10 Behind-The-Scenes Stories That Spoil Classic Movies
6. Marlon Brando's Godfather Co-Stars Held Up Cue Cards
It's no secret that Marlon Brando stopped caring fairly early on into his acting career. After making his name for naturalistic, method performances in the likes of On The Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire, he then decided to coast on that good will for the rest of his life. You might be forgiven for thinking otherwise, considering some of his roles. The actor had already given up long before he turned up for iconic roles in the likes of Apocalypse Now (where he gained loads of weight beforehand and improvised all his lines) and Last Tango In Paris (where he flatly refused to learn his lines). Then there's The Godfather, arguably the most iconic Brando performance, where he used cue cards. Not only did Brando not bother reading the script, but his entire time as Don Corleone was spent reading his lines off of huge pieces of cardboard being held by the other actors in his scenes. Which means, not only was one of the best performances in movie history one of the laziest, but it was at the expense of all the other genuine, committed talent on screen.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
