Perhaps not many people remember that Harvey Keitel, in his long and illustrious career, missed the chance to appear in two major films. Francis Ford Coppola had chosen him to star as Captain Willard in Apocalypse Now, instead of Martin Sheen, but after a week of filming he reconsidered, not convinced by the actor’s acting style. Years later, it was Keitel who walked off the set of Eyes Wide Shut, where he had been entrusted with the role of Vincent Ziegler, a wealthy patient and friend of Bill Harford, when he sensed what would later prove true: Kubrick’s perfectionism was too exhausting for him and the shoot would last far too long. He learned this the hard way Sydney Pollack, a great friend of the director, who stepped in and spent many months repeating the same scenes until they reached perfection, without resentments, but rather, very happy to collaborate. There is also talk that Keitel left actually because the length of the shoots would have made it impossible to honor existing commitments, but whatever happened, the fact remains that we never saw the actor in the role of Ziegler… until today, when official accounts dedicated to Stanley Kubrick published in a video conversation with the director of photography Larry Smith the Polaroids showing him in his on-set costumes. For a comparison, there are also photos of Pollack, and you will notice that the actress has changed as well, because the director believed, as Leon Vitali told Kubrick Archive researcher Filippo Ulivieri, that by his side he would want a wife who was less aggressive and showy. Smith recounts that Keitel was not happy and peppered Kubrick with questions, unnerving the director.
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