Robert Redford was initially reluctant to work with Barbra Streisand on The Way We Were in 1973 for several reasons related to the script and their very different acting styles and personas. At the time, Streisand was already a huge star known for her powerful singing, intense methodical preparation, and strong control over projects, while Redford was known for his naturalistic, understated acting and his heartthrob image. Redford reportedly felt the original script for The Way We Were was too focused on Katie Morosky's character and that Hubbell Gardiner was underdeveloped and portrayed as shallow and unsympathetic, essentially a beautiful object for Katie's passion. He did not want to play a one-dimensional pretty boy who was just a foil for Streisand's larger-than-life character. He also worried that Streisand's dominant personality and tendency to control music and scenes would overshadow him. Director Sydney Pollack had to persuade Redford by promising to rewrite Hubbell's character to give him more depth, internal conflict, and dignity, showing his own struggles with integrity. After rewrites, Redford agreed, and despite tension on set due to their different approaches, their contrasting styles created the memorable chemistry that made the film a classic, though Redford remained somewhat ambivalent about the role for years.
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