was Elliott Gould, who passed to appear in a now-forgotten film. George C. Scott was also considered.
  • According to Gould, Altman wanted Patricia Quinn for Constance Miller.
  • Ned Beatty was at one point considered for a role in the film but Altman felt that he was a little too young for the role.
• Working Title: Edmund Naughton's original novel was just called McCabe. When production began it was called The Presbyterian Church Wager, but the leaders of the Presbyterian Church objected (and the scene with the actual wager got cut from the film).

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