The casting of Joan Allen as Pat Nixon in Oliver Stone's 1995 film Nixon was actually due to Warren Beatty who was approached for the role of Richard Nixon (Pat's husband) first before Anthony Hopkins was cast. While Beatty wanted to make too many changes to the script, ultimately leading to him dropping out, when Beatty was thinking about doing the film, he insisted on doing a reading of the script with an actress and Joan Allen was flown in from New York City. Afterwards, Beatty told Stone that he had found his Pat Nixon. So, while Beatty ultimately wasn't in the film, this was how Allen would ultimately be cast in a role that would lead her garnering an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Stay tuned!
That's one handsome woman and I should know.. I'm Glenn Close