“I Have to Hear It from This Punk.” Marlon Brando Couldn't Stand Criticism on the Set of Francis Ford Coppola's Movie, Causing Him to Insult Another Actor
As a result of a misunderstanding, Marlon Brando came into conflict with the Apocalypse Now actor, refusing to be with him on the set of Francis Ford Coppola's film.
Marlon Brando is among the legendary actors whose influence on cinema is undeniable and whose craft is still analyzed by other artists today. The characters played by Brando did not lack intensity, however, the actor himself did not lack it either. Collaborating with him was sometimes difficult, as various reports have indicated, including from the set of Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now.
Brando reportedly came into conflict with another actor, Dennis Hopper, during the filming of the war drama, which arose from a misunderstanding. However, it escalated to the point that Brando reportedly did not want to play along with Hopper and their scenes were to be shot separately.
Although the film was loosely based on the book Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, according to Hopper, Brando did not familiarize himself with the source material, although Coppola asked him to do so several times. And from this arose their misunderstanding. Hopper underwent military training for Apocalypse Now and was given a “little red book” by the special forces, used by the Green Berets. Assuming that Brando was not familiar with it, he began to joke about it, while the Godfather star misunderstood him and thought his co-star was talking about Heart of Darkness.
It was enough for Brando that Coppola constantly reminded him of the book. In turn, he did not like the fact that someone else was trying to tell him what to do. The situation was cited by Hopper during an interview.
I didn’t know this, but Francis had been on him for not reading the book, Heart of Darkness (which the film was based on), and we have to do a story conference and there’s no ending. And I say to Brando, sitting across from him at dinner, I bet you haven’t read the book. And he thinks I am talking about Heart of Darkness, but I don’t know this at the time. He gets up and says “I don’t have to listen to this! I don’t have to take this!” And he is screaming and yelling “Why do I have to hear it from him? I have to hear it from this punk!” And he storms out of the house.
Hopper took Brando's reaction personally, and as a result, he taunted the Godfather star for the rest of the evening.
We go to see the Seven Samurai in a movie theater and I am sitting behind him. And at one point, I get up and say, “There’s an actor in here that said of a dead friend of mine (James Dean) that he wore his last year of Levis, drove his last year of motorcycle and did his last year of bongo drums, and I sure would like [to fight him].”
After that day, work on Apocalypse Now stopped, and Coppola and Brando left for two weeks, after which they returned with a completed script. Upon his return, the actor let Hopper know that although they would continue to work together, they would not be on set together, their scenes together would be shot separately.
