The four actors John Goodman knows he can’t beat: “I’ll never be able to do that”
Even though he’d never admit it, if you asked 100 people to name the best actors of the modern era who’ve never been nominated for so much as a single Academy Award, then there’s a very high chance that most of those lists would have John Goodman on them.
He’s been in ‘Best Picture’-winning films, and he did it in consecutive years when he played key supporting roles in Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist and Ben Affleck’s Argo. He’s also won a Primetime Emmy from 11 nominations and a Golden Globe from five nods, so his trophy cabinet isn’t empty.
For decades, audiences have accepted that when they see Goodman onscreen, they’re going to get a decent performance, at the very least. More often than not, he’s a scene-stealer, and that’s exactly why he’s earned a reputation for being one of the best character actors of his generation, and also why he’s remained so constantly in demand for so long.
However, if there’s one person who’d say that it’s all bullshit and he’s just a schlub who lucked his way towards a long and successful career, it’s John Goodman. He’s never rated himself very highly, despite all of the evidence to the contrary, so it’s something of a surprise that there were only four actors he admitted that he couldn’t hold a candle to, no matter how hard he tried or how long he had to do it.
To be fair, they’re all decorated legends, and he may have been setting the bar a little too high when he cited Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, Ralph Richardson, and Jim Broadbent as his quartet of untouchables when reflecting on his career to the Radio Times: “I’d see things they do and say, ‘Jesus Christ, I’ll never be able to do that,'” he lamented.
In his defence, few can. Streep, with whom he’s never worked, is one of the all-time greats, with three Oscars from a record-setting 21 nominations. He never worked with Richardson either, but as someone who started their career on the stage, he holds immense respect and admiration for a performer who formed the ‘Holy Trinity’ of British theatre for decades alongside John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier.
He made one film with Broadbent, 1997’s family-friendly literary adaptation, The Borrowers, and that was apparently enough to convince him that he couldn’t dream of doing what the Oscar, Bafta, Emmy, and Golden Globe-winning actor can do. Not a great movie, but still, Broadbent is undoubtedly a great actor.
The Coen brothers favourite only made one picture with Pacino, too, 1989’s Sea of Love, and watching one of the best ever convinced him that he wasn’t fit to lace the two-time Oscar winner’s performative boots. That said, the Godfather icon has let it be known that he’s a massive fan of Goodman’s, so he must have been doing something right to earn the approval of a guy he knows he’ll never match.
If anything, he’s being far too hard on himself, not that the relentlessly self-critical Goodman would ever disagree. Still, scores of aspiring actors would kill for a career half as successful as his, so maybe he should focus on the positives for a change.
