Editing Kramer vs. Kramer (section)

==Production==
Producer [[Stanley R. Jaffe]] and writer and director [[Robert Benton]] read [[Avery Corman]]'s source novel, and were so moved by the story that they bought the rights to make it into a film. [[Dustin Hoffman]] was the only actor they envisioned in the lead role of Ted Kramer.<ref name=GG>{{cite web |last1=Nepales |first1=Janet Susan R. |title=1980: "Kramer vs. Kramer" Reflects an Intersection of Life, Art |url=https://goldenglobes.com/articles/1980-kramer-vs-kramer-reflects-intersection-life-art/ |website=Golden Globes |access-date=11 February 2024 |date=2022-11-28}}</ref>

Hoffman, going through a divorce at the time, initially turned down the role.<ref name="AFI" /> He has since stated that, at that time, he had wanted to quit film acting and return to the stage, due to his depression and distaste for Hollywood. While Jaffe and Benton were courting Hoffman, [[James Caan]] was offered the role, but turned it down, as he was concerned the film would be a flop.<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 September 2005 |title=Caan Rues the Bad Choices That Prompted Him to Turn Down Movies |url=http://hub.contactmusic.com/james-caan/news/caan-rues-the-bad-choices-that-prompted-him-to-turn-down-movies |website=Contact Music}}</ref> [[Al Pacino]] was offered the role, but felt it was not for him.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=miUmXrLj7B8C&q=%22al+pacino%22+and+%22kramer+vs+kramer%22&pg=PA71|title = Al Pacino|isbn = 9781416955566|last1 = Grobel|first1 = Lawrence|date = 22 April 2008| publisher=Simon and Schuster }}</ref> [[Jon Voight]] also turned down the role.<ref name=GG/> Hoffman met with Jaffe and Benton at a [[London]] hotel during the making of ''[[Agatha (film)|Agatha]]'' (1979), and was convinced to accept the role. Hoffman has credited Benton and this film for rejuvenating his love of film acting, and inspiring the emotional level of many scenes. Hoffman was reminded of his love for children and "got closer being a father by playing a father".<ref name=GG/>

Benton and Jaffe selected [[Justin Henry]] to play Billy. Hoffman worked extensively with Henry, then 7 years old, in each scene to put him at ease.<ref name="Henry">{{cite news |last1=Kakutani |first1=Michiko |title=Child Star of 'Kramer' Takes Role in Stride |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/28/archives/child-star-of-kramer-takes-role-in-stride-little-toughguy.html |access-date=11 February 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=1979-12-28}}</ref> Benton encouraged Henry to improvise to make his performance more natural.<ref name="AFI" /> The ice cream scene in which Billy defies Ted by skipping dinner and eating ice cream was all improvised by Hoffman and Henry.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} Hoffman contributed many personal moments and dialogue; Benton offered shared screenplay credit but Hoffman declined.<ref name="Kemp">{{cite news |last1=Kemp |first1=Stuart |title=Dustin Hoffman Breaks Down While Recounting His Past Movie Choices |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/dustin-hoffman-breaks-down-recounting-379402/ |access-date=11 February 2024 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=October 16, 2012}}</ref>

[[Kate Jackson]] was offered the role of Joanna Kramer, but had to turn it down, as producer [[Aaron Spelling]] was unable to rearrange the shooting schedule of the TV series ''[[Charlie's Angels]]'', in which Jackson was starring.<ref name="Spelling">{{cite book |last1=Spelling |first1=Aaron |author-link1=Aaron Spelling |last2=Graham |first2=Jefferson |title=A Prime-Time Life: An Autobiography |year=1996 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-312-14268-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/aaronspellingpri00spel/page/112 112] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/aaronspellingpri00spel/page/112 }}</ref> The part was offered to [[Faye Dunaway]], [[Jane Fonda]] and [[Ali MacGraw]] before [[Meryl Streep]] was cast.<ref name="Michael Schulman" />

Streep was initially cast as Phyllis (the role eventually taken by [[JoBeth Williams]]), but she was able to force her way into auditioning for Joanna in front of Hoffman, Benton and Jaffe. She found the character in the novel and script unsympathetic ("an ogre, a princess, an ass", as she called her), and approached Joanna from a more sympathetic point of view.<ref name="Michael Schulman">{{cite magazine| url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/03/meryl-streep-kramer-vs-kramer-oscar| title=How Meryl Streep Battled Dustin Hoffman, Retooled Her Role, and Won Her First Oscar| first=Michael |last=Schulman| magazine=Vanity Fair| date=2016-03-29| access-date=2018-01-03| archive-date=2017-12-19| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171219230433/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/03/meryl-streep-kramer-vs-kramer-oscar| url-status=live}}</ref> Hoffman believed the death of Streep's fiancé, [[John Cazale]], only months earlier, gave her an emotional edge and "still-fresh pain" to draw on for the performance.<ref name="Michael Schulman"/> Streep was contracted to work only 12 days on the film.<ref>{{cite news|work=[[Daily Variety]]|title=Oscar sidelights|date=April 15, 1980|page=4}}</ref>

[[Gail Strickland]] was first cast as Ted's neighbor Margaret, but departed after a week of filming (due to "artistic differences", according to Columbia Pictures), and was replaced by [[Jane Alexander]].<ref name=AFI>{{cite news| url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56114| title=Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)|website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]] | publisher=American Film Institute| access-date=2018-01-04}}</ref> Michael Schulman claims Strickland was so rattled by the intensity of filming with Hoffman that she developed a stammer, making her lines difficult to follow.<ref name="Michael Schulman"/> Strickland disputes this account, saying she couldn't quickly memorize improvised lines Hoffman gave her, which agitated him, and she was fired two days later.<ref name="Michael Schulman"/>

Cinematographer [[Néstor Almendros]], a collaborator on numerous [[François Truffaut]] films, had been hired with the expectation that Truffaut would direct.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Stevens |first1=Dana |author-link1=Dana Stevens (critic) |last2=Collins |first2=Kameron |date=2020-01-12 |title=Transcript of Flashback: ''Kramer vs. Kramer'' (1979) |url=https://slate.com/transcripts/OXZyTnk3QUNxOVZ2SjFVSFp1RVVmSU14cThVRnBFSnU4RjIyZUI2ZGlQZz0= |access-date=2024-02-17 |website=slate.com |language=en}}</ref> Truffaut turned it down, as he was busy with his own projects, and suggested screenwriter [[Robert Benton]] direct the film.

JoBeth Williams worried about disrobing in the scene with a young Justin Henry. "I was afraid my nudity would traumatize the little boy", she said, but was relieved that he seemed unbothered.<ref>{{cite web |title=Scott's World: Naked Lady Finds Career |date=June 21, 1982 |last=Scott |first=Vernon |work=www.upi.com |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/06/21/Scotts-World-Naked-Lady-Finds-Career/7283393480000/ |access-date=13 February 2022 }}</ref>