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 from the TCM Classic Film Festival". Although she stated in a 2013 interview she felt her acting career was "pretty much over", Dunaway told Mankiewicz she had no intention to retire: "We live for work. We live for what we do. I just want to keep working. It's where I'm happiest." That same year, she guest-starred as herself in the season finale of season two of the mockumentary series "Documentary Now!". The episode, titled "Mr. Runner Up: My Life as an Oscar Bridesmaid", was inspired by producer Robert Evans, with whom Dunaway worked on "Chinatown", and the 2002 documentary about