 Many of the film 's actors were unknown at the time of casting . The film was the acting debut of four cast members ; Ken Wahl , Tony Ganios , Erland van Lidth and Michael Wright . It was also the feature film debut of Toni Kalem , who had previously acted on television . Kaufman intentionally cast unknown actors ; Wahl was on his way to a job in a pizza parlor when someone sent a photograph of him to Rudin , thinking he could play one of the smaller roles in the film . Kaufman felt Wahl was talented so he cast him in the lead role instead . 
