Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand Had Unusual Requests About Their Faces While Filming ‘The Way We Were’

Sydney Pollack, director of the 1973 hit drama The Way We Were, faced a tough dilemma when it came to shooting stars Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford.

The film, released 50 years ago this month, featured two performers with strong preferences about their best angles, according to Tom Santopietro's recently released book, The Way We Were: The Making of a Romantic Classic.

"Beginning with Funny Girl, Streisand always favored being photographed with the left side of her face in profile, insisting, like Claudette Colbert in her heyday, that she only had one good side," Santopietro wrote. "...At the same time, Redford himself also liked being shot from his left side."

Makeup artist Don Cash Jr. told the author that Redford had moles on the right side of his face, which could be "distracting" on camera.

The result? Pollack had to figure out how to navigate face-to-face close-ups, which was solved by cinematographer Harry Stradling Jr., who shot dual close-ups. Fans can spot the camera trickery when the pair dance at college prom with "some sort of soft light behind them so there are no harsh shadows on their faces."

Streisand's preference for the left side of her face isn't exactly Hollywood's best-kept secret. In 2019, Jimmy Kimmel revealed during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live that the singer unsuccessfully tried to switch sides with the host to get her best angle.

"The condition was we couldn't talk about the fact that we'd switched around," he recalled. "I was like, 'I just don't see how this will work.'"