Deliverance to play Lewis Medlock. Jack Nicholson was considered for the role of Ed, while both Donald Sutherland and Charlton Heston turned down the role of Lewis. Other actors who were attached to the project included Robert Redford, Henry Fonda, George C. Scott and Warren Beatty. The film is infamous for cutting costs by not insuring the production and having the actors perform their own stunts (most notably, Jon Voight climbed the cliff himself). In one scene, the stunt coordinator decided that a scene showing a canoe with a dummy of Burt Reynolds in it looked phony; he said it looked
Ned Beatty Big Easy", directed by Jim McBride and starring Dennis Quaid, and continued with a spy drama, "The Fourth Protocol" (1987), opposite Michael Caine and Pierce Brosnan. In 1988, Beatty appeared with the main character Thelonious Pitt in "Shadows in the Storm", reunited with Burt Reynolds and Christopher Reeve for the 1988 comedy film "Switching Channels", his fifth time in a movie with Reynolds. He appeared in "Purple People Eater" (1988), portraying a simple grandfather. In 1989, Beatty made "Chattahoochee", portraying Dr. Harwood. He had a recurring role as the father of John Goodman's character Dan Conner on the TV comedy