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
Burt Reynolds by Merrick, who fired and then rehired director Don Siegel during filming. Reynolds had two huge hits with car films directed by Needham, "Smokey and the Bandit II" (1980) and "The Cannonball Run" (1981). He starred in David Steinberg's film "Paternity" (1981) and directed himself in a tough action film, "Sharky's Machine" (1981). Reynolds wanted to try a musical again and so agreed to do "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" (1982). It was a hit, as was "Best Friends" (1982) with Goldie Hawn. In 1982, Reynolds was voted the most popular star in the US for the fifth year