Actor Jon Voight was not originally going to appear in the film. Whilst working on the second draft of the script with Al Schwartz, it dawned upon Voight to take the part of Alex in the film. Previously, the movie's two writers had struggled to find the right actor to cast in the role of Alex. Voight said: "I never really thought I'd write the role for myself. But I kind of protected myself by writing a part I thought I could play".