Casting What-Ifs
Mickey Rourke as Danny; Michelle Pfeiffer as Lacey; Bo Derek as Lacey; Don Rickles as Al; Pink Floyd for the music
In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 01:00:55Read transcript
- Mickey Rourke was the other final candidate for Danny; they correctly decided he was not funny enough.
- Michael O'Keefe is good: a great golf swing, and he can hang on screen with Chevy Chase at his funniest.
- Rourke on that era's cocaine-fueled set would have been ugly; Danny is good when Smales tries to hit him with the golf club.
- Michelle Pfeiffer reportedly turned down Lacey because she did not want to be naked; she could have pulled it off, though she never played a character that frisky.
- Pfeiffer and Rourke as Lacey and Danny would be a different movie, an Adrian Line erotic thriller; Rourke would compete with Ty, and O'Keefe landing Lacey should feel like a stretch.
- Producer Peters is said to claim he had Bo Derek for Lacey before 10 and Ramis rejected it; Lacey is assumed to be about 25 and Danny about 17 or 18.
- These movies shifted American comedy from a Jewish writing tradition toward Irish Catholic voices; Danny's eight-kid family is loosely based on the Murray family, and the young caddy landing Lacey set a template.
- Don Rickles was considered for Al; he is judged too mean and perhaps better as Judge Smales.
- Pink Floyd was wanted for the music and declined, thankfully; Ramis's left-of-center interests like Zen Buddhism are noted, and Kenny Loggins came through instead.