Who played Jay Gatsby in the 1974 film adaptation?

Robert Redford played Jay Gatsby in the 1974 film adaptation of The Great Gatsby. Directed by Jack Clayton, the movie paired Redford with Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan and Sam Waterston as Nick Carraway.

The production had a complicated casting history. Producer Robert Evans initially considered Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson for Gatsby, while Marlon Brando was also approached. Redford actively wanted the role and ultimately won it after Clayton argued that the novel did not require Gatsby to have dark hair.

The film was written by Francis Ford Coppola and released by Paramount Pictures. It was a major prestige production, with elaborate period costumes and settings intended to evoke the wealth and spectacle of the Jazz Age. It earned two Academy Awards, for costume design and adapted scoring.

Viewers sometimes confuse Redford’s performance with Leonardo DiCaprio’s, who played Gatsby in Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 adaptation. Alan Ladd portrayed Gatsby in the earlier 1949 film, making him another plausible but incorrect option.