Faye Dunaway "The Extraordinary Seaman", a comedy adventure directed by John Frankenheimer and also starring David Niven that she shot right after "Bonnie and Clyde", was released to poor reviews and proved to be a commercial failure. Despite protests from her agent, Dunaway turned down a lot of high-profile projects in order to spend time with Mastroianni. In 1970, Dunaway took a supporting role as a favor to Arthur Penn in his western, "Little Big Man". In a rare comic role, Dunaway played the sexually frustrated wife of a minister who helps raise and seduce a boy raised by Native Americans, played
Faye Dunaway wanted Polanski to consider Jane Fonda for the role, arguing that Dunaway had a reputation for temperament, Polanski insisted on using Dunaway. She accepted the challenging and complex role of Mulwray, a shadowy femme fatale who knows more than she is willing to let Detective J.J. Gittes (played by Jack Nicholson) know. Dunaway got along well with Nicholson, describing him later as a "soul mate", but she clashed with Polanski, who had a reputation for being dictatorial and controlling on a set. "Roman was very much an autocrat, always forcing things. It ranged from the physical to the mental. He