The pivotal scene in which Drake McHugh wakes up to find his legs amputated posed an acting challenge for Reagan, who was supposed to say "Where's the rest of me?" in a convincing fashion. In "City of Nets", Otto Friedrich noted that the movie had a formidable array of acting talent, and that the scene in which he saw that his legs were gone was his "one great opportunity." Reagan recalled in his memoir that he had "neither the experience nor talent to fake it," so he carried out exhaustive research, talking to disabled people and doctors, and practicing the line every chance he got.