The Royal Tenenbaums poster
The Royal Tenenbaums

Casting What-Ifs

Gene Wilder and Michael Caine were considered for Royal before Gene Hackman accepted the role.

This discussion recalls a choice from an earlier episode.

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:50Read transcript
  • Gene Wilder is reported as a candidate for Royal Tenenbaum.
  • Michael Caine is described as the second choice after Hackman resisted the part.
  • Hackman objected to a role written for him, a three-month commitment, and scale pay.
  • Hackman accepted after learning that the production had turned toward Caine.
  • The participants think Caine could have been good but that his casting would create a completely different movie.
  • Anderson's early family drawings included other unidentified actor ideas that cannot be recovered from the transcript.