The one thing Dennis Hopper always resented about Hollywood: “I find it terribly frivolous”
Dennis Hopper entered Hollywood a lot earlier than many people realise, landing his first film role in 1955’s Rebel Without A Cause. It took the actor a decade or so to actually appear in more prominent roles, however, with Hopper starring alongside John Wayne in 1965’s The Sons of Katie Elder and Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke two years later.
The actor rose to widespread acclaim when he directed Easy Rider in 1969, in which he appeared with Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson. The movie defined the counterculture of the era, coming just a year before the psychedelic film The Trip, which also starred Hopper and Fonda, while Nicholson penned the screenplay.
These films reflected the widespread drug culture that many young Americans were attracted to at the time, and Hopper was no exception. He was known for his excessive and hedonistic lifestyle, which included plenty of drug binges, orgies, parties, and crazed acts, like running around the jungle naked and even shooting a tree, mistaking it for a bear.
Hopper was known for being a Hollywood hellraiser, although he was also a terrific actor, later finding acclaim for roles in movies like Apocalypse Now, Blue Velvet, Speed, and True Romance. Yet, when he was rising to prominence in the late 1960s alongside his peers, such as Nicholson, he found himself disillusioned with a certain aspect of Hollywood, which explains why he led such an unconventional career.
Discussing Nicholson, Hopper said via Jack Nicholson: The Early Years, “Nicholson’s got a tremendous personality. I think that sometimes his personality can get in his way, or get in my way, maybe not in his. I could disagree with a lifestyle that I may find rather frivolous, but it certainly is a great plus as an actor and a personality, and that’s what people want. I mean, Jack is a throwback to the old-time movie stars. When I say old-time, I mean twenty years ago. He’s a personality like Cary Grant, Clark Gable.”
The actor continued, “He enjoys Hollywood; he enjoys the partying; he enjoys the life; he enjoys the whole thing. And he admits it, and has a good time at it. I hate it. I really hate it. I resent it. I find it terribly frivolous. But Nicholson digs it, likes it, loves it, and should be there, and he is.”
While Hopper was no stranger to partying, he wasn’t as caught up in the glamour of Hollywood – he saw through its facade. Hopper preferred extreme acts, like the Russian Suicide Chair experiment, rather than your stereotypical Hollywood party, it seems.
Before Hopper’s career was revitalised with his role in David Lynch’s Blue Velvet in 1986, he had found himself resenting Hollywood, especially after the negative reception to his second film, The Last Movie, which was almost his last directorial effort until he was given the chance to direct Out of the Blue. Hopper didn’t trust executives and producers, nor was he the super charming Old Hollywood type that Nicholson could be. He would never be the same as him.
His unusual approach to celebrity, whether that be getting himself into rather shameless scrapes or refusing conventional leading roles, made Hopper a unique figure – one whose counterculture roots were evident through and through.
