Pauline Kael once named her favourite actors: “Extraordinary work”
In the world of film, there was one critic who was respected above all. Known for being witty but biting, entertaining yet opinionated, Pauline Kael set the standard high for journalists ever since. Not only was she a cornerstone of the press in her day, but she was completely unafraid to go against the general consensus of opinion when sharing her thoughts on a film or a performance. So when she shared her all-time favourite actors, there was high praise for everything included.
Kael first gained attention with her 1965 book, I Lost It at the Movies. Up until this point, film writing had been somewhat stuffy and pretentious. Kael’s voice seemed to humanise it while also keeping the standards sky-high. Containing a daringly negative review of West Side Story, followed by essays defying the words of previous film theorists, the book made it clear that Kael would never filter herself through anyone else’s expectations.
She carried that approach forward when she took up her post as The New Yorker’s film critic. In her decades-long tenure there, she not only locked in her own legacy but also basically showed film writers how it’s done, setting the tone for magazines everywhere by encouraging them to be bolder, smarter, stronger-willed, and better written.
This means that in her time, Kael watched a lot of films, spanning different decades and eras, from the early countercultural flicks of the 1960s through to modern blockbusters. She saw classes of new talent graduate up into cinematic idols but wasn’t afraid to say that she didn’t like the ones that everyone else loved.
In a conversation with Susan Goodman in 1998, only three years before her sad passing, Kael shared her all-time favourite actors who had won over her praise. “Paul Newman becomes more glamorous with years, like Cary Grant,” she said, beginning with a figure who was at the top of his game right when Kael first broke into the industry.
From there, though, she jumped to the modern day as she continued, “Nicolas Cage is an unusual actor,” picking out Cage as the newest name on the list, having really only just broken out with roles like in David Lynch’s Wild At Heart.
“Travolta’s heartfelt quality cuts through the falsest material, and Brando is still uniquely imaginative,” she continued, throwing more names out there. She showed her signature contrarian streak when she added, “Bruce Willis is a much better actor than he’s given credit for,” jumping to the performer’s defence. She also showed that side when she said, “I’d also include some fine actors who often take parts that don’t suit them—Robert Duvall, Al Pacino, and Tommy Lee Jones.”
To round off her list of male actors, she tagged “John Cusack, Morgan Freeman, Nick Nolte, Denzel Washington,” before adding, “Tom Hanks, of course.”
She didn’t forget about the women, though. “Michelle Pfeiffer. Anjelica Huston. Sigourney Weaver,” she picked out. “Diane Keaton has done extraordinary work. She was fabulous in Crimes of the Heart. So was Jessica Lange,” she continued as well as honouring “Debra Winger, if she’d come back and act.”
With a lengthy list of names spanning all genres, styles and eras, Kael’s list of top performers shows just how embedded in the film world she was and how she remained passionate about celebrating cinema right up to the end.
Pauline Kael’s favourite actors:
- Michelle Pfeiffer
- Anjelica Huston
- Sigourney Weaver
- Diane Keaton
- Jessica Lange
- Debra Winger
- Paul Newman
- Cary Grant
- Nicolas Cage
- John Travolta
- Marlon Brando
- Bruce Willis
- Robert Duvall
- Al Pacino
- Tommy Lee Jones
- John Cusack
- Morgan Freeman
- Nick Nolte
- Denzel Washington
- Tom Hanks
