(on the rape scene of Deliverance (1972) (from the book "My Life" published by Hyperion.)): The day before we shot the scene I noticed McKinney hovering beside Ned (Ned Beatty) and sat down between them. I wanted him to see I was Ned`s friend. No different than in the script. Then I asked him how he planned to handle the rape scene. McKinney turned out to be a pretty good guy who just took the method way too far. Staring straight at Ned, he whispered, "I`ve always wanted to try that. Always have." Ned shouted, "John! Oh, John!". In his brilliance, Boorman (John Boorman) reassured Ned but also brought in several additional cameras, knowing Ned wasn`t going to give him a second, third or fourth take. Ned was only going to do the brutal scene once. When it came down to shooting it, Cowboy and McKinney were hands-down brilliant. Scared the shit out of everybody who saw the movie. People crawled out of the theatre. None of that creepy "squeal, piggy, piggy" stuff was in the script. But McKinney, I swear-to-God, really wanted to hump Ned. And I think he was going to. He had it up and he was going to bang him. It`s the first and only time I have ever seen camera operators turn their heads away. Finally, I couldn`t stand it anymore. I ran into the scene, dove on McKinney, and pulled him off. Boorman, hot on my tracks, helped hold him down. Ned, who was crying from both rage and fear, found a big stick and started beating him on the head. Half a dozen guys grabbed Ned and pulled him away. We separated the two of them and let things cool off.
- Burt ReynoldsIt shows Republicans do not want Joe Lieberman in the U.S. Senate because they know he`s a strong, loyal Democrat, professing Democratic values. It also probably shows the Connecticut Republican party is cheering on Ned Lamont and applauding his strategy of tearing down Senator Lieberman.
- Sean SmithAs you will see, being Ned was often an uncomfortable and alienating experience, and far from finding myself in him, I usually felt kept from myself in some elemental way.
- Andy Nieto