Altman offered the lead to Elliott Gould who turned it down to make "I Love My Wife". "Bob said, 'You're making the mistake of your life'," said Gould. "There was a part of me that was not developed at all and that had no real understanding about what the woman is. Bob wanted to cast Patricia Quinn as Mrs. Miller, and I hadn't seen 'Alice's Restaurant' and I hadn't met her. I had some misconceptions because I wanted her to have the same relationship with Altman as I had. I recently watched 'Alice's Restaurant' and she's great. Altman was so right."