The actors Kurt Russell never wanted to be like: “I don’t feel I have any responsibility”
It’s hard to believe that the Disney child star who appeared in family-friendly movies like Follow Me, Boys!, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, and The Barefoot Executive would become an action hero, but Kurt Russell has had a very long and varied career. As the Walt Disney Company cranked out rather forgettable fodder during Russell’s youth, the young actor was able to use them to establish himself in the industry as a reliable star, and he eventually found success with an early adult role in the 1979 biopic Elvis.
He then graduated to action movies, but there was something different about his portrayal of tough-guy characters compared to many of his contemporaries. Having grown up in front of a camera from a young age, he has always possessed a natural ease no matter what he is being required to act, and this is reflected in the complexity of his performances. The actor often brings a sense of relatability and believability to his characters, even when they are put in rather unusual and particularly brutal situations.
Russell knows how to bring dimension to a role, whether he’s playing a villain or a hero, and you can’t help but love him as either, or perhaps something in between, like his antihero protagonist Snake in Escape from New York. Not only has Russell become an accomplished action star throughout his career, but he has also found significant success in other genres, such as the biographical drama Silkwood starring Meryl Streep and Quentin Tarantino’s comedy-drama Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Still, Russell is most often seen in action and western movies, proving himself to be a suitable leading man who can balance charisma and toughness. However, he doesn’t necessarily identify with many other action heroes, even if many people have tried to group him into the same category.
The screenwriter Paul Rudnick once explained during an interview with The New York Times: “Kurt’s charm is that he lacks the career angst of huge action stars who sit for magazine profiles. Kurt seems to be having a blast rather than worrying about his workout regime and whether or not he should ask for $20 million and 10 cents, so he can be the absolutely highest paid star.”
Certainly, Russell hasn’t been seen as a muscle man in the same way as Arnold Schwarzenegger – something that is often seen as the Terminator star’s defining trait – nor do people treat him as the embodiment of American masculinity like Clint Eastwood. Russell is much more of a well-rounded guy, and it can be argued that many of his movies, from Big Trouble in Little China to Backdraft, subtly subvert Hollywood’s stereotypical depiction of masculinity.
In the same New York Times article, Russell agrees with Rudnick’s statement about him being a different kind of star. “I’m not a magazine cover. I’m a movie guy. I’m a worker. My one responsibility is to give an audience a good show. Beyond that I don’t feel I have any responsibility.”
He continued, “Guys like Eastwood, Schwarzenegger, [Sylvester] Stallone and [Bruce] Willis are much more interesting magazine fare than me.”
Russell simply isn’t interested in being the kind of star who creates a lot of drama, preferring to stay out of tabloid gossip and feuds. Schwarzenegger and Stallone, known for their famous rivalry – something that has had a direct impact on their work – can’t exactly say the same.
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