“He Was So Bad”. Anthony Hopkins Hates the Performance of Marlon Brando, Who He Thinks Failed in This War Movie
Marlon Brando starred in a 1965 war movie. Anthony Hopkins is not a fan of this performance of the Hollywood legend.
Marlon Brando is regarded as one of the legends of acting, but apparently also someone like him may have had worse performances to his credit. One of them was pointed out by Anthony Hopkins during an interview with About Film, during which he talked about how helpful to the profession is the training that actors undergo.
Hopkins explained how important it should be in the profession of acting to break certain habits that actors develop. He pointed out that training can be helpful, but if actors rely too much on these habits, which are a certain safeguard when performing, it can result in boring performances. And while explaining this he mentioned Marlon Brando.
I'm sure it can be helpful […], like any training. As you go on learning, you become better. I read an interview with Kenneth Tynan back in the Sixties, and he was talking about mannerisms. He said, “We develop mannerisms. We develop little habits, which give us comfort.” And he said, “The thing is to break those as much as you can. […]” It's difficult to do that, but if you make the effort to do it, it's worth it in the end because you throw off old habits—and everyone has them. You see them in movies. And sometimes they're very attractive habits to look at, charismatic habits. But sometimes they look ridiculous.
Hopkins pointed out the Brando's performance, which he himself considers simply “bad.”
I saw the great Marlon Brando in a movie the other night. And he was so bad. That's like attacking some sacred— He was so bad in this movie. I thought, “How can he be so bad?” It was with Yul Brenner [Morituri (1965)]. I'm like, “What's he doing?” For God's sake, act! Do something! Let go. But sometimes even great actors like that can be bad, really bad. That's okay though.
Morituri, which Hopkins mentions, is a war movie by Bernhard Wicki. It tells the story of a blackmailed man who has to pretend to be an SS officer and disable explosives on a freighter that is about to be intercepted by the Allies. The film was well received by audiences and critics alike, and looking through the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, one gets the impression that reviewers don't necessarily agree with Hopkins, who was very critical of Brando's performance.
