Steven Soderbergh’s Kafka Nightmare: The Crocodile Dundee Casting Scare

When it comes to churning out films, Steven Soderbergh is in a league of his own. The bloke’s output is nothing short of relentless, with a string of releases that would leave most directors gasping for air. Between 2010 and 2019 alone, he managed to put out nine films, and that’s not even counting the years he claimed to be retired. Soderbergh’s work ethic is legendary, and he’s not showing any signs of slowing down.

One of his early projects, Kafka, stands out as a particularly oddball entry in his filmography. The film, starring Jeremy Irons as Franz Kafka, is a strange blend of biopic and surreal fiction, mixing the writer’s real life with the bizarre worlds he imagined. While it didn’t exactly set the box office alight, it’s become a bit of a cult classic for those who follow Soderbergh’s career closely.

Stressful Dreams and Unlikely Casting Choices

During the making of Kafka, Soderbergh found himself under the pump. In a chat with The Playlist, he shared a peculiar story about a dream that left him rattled.

“I’d forgotten about that dream until I’d dove back in [re-editing Kafka] and remembered,” he recalled, “I had a beard at the time, and I woke up in the course of one night, I had a big white patch in my beard. I was stressed.”

The dream? His mind convinced him that Paul Hogan, best known as Crocodile Dundee, was the perfect choice for the lead role. The thought was enough to give anyone a sleepless night.

For those not in the know, Hogan shot to fame as the rugged Aussie in Crocodile Dundee, a film that made waves around the globe. Despite nabbing a Golden Globe, Hogan’s acting chops were pretty much limited to playing a tough bloke from the outback. His later attempts to keep the momentum going didn’t quite pan out, and his star faded as quickly as it rose.

Would Hogan Have Saved Kafka?

It’s a fair question to ask whether casting Hogan might have brought in more punters. Back in the late ‘80s, Crocodile Dundee was massive, and Hogan was the face of Australia for many overseas. But by the time Kafka was in the works, Hogan’s run of hits had dried up. His 1990 film Almost an Angel was a flop, and by the mid-90s, he was playing second fiddle to a dolphin and a young Elijah Wood in Flipper.

Looking back, it’s hard to imagine Hogan bringing anything extra to Kafka, especially compared to Jeremy Irons. Soderbergh himself admitted the film was “frustrating” enough to make, and the last thing he needed was an out-of-place Aussie trying to steal the show with a big knife gag.

The Toll of Stress on Soderbergh

The stress of the whole situation left its mark on Soderbergh—literally. Waking up to find a white patch in his beard was a clear sign that the pressure was getting to him. The idea of Hogan as Kafka might have been good for a laugh, but for Soderbergh, it was a nightmare he was glad to leave behind.

In the end, Soderbergh stuck to his guns, and Kafka remains a quirky, if not widely celebrated, part of his body of work. The story of the Crocodile Dundee dream is just another odd chapter in the career of one of cinema’s most tireless directors.