How snobbery and Laurence Olivier solidified Michael Caine’s thick skin
Sir Michael Caine, known for his Cockney smooth-talk and slick persona that emulates his characters in films like The Italian Job, Sleuth and Alfie, has gained a reputation for playing the ‘straight man’ – the matter of fact, ‘this is how it is’ character that never questions the chaos, but brings a deadpan acceptance and wryness to each moment that he’s on screen.
Even when his characters are in the most perilous situations, with cars balancing on cliffs and human civilisation as we know it at threat, Caine’s ability to bring humour to each scene through his dry indifference is a joy to watch. However, one of his greatest lessons on how to play the straight man, the archetype he became known for, arose from the opportunity to act alongside another British acting titan – Laurence Olivier.
After being offered a part in Joseph Mankiewicz’s Sleuth in 1972, Caine had already established himself as a formidable actor, with an Oscar nomination for his role in Alfie, later going on to win for her performance in Hannah and her Sisters and The Cider House Rules.
However, after the announcement that Caine would be acting alongside Olivier, an actor who dominated the theatre scene at the time with his work on a number of Shakespeare plays, the public began to speculate on whether Caine would be able to stand his ground next to Olivier. Caine also noted that the class divide was more noticeable within the creative industries at the time, with many people commenting on the difference in background between both actors, with Caine coming from a working-class family.
Caine stated: “In the papers, then it was ‘Oh, the greatest actor in the world is going to chew Michael Caine up into little bits. The little Cockney upstart from Alfie and all this. There was that kind of snobbery went on in papers to the extent where Larry before we actually met sent me a letter saying, ‘When we meet you may be wondering how to address me, and you should call me Larry from that moment onwards.’”
However, it was this snobbery and condescension towards Caine that helped him develop a thick skin, forcing him to rise to the occasion but also not rise to a reaction, maintaining the facade of being unbothered and detached from this criticism.
And no doubt this process also helped him develop the persona needed for this role, perhaps learning from Olivier’s approach to the performance too, who insisted that he could not “act with his own face”, always using some kind of prosthetic or accessory to slightly alter his appearance, which he believed was the key to him being able to act, with Caine saying “… if you look at him he’s always got a bit of a nose, some teeth in, some contact lens or a beard. He said ‘I cannot do it with my own face.’ And I watched him try and he couldn’t”.
While each actor has their methods and techniques that allow them to realise their characters, it’s fascinating that Caine was able to improve his resilience through the comparison to Olivier and that Olivier’s thick skin can be from the idea of not using his own skin, that ‘his own face’ was detrimental to his process.
It just goes to show that even the most celebrated and traditional of actors can have the weirdest ways of doing their job.
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