Remembering ''The Graduate''

Long hailed as one of the greatest films of all time, The Graduate has been endlessly discussed, debated, and deconstructed since its release in 1967. Recently the movie’s principals offered their insights, which are included in ”The Graduate at 25” segment of the silver-anniversary edition. Here, culled from those interviews, are a few of their comments, including some obtained exclusively by Entertainment Weekly that you won’t see on the tape:

DUSTIN HOFFMAN ”(At my screen test, director Mike Nichols asked,) ‘What are we going to do with this nose?…And his neck is too thick.’…So they put a turtleneck on me and put something in my hair. It was maybe one of the most demeaning experiences I have ever had.”

BUCK HENRY ”If (Ronald Reagan, who was part of the production’s ”fantasy” cast) had become President after that, people would have blamed us for making him all the more famous. And he might not only have become President, he might have become emperor. Imagine with an Academy Award what he might have accomplished.”

KATHARINE ROSS ”What would happen to those two people? I think the thought at that time was that we’d have a child, a son…I ultimately became like Mrs. Robinson having an affair with a younger guy. You know, it’s not just all happy and perfect.”