The one actor John Carpenter called a genius: “I realised he can do anything”
John Carpenter has worked with some truly phenomenal actors. He gave Jamie Lee Curtis her big break – and one of her most memorable parts – with the inaugural ‘Halloween’ film. This then led to him working with Janet Leigh, Curtis’ mother, on his next effort, The Fog. Over the next few days, he added the likes of Harry Dean Stanton, Jeff Bridges, Pam Grier, Daryl Hannah, and more to his list of friends. He might not have rubbed shoulders with that many A-listers, but it’s still an impressive collection.
Arguably, his most important collaborator in an on-screen capacity is Kurt Russell. Following his early career as a child star, Russell needed a change of pace, which is precisely what Carpenter’s brand of idiosyncratic sci-fi action provided. The first of five feature films they made together was Escape From New York, which begat a sequel called Escape from LA 15 years later. Then came The Thing, Russell’s personal favourite of their shared works, and the outrageously fun Big Trouble in Little China.
Speaking on the subject of his favourite employee, Carpenter revealed how in awe he is of Russell as a performer. “As I watched and directed him, I realized, he can do anything,” he was quoted as saying in an article about the star by Cigar Aficionado. “He can play anybody. He’s a mimic, and a genius at it.”
These comments were made during a discussion about Elvis, the 1979 made-for-TV biopic about the life of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Decades before Baz Luhrmann took on the task, John Carpenter told the story of Elvis Presley, covering his rise in the early 1950s through to his comeback in the late 1960s. Kurt Russell didn’t need to sing for the role—that was handled by American country singer Ronnie McDowell—but he still had to embody one of the most famous figures in music history. That included altering his physical appearance to better fit the part. Fortunately, Russell had firsthand experience with Presley, having shared a scene with him as a child in It Happened at the World’s Fair.
Elvis marked the beginning of Russell’s Hollywood career. It might have originally aired on ABC, but it proved so popular that there was enough demand for a theatrical release. Prior to this, he hadn’t been in a theatrically released movie for four years. That was The Strongest Man in the World, a twee Disney comedy and the third instalment in the ‘Dexter Riley’ trilogy, in which Russell played the title role.
Carpenter wasn’t the only person impressed by Russell’s transformation into the owner of Graceland. For his performance, he was nominated for ‘Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Special’ at the Primetime Emmys, his first recognition from a major body. One year later, he starred in Robert Zemeckis’ Used Cars and, just one year after that, he and Carpenter teamed up again for Escape from New York.
In the grand pantheon of director-actor team-ups, it’s easy to forget about the great Carpenter-Russell alliance. One person who’ll never forget is Carpenter himself, who seems to be just as impressed with his friend’s work as the rest of us are.
