“A unique twist,” Kearns told the BBC, “was that Brando, 20 years later, only appeared in occasional cameos when he was persuaded by director Andrew Bergman to ‘come back’ as the mafia boss. and a recluse-like existence Brando only agreed if the character could be based on Don Corleone, so he was once again “discovered” in a parody of his breakthrough role in The Godfather. , it was amazing. He is recognized by critics and audiences alike as a skilled comedic actor. ”
Only one career reviver
The patron saint of Hollywood comebacks is Quentin Tarantino. And the most important miracle he ever performed was for John Travolta. By the end of the 1980s, the star of Grease and Saturday Night Fever was limited to appearing in the family comedy series Look Who’s Talking, in which actors voiced the thoughts of babies and pets. The third film in the series, Look Who’s Talking Now, was a huge hit in 1993. But less than a year later, Travolta appeared in movie theaters as a black-suited Vincent Vega in Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. Then an Oscar nomination made him once again the coolest guy in Tinseltown.
Travolta wasn’t the only one to benefit from this casting. Capturing a fading star was also good for Tarantino’s reputation. “When he brings in forgotten or underappreciated actors from the attic, like Travolta, Pam Grier, Robert Forster, Kurt Russell, Don Johnson, I often find myself feeling a little… I feel like I’m on top and as if he’s shaming me for not appreciating people’s careers and abilities,” says Jerry Lewis, Robert De Niro, and Paul. says Shawn Levy, author of biographies of Newman and others. “I don’t think being their rescuer, so to speak, means anything to him as much as proving that he’s a scholar who loves their underrated abilities and body of work. , I imagine him scanning his VHS collection for some kind of information: a website for finding performers who aren’t dead yet but can be featured in future projects.
