Editing The Wild Bunch (section)

===Casting===
[[File:Wild Bunch Peckinpah & Holden.jpg|thumb|Peckinpah's conception of Pike Bishop was strongly influenced by actor William Holden]]
Peckinpah considered many actors for the Pike Bishop role before casting [[William Holden]], including [[Richard Boone]], [[Sterling Hayden]], [[Charlton Heston]], [[Burt Lancaster]], [[Lee Marvin]], [[Robert Mitchum]], [[Gregory Peck]], and [[James Stewart]]. Marvin actually accepted the role but pulled out after he was offered more money to star in ''[[Paint Your Wagon (film)|Paint Your Wagon]]'' (1969).<ref>{{cite book |first=David |last=Weddle|author-link= David Weddle| title=If They Move...Kill 'Em!| publisher=Grove Press |year = 1994|pages=319 | isbn= 0-8021-3776-8 }}</ref>

Peckinpah's first two choices for the role of Deke Thornton were [[Richard Harris]] (who had co-starred in ''[[Major Dundee]]'') and [[Brian Keith]] (who had worked with Peckinpah on ''[[The Westerner (TV series)|The Westerner]]'' (1960) and ''[[The Deadly Companions]]'' (1961)). Harris was never formally approached; Keith was asked, but he turned it down. Robert Ryan was ultimately cast in the part after Peckinpah saw him in the [[World War II]] action movie ''[[The Dirty Dozen]]'' (1967). Other actors considered for the role were [[Henry Fonda]], [[Glenn Ford]], [[Van Heflin]], Ben Johnson (later cast as Tector Gorch), and [[Arthur Kennedy (actor)|Arthur Kennedy]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Crawley|first1=Tony|title=The Wild Bunch|url=http://crawleyscastingcalls.com/index.php?option=com_movies&Itemid=60&id=100&lettre=SPEC|website=Crawley's CastingCalls|access-date=October 6, 2014}}</ref>

Among those considered to play Dutch Engstrom were [[Charles Bronson]], [[Jim Brown]], [[Alex Cord]], [[Robert Culp]], [[Sammy Davis Jr.]], [[Richard Jaeckel]], [[Steve McQueen (actor)|Steve McQueen]], and [[George Peppard]]. [[Ernest Borgnine]] was cast based on his performance in ''[[The Dirty Dozen]]'' (1967).<ref>{{cite book |first=David |last=Weddle| author-link= David Weddle| title=If They Move...Kill 'Em!| publisher=Grove Press |year = 1994|pages=320 | isbn= 0-8021-3776-8 }}</ref> [[Robert Blake (actor)|Robert Blake]] was the original choice to play Angel, but he asked for too much money. Peckinpah was impressed with Jaime Sánchez in [[Sidney Lumet]]'s film adaptation of ''[[The Pawnbroker (film)|The Pawnbroker]]'' and demanded that he be cast as Angel.<ref>{{cite book |first=David |last=Weddle|author-link= David Weddle| title=If They Move...Kill 'Em!| publisher=Grove Press |year = 1994|pages=321 | isbn= 0-8021-3776-8 }}</ref>

The role of Mapache went to Emilio Fernández, the Mexican film director, writer, actor, and friend of Peckinpah. Peckinpah first offered the part to German actor [[Mario Adorf]], who had appeared in [[Major Dundee|''Major Dundee'']], but he turned it down due to his discomfort playing such a violent character, a decision he regretted after seeing the finished film.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mario Adorf |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/988%7C106656/Mario-Adorf |access-date=2025-03-14 |website=Turner Classic Movies |language=en}}</ref>

Stage actor [[Albert Dekker]] was cast as Harrigan the railroad detective. ''The Wild Bunch'' was his last film, as he died just months after its final scenes were completed.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jarlett|first1=Franklin|title=Robert Ryan: A Biography and Critical Filmography|date=November 1, 1997|publisher=Performing Arts|isbn=0-7864-0476-0|page=148|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NbJfHbQXJVsC&q=Albert+Dekker+death+after+the+wild+bunch&pg=PA148|access-date=October 6, 2014}}</ref> [[Bo Hopkins]] had only a few television credits on his resume when he played the part of Clarence "Crazy" Lee. [[Warren Oates]] played Lyle Gorch, having previously worked with Peckinpah on the TV series ''[[The Rifleman]]'' and his previous films ''[[Ride the High Country]]'' (1962) and ''[[Major Dundee]]'' (1965).