Paul Newman turned down the lead role in Sydney Pollack's 1977 film "Bobby Deerfield", a part that ultimately went to Al Pacino following his acclaimed turns in "The Godfather Part II" and "Dog Day Afternoon". Despite the role seemingly suiting Newman's well-known passion for motorsport, he declined it, and the finished film proved to be a somewhat lacklustre romantic drama, though it still performed reasonably at the box office and earned Pacino a Golden Globe nomination.

By the 1970s Newman had grown selective, reportedly reading around 200 scripts a year while turning most of them down, having already secured his reputation with roles in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "Cool Hand Luke". The pair's fortunes later reversed when Newman starred in Pollack's 1981 film "Absence of Malice", a part said to have originally been intended for Pacino, which brought Newman an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.