 While being profiled for "The Directors" series,  Sydney Pollack (qv) claimed that Dustin Hoffman (qv) refused to  continue working on the film unless Pollack played his agent.  Pollack refused up until Hoffmans agent Michael Ovitz (qv)  intervened and Pollack reconsidered. He later agreed to play the  role. The scenes featuring Hoffmans and Pollacks characters were  meant to reflect what happened behind the scenes between the two  when they would argue.