This is from the March issue of Vanity Fair, from the article "My Dinners with Federico and Michelangelo" by Charlotte Chandler
Fellini, who frequently visualized his characters in cartoons before casting actors, told me he had wanted Mastroianni for La Dolce Vita from the start. “But Marcello wanted a script. I gave him a thick manuscript, every page blank except the first. On it was a picture I had drawn, showing his character as I saw him. Mastroianni was alone in a little boat in the middle of the ocean with a prick that reached all the way down to the bottom of the ocean, and there were beautiful lady sea sirens swimming all around it. Marcello looked at the picture and said, ‘It’s an interesting part. I’ll do it.’ ”
I had no luck finding an image of above mentioned cartoon. Instead I leave you with one of my favourite images of Fellini (which i found here), I believe from the set of 8 1/2. There is a giant reproduction of this shot that hangs on the walls of Euro-Deli- so next time you're jonesing for some pasta take a peek.
