Warren Beatty of the film, he credited Hackman with giving the "most authentic performance in the movie, so textured and so moving," recalls Dunaway. He was impressed with Gene Wilder after seeing him in a play and didn't even need him to audition, in what became Wilder's screen debut. And Beatty had already known Pollard: "Michael J. Pollard was one of my oldest friends," Beatty said. "I'd known him forever; I met him the day I got my first television show. We did a play together on Broadway." "Bonnie and Clyde" went on to be a critical and commercial success, despite the
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