Matt Dillon (Gunsmoke) no uncertain terms that he had no interest whatsoever. (Wayne was arguably the cinema's foremost box office attraction at the time.) Warren stated that the inquiry had not been serious inasmuch as Wayne could not realistically have been expected to abandon a thriving movie career for a less certain and immensely less lucrative television role. Wayne did, however, recommend James Arness for the part and his offer to introduce the first episode was readily accepted by CBS. Others who had auditioned for the part included Raymond Burr, Richard Boone, Denver Pyle, and William Conrad. All would go on to other
Matt Dillon Movie Award for Best Villain. In 2002, he wrote and directed the film "City of Ghosts", starring himself, James Caan and Gérard Depardieu. In 2005, he starred in "Factotum", a film adaptation of an autobiographical work by Charles Bukowski. Two years later he received critical praise and earned Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for his role in "Crash", a film co-written and directed by Paul Haggis. In 2005, Dillon co-starred in Disney's "" and on March 11, 2006 hosted "Saturday Night Live", in which he impersonated Greg Anderson and Rod Serling in sketches. Dillon starred in