Martin Short was Mel Brooks' original first choice to star as Leo Bloom in his Broadway version of The Producers a role that eventually went to Matthew Broderick.
Martin Short: You can never be too broad with a character. And it's scary in reality when you meet a person stranger that the characters you've created.
Martin Short: Gene Hackman once said he was amazed how small he could go with a character. I'm amazed at how big I can go because people are so out there in real life.