Midnight Cowboy

Before Dustin Hoffman auditioned for this film, he knew that the all-American image that he carried after The Graduate (1967) could easily cost him the job. To prove that he could play Rizzo, he asked the auditioning film executive to meet him on a street corner in Manhattan. He dressed in filthy rags. The executive arrived at the appointed corner and waited, barely noticing the “beggar” not 10 feet away who was accosting people for spare change. The beggar finally walked up to him and revealed his true identity.