Stephanie Zimbalist was cast as Murphy's partner Anne Lewis but dropped out because of contractual obligations to "Remington Steele", which had been canceled in 1986, but was revived because of its popularity. Her replacement, Nancy Allen, thought the film's title was terrible but found the script engrossing. Allen was known for her long blonde hair, but Verhoeven wanted it cut short so the character was not sexualized. Her hair was cut shorter eight times before the desired look was achieved. Allen undertook police academy training for her role, and sought advice from her police-lieutenant father. Verhoeven encouraged her to act masculine and gain more weight; she accomplished the latter by giving up smoking.