COULD THIS MAN PLAY PALMER ?

Rob coming out of THE FOG, 1980

                       Having had a taste of  The Roar Of The Greasepaint by appearing as an actor in front of the camera on THE FOG, Rob Bottin initially made a concerted pitch to John Carpenter and myself to play Palmer in THE THING. We were surprised by his request ( when John first mentioned it to me I thought he was kidding ), and skeptical of his ability to pull it off - he already had the massive responsibility of the effects work heaped on his twenty two year old shoulders, much of which was scheduled to be shot with the principal actors. Undaunted, he told me he was deadly serious about playing the role and would take acting classes if need be, but as pre - production rapidly advanced it was clear to all that it was an impossible idea to pursue ( I don't recall whether Rob actually read for the role, but I remember him lobbying hard for the chance )...

              

                  I was the custom then ( and, indeed, now ) for studio casting departments to pay very close attention to up and coming comedians performing at nightclubs around Hollywood, with assistants dispatched nightly to monitor the proceedings at watering holes like THE IMPROVISATION. When THE THING first crossed the desks of executives at Universal they wondered whether, given the roles' comedic potential, it would be advantageous to consider one of the best and the brightest for the role of Palmer...

Charles Fleischer

Jay Leno

Gary Shandling

                  Jay Leno met and read for us. A recent film of his, AMERICAN HOT WAX, was screened. Gary Shandling and Charles Fleisher ( later to become the voice of ROGER RABBIT ) also met, among others, but the concern always was whether they had the dramatic "chops" in order to pull the entire role off...       

                   A veteran casting director, Lynn Stalmaster, had given me a great early piece of advice -  "When in doubt, always go for the actor" - which is just what we did with David Clennon. David had recently appeared in MISSING, the Costa-Gavras film for Universal, and was one of the first actors in the door - an early and enthusiastic selection by John and ourselves, and one we certainly never regretted...