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
Jon Voight audio, Voight played the character of Abraham. The project also featured a large ensemble of other well known Hollywood actors including Jim Caviezel, Lou Gossett, Jr., John Rhys-Davies, Luke Perry, Gary Sinise, Jason Alexander, Christopher McDonald, Marisa Tomei, and John Schneider. In 2013, Voight made his much acclaimed appearance on "Ray Donovan" as Mickey Donovan, Ray's estranged pseudo-evil crudely charismatic highly persuasively endearing father who brought nothing to his sons' lives but paranoia, neurosis, and disastrous complications. Under the category Television Series, Voight received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film in 2013.