In Love and War (1996)

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In film-making the script - and therefore the writer - is the absolute prerequisite of doing anything of any real value. The film company wanted screenwriter after screenwriter, and the result was that the script did not have a true entity.

They also didn't want Sandra Bullock. I passionately wanted her because I thought and still believe that she is an utterly wonderful actress. I was wrong in my choice, but not wrong in my judgment as to her capabilities, they were right. The reviews were not good anyway, but casting her exacerbated them - the public and the critics wanted her to be the kooky girl next door and didn't want to see her doing anything else. I thought her performance was wonderful and there were a couple of scenes, like the scene in the restaurant, where she was as good as Debra Winger - screen acting at its absolute peak. The reviews asked, "Where was the great Hemingway?" but I wasn't telling that story. Chris O'Donnell was playing an unformed, tentative, sometimes arrogant, sometimes sentimental young man who became Hemingway. I thought it was beautifully acted by both of them.

Lord Attenborough