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Credit: Far Out \/ United Artists<\/p>\n
Fri 9 October 2026 22:30, UK <\/p>\n
Most movie stars have incredibly fragile egos, and despite his moniker being the \u2018King of Cool\u2019, Steve McQueen<\/a> repeatedly showed throughout his career that his was as brittle as they came.<\/p>\n He did everything in his power to upstage and steal the spotlight away from Yul Brynner in The Magnificent Seven, and it worked, since the classic western elevated him toward the A-list, but even his co-stars thought he was pulling several dick moves<\/a> to try and heist the top-billed star\u2019s thunder.<\/p>\n Once he finally settled into his groove as one of Hollywood\u2019s biggest names, McQueen would do anything to defend his position. He wouldn\u2019t dream of sharing the screen with anyone who could make him look like a lesser presence, and he sure as shit wouldn\u2019t go anywhere but first in the credits.<\/p>\n In the grand scheme of things, do audiences really give a shit whose name appears onscreen first? You\u2019d have to say no. The Great Escape headliner cared about more than most things in the world, though, and when he was presented with a sure-fire, guaranteed hit that would quickly ascend to classic status, the mere thought of \u2018Steve McQueen\u2019 not taking priority in posters, trailers, and the picture was horrific.<\/p>\n He would have fought that battle anyway, since he had that size of ego, but when he was asked to cede top billing to his arch-nemesis<\/a>, Paul Newman, of all people, in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the Bullitt icon made it perfectly clear that either he went first or he wanted nothing to do with it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a dream,\u201d McQueen\u2019s agent, Freddie Fields, recalled. \u201cWhat more would you want than Newman and McQueen? McQueen wanted the part, but there was a billing problem. Steve was shooting The Sand Pebbles over at the Fox lot, and he invited me to his trailer to talk. It ended with him saying, \u2018I know you mean well, but I can\u2019t.’\u201d<\/p>\n Fields, who was proven right in the end<\/a>, insisted that \u201cit\u2019s gonna be the hottest picture of the year,\u201d but, again, there was one major non-negotiable. \u201cYeah,\u201d McQueen replied. \u201cBut I can\u2019t take second billing behind Newman.\u201d He could, and it would be the easiest thing in the world, but being the kind of man that he was, he simply couldn\u2019t wrap his head around not being the focal point.<\/p>\n Further reading: Cutting Room Floor<\/p>\n To try and find a solution, Fields went to Newman, and to nobody\u2019s surprise, since he\u2019d already been promised top billing, he wouldn\u2019t budge, either. \u201cI talked to Newman and said, \u2018We\u2019re going to lose McQueen on billing,\u201d the agent pleaded. \u201cHe wants first star billing; what do you want to do?\u201d<\/p>\n Obviously, Newman said no, he handpicked Robert Redford for the role instead, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid did make a lot of money and won a lot of awards, turned the latter half of the title duo into a household name, and inspired his film festival, and when he crossed paths with Newman again on The Towering Inferno, the billing debate ignited once again into a war of attrition and petty dick-measuring<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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