Barbra Streisand Reveals Robert Redford Initially Turned Down “The Way We Were”: 'I Was Heartbroken'

"The courtship had been tough, but Bob’s reluctance had a big influence on the script," Streisand said of the arduous road for Redford to play Hubbell

It turns out The Way We Were almost wasn’t the way it is now.

In an excerpt from her upcoming memoir My Name Is Barbra published in Vanity Fair on Saturday, Barbra Streisand reveals that Robert Redford initially turned down playing romantic lead Hubbell Gardiner in the 1973 romantic drama.

The Way We Were follows the “opposites attract” love story between Jewish anti-war activist Katie Morosky (Streisand) and politically neutral WASP Hubbell Gardiner (Redford) and how their stance on historical events at the time of World War II and McCarthyism ultimately strained their relationship.

After she “fell in love with the story,” the legendary singer and actress, 81, wrote that she “had a particular actor in mind for Hubbell” and that was Robert Redford, according to Vanity Fair.

Related: Barbra Streisand's Memoir 'My Name Is Barbra' to Be Published in November

However, she admitted that although she thought Redford, now 87, was “perfectly passable” in Barefoot in the Park on Broadway, it wasn’t until she saw him in the 1966 drama This Property Is Condemned that she “saw there was a lot going on behind those crystal-blue eyes.”

“I was drawn to him not because of his appearance…guys with blond hair and blue eyes were never my type. I did think he was very handsome…a wonderful jawline…great teeth. But what intrigued me most about Bob was his complexity,” Streisand said of why she wanted Redford to play opposite her.

She continued, “You never quite know what he’s thinking, and that makes him fascinating to watch onscreen. Like the greatest movie stars, Bob understands the power of restraint. You’re never going to get it all…and that’s the mystery…that’s what makes you want to keep looking at him.”

But despite thinking that “everything seemed to be falling into place” given that director Sydney Pollack “happened to be good friends” with Redford, Streisand revealed that “he turned it down.”

Redford, apparently, “was concerned that the script was so focused on Katie that Hubbell’s character was underdeveloped,” which Streisand admitted he was right to think so.

Related: The Way They Were? Barbra Streisand Had a Massive Crush on Robert Redford While Filming Classic Movie, New Biography Says

According to Streisand, “Bob asked Sydney, ‘Who is this guy? He’s just an object… He doesn’t want anything. What does this guy want? In Bob’s opinion, he was ‘shallow and one-dimensional. Not very real.’ ”

“I wanted Bob to be happy, so I told Sydney, ‘Give him anything he wants. Write more scenes to strengthen his character. Make it equal,’ ” she recalled. “So Sydney hired two excellent writers, David Rayfiel and Alvin Sargent, to beef up Bob’s part and go deeper, beneath that golden-boy exterior. And I told Ray to pay him whatever he wanted."

But even after making the changes to Hubbell’s character in the script, Streisand said the actor and filmmaker’s “answer was still no. I was heartbroken.”

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At that point, producer Ray Stark told Streisand to look elsewhere for her leading man. However, Pollack “kept begging for another week to work on Redford,” and Streisand “told Ray to give it to him and kept praying.”

With “negotiations down to the wire,” the EGOT winner shared that she was filming Up the Sandbox in Africa when she received a telegram with the following message: “Barbra Redford!”

“That’s when I knew he'd finally said yes…and I was so thrilled,” Streisand said of Redford accepting the part. “The courtship had been tough, but Bob’s reluctance had a big influence on the script and ultimately resulted in a richer, more interesting character."

The Way We Were became an instant classic among audiences and critics alike. The film garnered several awards, including a Golden Globe and two Grammys. Nominated for six Academy Awards, it won Best Original Dramatic Score and Best Original Song for the title track “The Way We Were,” sung by Streisand herself. 

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