Harvey Keitel Threw ‘Bad Lieutenant’ in the Trash Before Giving One of His Greatest Performances
Three weeks before filming began on *Bad Lieutenant*, Christopher Walken withdrew from the lead role, leaving director Abel Ferrara scrambling after years of development and spending his fee. Harvey Keitel initially rejected the unusual script, but reconsidered after actor Victor Argo urged him to read it again; Keitel went on to deliver one of his defining performances.
Ferrara recalled that financiers had struggled with the premise of a police officer dealing crack, and that he and Walken had spent a week rehearsing before Walken pulled out. Keitel was persuaded by a long passage about a nun’s confession, written by Ferrara’s collaborator Zoë Lund, though much of it was cut from the finished film. The 1992 film stars Keitel as a corrupt New York detective and remains among Ferrara’s best-known works.
- Walken left the film three weeks before production.
- Keitel first threw the roughly 30-page script away.
- Victor Argo helped persuade Keitel to reconsider.
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Bad Lieutenant is a 1992 crime film directed by Abel Ferrara, about a New York police detective whose drug use and corruption put his life and work in turmoil. Harvey Keitel plays the detective, and the film is known for its bleak depiction of addiction, misconduct and religious themes.
Ferrara developed the project with writer and actor Zoë Lund, whose work included a scene about a nun confessing to a crime. The film’s difficult subject made it hard to attract financial backing, and Christopher Walken was initially attached to the lead role.