How Barbra Streisand got Robert Redford on board for ‘The Way We Were’

nypost.com:

she struggled to get Robert Redford to star in their 1973 film “The Way We Were.” Streisand, 81, makes the stunning claim in her upcoming memoir “My Name Is Barbra,” which is set to hit bookstores Nov.

7. “Bob is that rare combination… an intellectual cowboy… a charismatic star who is also one of the finest actors of his generation,” Streisand wrote in an excerpt published by Vanity Fair. “But like my husband, he’s almost apologetic about his looks, and I liked that about him.”“So I wanted Redford for Hubbell.

But he turned it down,” continued the “Funny Girl” star, adding that she turned to director Sydney Pollack, a Redford pal, for help. “I have to give Sydney credit,” confessed the singing sensation. “He was as persistent as I was, because we both felt that only Redford would make the picture work.”The Post reached out to reps for Streisand and Redford, 87, for comment.Streisand also reveals that Redford’s onboarding process was not easy. “Bob was concerned that the script was so focused on Katie that Hubbell’s character was underdeveloped,” wrote the “A Star is Born” actress.“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.