NAULS IN BLACK AND WHITE Recently an eagle-eared listener at IMDB noted that John’s line regarding T.K. Carter on the commentary track of the original DVD release of THE THING - “he was constantly worried that all of us were racists” - had been removed from the recent Blu-Ray release of the film. Although I was not aware of any friction between T.K. and the cast and crew while filming (or, for that matter, with Keith), it brings to mind the fact that the issue of race did come up while casting...
I spoke to Bill Lancaster about the incident afterword. Concerned, Bill offered to meet with whoever was cast and work out any problems (Bill intended the dialogue to be a play on the vernacular spoken by a smart guy but would tone down the idea if it was considered offensive) but John ultimately chose to leave the character and dialogue essentially unchanged...
When actor-comedian Franklyn Ajaye (CAR WASH, STIR CRAZY, as well as a recent appearance in BRIDESMAIDS) came in to read for the role he offered instead a measured fifteen minute critique on the stereotypical nature of the character, citing both the use of the vernacular in dialogue “What’s it going to do, come chasing after us?”, for example - as well as the fact that Nauls was a cook. He also took strong exception to the labelling of Nauls as black in the character descriptions in the fronts piece of the screenplay. None of this sat particularly well with John, and the meeting broke up amidst frosty silence...
COULD THIS MAN PLAY PALMER? 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)... It 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...
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
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...
A PRODUCERS GUIDE TO THE EVOLUTION AND PRODUCTION OF THE THING
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