10 Movie Auditions That Changed Cinema Forever

9. Marlon Brando - A Streetcar Named Desire

Robert Downey Jr Iron Man Audition
Warner Bros.

Even if you've somehow never seen Marlon Brando act before, you'd need only watch a few seconds of his screen test for classic 1951 drama A Streetcar Named Desire to appreciate that he had an uncommon magnetism.

But that successful dynamite audition ended up changing cinema in ways nobody could've ever anticipated. 

Brando was one of the first proponents of the legendary Stanislavski system of acting, where performers were encouraged to bring their own emotional memories into their roles, and on a broader level, he also popularised method acting.

And it all goes back to A Streetcar Named Desire - the movie that categorically put Brando on the map and charted his path to superstardom. 

That role-winning audition led Brando to become one of the most influential figures in the industry, emphasising a more grounded, gritty style of performance over the more melodramatic, heightened acting style that defined the earlier Golden Age of Hollywood.

And so without Brando, we likely wouldn't have so many of the most celebrated actors of the last half-century, and acting as a craft would probably look quite different.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.