Editing Tender Mercies (section)

===Casting===
[[File:Foote 04 body.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A black-and-white image of a bearded man wearing a baseball cap, sitting on the front porch of a wooden house, with his right arm around a smiling woman wearing a sweater, and his left arm around a smiling young boy sitting on his lap.|Tess Harper as Rosa Lee, Robert Duvall as Mac Sledge, and Allan Hubbard as Sonny, in costumes designed by Elizabeth McBride]]
Duvall had always wanted to play a country singer, and Foote was rumored to have written the role of Mac Sledge specifically for him. Foote denied the claim, claiming he found it too constraining to write roles for specific actors, although he did hope Duvall would be cast in the part. ''Tender Mercies'' became a very important personal project for Duvall, who contributed a significant number of ideas for his character.<ref name="FooteMiracles"/><ref name="DuvallMiracles"/>

Duvall was the first choice of director [[Robert Altman]] for the role of country superstar Haven Hamilton (subsequently played by [[Henry Gibson]]) in his 1975 film ''[[Nashville (film)|Nashville]]'', but was not in the film due to a scheduling conflict.<ref name="IMDB Duvall">{{cite web |title=Robert Duvall - Biography - Trivia |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000380/bio/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm |website=IMDb |publisher=Internet Movie Database |access-date=27 October 2023}}</ref> Reportedly, Duvall dropped out of the movie when Altman would not let him sing his own compositions.

In preparing for the role, he spent weeks roaming around Texas, speaking to strangers to find the right accent and mannerisms. He also joined a small country band and continued singing with them every free weekend while the film was being shot.<ref name="NYT0129">{{Cite news|last=Robertson|first=Nan|author-link=Nan C. Robertson|title=Robert Duvall: The Actor As Chameleon|date=1989-01-28|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/29/arts/robert-duvall-the-actor-as-chameleon.html?sec=&spon=&scp=2&sq=tender%20mercies%20duvall&st=cse&pagewanted=3|access-date=2009-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228232833/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/29/arts/robert-duvall-the-actor-as-chameleon.html?sec=&spon=&scp=2&sq=tender%20mercies%20duvall&st=cse&pagewanted=3|archive-date=2014-02-28|url-status=live}}</ref> In total, Duvall drove about {{convert|680|mi|km|0}} to research the part, often asking people to speak into his tape recorder so he could practice their inflections and other vocal habits.<ref name="NYT1025"/> Upon finding one man with the exact accent he wanted, Duvall had him recite the entire script into the recorder.<ref name="WP0501">{{Cite news|last=Mansfield|first=Stephanie|title=Bobby Duvall, Yeah; The Bully With a Tender Touch, From "Mockingbird" to "Tender Mercies"|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=1983-05-01|page=M1, Show (section)}}</ref>

Tess Harper was performing on stage in Texas when she attended a casting call for a minor role in the film. Beresford was so impressed with her that he cast her in the lead. He later said that the actresses he had seen before her demonstrated a sophistication and worldliness inappropriate for the part, while she brought a kind of rural quality without coming across as simple or foolish. Beresford said of Harper, "She walked into the room and even before she spoke, I thought, 'That's the girl to play the lead.{{'"}}<ref name="BeresfordMiracles"/> Harper said she knew she won the role when Beresford appeared on her doorstep with a bottle of champagne in each hand.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Scott|first=Vernon|title=Scott's World; Tess Harper found Hollywood stardom—in Texas|work=[[United Press International]]|date=1983-03-09|location=[[Los Angeles]], [[California]]}}</ref> ''Tender Mercies'' was Harper's feature film debut, and she was so excited about the role she bit her script to make sure it was real.<ref name="HarperMiracles"/> When filming ended, Duvall gave her a blue cowgirl shirt as a gift with a card that read, "You really ''were'' Rosa Lee".<ref name="Slaw160">{{Harvnb|Slawson|1985|p=160}}.</ref>

Beresford visited several schools and auditioned many children for the role of Sonny before he came across Allan Hubbard in [[Paris, Texas|Paris]], Texas. Beresford said Hubbard, like Harper, was chosen based on a simple, rural quality he possessed.<ref name="BeresfordMiracles"/> The boy was able to relate easily to the character because, like Sonny, his father died at an early age; later, some media reports falsely claimed that his father was killed during the Vietnam War, just as Sonny's was in the film's [[backstory]].<ref>{{Cite AV media|people=Allan Hubbard (actor)|date=2002-04-16|title=Miracles & Mercies|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0383509/|medium=Documentary|publisher=[[Blue Underground]]|location=[[West Hollywood, California|West Hollywood]], [[California]]|access-date=2008-01-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002123343/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0383509/|archive-date=2018-10-02|url-status=live}}</ref> None of the filmmakers knew Hubbard's father had died until after filming began.<ref name="Slaw157"/> Duvall developed a strong, trusting relationship with Hubbard, which Foote felt improved the duo's on-screen chemistry.<ref name="FooteMiracles"/> Hubbard would often play guitar with Duvall during breaks from filming.<ref name="HarperMiracles"/>

Betty Buckley attended a casting session in [[New York City]] and was chosen largely based on the quality of her singing voice; Beresford said that few of the actresses who auditioned for the role were able to sing.<ref name="BeresfordMiracles"/> Buckley was originally from [[Fort Worth, Texas|Fort Worth]], Texas, near the [[Grapevine, Texas|Grapevine]] Opry; when her concert scenes were filmed there, her whole family participated as [[Extra (actor)|extras]].<ref name="Slaw160"/> Duvall said he thought Buckley perfectly conveyed the underlying frustration of a country singer and "brought a real zing to [the] part."<ref name="DuvallMiracles"/> The actual location of the bar scenes was in [[Seven Points, Texas|Seven Points]], Texas, in a club called the Cedar Creek Opry House. Seven Points is just east of [[Ellis County, Texas|Ellis County]], across the [[Trinity River (Texas)|Trinity River]] in western [[Henderson County, Texas|Henderson County]], Texas. The Opry House as it was known then, was a two-story building that used to be a skating rink in its earlier life. The old rink was upstairs and became the dance floor of the Opry House, where the concert and bar scenes were filmed. One scene of the movie shows the front of the building with its name visible.

Ellen Barkin was cast after impressing Beresford during a New York audition. At the time, she had appeared only in television movies; ''[[Diner (1982 film)|Diner]]'', her feature film debut, was not yet in theaters.<ref name="BeresfordMiracles"/> When filming on ''Diner'' wrapped, Barkin joked to her agent about future roles, "No more troubled teenagers, unless the movie is with [[Robert De Niro]], Robert Duvall or [[Robert Redford]]."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Thomas|first=Bob|title=Ellen Barkin|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=1983-01-31|location=[[Los Angeles]], [[California]]}}</ref> Duvall said of Barkin, "She brings a real credibility for that part, plus she was young and attractive and had a certain sense of edge, a danger for her that was good for that part."<ref name="DuvallMiracles"/> Some media outlets reported that Duvall and Barkin were involved romantically for a brief time during filming.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Neman|first=Daniel|title=Duvall discusses a life in movies|work=[[Richmond Times-Dispatch]]|date=2006-10-28|page=B-5, Entertainment (section)}}</ref>

Wilford Brimley was cast at the urging of his good friend Duvall, who was not getting along well with Beresford and wanted "somebody down here that's on my side, somebody that I can relate to".<ref name="DuvallMiracles"/> Beresford felt Brimley was too old for the part, but eventually agreed to the casting.<ref name="BeresfordMiracles"/>