Editing Badlands (film) (section)

=== Writing and casting ===
[[File:Martin Sheen 1987.jpg|thumb|Sheen (pictured in 1987) was chosen for the role of Kit Carruther, based on his immediate chemistry with co-star Spacek.]]

Malick, a protégé of [[Arthur Penn]] (whom he thanked in the film's end credits),<ref name="time73jay">{{cite news| first= Jay |last= Cocks| author-link= Jay Cocks| url= http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,908554,00.html | archive-url= https://archive.today/20130204083736/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,908554,00.html | url-status= dead | archive-date= February 4, 2013 | magazine= [[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=April 8, 1974 | title= Gun Crazy|access-date=July 12, 2011}}</ref> began work on ''Badlands'' after his second year attending the [[American Film Institute]].<ref name="Walker">{{cite news|last=Walker |first=Beverly |title=Malick on Badlands |magazine=[[Sight and Sound]] |date=Spring 1973 |url=http://www.eskimo.com/~toates/malick/art6.html |access-date=September 17, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014130814/http://www.eskimo.com/~toates/malick/art6.html |archive-date=October 14, 2008|url-status=live }}</ref> In 1970, Malick, at age 27, began working on the screenplay during a road trip.<ref name="Gilbey">{{cite news|first=Ryan|last=Gilbey|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/aug/22/drama|title=The start of something beautiful|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=August 21, 2008|access-date=November 13, 2013}}</ref> "I wrote and, at the same time, developed a kind of sales kit with slides and video tape of actors, all with a view to presenting investors with something that would look ready to shoot," Malick said. "To my surprise, they didn't pay too much attention to it; they invested on faith. I raised about half the money and [[executive producer]] [[Edward R. Pressman|Edward Pressman]] the other half."<ref name="Walker" /> Malick paid $25,000 of his own funds. The remainder of his share was raised from professionals such as doctors and dentists. ''Badlands'' was the first feature film that Malick had written for himself to direct.<ref name="Gilbey" />

Sissy Spacek, in only her second film, was the first actor cast. Malick found her small-town Texas roots and accent were perfect for the part of the naive impressionable high school girl. The director included her in his creative process, asking questions about her life "as if he were mining for gold." When he found out she had been a majorette, he worked a twirling routine into the script.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Spacek|first=Sissy|title=My Extraordinary Ordinary Life|publisher=Hyperion|year=2012|isbn=9781401304270|location=New York|pages=133–134}}</ref> Several up-and-coming actors were auditioned for the part of Kit Carruthers. When Martin Sheen was suggested by the casting director, Malick was hesitant, thinking he was too old for the role. Spacek wrote in her autobiography that "the chemistry was immediate. He ''was'' Kit. And with him, I was Holly."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Spacek|first=Sissy|title=My Extraordinary Ordinary Life|publisher=Hyperion|year=2012|isbn=9781401304270|location=New York|pages=134}}</ref> Sheen based his characterization of Kit on the actor [[James Dean]].<ref>{{cite web |title= Badlands: An Oral History|url= https://www.gq.com/story/badlands-oral-history/amp|website=gq.com|date= May 26, 2011|language=en}}</ref>