Editing Schindler's List (section)

=== Casting ===
Liam Neeson auditioned as Schindler early on in the film's development. He was cast in December 1992 after Spielberg saw him perform in ''[[Anna Christie]]'' on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]].{{sfn|Palowski|1998|pp=86–87}} [[Warren Beatty]] participated in a script reading, but Spielberg was concerned that he could not disguise his accent and that he would bring "movie star baggage".{{sfn|Susan Royal interview}} [[Kevin Costner]] and [[Mel Gibson]] expressed interest in portraying Schindler, but Spielberg preferred to cast the relatively unknown Neeson so that the actor's star quality would not overpower the character.{{sfn|Palowski|1998|p=86}} Neeson felt Schindler enjoyed outsmarting the Nazis, who regarded him as somewhat naïve. "They don't quite take him seriously, and he used that to full effect."{{sfn|''Entertainment Weekly'', January 21, 1994}} To help him prepare for the role, Spielberg showed Neeson film clips of [[Time Warner]] [[Chief executive officer|CEO]] [[Steve Ross (Time Warner CEO)|Steve Ross]], who had a charisma that Spielberg compared to Schindler's.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=429}} He also located a tape of Schindler speaking, which Neeson studied to learn the correct intonations and pitch.{{sfn|Palowski|1998|p=87}}

Fiennes was cast as Amon Göth after Spielberg viewed his performances in ''[[A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia]]'' and ''[[Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights]]''. Spielberg said of Fiennes' audition that "I saw sexual evil. It is all about subtlety: there were moments of kindness that would move across his eyes and then instantly run cold."{{sfn|Corliss|1994}} Fiennes put on {{convert|28|lb}} to play the role. He watched historic [[newsreel]]s and talked to [[Holocaust survivors]] who knew Göth. In portraying him, Fiennes said "I got close to his pain. Inside him is a fractured, miserable human being. I feel split about him, sorry for him. He's like some dirty, battered doll I was given and that I came to feel peculiarly attached to."{{sfn|Corliss|1994}} Doctors Samuel J. Leistedt and Paul Linkowski of the [[Université libre de Bruxelles]] describe Göth's character in the film as a classic [[psychopath]].{{sfn|Leistedt|Linkowski|2014}} Fiennes looked so much like Göth in costume that when Mila Pfefferberg met him, she trembled with fear.{{sfn|Corliss|1994}}

The character of [[Itzhak Stern]] (played by Ben Kingsley) is a composite of the accountant Stern, factory manager [[Abraham Bankier]], and Göth's personal secretary, [[Mietek Pemper]].{{sfn|Crowe|2004|p=102}} The character serves as Schindler's alter ego and conscience.{{sfn|Freer|2001|p=225}} [[Dustin Hoffman]] was offered the role but he refused it.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/dec/14/dustin-hoffman-interview-simon-hattenstone|title=Dustin Hoffman: Facing down my demons|website=[[TheGuardian.com]]|date=December 14, 2012|access-date=August 23, 2021|archive-date=August 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823233451/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/dec/14/dustin-hoffman-interview-simon-hattenstone|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.today.com/video/dustin-hoffman-on-fear-of-success-why-he-turned-down-schindlers-list-609043011893|title=Dustin Hoffman on 'fear of success,' why he turned down 'Schindler's List'|access-date=August 24, 2021|archive-date=October 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021094430/https://www.today.com/video/dustin-hoffman-on-fear-of-success-why-he-turned-down-schindlers-list-609043011893|url-status=live}}</ref>

Overall, there are 126 parts with dialogue in the film. Thousands of extras were hired during filming.{{sfn|Thompson|1994}} Spielberg cast Israeli and Polish actors specially chosen for their Eastern European appearance.{{sfn|Mintz|2001|p=128}} Many of the German actors were reluctant to don the SS uniform, but some of them later thanked Spielberg for the cathartic experience of performing in the film.{{sfn|Susan Royal interview}} Halfway through the shoot, Spielberg conceived the epilogue, where 128 survivors pay their respects at Schindler's grave in Jerusalem. The producers scrambled to find the ''Schindlerjuden'' and fly them in to film the scene.{{sfn|Thompson|1994}}