What Could Have Been: Elia Kazan originally wanted Marlon Brando to play Eddie Anderson. Brando initially agreed to play the role, but backed out after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., saying he could not go on with the film in light of such terrible events. While Kazan, a political person himself, took Brando's exit graciously, he wondered whether Brando's excuse was just a con and that he didn't really want to play the role. Kazan says that Brando's interest in playing the role, during their discussions, never got beyond his desire that the studio use a particular Italian wigmaker for his hairpieces. On his part, Kazan had urged Brando to lose weight so that the character would be "lean and hungry." The role was then offered to Charlton Heston, who turned it down because, he claimed, the main character was "a loser".
