- Linda Hunt, The Year of Living Dangerously, 1982. Shawn, Bob Balaban, David Atkins and Joel Grey auditioned for Billy Kwan. And Chicago critic Roger Ebert said director Peter Weir’s casting of the mercurial, likable, complicated and exotic dwarf character was the key to how the film worked. He chose Hunt, “who enters the role so fully that it never occurs to us that she is not a man. This is what great acting is, a magical transformation of one person into another.” Oscar agreed.
- Charles Fleischer, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, 1987. You make a critically applauded indie hit for French réalisateur Lous Malle called My Dinner With André – and suddenly you’re offered the voice of a Hollywood cartoon rabbit star suspected of murder. So it goes in Tinsel… er, Toontown. Producer Steven Spielberg also looked at his 1941 star Eddie Deezen and Paul Reubens before voting Fleischer. Co-star Bob Hoskins thought him “completely nuts” – for insisting on wearing a rabbit suit when voicing Roger live on the set. No one has reported what he wore when also voicing of Benny The Cab and two of Judge Doom’s weasels, Greasy and Psycho.
- George Schindler, New York Stories, 1988. For Oedipus Wrecks, the third and last story after those from Martin Scorsese and Francis Coppola, Woody Allen wrote Shandu the Greatfor the New York actor and promptly found a real magician for the role.Shawn’s film debut was Manhattan and he later appeared in Radio Days, Shadows and Fog, The Curse of the Jade Scorpion and Melinda and Melinda.
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 3