Woody Allen on casting Penelope Cruz, Naomi Watts and Rachel McAdams

"Woody and I had a meeting in New York for 40 seconds, and when I left, the people who worked in his office said, ‘Oh - you have been there for a very long time,' Penelope said of her meeting with the socially awkward director.
I had so much confidence in Penélope', Woody told the magazine, 'that I let her and Javier Bardem improvise in Spanish in Vicky Cristina. To this day, I have no idea what they were saying.'
Penelope's co-star in the film, Scarlett Johansson, has also become a slight obsession for the director and starred in three Woody Allen, written and directed films including Match Point and Scoop.

Scarlett Johansson in the June issue of W Magazine

But one actress her pursued for years was Australian beauty Naomi Watts.
'I wanted to work with Naomi Watts for a long time”, he said, “and then I cast her in You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger as the discontented wife of a philandering husband. And she was very funny and very sexy.'

The directors newest inspiration is drawn from his current leading lady Rachel McAdams. After seeing her performance in Wedding Crashers he knew there would be a role for her in one of his films.

Stills of Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams in Midnight in Paris

He cast her in his new film Midnight In Paris which premiered earlier this week at the Cannes Film Festival. 'I wanted her to play the bad girl, the girl who’s sexy enough to be negative and still interesting,..But I’m crazy about Rachel.'

Rachel McAdams and Woody Allen at 'Midnight In Paris' Film Screening, New York, America - 17 May 2011

'I have great adoration and lust and interest in all of the women in my films. It would thrill me to go out with all of them.' Source: www.dailymail.co.uk