The actor Faye Dunaway called the heir to Marlon Brando: “In terms of sheer talent”
Faye Dunaway is one of the most remarkable performers of her generation, starring in memorable and historically influential films such as Chinatown, Network, Bonnie and Clyde and Three Days of the Condor. She was often subject to intense scrutiny after the rumoured outbursts and feud between herself and Polanski, with her reputation being unfairly tarnished in comparison to the director. Dunaway was one of the definitive leading women of the era, acting alongside other great actors like Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson and Gene Hackman.
However, throughout her glittering career on the silver screen, the actor also described her love for another performer who was rising through the ranks as her career began to decline, with the highest form of praise for the young actor.
Despite the dramas associated with her presence on set, with fabled stories about her pissing into a bucket on the set of Chinatown and throwing it in Polanski’s face (but who doesn’t want to do this?), Dunaway has always had a captivating screen presence, and if it hadn’t been for the rampant misogyny and discrimination in Hollywood, then perhaps her career would have lasted much longer.
This feels particularly frustrating when comparing the actions of her male counterparts who were allowed to get away with exceedingly more harmful behaviour with no impact on their career or reputation, while also being allowed to work for as long as they want.
Dunaway was not awarded this liberty, and her career was met with the same fate as many women in the industry – abruptly cut short after hitting a certain age and struggling to find substantial/quality roles, perhaps leading her to star in the controversial Mommy Dearest that was obliterated by critics and audiences.
However, someone whose reputation has not been damaged by countless accounts of abuse and wrongdoings is Johnny Depp, who Dunaway had high praises for after working with him on Don Juan DeMarco in 1994. The film has a truly bizarre plot, following a man who believes he is the greatest lover in the world, undergoing psychiatric treatment to cure him of this delusion, inadvertently leading one of his doctors to rekindle his struggling marriage.
She compared him to their co-star Brando, describing him, saying, “He’s a great person, very loving. And he’s very committed to the people in his life. He’s a no-nonsense kind of person, as well. He’s honest, which any good artist would have to be. And he certainly is that. He doesn’t a lot of patience with values that are fickle. He’s loyal and smart. And I think he’s the best young actor we’ve got. I think he certainly is the heir to Brando, in terms of sheer talent… and intelligence… that shapes a performance. When he plays a scene, you never notice him playing it. It occurred to me a little while ago that that’s very much what one hears about Spencer Tracy. And about the best actors — that you think it looks so easy. And he does have that in everything he does. He’s also very modern”.
