Paul Newman discusses 'The Sundance Kid' role in 1982

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After Steve McQueen turned down Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, rising star Robert Redford was cast in the latter role with Paul Newman. The 1969 movie about the real-life outlaws is considered one of the greatest Westerns ever made and went on to win four Oscars. It was only four years later before they reteamed for con artist movie The Sting, but have you ever wondered how the Hollywood stars got on, on set?

Speaking in an archive interview in BBC’s Talking Pictures, the late Newman remembered of making Butch Cassidy: “We have a lot of fun together, we bounce off each other real well. But I would have preferred to have played Sundance. I feel a little more comfortable with that cooled-out kind of quality. I suppose it’s the easier part.”

However, the star’s soon-to-be-published memoir discloses that the pair had times of tension on set too.

According to the BBC, Paul Newman: The Extraordinary Life Of An Ordinary Man – A Memoir, claims the two stars weren’t really friends at the time.

The Butch Cassidy star who died in 2008, said: “You can’t depend on Redford. You’re never sure he’s going to be there. That’s simply discourteous.”

Clea Newman Soderlund, his youngest daughter with Joanne Woodward, believes that their tensions were thanks to a different way of working.

She said: “My father was very much a stickler for timeliness and Bob, that was never really his strength. It was hard work for dad. He worked very hard at it because he wanted to be good and he wanted to be successful and Bob was more of a free spirit.”

Following The Sting, Newman and Redford spent years trying to find the right script to make a third film together, but it never came to be. 

However, it turns out the late actor almost co-starred with him in what became 2015’s A Walk in the Woods. The film based on Bill Bryson’s 1998 book of the same name saw Redford play the author with Nick Nolte as his friend, as the pair attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail.

Speaking with Yahoo at the time, Redford said: “It started with Paul, because Paul and I had been looking for a third film to do together. A lot of time had gone by, and I just couldn’t find it. When I read this book… I thought of Paul right away.”

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Redford sent the book to Newman, however with his advancing age he didn’t think he could deal with the physical nature of the role so passed on the part that eventually went to Nolte.

Newman’s upcoming memoir was made up of long-forgotten recordings he made decades ago that have since been edited together thanks to his family.

Paul Newman: The Extraordinary Life Of An Ordinary Man – A Memoir is out on October 27, 2022.

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