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Post by Prime etc. on Jul 27, 2021 16:10:37 GMT
Does anyone know if there are cases where someone refused to do a lead role because they preferred a supporting one? Or they would rather do lots of small roles then do one large one?
I heard that Christopher Lee's method of getting paid meant he was better to use in quick doses in a Hammer film rather than keeping him on set a lot. So he made more money going from film to film rather than being tied into one role for weeks.
I was thinking about how John Crawford went from a lead co-star role in HELL IS A CITY to appearing as a one line character in JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS or as a cop in a William Castle movie. Very minor roles.
Barbara Rhodes is another like that--I was unaware that she had a lead co-star role in a Don Knotts film and then right after that, she was doing the briefest of tv parts. One day shooting roles.
One assumes they would want the big starring part but assuming that they didn't fall out of favor, maybe they didn't like the schedule of a major role?
Are there any examples where someone insisted that they not get a leading role because they wanted something smaller?
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Post by bravomailer on Jul 27, 2021 16:23:56 GMT
Jennifer Jason Leigh might have eschewed leading roles.
William Hurt?
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Post by timshelboy on Jul 27, 2021 18:19:09 GMT
Mary Astor had a starring contract offer from RKO in 1932 but turned down on the basis that "once your name goes above the title of a picture it must never come down or your prestige is gone".... she freelanced for a bit and accepted a feature player offer from Warners. Most buffs would concur she didn't do too badly as a "supporting" player.
I believe Val Kilmer swapped roles with David Thewlis on THE ISLAND OF DR MOREAU, taking the smaller henchman role and giving Thewlis the hero role so he could finish earlier and take another offer. Kilmer still got star billing and Thewlis featured billing.
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Post by phantomparticle on Jul 27, 2021 23:47:52 GMT
I don't know the currant SAG rates for leads and day players, but if an actor has sufficient name value and doesn't want to be tied down on a shoot for several weeks or months and can make a good buck sliding from film to film, why not?
The amount of work available for actors today, compared to the pre-video era, is phenomenal. Film, straight to video, television (insatiable for new product).
Walter Brennan reportedly opined that he had no ambition to be a star. "If Gary Cooper's movie bombs everyone will say Cooper's movie bombed. But if you are playing a character part, nobody will say Walter Brennan's movie bombed."
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Post by timshelboy on Jul 28, 2021 7:16:49 GMT
I don't know the currant SAG rates for leads and day players, but if an actor has sufficient name value and doesn't want to be tied down on a shoot for several weeks or months and can make a good buck sliding from film to film, why not? The amount of work available for actors today, compared to the pre-video era, is phenomenal. Film, straight to video, television (insatiable for new product). Walter Brennan reportedly opined that he had no ambition to be a star. "If Gary Cooper's movie bombs everyone will say Cooper's movie bombed. But if you are playing a character part, nobody will say Walter Brennan's movie bombed." Absolutely - the supporting performer is unlikely to get the blame if the movie tanks... cf HEAVEN'S GATE - Lead Kris Kristofferson was never quite the same force after that and leading lady Isabelle Huppert's Hollywood ventures since 1980 have been minimal (less than one per decade by my count...not that anyone minds much - least of all her I'd imagine).... but supports Jeff Bridges, John Hurt etc simply breezed into the next gigs and villain Christopher Walken's recent Oscar win provided ballast for him not to be too affected by the film's reception.
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Post by jeffersoncody on Jul 28, 2021 15:22:25 GMT
Brad Pitt turned down the lead role of Clarence in TRUE ROMANCE - scripted by Quentin Tarantino, directed by Tony Scott, because he thought the film to "violent, but ended up playing a memorable supporting role as Dick Ritchie's stoner roommate Floyd. Christian Slater got to play Clarence, but Pitt later said he regretted turning down the role.
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Post by divtal on Jul 28, 2021 20:05:59 GMT
"I heard that Christopher Lee's method of getting paid meant he was better to use in quick doses in a Hammer film rather than keeping him on set a lot. So he made more money going from film to film rather than being tied into one role for weeks."
I'm not thinking of any specific examples to your original question. But, I have heard that under the old "studio system," well-known character actors could make more money than some of the major stars. In some cases, they could work on more than one project at a time. If they weren't needed on the set of "whatever," they could report to the set of "another whatever."
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Post by phantomparticle on Jul 28, 2021 23:51:04 GMT
From the IMDB King Kong trivia page
Even before the script was completed, Merian C. Cooper started filming action sequences with Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong during breaks in the filming of The Most Dangerous Game (1932), which also had a jungle setting.
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