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 Society of Film Critics. She received her sixth Golden Globe nomination for "Network" and was awarded Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. In early 1977, the Academy Awards nominated "Network" for ten awards, with Dunaway winning in her third Best Actress nomination. Also in 1976, Dunaway appeared as the lead in the made-for-television movie, "The Disappearance of Aimee", in which she co-starred with Bette Davis. Following her Oscar win, Dunaway took another break from acting to figure out her personal life. As her marriage was falling apart, she began a relationship with English photographer Terry O'Neill, who took