Editing An Unmarried Woman (section)

==Production==
Paul Mazursky began writing the script in 1976 after interviewing several different women about their thoughts on marriage and independence.  He initially offered the role of Erica to [[Jane Fonda]], who passed to star in ''[[Julia (1977 film)|Julia]]''. Mazursky also considered [[Barbra Streisand]] for the lead but did not hear back from her agent. Finally, [[Jill Clayburgh]] was considered without an audition after Mazursky saw her in a New York play. At 32 years old, Clayburgh was thought to be too young to play a wife in a 16-year marriage with a teenage daughter, but Clayburgh returned to Mazursky's office having styled herself in fashions indicative of an older woman and secured the part.

[[Principal photography]] began on April 5, 1977, in New York City, with the main locations being Manhattan's [[Upper East Side]] and [[SoHo, Manhattan|SoHo]] neighborhoods.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57048 |title=An Unmarried Woman (1978) |website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]] |access-date=July 1, 2023}}</ref> Clayburgh worked the entire shoot without a day off; her character was written into every scene of a film that was on a tight budget.

[[Anthony Hopkins]] was offered the role of Saul but turned it down because the character does not show up until past the midway point of the script.  British actor [[Alan Bates]], whom Mazursky had always admired and who had never appeared in an American film, was given the part. Bates had some misgivings because he did not want to leave his dying father in England, but Mazursky assured him that he would be given seven days to be with his father in case of a tragic event. Bates conceded and his father died after he returned home.