Most Hollywood stars have taken on roles that, in retrospect, they would rather not have played. And there are also roles that they didn’t play, that they never let go of. It’s especially hard when you turn down a role and then have to watch as someone else takes the credit for it. It was particularly tough for Paul Newman, as his replacement was even nominated for an Oscar.
The search for the leading actor for Behind the Spotlight was difficult
Behind the Limelight is a biopic-like musical by Bob Fosse. The director, choreographer and dancer developed the script around one fictionalized version of himself and gave his alter ego the name Joe Gideon. His preferred candidate for the role was Richard Dreyfuss. However, he wasn’t really convinced and spoke to his co-star from Jaws, Roy Scheider, who was ultimately supposed to take on the role. According to Far Out Magazine, Scheider spoke in the DVD commentaries about the difficulty of casting the role of Gideon.
After Dreyfuss’ rejection, the role was offered to many actors, including Paul Newman. Like most, Newman turned down the role. According to Far Out Magazine, a Washington Post article was published in 1981 in which Newman commented on the matter.
I turned down Behind the Spotlight, which was a big mistake. I didn’t find the character justifiable. And of course I didn’t take Bob Fosse into account. It was a stupid, stupid mistake.
Watch the trailer for Behind the Spotlight:
Behind the Spotlight – Trailer (English)
Paul Newman’s replacement in Behind the Spotlight was nominated for an Oscar
The perfect casting for Joe Gideon was ahead of Fosse all along. As already mentioned, Roy Scheider ended up playing the main role in the film, the man who was involved in the project from the beginning, so to speak which no one had on their radar. The role paid off again for him, as he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor.