Editing The Thing (1982 film) (section)

===Casting===
[[File:Wilford Brimley.jpg|thumb|upright|Actor [[Wilford Brimley]] in 2012. He was cast for his [[everyman]] persona which would allow audiences not to notice his absence from the story until the right time.{{sfn|Cohen|2012}}|alt=An elderly white male with a long white mustache. He is wearing a cowboy hat and striped waistcoat while holding a microphone. He is standing in front of a screen.]]

Anita Dann served as casting director.{{sfn|Abrams|2016}} [[Kurt Russell]] had worked with Carpenter twice before and was involved in the production before being cast, helping Carpenter develop his ideas.{{sfn|Foutch|2013}} Russell was the last actor to be cast, in June 1981, by which point [[second unit]] filming was starting in [[Juneau, Alaska]].{{sfn|Foutch|2013}}{{sfn|Cohen|2011b}} Carpenter wanted to keep his options open for the lead R.J. MacReady, and discussions with the studio considered [[Christopher Walken]], [[Jeff Bridges]], and [[Nick Nolte]], who were either unavailable or declined, and [[Sam Shepard]], who showed interest but was never pursued. [[Tom Atkins (actor)|Tom Atkins]] and [[Jack Thompson (actor)|Jack Thompson]] were strong early and late contenders for the role of MacReady, but the decision was ultimately made to go with Russell.{{sfn|Cohen|2011b}} In part, Carpenter cited the practicality of choosing someone he had found reliable before, and who would not balk at the difficult filming conditions.{{sfn|Swires|1982c|p=27}} It took Russell about a year to grow his hair and beard out for the role.{{sfn|Kirk|2011}} At various points, the producers also met with [[Brian Dennehy]], [[Kris Kristofferson]], [[John Heard (actor)|John Heard]], [[Ed Harris]], [[Tom Berenger]], Jack Thompson, [[Scott Glenn]], [[Fred Ward]], [[Peter Coyote]], Tom Atkins, and [[Tim McIntire]]. Some passed on the idea of starring in a monster film, while Dennehy became the choice to play Copper.{{sfn|Cohen|2011b}} Each actor was to be paid $50,000, but after the more-established Russell was cast, his salary increased to $400,000.{{sfn|Cohen|2013}}

[[Geoffrey Holder]], [[Carl Weathers]], and [[Bernie Casey]] were considered for the role of mechanic Childs, and Carpenter also looked at [[Isaac Hayes]], having worked with him on ''Escape from New York''. [[Ernie Hudson]] was the front-runner and was almost cast until they met with [[Keith David]].{{sfn|Cohen|2011c}} ''The Thing'' was David's first significant film role, and coming from a theater background, he had to learn on set how to hold himself back and not show every emotion his character was feeling, with guidance from [[Richard Masur]] and [[Donald Moffat]] in particular. Masur (dog handler Clark) and David discussed their characters in rehearsals and decided that they would not like each other.{{sfn|Abrams|2016}} For senior biologist Blair, the team chose the then-unknown [[Wilford Brimley]], as they wanted an [[everyman]] whose absence would not be questioned by the audience until the appropriate time. The intent with the character was to have him become infected early in the film but [[offscreen]], so that his status would be unknown to the audience, concealing his intentions. Carpenter wanted to cast [[Donald Pleasence]], but it was decided that he was too recognizable to accommodate the role.{{sfn|Cohen|2012}} [[T. K. Carter]] was cast as the station's cook Nauls, but comedian [[Franklyn Ajaye]] also came in to read for the role. Instead, he delivered a lengthy speech about the character being a stereotype, after which the meeting ended.{{sfn|Cohen|2012b}}

Bottin lobbied hard to play assistant mechanic Palmer, but it was deemed impossible for him to do so alongside his existing duties. As the character has some comedic moments, Universal brought in comedians [[Jay Leno]], [[Garry Shandling]], and [[Charles Fleischer]], among others, but opted to go with actor [[David Clennon]], who was better suited to play the dramatic elements.{{sfn|Cohen|2012c}} Clennon had read for the Bennings character, but he preferred Palmer's "blue-collar stoner" role to a "white collar science man".{{sfn|Abrams|2016}} [[Powers Boothe]],{{sfn|Lyttelton |2012}} [[Lee Van Cleef]], [[Jerry Orbach]], and [[Kevin Conway (actor)|Kevin Conway]] were considered for the role of station commander Garry, and [[Richard Mulligan]] was also considered when the production experimented with the idea of making the character closer to MacReady in age.{{sfn|Cohen|2012d}} Masur also read for Garry, but he asked to play the dog handler Clark instead, as he liked the character's dialogue and was also a fan of dogs. Masur worked daily with the [[wolfdog]] [[Jed (wolfdog)|Jed]] and his handler, Clint Rowe, during rehearsals, as Rowe was familiarizing Jed with the sounds and smells of people. This helped Masur's and Jed's performance onscreen, as the dog would stand next to him without looking for his handler. Masur described his character as one uninterested in people, but who loves working with dogs. He went to a survivalist store and bought a flip knife for his character, and used it in a confrontation with David's character.{{sfn|Abrams|2016}} Masur turned down a role in ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]'' to play Clark.{{sfn|Beresford|2017}} [[William Daniels]] and Dennehy were both interested in playing Dr. Copper, and it was a last-second decision by Carpenter to go with [[Richard Dysart]].{{sfn|Cohen|2012d}}

In early drafts, Windows was called Sanchez, and later Sanders. The name Windows came when the actor for the role, Thomas Waites, was in a costume fitting and tried on a large pair of dark glasses, which the character wears in the film.{{sfn|Cohen|2012e}} Russell described the all-male story as interesting since the men had no one to posture for without women.{{sfn|Foutch|2013}}