Eli Hollander had a particularly difficult time casting the role of Empty Fox. He attended powwows in search of the right person to hire for the role. Two names kept on coming up:
Rolling Thunder (a star of
Little Big Man (1970)) and
Grandfather Semu Haute. Hollander set about calling Grandfather, who actually owned an early model mobile phone that he never answered. When Hollander finally contacted him about the script, the Native American non-actor said, "Interesting script, but I have two problems. One is the name Empty Fox, and two is the part where I pull out the whiskey." Hollander defended the name Empty Fox and offered to change the whiskey to Perrier. When Haute arrived on the set, he told Hollander that he could use the whiskey. Hollander liked the Perrier substitute better. The two argued and argued and ultimately it is the Perrier that Empty Fox pulls out and offers to
Peter Coyote's character. Hollander also recalls how Granfather Semu Haute could not remember his lines and how he had to be constantly prompted throughout each of his scenes.