Known for helming some of the most iconic figures in cinematic history, even two decades after his death, Marlon Brando is considered one of the greatest and most influential actors ever. And two of the actor’s most iconic performances were a result of his collaborations with Francis Ford Coppola in The Godfather and Apocalypse Now.
But while playing Vito Corleone in The Godfather, instead of taking the traditional method of memorizing lines, Brando opted to read from cue cards and later clarified his reasoning behind it.
Marlon Brando Deemed Naturalism the Reason Behind Using Cue Cards
Instead of working on memorizing his lines, Marlon Brando would often read his lines from cue cards, which were often stuck on other actors when their backs were facing the camera. While many held his laziness responsible, some took the film’s chaotic production and constant rewrites into consideration, which might’ve pushed Brando to resort to these visual prompts. However, per the actor, none of the above reasons were the prime reasons behind his decision to use cue cards, referred to as idiot cards in the industry.
In typical Brando fashion, he didn't work too hard in learning his lines. Coppola had other cast members hold up his dialogue, and would shoot scenes in such a way to obscure the cards.
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The Superman Star explained that he wanted to bring a sense of naturalism into Vito Corleone’s character, thus he wasn’t on board with learning his lines, as real-life people don’t converse like that. The actor said (via Stefan Kanfer’s Somebody: The Reckless Life and Remarkable Career of Marlon Brando):
“In ordinary life, people seldom know exactly what they’re going to say when they open their mouths and start to express a thought. They’re still thinking, and the fact that they are looking for words shows on their faces. They pause for an instant to find the right word, search their minds to compose a sentence, then express it.”
While it can’t be said for certain if his decision was purely motivated by naturalism or laziness, he did ace the role of Vito Corleone, which earned him an Oscar win, which he famously refused.
Marlon Brando’s Refusal to Get into Shape Forced Rewrites in Apocalypse Now
It can’t be overstated how much troublesome the production of Apocalypse Now was, which almost drove Francis Ford Coppola insane. With the shooting ballooning to over five months, accompanied by a typhoon and Martin Sheen’s near-fatal heart attack, things couldn’t have gone worse for the cast and crew. Unfortunately, it did after Brando, who played Colonel Kurtz, turned up into the production 40lbs overweight.
This forced Coppola to rewrite his character and the director would resort to shadowy cinematography to obscure his bulk. Coppola said:
“How are we going to dress him like a Green Beret marine colonel? I suggested to depict him as a man who was indulging his senses with his arms around two girls but he was shy about his weight.”
Fortunately, this resulted in one of the finest characters in film history, which stands toe to toe with the Oscar winner’s performance as Don Corleone.
The Godfather is available to stream on Paramount Plus
Apocalypse Now is available to rent on Apple TV.
