The actor Quentin Tarantino called the most natural since Elvis Presley: “Complete genuineness”
When it comes to identifying the greatness in actors, there are few voices who are as authoritative as Quentin Tarantino. Ranging from Leonardo DiCaprio to Robert De Niro, the American auteur has seen firsthand what it means to be in the presence of real acting talent and how they approach the range of roles that are offered to them.
However, Tarantino’s appreciation of the craft of acting isn’t just limited to his experiences as one of the leading directors in the industry. As a lifelong fan of cinema and television, he always knew exactly what makes a good actor tick. In fact, that’s why he initially joined acting classes while hoping for his big break, but quickly realised that he was far more gifted at screenwriting, later proven by his hilariously bad cameos in his own films.
While the Pulp Fiction director had many icons as a child, one actor who left a lasting impression on the future pioneer was American singer and rodeo star Roy Rogers. He even compared Rogers to none other than Elvis Presley, stating that their on-screen presence was so fantastic that it was difficult to separate their personas from their personalities.
In an interview, Tarantino said: “I am far more into Roy Rogers now than I was as a little kid, but I knew Roy Rogers when I was a little kid. I didn’t watch the movies because they didn’t show the movies on TV. They showed the TV show, with him and Dale and his dog Bullet, and Pat Brady. I got back into Roy Rogers majorly this last year. There is this director named William Whitney who did the last five years of Roy Rogers’ film career and directed about 30 Roy Rogers movies in those five years.”
Initially starting as a singer, Rogers eventually transitioned to cinema and became one of the most prominent western stars of his generation. With a prolific filmography and almost innumerable credits to his name, it’s no surprise that Tarantino became a huge fan of the actor, especially the unique connection he shared with his horse in the movies.
“Roy Rogers was one of the most natural actors since Elvis Presley,” Tarantino explained. “He just never appeared to be acting. Had this complete genuineness, almost like a soft-spoken Johnny Depp kind of genuineness that would just come off of him. And there was also the fact that you knew him, and Trigger had a bond. I mean, Trigger was his horse. He was not the Republic horse of the studio. A trainer didn’t own him. Roy Rogers owned Trigger. Trigger was his horse. They loved each other.”
Of course, Rogers was never at the centre of global popular culture like Elvis was, but Tarantino felt that their transitions from music to film made sense because they both had an innate gift for performance. Others might have said on multiple occasions that Elvis never really got to fulfil his ambitions of being a real Hollywood star. However, for Tarantino, the ‘King of Rock and Roll’ and Roy Rogers reached the pinnacle effortlessly.
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