Swan Song (and writer of the beloved ’90s flick Edge of Seventeen) hadn’t initially envisioned casting Udo Kier — the internationally acclaimed character actor known for working with Lars von Trier and Andy Warhol, in his film.“Casting Udo was unexpected.
I had known Udo from My Own Private Idaho, and I kept thinking, Pat is from West Virginia, and we have an actor with a German accent.
When we were looking to cast Pat, we were looking for someone who wouldn’t play a clichéd gay man, someone who wouldn’t play him campy and over-the-top,” Stephens says. “Instead, Udo added even more mystique and elegance to the elusive Pat.