Why Ingrid Bergman never trusted Hollywood: “I didn’t want to have the fate”
Some stars throw themselves into Hollywood without a care in the world, hypnotised by the endless glamour, parties, expensive outfits, and adoring fans. Ingrid Bergman wasn’t that fickle.
The Swedish-born star was initially suspicious of Hollywood, and she wasn’t easily taken in by the bright lights and promise of celebrity. She had her head screwed firmly onto her shoulders and stepped into the industry with caution, but she eventually allowed her doubts to ease as the cinematic landscape began to shift in conjunction with the Second World War.
Her entry into Hollywood thus came in 1939, with a role in Intermezzo: A Love Story, an American version of Intermezzo, which she’d starred in just three years earlier in her native Sweden. She didn’t mind playing the same role in a different language, finding her familiarity with the character of Anita Hoffman an ideal comfort for entering into the intimidatingly star-studded cinematic hub.
She decided that she’d just dip her toes into the waters of Hollywood to see what it was like; you can’t knock something until you’ve tried it, after all. In an interview with Cecil Smith, the actor revealed, “I only signed up for one picture because I didn’t want to have the fate that so many European actresses had. They were good actresses and stars in their own right in their country, and then they were engaged by Hollywood.
“They came over here. They changed their looks, their hair, their eyes, their teeth, and everything…and then send them back to their own countries. So I said, ‘No. I’m coming there for one picture, and I’m going back to my own country’.”
Bergman wasn’t wrong about how Hollywood changes many actors, which rings painfully true today. Look at all the stars who find themselves taking weight loss drugs, getting plastic surgery, and injecting themselves with god-knows-what in an effort to keep up with Tinseltown’s unrealistic demands. You can hardly blame them when the standards for women are so much more intense, but Bergman knew she didn’t want to get drawn into that web of losing her individuality to a machine that can shake you off like a bit of shit on their shoe once they’re done with you.
So, following Intermezzo: A Love Story, Bergman returned to Sweden and made June Night, but then the security of Hollywood drew her back. The war really complicated the European film industry, so before she knew it, she’d relocated to America, and here she landed her iconic role as Ilsa Lund in Casablanca.
More impressive roles followed, and with three Academy Award wins under her belt, she proved that she was an even greater star than most of her Hollywood contemporaries. Still, Bergman didn’t simply sell out and betray her initial apprehensions of the industry’s magnetism, routinely appearing in foreign productions throughout the rest of her career, like Journey to Italy, directed by her husband Roberto Rossellini, while her final role, and one of her most spectacular, came in Ingmar Bergman’s Swedish drama Autumn Sonata.
While her Hollywood success certainly piqued her interest in the American side of glitz, she never let herself be swayed by the doldrums of a business that she was well aware had its flaws. It was fitting that she stuck to her guns, with her final performance being in a Swedish film, honouring the country that gave her an incredible career in the first place.
