Why Orson Welles refused to become a specialist: “We give them too much respect”
When Orson Welles made his directorial debut with Citizen Kane, which would also serve as his first proper acting role, he surely couldn’t have predicted just how iconic he would become… He was only 25 years old, but suddenly, he was crowned a genius capable of changing cinema forever.
The interesting thing about Welles is that from the very beginning, he refused to limit himself to one job – you’d think that being an actor would be hard enough, as would the sole task of being the director, or the producer, or even the writer, but Welles wanted to do it all. This allowed him to have as much control as possible over his work – and it’s safe to say that he was a perfectionist.
Clearly, this approach worked for Welles, who wound up with Oscar nominations across three different categories for Citizen Kane, including ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Actor’, winning for ‘Best Original Screenplay’. While many of us might see Welles’ approach to filmmaking as rather full-on – how are you meant to juggle so many roles at once? – it secured his legacy as an auteur.
Besides this, Welles also lent himself to theatre, radio, and television. When asked by Playboy if he’d ever thought of specialising in just one medium, he seemed offended by the mere suggestion. To Welles, limiting yourself to one kind of creative expression was counterproductive.
“I can’t imagine limiting myself. It’s a great shame that we live in an age of specialists, and I think we give them too much respect,” he said. That’s one way to look at those who try to hone their craft to the point of perfection. Welles seemed to think that if you weren’t indulging in more than one medium, then you just weren’t trying hard enough.
Welles continued, “I’ve known four or five great doctors in my life, and they have always told me that medicine is still in a primitive state and that they know hardly anything about it. I’ve known only one great cameraman – Gregg Toland, who photographed Citizen Kane. He said he could teach me everything about the camera in four hours – and he did. I don’t believe the specialist is all that our epoch cracks him up to be.”
When you think about it, most of our great artists have specialised in more than one creative role. Terrific directors tend to extend their practice across other disciplines, like David Lynch, who painted, sculpted, made music, wrote, and occasionally acted.
And you only have to look at someone like Agnès Varda to find the ultimate example of refusing to limit yourself – she went from photography to filmmaking, blending narrative and documentary storytelling to create her own distinctive world, as well as crafting art installations.
Focusing your energy into one discipline can often yield great results, but for Welles, this was too limiting… He needed to express himself in as many ways as possible, which is something he certainly did over his mighty career as a Hollywood writer/director/actor/producer/radio narrator/Muppets guest star.
