You know why? Schlesinger was trying to come up the stairs of this horrible place we were in, and move the camera into the room, and then see us in this bed. What was the first scene you did? There were three. See the fox coat? You see? It protected me. Fucked in fox.” Isn’t that great that he said that? I have a picture. And I walked on the set, and he said, “I love it.
You’ll probably hate them too.” And then Ann Roth came up with the fox coat, and Schlesinger saw it. But Julie Christie takes her pasties and throws them off. “Well, it’s an X-rated, darling.” It just never occurred to me.Īnn Roth saved my life with the fox-fur coat. No, except I remember Schlesinger screaming it on the set. It was the first X-rated film that was nominated for an Oscar.ĭid you know that it was, when you were making it? So obviously this came out and it was X-rated. I’d only done one movie before this, with Garson Kanin in Vegas. Tell me about the famous love scene with you.Īnd what did you say? Had you done nude before? I didn’t see a lot of what Schlesinger was doing. Schlesinger was out by then, but watching Midnight Cowboy, I just feel like there’s so many … I think after that, he just decided that I could be bitchy enough. And then finally, he brought Jon Voight in and we sat there and laughed and had the chemistry. How did you convince Schlesinger to cast you? Maybe on the phone call, which was improvised. Well, I don’t know that I had a chance to show that in Midnight Cowboy. If you can’t use it, perhaps I’ll find someone who could.” She looked at me like, “You’ll never work.” She gave me this look that’s like a leopard. I said, “Excuse me.” I said, “Those are my cards. But I have my card.” She said, “Oh, I’ll probably lose that.” And she threw my card away. And when I handed her my card, I said, “I’ve just got to New York, so I don’t have any pictures yet. She worked for David Susskind as a casting agent. She was sort of like this woman I met, who I fashioned her after. How was your character written? How was she described? What could you find out from the script about her? There was an old diner, and he walked into the diner, and there was a waiter that was limping, who hadn’t shaved, and said, “Where do you want to sit?” And Dusty said, “That’s Ratso.” And John Schlesinger hired him on the spot. So Dusty called him up and said, “I’m going to take you downtown.” He took him down to the Meatpacking area. Well, he wanted that other boy that he couldn’t get. That’s funny, because reading about the movie, it seemed like he was not thrilled with any of the casting decisions, at least initially. He wanted somebody who could knock you down with a razor in two seconds. He thought I was too like, “Hi, I’m your mistress.” Too friendly, too sweet, too nice. I think he was uneasy about it because Janice Rule - who was married to Ben Gazzara, who had the most fabulous voice. But he didn’t think I was right for the part in Midnight Cowboy. So Schlesinger had seen you in this show?
Don’t you ever bow and thank the audience when you stop the show.” I said, “I never stopped the show.” He was furious at me. He stomped into my dressing room and said, “Don’t you ever thank the audience again. Thank you.” After, George Abbott gave me the lesson of a lifetime. They wouldn’t stop screaming and applauding. When I did How Now, Dow Jones, I stopped the show after “He’s Here!,” that song I sang. And Schlesinger had seen me in How Now, Dow Jones, a musical. She called me in to read for John Schlesinger. Marion Dougherty - you’re going to hear that name a lot - was the most famous casting agent here. Do you remember getting hired for Midnight Cowboy?