Patricia Neal was particularly proud of one unscripted moment that made it into the film. While talking to Hud about her failed marriage, a huge horsefly flew onto the set. Just as she says she's "done with that cold-blooded bastard," she zaps the fly with a dish towel. Martin Ritt loved it and printed the take.
Paul Newman played the part of Hud as a villain. He was later stunned that so many young moviegoers had a poster of Hud and viewed him as their hero.
Patricia Neal is in the movie for only 21 minutes and 51 seconds, making her performance both the shortest to win a Best Actress Oscar and the shortest to win in a leading category.
According to Melvyn Douglas, the atmosphere was amiable and professional but not a laughter-filled set, thanks largely to the inward nature of the cast. He described Paul Newman as "shy, almost withdrawn" and said Patricia Neal was an "internal" person dealing with difficulty in her own life (including a stormy marriage to writer Roald Dahl and the recent death of her seven-year-old daughter). He described Brandon De Wilde as "moody, often to the point of being sullen" and frequently distracted in a manner typical of many young people.
An aficionado of acting, George C. Scott told interviewer Lawrence Grobel in his December 1980 "Playboy" magazine interview that his The Hustler (1961) co-star Paul Newman's performance in that film was nothing special (both actors were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances). However, he found Newman's performance as the eponymous Hud (1963) to be a superb piece of acting.