The only movies Paul Newman swore he’d never make: “When they’re bad, they’re really horrid”
There’s no shame in an actor admitting they’ve gotten into the business to make money and see their name in lights, but that wasn’t what drew Paul Newman to acting. He wanted to test himself as a performer and play characters that challenged him as much as possible, with stardom merely a byproduct of that approach.
It wasn’t one he was entirely comfortable with after the actor repeatedly voiced his frustrations with being boiled down to a handsome face with a pair of cinema’s most piercing blue eyes. He couldn’t help the way he looked, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be irritated that any analysis of his career or work would inevitably mention his physical attributes.
Still, the easiest way to avoid being typecast as a pretty face is to become established as a generational talent, which is exactly what he did. While there’s no denying that having the looks, charm, natural charisma, and screen presence of a born A-lister definitely helped, Newman refused to play Hollywood politics and ended up in the rare position of being an in-demand leading man, awards season fixture, and box office draw.
As an actor and filmmaker, Newman was never constrained by genre. He made period pieces, crime stories, war movies, westerns, comedies, dramas, thrillers, and almost everything the industry had to offer, but he had limits on the sort of productions he would lend his name to.
Reflecting on his body of work in an interview with The New York Times, Newman waved off suggestions that his rise – and lengthy stay – at the cinematic summit was by design, insisting that he wouldn’t be able to explain how he became one of his era’s biggest stars no matter how hard he tried.
“When they’re good, they’re OK. When they’re bad, they’re really horrid,” he self-effacingly put it. “I never know how to measure accomplishment in motion pictures. If you’re driving a new turbo-prop Porsche, you can take less credit for winning. If you merely go up there and let the part carry you, you shouldn’t have as much sense of accomplishment.”
That said, even if he was presented with a script that ticked every box he was looking for, there were two types of pictures he couldn’t condone. “I’m prepared to work in any category if the work is distinguished,” he explained. “Only two things I won’t do: something pornographic or violent.”
Obviously, Newman wasn’t talking about making a porno movie, with his comments directed towards the increased sexualisation of mainstream filmmaking in the 1970s, when films like Last Tango in Paris pushed the limits of what could be depicted onscreen. As for the violence? Well, he gunned down his fair share of bad guys over the years, but he’d never sign on to play a one-man wrecking crew just for the sake of it.
