 According to William Goldmans book "Four Screenplays", the main  character role, Paul Sheldon, was offered to  William Hurt (I) (qv), Kevin Kline (I) (qv),  Michael Douglas (I) (qv), Harrison Ford (I) (qv),  Dustin Hoffman (qv), Robert De Niro (qv), Al Pacino (qv),  Richard Dreyfuss (qv), Gene Hackman (qv),  Robert Redford (I) (qv), and Warren Beatty (qv), all of whom  declined.