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 elected to re-edit Kusturica's film, cutting and changing it. Dunaway was dismayed to find that some of her best scenes were left out of the American version. Warner Bros. released the film in United States in 1994 to positive reviews, but little box office. That same year, Dunaway was cast in the short-lived CBS sitcom, "It Had to Be You". Around that time, she was contacted by NBC who wanted her to take on the role of a female sleuth, more in the vein of "Columbo" than "Murder, She Wrote". As the prospective series was being developed, Dunaway contacted "Columbo"