The self-proclaimed “piece of shit” actor who fascinated Stanley Kubrick: “That’s not my nature”
As a filmmaker whose reputation preceded him everywhere he went, for better or worse, Stanley Kubrick was someone who actors were equally likely to loathe as they were to love.
On one hand, he was one of the greatest directors of his, or any other, era, and the people he worked with were fully aware of that fact. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, two of the biggest stars in Hollywood, didn’t think twice about the arduous undertaking of Eyes Wide Shut, because they were collaborating with one of the all-time greats.
On the other hand, Kubrick’s meticulous nature meant that he wasn’t always an actor’s best friend. He had several heated confrontations with Kirk Douglas on the set of Spartacus, including one chair-throwing incident, while Harvey Keitel was given his marching orders from the maestro’s final film after failing to keep pace with the often monotonous tone of the production.
Then there’s Malcolm McDowell, who’ll always be grateful for the platform that Kubrick gave him in A Clockwork Orange, which he knows will always be the defining role of his career, but it would be an understatement to say that the pair didn’t part on the best of terms, with the star as in awe of the director’s genius as he was put off by his madness. After making Paths of Glory, Spartacus, Lolita, and Dr Strangelove in succession, most people knew what they were getting into when they joined a Kubrick picture.
2001: A Space Odyssey was still a different beast, though, since it was pioneering multiple cutting-edge techniques that had never been used in a movie before. It was a monumental achievement, but not without its difficulties. When he wasn’t trying to reinvent the medium or demanding that stuntmen sacrifice themselves in the name of cinema, Kubrick tried as best as he could to run the tightest ship possible. Unfortunately, Gary Lockwood didn’t give a shit.
Beginning his big-screen career as Anthony Perkins’ stand-in, Lockwood’s most notable outing before A Space Odyssey was in the third-ever episode of Star Trek. When he wasn’t required on set, the second-billed name in the ensemble could be found frequenting London’s casinos, and his side hustle was so lucrative that his double didn’t show up for shooting one day because he owed him so much money.
When word of his crew’s gambling among themselves reached Kubrick’s ears, he called Lockwood into his office, intending to read him the riot act. “It was very simple,” the actor informed Michael Benson. “It wasn’t like I needed it. And I just said, ‘Sure’. We didn’t make a big thing out of it. Everybody was so in awe of Kubrick, they just constantly weren’t like sycophants, and that’s not in my nature.”
He wasn’t enthralled with the director, but the director was enthralled with him, for unusual reasons. “I’m a quarterback,” Lockwood declared. “I’m an alpha male, aggressive. I’m a bar fighter. I was smart in school. I’m a piece of shit, you know?” Someone describing themselves as an ‘alpha male’ is usually a red flag, but in this case, Kubrick was obsessed with Lockwood’s seemingly endless manliness.
He was mesmerised by his success with the opposite sex and captivated by his in-depth knowledge of virtually every major sport, especially American football. So much so that Lockwood was invited to Kubrick’s home every Friday night to watch tapes of the most recent NFL games, frequently calling for the projectionist to halt the reel so they could talk tactics. Not many actors were welcomed into his inner circle, but a self-proclaimed “piece of shit” was, such was the auteur’s fascination.
