Chris Sarandon Explains Why He Wouldn’t Land His ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ Role Today

Chris Sarandon is looking back at Dog Day Afternoon, 50 years later.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Guardian, the actor talked about playing Leon Shermer in the 1975 film, which is based on the real-life story of John Wojtowicz.

Three years before the famed film was released, Wojtowicz and a friend held up a Brooklyn bank in a 14-hour hostage ordeal, allegedly robbing the bank to help pay for his transgender partner’s gender-affirming surgery.

Al Pacino portrayed a fictionalized version of Wojtowicz (named Sonny Wortzik), while Sarandon played Shermer, his fictionalized lover. Both Pacino and Sarandon earned Oscar nominations for their performances.

While he carries immense pride for the breakthrough role, Sarandon also acknowledged that he would never land the job today — “and rightfully so.”

“It should be somebody who’s more authentically aligned with the character, but I’m very proud of it,” he told the outlet.

He condemned the way transgender rights have become a political talking point over the years, particularly in the United States, calling the treatment of the LGBTQ+ community a “travesty.”

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“I proudly wear my Pride bracelet,” he told the outlet, holding up his hand to show the band on his wrist.

The film, one of Hollywood’s earliest to portray gay and transgender characters, doesn’t focus on those identities in telling the story.

“That was the magic. We saw these people as human beings, rather than: it’s about a gay couple, or a trans somebody,” he said. “That certainly was what made it sensational for the public, but as far as we were concerned, what was important was where these two guys came from in their relationship.”

To prepare for the role, the actor invited four “drag queens — people who dress in drag and live their lives as women” — over for dinner.

“We sat around on the floor with our spaghetti, talking. Essentially, I was interested in their backstories,” he recalled, hoping that they could inspire his performance.

At one point during the evening, he found himself “flirting” with one of his dinner guests.

“That was a real lesson in the dynamic of both the physiological and the emotional dimension of what happens to somebody when, like my character Leon says in the movie, ‘I felt like I was a woman trapped in a man’s body,'” he explained.

A new stage adaptation of Dog Day Afternoon will debut on Broadway in spring 2026, starring Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. Bernthal is set to play Sonny Amato (based on Pacino’s Sonny Wortzik), while Moss-Bachrach will star as Sal DeSilva (based on John Cazale’s character in the original film). The casting for Sarandon’s role has yet to be announced.