Robert Zemeckis Says Paul Newman Was ‘Insulted’ by ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ Lead Role Offer

"He didn't like it at all."

Paul Newman had no desire to play paddy-cake for “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?.”

According to director Robert Zemeckis, the actor was approached to lead the cartoon live-action hybrid Disney film. The 1988 feature was a cartoon-ified take on the noir genre and centered on private detective Eddie Valiant, who was later played by Bob Hoskins. The film went on to win three Oscars for film editing, sound effects editing, and visual effects. Animator Richard Williams also received a Special Achievement Award from the Academy in 1989 for his animation direction.

Zemeckis said during Josh Horowitz’s “Happy Sad Confused” podcast that Newman was less than enthused to be considered for the lead role.

“I actually offered the Bob Hoskins role to Paul Newman and he was insulted,” Zemeckis said. “He said, ‘What? You want me to do a movie where I’m playing against a cartoon rabbit?’ He didn’t like it at all.”

Despite Newman’s disdain, the film became a beloved, critically acclaimed hit. Zemeckis cited how he was “completely inspired by ‘Chinatown'” for the daring Disney feature.

“The good news was we were able to make it right at the time when Disney was ready to rebuild itself. We were there when the new regime came in and they were full of energy. I said, ‘I’m making “Roger Rabbit” the way I believe Walt Disney would have made it,'” Zemeckis said. “The reason I say that is because Walt Disney never made any of his movies for children. He always made them for adults. That’s what I decided to do with ‘Roger Rabbit.’ We did a test preview with just moms and kids and I was terrified because…these kids were five, six years old. But they were absolutely riveted by the movie. The thing is, kids get everything. They understand. I think the thing that Walt Disney never did was he never talked down to children in his movies. He treated the kids like they were adults.”

However, kids and adults alike shouldn’t hold their breath for the long-awaited “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” sequel. Zemeckis pointed to how much the Disney empire has changed in the almost four decades since the original film. Nowadays, the volumptuous femme fatale Jessica Rabbit couldn’t even be a character, according to Zemeckis.

“There are good scripts at Disney, but here’s what you have to know: The current Disney would never make ‘Roger Rabbit’ today,” the “Here” director said. “They can’t make a movie with Jessica in it. The Sean Price sequel script isn’t ever going to see the light of day, as good as it is. Look what they did to Jessica at the theme park. They dressed her up in a trench coat.”

Zemeckis did, however, tease that the sequel script would still include Hoskins’ Valiant character, even though Hoskins died in 2014.

“When the sequel was written, Bob was no longer with us,” Zemeckis said. “But he would show up as a ghost in certain times. […] But I guess we wouldn’t be able to do it now.”

Read IndieWire’s interview with Horowitz about 10 years of “Happy Sad Confused” here.