When it came to finding the right girl to play Marylou, Moriarty's first wife, Salles took instruction from fellow filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who contacted the director with a welcome piece of advice. "Look no further," said Inarritu, regarding the casting process for Marylou. "I've just seen the first cut of Sean Penn's Into The Wild, and there's this 16-year-old girl you'll fall in love with." That 16-year-old was none other than Kristen Stewart.

Despite her being a virtual unknown at the time, Salles was duly taken with Stewart, and agreed with Inarritu that she was perfect for the role. However, in the intervening period before the film was finally greenlit, Stewart had become a massive star thanks to the advent of the Twilight series. Thinking she would no longer be in his reach, Salles returned to the now-megastar to see if she might still be interested, and to his delight, she was. Not only that, but she agreed to a massive pay cut, accepting around $200,000 rather than the $20 million she received for Breaking Dawn pt. 2. Things were coming together...

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