“Redford was never bad in bed”: Robert Redford Refused to Say One Iconic Line With Barbra Streisand, Feared it Would Damage His Reputation Among Women
Five decades ago, Sydney Pollack directed The Way We Were, starring Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand, one of the biggest stars of the time. While the film’s plot and theme song became classics, only some people are familiar with what happened during the filming. A new book by Robert Hofler reveals what happened during the film’s filming. According to the book, Robert Redford’s experience working with A Star Is Born actress was unpleasant. In this book, the author revealed intimate details about making the film behind the scenes.
The narrative about when The Sting star and A Star Is Born filmed the love scenes can be found as one of the book’s most fascinating aspects. Additionally, the author claimed in the book that the actor faced humiliation when working on the love scenes with Barbra Streisand, which resulted in him regretting his decision to work with the actress.
Robert Redford Worried About His Public Image While Filming The Way We Were (1973)
A new book by Robert Hofler entitled The Way They Were: How Epic Battles and Bruised Egos Brought a Classic Hollywood Love Story to the Screen was released on January 24, 2023. This book contains many shocking details that illustrate Robert Redford’s complicated work relationship with his co-star Barbra Streisand during the production of The Way We Were (1973). Additionally, the author claimed in his book that Redford was unwilling to work with the YENTL actress as he did not view her as a “serious actress.”
According to Hofler, Redford also refused to say the iconic line, “It’ll be better this time,” during a s*x scene because he was so concerned about his reputation among women’s fanbase that they might assume he did not excel in the bedroom in real life.
The author wrote regarding the actor’s concern, “Redford was never bad in bed.”
Overall, the author claims that it was a harrowing experience for Redford to work with Barbra Streisand because she had a crush on him even though he was a married man with four children at the time. Between 1958 and 1985, Redford married activist Lola Van Wagenen, with whom he shared four kids.
Robert Redford Protected Himself Strangely During Intimate Scenes When Barbra Streisand Wanted Several Takes
While filming The Way We Were (1973), the 86-year-old Redford was in a dilemma as he felt he had struck upon the wrong actress who was controlling during the romantic scenes. Their s*x scene in the movie was filmed over two days because of the lead actress. According to Robert Hofler in his new book The Way They Were: How Epic Battles and Bruised Egos Brought a Classic Hollywood Love Story to the Screen, it was unnecessary to spend two days shooting one scene, but Barbra Streisand wanted multiple takes to do with Redford.
According to the author, the Oscar-winning actress had a mad crush on Redford, so she wanted to keep shooting. However, the producer, Ray Stark, was unhappy with the length of time it took to film the scene.
The author wrote,
“He [Redford] was never one of those people you heard about, even in the grapevine, having affairs. He kept things extremely professional. And he didn’t even want to meet with Barbra in the first place.”
“But when it came to that love scene, Barbra asked for take after take. Robert finally gave a look to [director] Sydney Pollack — one that said, ‘I’ve had enough.’“
On the other hand, Redford also needed to be more confident about doing more takes with the actress for romantic scenes. He thought he needed extra protection while filming his love scenes with Barbra Streisand. According to Hofler’s new book, Redford was forced to wear two pairs of underwear to “protect himself” from Streisand. The actor allegedly wore two athletic supporters before filming love scenes. According to the author, the 80-year-old actress was “infatuated” with Redford during the movie shooting.
Also Read: Robert Redford Reveals That “He Had A Crush On Betty White”
Source: Robert Hofler’s Book – The Way They Were
