The legendary actor Francis Ford Coppola called his “hero”
Francis Ford Coppola is a name synonymous with the golden age of Hollywood. His cinematic touch has blessed our screens with masterpieces that stand tall in the annals of film history. From The Godfather to Apocalypse Now, his work is often seen as a mirror reflecting the societal and cultural paradigms of their times. But, like every director, he’s worked with a myriad of talents to bring his visions to life.
Given the extensive list of illustrious actors he’s directed – Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, and many more – you might think it a Herculean task for Coppola to single out one as his personal ‘hero’. But he did. And it might not come as a shock that the choice is the indomitable Marlon Brando. However, the reasons why might take you by surprise.
During an interview with Rolling Stone, the illustrious 80-year-old filmmaker was not one to rest on former glories. He’s an Oscar-winner, winemaker, entrepreneur, and, even in his later years, a persistent seeker of knowledge and innovation. Coppola expanded his business reach from wineries to restaurants, launched eco-tourism resorts, and ventured into the cannabis lifestyle niche. Simultaneously, his devotion to the cinematic world remains undiminished, revisiting older works, pushing cinematic boundaries, and announcing new ventures like his forthcoming film, Megalopolis.
Yet, among all this revelation, when asked about his hero, he said: “Marlon Brando”. And the reason? “He could talk for hours about termites, or about the early Chinese settlers in America, or how shortwave radios worked. He just had this wonderful appetite to understand things. And the people who worked at Bell Labs and dreamed up every major technological advancement in the last 60 years.”
In this reflection, we see a side of Brando that often eludes the public eye. More than just Don Corleone or Stanley Kowalski, Brando was a man of intense curiosity and knowledge. Coppola’s admiration isn’t just rooted in Brando’s legendary acting prowess but in his intellectual desire to understand the world’s intricacies.
It’s actually a difficult concept to make work with the same notorious image of Brando as a towering thespian, immersed constantly in some wave of method acting, wielding the weight of dozens of medium-defining titles from the 20th century on his shoulders. Then again, perhaps in order to be able to transform utterly and completely into a new role, one has to have a sense of curiosity and a willingness to learn.
Regardless, the impact he made on Coppola is abundantly clear. The two collaborated only twice: on the seminal mob masterpiece The Godfather and the hallucinogenic anti-war epic Apocalypse Now. Yet, years after his death, the director still regards him as a hero. He still has his name locked and loaded at the drop of a hat, ready for the question of who inspires him. If, for whatever reason, you needed something to reevaluate Brando by, this surely is it.
