 Director Paul Verhoeven (I) (qv) originally wanted  Derek de Lint (qv) to play Erik Lanshof, the title character. He  had previously directed Rutger Hauer (qv) in the Dutch television  series "Floris" and the film Turks Fruit and did not think Hauer  was right for the lead in this picture. De Lint read for Lanshof  several times, but Verhoeven never quite got the performance out of  de Lint he was looking for. He then decided to give Hauer a try.  Hauer surprised Verhoeven by giving a very strong reading, with the  result that Verhoeven cast him as Erik and de Lint as Alex.