James Coburn was late to the “Magnificent Seven” party, with most of the titular seven having already been cast. He would beat out two competitors for the role of Britt: Sterling Hayden, the baritone star of “The Asphalt Jungle” and Stanley Kubrick’s heist thriller “The Killing,” and “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” lead John Ireland. Coburn told The Guardian in 2000 that he snagged the role just under the wire:
“This was on a Friday afternoon and it had to be cast by Saturday night because an actors’ strike was going to take place then. Any film that wasn’t cast by Saturday midnight, you couldn’t do it … It was a real thrilling gig to get that, because it was a role that I always coveted.”
Coburn would go on to lean into the coveted role using his acting experience and the techniques he acquired under the tutelage of Stella Adler, quickly learning how to throw knives for the part. Despite Coburn being one of the last actors cast, the character Britt is the fifth of seven professional gun-slingers recruited to protect a Mexican village from Calvera (Eli Wallach) and his cronies in “The Magnificent Seven.” Of them all, Britt’s onscreen introduction is the greatest (see below), ending in one arrogant gunman’s hard lesson: Never disturb a man in the middle of a good nap.
