Editing The Wicker Man (section)

===Casting===
Television actor Edward Woodward was cast in the role of Sergeant Neil Howie after the part was declined by both [[Michael York (actor)|Michael York]] and [[David Hemmings]].<ref name="stevephilips" /> In Britain, Woodward was best known for the role of [[Callan (TV series)|''Callan'']], which he played from 1967 to 1972. After ''The Wicker Man'', Woodward went on to receive international attention for his roles in the 1980 film [[Breaker Morant (film)|''Breaker Morant'']] and the 1980s TV series ''[[The Equalizer (1985 TV series)|The Equalizer]]''.

After Shaffer saw her on the stage, he lured [[Diane Cilento]] out of semi-retirement to play the town's schoolmistress.<ref name="stevephilips" /> (They lived together in Queensland from 1975, and married in 1985). [[Ingrid Pitt]], another British horror film veteran, was cast as the town librarian and registrar. Swedish actress Britt Ekland was cast as the innkeeper's lascivious daughter, although two body doubles were used for her naked scenes below the waist. Ekland found out that she was three months pregnant with her son Nic, to [[Lou Adler]], two weeks into filming. Stuart Hopps (the film's choreographer) called upon Lorraine Peters, a nightclub dancer from Glasgow, who gyrated at the doorway<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://www.garycarpenter.net/archive/wicker3.htm|title=Gary Carpenter: The Wicker Man: Settling the Score|access-date=18 September 2016|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303182112/http://www.garycarpenter.net/archive/wicker3.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> and against the wall of a bedroom in the fully nude "wall" scenes. Ekland's speaking and singing voices were dubbed by [[Annie Ross]] and Rachel Verney respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity/scots-singing-legend-annie-ross-1116107|title=Scots singing legend Annie Ross talks Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday & Judy Garland ahead of appearance at Glasgow Film Festival|access-date=3 September 2017|date=8 February 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/a-very-nasty-piece-of-work-9269029.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220620/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/a-very-nasty-piece-of-work-9269029.html |archive-date=20 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=A very nasty piece of work|website=[[Independent.co.uk]] |access-date=3 September 2017|date=21 December 2001}}</ref><ref name="auto"/>

Local girl Jane Jackson was employed as Ekland's stand-in for camera setups. Jackson was blonde-haired and bore a resemblance to Ekland but was otherwise not involved in any filming.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12767429.ekland-reopens-controversy-of-the-mystery-rear/ |title = Ekland reopens controversy of the mystery rear| date=2 February 2008 }}</ref>