The legendary actor Paul Newman hated being compared to: “Nothing is more stupid”
Hollywood has given us many great actors, but few have reached the sheer heights of success quite like Paul Newman. Beginning his career in the 1950s, Newman soon transitioned from theatre to cinema, earning significant acclaim for his performance in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof alongside Elizabeth Taylor.
He continued to nab roles in acclaimed films, from The Hustler to Cool Hand Luke, earning several Academy Award nominations in the process. He appeared in countless revered movies throughout the following decades, like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Absence of Malice, The Towering Inferno, The Verdict, and The Color of Money, for which he won an Oscar.
Newman’s illustrious career continued into the later years of his life, with his last role being the voice of Doc Hudson in Cars. A keen racing driver, Newman led an accomplished life, but despite the many successes he experienced throughout his career, he didn’t always see himself the way many of his fans did. The actor was widely considered one of the greatest of all time, and he often received comparisons to another cinematic legend, Marlon Brando. Yet, he actually hated it when journalists drew similarities between him and the star of The Godfather.
In an interview with The Film Stage, Newman explained, “When journalists tell me, ‘Your acting is just like Brando’s,’ or even ‘You look like Marlon Brando,’ I stop talking to them. Nothing is more stupid than saying, ‘Here’s another Brando, another Clark Gable’; refusing any responsibility for an honest opinion. But if I decide to keep talking to them. I ask, ‘What’s Marlon Brando’s main quality?’ Come on, tell me.”
He continued, “Then I’m gonna tell you. It’s his ability to burn like a volcano that is about to explode. It’s being Brando and only Brando, which is to say, the best actor that we have in the US. And to remain Brando. Look, I’m not saying that because he’s my friend. He’s not; he’s a colleague with whom I’ve barely spoken.”
Brando is considered a giant of Hollywood, and during his career, he appeared in many iconic roles that have practically set the benchmark for other actors. Newman couldn’t understand the Brando comparisons he received, telling the interviewer, “I don’t have Brando’s ability. I’m not always myself. If I play a cowboy, I’m a cowboy, if I play a surgeon, I’m a surgeon. And if I play a gigolo, I’m a gigolo.”
He added, “When people watch Brando instead, they watch Brando playing the cowboy, the surgeon, the gigolo. As for our physical resemblance, there’s nothing I can do about it. I can just let my beard grow.”
The pair were never close friends, and although they never starred in a film together, they were seen attending the same protests during the 1960s, such as The March on Washington. It would have been interesting to see the pair act opposite each other, but by the sounds of things, Newman wouldn’t have been too pleased to share the screen with the actor he was often rather lazily compared to.
