The King of Comedy (film) character fails to differentiate between his fantasies and reality in much the same way. Scorsese sought to achieve the same with the film so that, in his words, the "fantasy is more real than reality". Rupert Pupkin has been compared to Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver": both characters have serious issues with reality testing, that is drawing the line between outer objective and inner subjective reality. In her review, entertainment columnist Marilyn Beck approved Johnny Carson's refusal to participate in "The King of Comedy", supposedly because he feared the film could inspire psychopaths like John Hinckley. Beck considered "The King
A Star Is Born (2018 film) film in the role of the manager to Cooper's character, though he ultimately was not involved. On March 17, 2017, Sam Elliott joined the film, with Andrew Dice Clay entering negotiations to play Lorenzo, the father of Lady Gaga's character. Clay was selected over Robert De Niro, John Turturro and John Travolta. In April 2017, Rafi Gavron, Michael Harney, and Rebecca Field also joined the cast. Filming began on April 17, 2017. In May, Dave Chappelle was cast in the film. In April 2018, it was announced that Halsey would have a small role. After seeing him perform at Desert