Marlon Brando: The actor Martin Sheen called “a powerful source of inspiration”
At the head of the notorious Hollywood family, The Sheens, lies the man who began their legacy, Martin Sheen. A master actor and father to Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez, Sheen established himself as a key figure in American cinema with a series of remarkable movie performances.
His early efforts in The Subject was Roses and Badlands announced Sheen as a force to be reckoned with. He made good on his early promise several times over with further acclaimed efforts in the likes of Apocalypse Now, Gandhi, Wall Street, Catch Me If You Can and The Departed.
Even the greatest actors have their own personal heroes, though, and in that regard, Sheen is no different. In fact, he was fortunate enough to work with a fellow actor who he had admired for many years, Marlon Brando, with whom Sheen shared Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now.
In an interview with Phillips, Sheen once spoke of his overall impression of the legendary actor. “I had been a lifelong admirer of Marlon Brando,” Sheen began. “His unique character and dazzling talent were a powerful source of inspiration to every serious actor of my generation, but he was far more than a cinema icon.”
Indeed, Brando’s Hollywood legacy transcended the careers of most of his fellow performers. Among his greatest works are A Streetcar Named Desire, in which he acted in both the stage and film versions, On the Waterfront, The Wild One, The Godfather and Last Tango in Paris.
However, beyond the brilliance of Brando in front of the camera and on the stage, Sheen admired the actor’s commitment to social causes. He explained, “For most of his adult life, he was an outspoken advocate for social justice, often risking his career publicly supporting Martin Luther King Jr and the civil rights movement, as well as Native American rights and universal human rights.”
Brando had inspired Sheen to take up activism himself, and the actor had always hoped to meet the man who was widely considered one of the greatest actors of all time. Even better than that, though, Sheen actually got to work with him on Coppola’s iconic Vietnam War drama, in which he played an Army Captain in Vietnam sent out to find a renegade Colonel played by Brando.
Referring to the “life-changing adventure” of Apocalypse Now and his first impressions of Brando, Sheen noted, “Marlon was every bit the powerful image projected for decades, but the simple reality of his presence and common humanity were completely disarming.”
Brando had often played his roles with the utmost seriousness and was noted for being one of the first actors to incorporate method acting into his performances. However, according to Sheen, that didn’t stop Brando from being personable on set. The actor explained, “His genuine kindness and compassion, coupled with his infectious sense of humour, were commonplace with everyone he encountered during his all too brief time working on the film.”
They say it’s not a good idea to meet your heroes, but Martin Sheen went one better and actually worked alongside his. The two actors’ striking performances helped deliver one of the greatest war movies ever made, and for Sheen, one of his dreams came true in being able to meet Brando, let alone actually share a scene with him.
