Director Tony Palmer was speaking ahead of the 40th anniversary of the death of the Welsh actor in 1984
A British film director has revealed that the actors Clint Eastwood, Richard Burton, and Harrison Ford have had one thing in common when it comes to their acting styles.
Speaking to the Times about Richard Burton close to the 40th anniversary of his death – August 5th 1984 – Tony Palmer ruminated on the similarities between the Welshman and his American Hollywood contemporaries.
He revealed: “Burton’s greatness as an actor on screen was a feeling of stillness. Clint Eastwood had exactly that same, utter stillness.
“You think he’s not doing anything but, in fact, he’s doing everything, dragging you into the part. Harrison Ford does exactly the same thing.”
Ahead of the 40th anniversary of the death of Richard Burton, there is renewed interest in the actor who died from a brain haemorrhage in his sleep at the age of 58.
Tony Palmer was full of praise for the actor, especially for his performance in the 1983 television biopic titled ‘Wagner’. He said: “Every time we see Richard, he’s just there. Doing nothing. A presence. But oh boy, he’s giving a performance to die for.”
Tony isn’t the only contemporary of Burton’s to heap admiration on him. Fellow actor Ian McShane told the Guardian about what it was like to work with him on the filming ‘Sitting Target’.
He said: “I knew him before that and we had a good time together. The trouble was he became inclined to be a bit of a bully when he drank, but he was charming most of the time. Richard was terrific.”
Ian added that Burton confided in him and said he was glad he was playing the part of the “bisexual driver fixer, Wolfie,” because he reminded Burton of Elizabeth Taylor.
Whilst Richard Burton may have died 40 years ago, both Clint Eastwood, 94, and Harrison Ford, 82, continue to act. It was revealed earlier this year that as well as having similar acting styles to Burton, the pair missed out on performing in the John Wick action film franchise.
According to Entertainment Weekly, producer of the franchise Basil Iwanyk said: “The lead was a 75-year-old man, twenty-five years after being retired. It was the fun of watching Clint Eastwood kick ass.
“I thought, ‘Okay, there’s probably one or two names you could do this with: Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford.’ Other than that, I’m not sure how I put this movie together. But the tone of the script for John Wick was subversive and really fun. It has a very clear emotional through line and a great premise for an action movie.”
However, Basil revealed that it was a different turn of events that led to Keanu Reeves being chosen instead. He explained: “My other best friend in the world, this guy Jimmy Darmody, is an agent at CAA, who at the time represented Keanu.
“And he said, ‘Do you have any action movies for Keanu Reeves?’ I remember thinking to myself, ‘Keanu is one of the great action stars of the last 25 years — what happened to him? What’s he been doing?’”
Later Keanu agreed to play John Wick and it was agreed that the character no longer needed to be 75 years old.