Sayonara

Audrey Hepburn was offered the role of a Japanese bride opposite Marlon Brando but turned it down. She explained that she "couldn't possibly play an Oriental. No one would believe me; they'd laugh. It's a lovely script, however I know what I can and can't do. And if you did persuade me, you would regret it, because I would be terrible."

When Eileen and Major Gruver visit Nakamura backstage, Gruver says he thought the kabuki performance could have used Marilyn Monroe, and Nakamura allows that he too is a fan of Miss Monroe. In 1957, when the movie was filmed, this conversation would have made sense. But it takes place in 1951, at a time when Marilyn Monroe was still a small-part player, little known to the public. It is highly unlikely that even Gruver would have known who she was, and impossible that Nakamura would have, that early in her career.

Featured in Slaying the Dragon (1988)