Charlie Chaplin revealed the “single greatest quality” an actor should have
With a career that began in 1914 and ended in 1967, Charlie Chaplin spent decades riding the waves that rippled out from the constant advances and evolutions cinema experienced in its formative years, exiting stage left as one of its most iconic performers ever.
One of the industry’s first multi-hyphenates, Chaplin emerged from a humble upbringing to not only conquer Hollywood but become a towering figure on either side of the camera. He was a superstar known the world over, a box office draw, a prolific filmmaker, and an endlessly talented creative mind, so any advice he was willing to dish out was well worth taking on board.
The legendary character of the Tramp may have propelled him to the top of the mountain, but Chaplin was also savvy enough as a businessman to know he needed to adapt to the times. After all, he broke through when the silent era was still in full swing, and pivoting into sound was a change too far for many of his peers and contemporaries.
Of course, he ended up weathering that storm with the greatest of ease, seizing control of his own destiny when he co-founded United Artists in 1919. Now in complete control of his projects, he segued from silents to the talkies effortlessly, with his star shining as brightly as ever while his wealth continued to grow.
There were scandals along the way, of course, with Chaplin fleeing the United States to settle in Switzerland in the 1950s. From a purely professional standpoint, though, his contributions to cinema can only be matched by a very small few in terms of their enduring popularity, transformative impact, and overarching influence on the generations who walked the trail he’d helped blaze.
He was an actor, comedian, writer, director, producer, and composer, a perfectionist who had the leeway and bank balance to painstakingly develop his productions until he believed they were fit for purpose, pioneered the blend of slapstick and pathos that inspired everyone from Gene Wilder to Jackie Chan, and wasn’t above sneaking relevant socio-political commentary into his crowd-pleasing flicks.
Chaplin loved his job, and he loved the business, so when Richard Merryman pressed him on the single most important quality an actor can have to succeed in a place as ruthless as Hollywood, he drew from his own experiences to pass on words of wisdom that remain as timely now as they were when he said them in 1966.
“I think the love of what they are doing; with restraint,” he mused. “And you have to be in the right key, like striking a sounding fork, or the key can be out of tune with an audience. I think an actor in his first minute or so is tuning himself with his audience and his environment. One of the strange mysteries of a performance, one night it’ll come out excellent, and that contact is there, and another time it isn’t.”
The star urged aspiring performers to love acting without crossing the line into obsession and not to let any measurable amount of success go straight to their heads. Chaplin outlined how “no great actor is infallible,” and even the ones who win acclaim and experience the highest of highs will never be able to boast a 100% hit rate. He knew that better than most, and those are words worth taking to heart.
