In 1963, Warren Beatty was hand-picked for a role by the President of the United States. He turned it down

In 1963, President John F Kennedy personally chose young actor Warren Beatty to play him in a film about his wartime service, but Beatty declined. The episode offers a glimpse of Kennedy’s involvement in the production and of the personal connection he formed with Beatty.

The film, *PT 109*, told the story of Kennedy’s patrol boat being struck by a Japanese destroyer in 1943 and his efforts to help save his crew. Beatty, then 26 and early in his acting career, said he was not interested in the role, though he became friendly with Kennedy, his press secretary Pierre Salinger and his brother Robert Kennedy. Cliff Robertson eventually played the president; the film was released in June 1963, five months before Kennedy was assassinated.