 Steven Soderbergh  (qv) was first interested in directing  Charlie Kaufman (qv)s script back in late 1996, when Kaufman was  still trying to get _Being John Malkovich (1999)_ (qv) produced.  Soderberghs considerations for casting were for  David Hyde Pierce  (qv) in the role of Nathan Bronfman,  Chris Kattan  (qv) in the role of Puff (likely due to his  character Mr. Peepers on Saturday Night Live at the time), and  Marisa Tomei  (qv) in the role of Lila Jute. He was about to go  into pre