 Phillips' friend Thom Mount, who had his own production company and was a big fan of Penn's work, thought that they might interest a studio if they could get a movie star like Tom Cruise interested in appearing in the film.Penn spotted Mortensen in the film "Fresh Horses" and was drawn to the actor's "angularity, a severity to his handsomeness", that he thought would be perfect for the role of Frank.Penn and Phillips sent Mortensen the script while he was making "Young Guns II" in Tucson, Arizona and flew there to meet with him.