The classic 1974 movie Blazing Saddles, which was written and directed by Mel Brooks, is known as one of the funniest movies of all time. In a new interview, Brooks has shockingly revealed that the legendary John Wayne nearly starred in the film.

Can you even imagine?

However, as we all know, it just wasn’t to be. The Duke ultimately turned it down because it was “too dirty”!

Brooks Wanted Wayne For Blazing Saddles

Brooks, 98, revealed this during a recent Q&A following a 50th anniversary screening of Blazing Saddles in Los Angeles, California. There, Brooks opened up about how he tried and failed to convince Wayne, who died in 1979 at the age of 72, to star in his movie.

“I wanted authenticity. I wanted the Waco Kid to actually have been a Western movie actor, so that he would lend a kind of authentic character to the movie,” Brooks recalled.

Brooks went on to say that he pitched the movie to Wayne when he bumped into the actor at a cafe on the Warner Bros. studio lot.

“So I walked over and I said, ‘Mr. Wayne.’ I made a movie called Blazing Saddles. It’s a comedy, but it has a lot of heart. There’s a great part in it that I wish you would play,'” Brooks recounted. “He said, ‘OK. You know what? I know you. I saw The Producers and I laughed my head off. You are a very funny guy. I’d love to read it.’”

Once Brooks got Wayne a copy of the script, they decided to meet at the cafe again the next day.

“I met him, he said, ‘I laughed my [expletive] off, but I couldn’t make it. It’s too dirty,'” Brooks stated.

The role that Brooks had been eyeing Wayne for then went to the Academy Award winner Gig Young. Soon after filming began, however, Young was forced to drop out of the project because of his alcohol addiction.

After scrambling to find a last minute replacement, Brooks ended up casting his close friend and The Producers collaborator Gene Wilder in the film’s leading role. The rest, as they say, is history, as Wilder’s comedic performance is still beloved to this day!

Still, it’s wild to think of how things would have been different with John Wayne in the place of Wilder!

Related: 6 Facts You Never Knew About John Wayne

Brooks Was Pressured To Edit Down Blazing Saddles

In this same Q&A, Brooks recalled how the then-Warner Bros. head Ted Ashley tried to get him to significantly edit down the movie. Thankfully, Brooks refused.

“Why listen to anything? I would’ve had an 11-minute movie,” he said. “So he left, I crumpled up his notes, threw it in the waste basket.”

Blazing Saddles was a massive hit, earning three Oscars. Given how rare it is that the Academy recognizes comedy films, this is quite impressive!

One of the Oscar nominations was for Best Supporting Actress for Madeline Kahn. Her portrayal of the the sultry German showgirl Lili Von Shtupp is still considered to be one of the most hilarious onscreen portrayals in cinematic history.

“When I auditioned her, I said, ‘Madeline, there’s one thing you gotta do for me: Show me your legs, hike up your skirt.’ And she said, ‘Oh, it’s gonna be one of those auditions,'” Brooks remembered. “I said, ‘No, no, no, I’m happily married, no. You’re imitating Marlene Dietrich with those nice stockings, you gotta straddle a chair, you gotta have legs.’”

“And she jumped into a chair, turned it around, hiked up her skirt, and her legs were just like Marlene Dietrich,” he added. “And I said, ‘Oh god, bless you, okay.’”

Related: Angie Dickinson Reveals Why Working With John Wayne ‘Was Heaven’ – ‘He Was So Respectful’

Brooks Casts Harvey Korman

Brooks also recounted how he cast Harvey Korman of The Carol Burnett Show fame in the film. He’d nearly cast Carl Reiner in that role before zeroing in on the now-legendary Korman.

“Carl was making something and he couldn’t do it and he suggested Harvey Korman,” he explained. “So I watched The Carol Burnett Show and I said, ‘This guy seems great.’ So he came and he auditioned and Harvey was perfect.”

“Harvey was just wonderful. I miss him,” he continued. “I had many scenes with Harvey where, not only did the crew break up, but I broke up and I had to shoot it again. It cost me a fortune cause I couldn’t get through a scene.”

Wilder passed away in 2016 at the age of 83 due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease. Kahn died in 1999 at the age of 57 after a battle with ovarian cancer. As for Korman, he passed away in 2008 at the age of 81 due to complications from rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Brooks, however, is still going strong. He celebrated his 98th birthday in June, and he seems to be as healthy as ever!

While it would have been fun to see Wayne show off his comedic chops in Blazing Saddles, the movie is so perfect as is that we wouldn’t have it any other way. If you’ve never seen Blazing Saddles, be sure to treat yourself and check it out. Just be warned that afterwards, your belly may hurt from all the laughing!

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