Editing Fatal Attraction (section)

=== Casting ===
Producers [[Sherry Lansing]] and Stanley R. Jaffe both had serious doubts about casting Glenn Close because they did not think she could be sexual enough. Instead, they had many other actresses in mind.<ref name="Oxford Union">{{cite video| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDWDhntzc-w| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/qDWDhntzc-w| archive-date=2021-11-17 | url-status=live| title=Glenn Close Full Address & Q&A Oxford Union| author=Oxford Union| publisher=YouTube.com| date=2018-05-04| access-date=2018-08-18}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[Barbara Hershey]] was originally considered; she wanted the role but she was unavailable.<ref name="nytimes.com">{{Cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/14/movies/fatal-attraction-oral-history.html|title = 'Fatal Attraction' Oral History: Rejected Stars and a Foul Rabbit|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 14 September 2017|last1 = Fretts|first1 = Bruce|access-date = February 14, 2020|archive-date = July 22, 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200722020730/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/14/movies/fatal-attraction-oral-history.html|url-status = live}}</ref> Several actresses auditioned for the part, but they were almost all turned down.<ref name="nytimes.com"/> Lyne had French actress [[Isabelle Adjani]] in mind for the role.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1987-11-19 |title='EROTIC CHEMISTRY' CLINCHED 'FATAL' ROLE FOR GLENN CLOSE |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1987-11-19-8703270330-story.html |access-date=2023-11-16 |website=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> [[Tracey Ullman]] was approached for the role, but she declined due to a scene in the script where the character boils a bunny.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1990-04-08 |title=TRACING TRACEY |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-04-08-9001300019-story.html |access-date=2023-11-16 |website=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> [[Miranda Richardson]] also turned it down as she found it "hideous."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/88877/Richardson-has-no-regrets-over-Fatal-Attraction-snub|title=Richardson has no regrets over Fatal Attraction snub|date=March 12, 2009|website=Express.co.uk}}</ref> [[Ellen Barkin]], [[Debra Winger]], [[Susan Sarandon]], [[Jessica Lange]], [[Judy Davis]], [[Melanie Griffith]] and [[Michelle Pfeiffer]] were also considered for the role.<ref name="Galloway">{{Cite web |last=Galloway |first=Stephen |date=2017-03-29 |title=Sherry Lansing Book Excerpt: Screaming Matches and Tears on 'Fatal Attraction' Set (Exclusive) |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/sherry-lansing-biography-fatal-attraction-book-excerpt-989565/ |access-date=2023-11-16 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=AFI{{!}}Catalog |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57617 |access-date=2023-11-16 |website=catalog.afi.com}}</ref> [[Kirstie Alley]] auditioned for the role.<ref name="Galloway"/> Close was persistent, and after meeting with Jaffe several times in New York, she was asked to fly out to Los Angeles to read with Michael Douglas in front of Adrian Lyne and Lansing. Before the audition, she let her naturally frizzy hair "go wild" because she was impatient at putting it up, and she wore a slimming black dress she thought made her look "fabulous" to the audition.<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.ew.com/article/2011/10/07/reunion-fatal-attraction/| title=From the archives: Fatal Attraction's Glenn Close, Michael Douglas reunite| author=Jess Cagle| magazine=Entertainment Weekly| date=2011-10-07| access-date=2018-08-18| archive-date=2018-08-18| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818150537/https://www.ew.com/article/2011/10/07/reunion-fatal-attraction/| url-status=live}}</ref> This impressed Lansing, because Close "came in looking completely different... right away she was into the part."<ref>{{cite video| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ivSI9tY2OI&t=815s| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501011255/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ivSI9tY2OI&gl=US&hl=en| archive-date=2020-05-01 | url-status=dead| title=Fatal Attraction (1987) The Making Of Part 1 & 2| publisher=YouTube.com| date=2017-09-05| access-date=2018-08-18}}</ref> Close and Douglas performed a scene from early in the script, where Alex flirts with Dan in a café, and Close came away "convinced my career was over, that I was finished, I had completely blown my chances".<ref name="Oxford Union"/> Lansing and Lyne were both convinced she was right for the role; Lyne stated that "an extraordinary erotic transformation took place. She was this tragic, bewildering mix of sexuality and rage—I watched Alex come to life."<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://people.com/archive/cover-story-the-dark-side-of-love-vol-28-no-17/| title=The Dark Side of Love| author=James S. Kunen| magazine=People Magazine| date=1987-10-26| access-date=2018-08-18| archive-date=2018-08-18| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818150510/https://people.com/archive/cover-story-the-dark-side-of-love-vol-28-no-17/| url-status=live}}</ref>

To prepare for her role, Close consulted several psychologists, hoping to understand Alex's psyche and motivations. She was uncomfortable with the bunny boiling scene, which she thought was too extreme, but she was assured on consulting the psychologists that such an action was entirely possible and that Alex's behavior corresponded to someone who had experienced incestual sexual abuse as a child.<ref name="Oxford Union"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Alexander |first=Bryan |title='Fatal Attraction' at 30: Glenn Close has empathy for her bunny boiler Alex Forrest |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2017/09/14/fatal-attraction-30-glenn-close-has-empathy-her-bunny-boiler-alex-forrest/664546001/ |access-date=2023-11-16 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref> While filming her death scene, Close suffered a concussion and was hospitalized. She later found out that she was pregnant during filming.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/02/glenn-close-reflects-on-her-oscar-nominated-roles|title=Glenn Close Reflects on Her Seven Oscar-Nominated Roles|date=February 13, 2019|magazine=Vanity Fair}}</ref>