Editing The Last Detail (section)

===Casting===
Nicholson was set to play Buddusky; additional casting focused mainly on the roles of Mule and Meadows.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=138}} [[Bud Cort]] met with Ashby and begged to play Meadows, but the director felt that he was not right for the role.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=139}} [[Robert Englund]] also auditioned for the role of Meadows.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Robert Englund on Kinky Freddy Krueger Fans, Real Nightmares, Speedos at Stanford | url=https://www.revolvermag.com/culture/robert-englund-kinky-freddy-krueger-fans-real-nightmares-speedos-stanford |first=Tim |last=Grierson |date=January 14, 2019 |access-date=February 23, 2020 |magazine=[[Revolver (magazine)|Revolver Magazine]]}}</ref> Casting director Lynn Stalmaster gave Ashby a final selection of actors, and the two that stood out were Randy Quaid and [[John Travolta]]. As originally written, the character of Meadows was a "helpless little guy", but Ashby wanted to cast Quaid, who was 6'4".<ref name= "rabin">{{cite news |last=Rabin |first=Nathan |title=Robert Towne |work=[[The A.V. Club]] |date=March 14, 2006 |url=https://www.avclub.com/robert-towne-1798209129 |access-date=2007-12-03}}</ref> He had offbeat and vulnerable qualities that Ashby wanted.{{sfn|Dawson|2009|p=139}} Towne remembers thinking, "There's a real poignancy to this huge guy's helplessness that's great. I thought it was a fantastic choice, and I'd never thought of it."<ref name= "rabin"/>  [[Rupert Crosse]] was cast as Mule. Gilda Radner was cast in her first screen role, speaking one line as a member of Nichiren Shoshu.<ref name= "sachs">{{cite news |last=Sachs |first=Ben |title=What's new again: Hal Ashby's The Last Detail (1973) |work=[[Chicago Reader]] |date=July 9, 2012 |url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2012/07/09/whats-new-again-hal-ashbys-the-last-detail |access-date=2020-02-14}}</ref> Director Hal Ashby also appears in a brief cameo in the New York bar scene as the bearded man observing Buddusky's dart game.