 According to John Houseman, the inspiration for Kingsfield was crusty professor Edward "Bull" Warren, also reflected in "The Boston Globe" in 2004.Houseman had noted that Kingsfield's behavior is actually a toned-down version of Warren's famous classroom rudeness, as enshrined in classroom lore, and recounted several examples of the professor's putdowns.James Bridges originally earmarked James Mason for the Kingsfield role, but he was unavailable.