southern also helped sellers with dialogue coaching. originally slated to play four roles, including that of the texan b-52 bomber pilot major kong, the actor had difficulty mastering the accent. southern, a native texan, taped himself speaking kong's lines for sellers to study. sellers, who had never been comfortable in the role of kong, was able to extricate himself from the part after allegedly fracturing his ankle, forcing kubrick to re-cast. the part eventually went to actor slim pickens, who kubrick met during his brief stint working on marlon brando's "one-eyed jacks".