Movie Stars and Actors

Thinking about the greatest male, English language, cinematic actors of all time, I have been considering the sharp contrast between "movie star quality" and acting ability. The more I think about it, the more convinced I become that the two are not merely contrasting, but entirely different realities, "forms," and are mutually contradictory of each other, incommensurate.

By "star quality" I mean the powerful, indescribable charisma, charm, fascination, allure, and attraction that mesmerizes the movie viewer. This is the figure that "lights up the screen." By contrast, acting ability per se is the ability to create a new character  in which the person of the actor himself largely disappears. These two are almost contraries. The movie star brings his unique "persona" to each role, which becomes a vessel to manifest his compelling, fascinating person. The actor disappears in deference to a new creation, a new role, a new person. 

My suggestion: the great figures of the movies are either stars or actors. They captivate us by their own charm and charisma; or they dazzle us by disappearing behind the appearance of a new character. The two are incompatible. 

My favorite stars:  Marlon Brando,  John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Burt Lancaster, Al Pacino, Paul Newman, Denzel Washington, Yul Brunner, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg,  Humphry Bogart, Gary Cooper, Fred Astaire, James Dean, Montgomery Cliff, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Spencer Tracey, Anthony Quinn, James Cagney, Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Gene Kelly, Steve McQueen, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Robert Redford. 

My favorite actors: Daniel Day Lewis, Russell Crowe, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Hanks, Ed Norton, Philip Seymore Hoffman, Alec Guinness, Anthony Hopkins, Robert De Niro, Kevin Spacey, Jack Nicholson, Robert Duvall, Christian Bale, Sean Penn, Tommy Lee Jones, Jeremy Irons, Ralph Fiennes.

It is worth noting that the earlier, classic era (up to the 1960s) we see more stars; more recently less star power but a higher level of acting. More contemporary stars (Pitt, Damon, Clooney, etc.) are hardly in the same league as Wayne, Peck, Grant, Cooper. But they and their contemporaries are better actors.

When we think of the star, we have a clear, powerful image of the person that pervades every performance. John Wayne is a good example: he does not need to act; he is always John Wayne; us fans don't want him to be anything else. His portrayal of Genghis Khan is a cult classic and simply hilarious. By contrast, Alec Guinness is well known as Obi Wan Kenobi, but his career prior to Star Wars was a magnificent diversity of characters, each unique. His own persona is low in celebrity, glamour and appeal. He is a pure vehicle for the character he portrays. Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are very similar in lifetime achievement; but I see that Pacino brings this star charisma to every role; while De Niro has the greater ability to disappear behind the character he portrays.

To be sure, some of the great stars are also great actors: Brando, Pacino, Dean, Quinn. But it remains that even in their greatest performances their personal charisma is irrepressible and exultant. Likewise, some of the great actors have great star stature by virtue of charisma as well as a huge body of work; but their greatness as actor includes their ability to camouflage their personal charisma in deference to the character they play.

We love our great stars as well as our actors. But I must give primacy of place to those actors who disappear behind their character and yet infuse that character with a radiance, power, fascination that is detached from the actor himself: Daniel Lewis, Russell Crowe, Ed Norton, Jack Nicholson, Robert Duvall, and Christian Bale.

Don't we love the movies?