Eric Stoltz was praised by the director for taking his character of Zed and letting him grow "far beyond the page." Avary stated, "I have a rule as a director to never tell an actor not to do something that they feel. If somebody feels something I allow them to explore it because there's a reason for it." Examples of this include Zed not seeming to care when Zoe is violently ejected from his hotel room without her clothes (in the script he tries to talk Eric down), and the mercy killing of the bank guard (he was written to be unable to shoot him, and just slowly watch as he dies).