The 1991 movie that defines John Goodman’s self-loathing: “I wouldn’t go see something like that”
Everybody knows that John Goodman is one of the most reliable, dependable, and naturally talented actors of his generation, and the only person who refuses to believe it is John Goodman.
Whenever he pops up in a movie or TV show, viewers have been conditioned to expect a performance that’s nothing less than rock-solid, which comes with the territory when he’s spent the last four decades barely putting a foot wrong, whether that’s on screens big or small or on the stage.
However, Goodman isn’t one for patting himself on the back, ever. He’s admitted the only one of his movies that he can bring himself to rewatch is The Big Lebowski, and he places most of the credit for that on the Coen brothers’ shoulders, despite stealing every scene that he’s in as Walter Sobchak.
Working with Martin Scorsese is something every thespian would love to tick off their bucket list, and when he did it, all he had to show for it was regret, with Goodman adamant that Bringing Out the Dead was more of a missed opportunity than a career moment, which he blamed entirely on himself.
He’s at his best in the Coens’ Barton Fink, but he’d love to do that one over again because he wasn’t happy with his work, and the same goes for his turn in the Babe Ruth biopic, Babe, and even when he was winning awards and making a shitload of money on Roseanne, he felt ashamed of himself for doing a sitcom.
He’s always been that way, and if he hasn’t changed by now, then he always will. Most actors who’ve spent years scratching and clawing their way up the ladder would be thrilled to bits at being cast in their first-ever leading role in a feature film, but not Goodman, apparently, who did everything in his power to downplay his newfound status when he achieved it with 1991’s King Ralph.
“Don’t call me a leading man,” he declared. “This is just another part, with a lot more lines. When you’re a leading man, your meter’s running all the time, and you’re always working. There’s no goof-off time.” That’s true, but he’d earned that spot. However, this being Goodman, he couldn’t bring himself to enjoy it.
“That still doesn’t make me a leading man,” he added, doubling down. “I’m still just a character actor. Nobody’s ready to call me Mel Gibson Jr, and I don’t think anybody’s ready to pay good money to see me get the girl in the movie. I know I wouldn’t go see something like that.”
On the plus side, his first tilt at leading a picture recouped its budget twice over and then some at the box office, making him not just a leading man, but a successful one. On the other hand, since he’s John Goodman, he wasn’t happy with his performance and wished he had a second chance to do it better.
