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 was cast by Richard Donner to portray Lex Luthor's inept henchman Otis in "Superman: The Movie" (1978), as he would in the 1980 sequel, where we see his character being left behind in prison. He received a second nomination for Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special for the television series "Friendly Fire" (1979). In 1979, he was seen in "Wise Blood", directed by John Huston, and "1941", directed by Steven Spielberg. In 1980, Beatty appeared in Ronald Neame's 1980 American film "Hopscotch" (1980) with Walter Matthau. In 1981, Beatty appeared in the comedy/science fiction