The role Henry Fonda was most intimidated by: “Didn’t want to try it, didn’t want to read it”
There are many roles that seem almost impossible to reprise, either from previous actors who have created insurmountably iconic performances or through the challenge of depicting a real-life person. Countless pairs of eyes seemed to rest on the shoulders of Joaquin Phoenix after it was announced that he would put his own spin on The Joker, who was previously played by the great Heath Ledger and described as one of the greatest performances of all time. The same went for Daniel Day-Lewis when playing Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s picture or Angelina Jolie in the Maria Callas biopic.
However, for those who are given the opportunity to depict a real-life person or public figure, spanning from Willem Dafoe and his portrayal of Jesus Christ to Margot Robbie and her riotous performance as Tonya Harding, it is a tough and all-consuming challenge that can completely take over your life, with the pressure of realising genuine experiences becoming a tough burden to carry. For Henry Fonda, this was something that greatly rattled him, with the task of depicting a notorious American president shaking him to his core due to the pressure to do justice to the story.
Fonda is perhaps most well-known for his roles in films such as 12 Angry Men, Once Upon a Time in the West, My Darling Clementine and The Grapes of Wrath. With an assured screen presence, he seemed like the perfect person to depict a young Abraham Lincoln in the 1939 film Young Mr. Lincoln, directed by John Ford.
The film is an account of Lincoln’s early life, starting from his birth in a log cabin to his eventual law career, being encouraged by his first love, Ann Rutledge. After her tragic death, he begins a law practice and finds his skills being put to the test when he has to defend two brothers who have been accused of murder.
The role was understandably intimidating, despite eventually becoming one of many to depict the former US President. When discussing his early concern at playing the character, Fonda shared an insight into the casting process, saying, “Well, firstly, he [Ford] told me about it. And I said ‘Are you kidding? I can’t play Lincoln’. The idea is like playing Jesus or something, I just wouldn’t want to try it, I wouldn’t want to think it, I wouldn’t want to read it. I said ‘Fellas, I just don’t see myself playing Lincoln, and if I can’t see it, then I don’t see how I can do it”.
Fonda expanded on his trepidation, saying, “Well, eventually they persuaded me to test, to make a test of it. It took me three hours to put the makeup on. And subsequently they called me and I come in and I see it, and this guy on the screen right way, shit it was Lincoln. But a minute later, he opened his mouth, and my voice came out, and I was destroyed again. I can’t stand the sound of my voice”.
While he might have been incredibly nervous about such a daunting creative prospect, Fonda rose to the occasion and beautifully blended to the demands of the character, creating one of the most notable iterations of the character on screen.
