However Mellis, Scinto and Glazer all left the film's production. The reason for this was a disagreement with the film's producer about casting, as Malcolm McDowell's Gangster was originally going to be played by Peter Bowles, who had previously played the role on stage. David Scinto stated that "An actor was attached to the project who was simply ill-suited. Not that he was a bad actor, he just wasn’t right for the role. In fact very, very wrong for the role. So after much painful deliberation, we extricated ourselves from the deteriorating situation. Taking our names with us. It was a very difficult decision. A very difficult thing to do, not something I enjoyed. As it turned out the actor was removed anyway." When asked about why they had left, Mellis stated that "Simplest thing to say re the three of us walking away from "Gangster No. 1" is “artistic differences.” Because it was our first film we were expected to put up with all manner of ridiculousness re casting, tone, themes, etc. These stuck in our throats, and so we left them to it". Both Scinto and Mellis have stated that them both walking off the film damaged their reputation. Scinto said that "We got some kind of intimidating reputation which wasn't true. All we ever did was defend ourselves, and care about putting on a good show" and that "People told lies about us, and those lies were absorbed by the industry". Mellis has said that the experience of walking off the film "was nightmarish" and that "When you're starting off, I guess you're supposed to be grateful. We did hear, almost: 'You'll never work in this town again.'"