Faye Dunaway had proved to be difficult and many actresses had been considered for the role, including Jane Fonda, Tuesday Weld, Ann-Margret, Carol Lynley, Leslie Caron, and Natalie Wood. Penn loved Dunaway and managed to convince actor and producer, Warren Beatty, who played Clyde Barrow in the film, that she was right for the part. Besides her relative anonymity, Beatty's concern was her "extraordinary bone structure", which he thought might be inappropriate for Bonnie Parker, a local girl trying to look innocent while she held up smalltown Texas banks. However, he changed his mind after seeing some photographs of Dunaway taken by
Faye Dunaway Following her divorce from O'Neill in 1987, Dunaway returned to the United States and attempted to rebuild her career by appearing in several independent dramas. Dunaway was widely praised for her performance as an alcoholic opposite Mickey Rourke in Barbet Schroeder's drama "Barfly" (1987). Based on a novel by Charles Bukowski, the film was very important to her, as she later explained, "This character, who has given over her days and nights to a bottle, is my way back to the light. This is a role that I care deeply about. I haven't felt this passion for a character since