Happy Birthday to the late legendary Oscar winning actor Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando Landed His 'Godfather' Role with Some Shoe
Polish and Kleenex
Marlon Brando (April 3, 1924 - July 1, 2004)
The studio was against the casting idea at first, then they saw the tape.
The studio was against the casting idea at first, then they saw the tape.
The role most fans associate Marlon Brando
with in The Godfather almost
didn't happen because he was seen as being so toxic by the studio at the time
of casting.
But, director Francis Ford Coppola was
relentless in his pursuit for his Don Vito Corleone.
It was the legendary actor's screen test
— which Coppola had to beg Paramount for — which turned the
tide.
In an interview Coppola gave to critic
Annette Insdorf years ago, he talked about how Brando morphed into his
Oscar-winning character in a matter of moments with some random props and
household items.
"We went to his house on Mulholland
Drive and it was early, he wasn't up," Coppola began. "There's a
rumble and the door opens, and in walks this beautiful man with long blond
hair, in a Japanese robe."
Brando, who would have turned 93 on Monday,
noticed Coppola had set out little props in the form of Italian meats,
cheeses and cigars.
"And he came out and looked at all this
and figured out what was going on, and he took his hair ... he did it up himself
in the back, and he took shoe polish and he made it black and he put on a
shirt," Coppola continued.
Brando suggested the character should be
hoarse and "look like a bulldog."
"He took some Kleenex and
he...," Coppola said, pretending to stuff tissue into his mouth.
"And then he started acting but not saying anything."
Brando even got a phone call during the test
and he took it in character, Coppola said.
Studio execs were so impressed with the
footage, they agreed to cast Brando.
Brando died in July 2004. He was 80.
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