Woody Harrelson on why Oliver Stone is “one of the greatest directors of all time”
Like every in-demand character actor, Woody Harrelson has worked with an eclectic array of filmmakers that ranges from unproven first-timers to veteran legends. As a result, he’s been positioned in front of the camera on every rung of the directorial ladder from novice to icon.
Miloš Forman, Barry Levinson, Terrence Malick, Niki Caro, Richard Linklater, the Coen brothers, Martin McDonagh, Roland Emmerich, Scott Cooper, Ruben Östlund, Ron Howard, John Hillcoat, and Oren Moverman are just some of the names on Harrelson’s resumé. He has worked with several legends in the decades since he left his sitcom days behind to take a crack at cinematic stardom, but one, in particular, made his all-timers bracket.
At the time, he wasn’t entirely sure why he was deemed the perfect fit to play a charismatic serial killer when he was best known for his work in comedy. However, Harrelson wasn’t complaining when Oliver Stone marked him out as the ideal candidate to play Mickey Knox in Natural Born Killers.
In the early 1990s, Stone was among Hollywood’s most formidable and accomplished auteurs without a doubt, but Harrelson outlined his belief that the filmmaker was among the greatest to ever do it, per Live Journal. “I thought – I do think – Oliver is one of the greatest directors of all time,” he said. “One of the most innovative, amazing, powerful directors.”
When he first signed on for Natural Born Killers, things were certainly heading that way, but it wouldn’t be unfair to claim Stone hasn’t quite managed to maintain those levels in recent times. Was he one of the best of his era and among the most fiery of his generation? Absolutely, but for the most part, the all-timer conversation requires greatness to be achieved over an extended number of years, something Stone hasn’t been able to lay claim to for a while.
Of course, Stone won three of his four Academy Awards between 1987 and 1990 when he was on one of the hottest streaks any filmmaker has embarked upon. That golden period included Salvador, Platoon, Wall Street, Talk Radio, Born on the Fourth of July, The Doors, JFK, and Natural Born Killers, all released within an eight-year span. There aren’t many directors who can match that level of quantity and quality, but it’s been a long time since Stone made something even remotely comparable.
The catastrophic Alexander, the well-intentioned but uninvolving World Trade Center, the self-indulgent W., the lackadaisical legacy sequel Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, the style-over-substance of Savages, and the frustratingly safe Snowden were all significant steps down from his heyday when Stone was almost untouchable as the industry’s most outspoken firebrand.
There’s no rule that says an all-time great director is obligated to make classics for their entire professional life, but there’s also a very good reason why the majority of people fitting the description do just that.
