How Marlon Brando Saved His Own Life by Turning Down an Extremely Racist Role That Went to John Wayne
American actor Marlon Brando was one of the greatest actors in Hollywood, and he is considered one of the best of the 20th century. In his career spanning six decades, he won numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe awards, and three BAFTAs. He is also credited as one of the first actors to have brought method acting to the big screen.
Another huge contribution that Marlon Brando made to the entertainment industry was speaking out against the unfair treatment of Native Americans in films. He was also smart enough to decline the role of an Asian conqueror and of course, John Wayne was not.
Marlon Brando’s Rejection of a Role Saved His Career
The entertainment industry has transformed a lot in the past few decades. Some issues persist but it has gotten better than what it used to be in the 20th century. These changes could have never been made if some huge names had not stood up for those who needed it.
Racism was one of the issues that ran rampant in the industry in those days. While wise people like Marlon Brando knew better than to become a part of this discrimination, there were also people like John Wayne who believed in White supremacy. John Wayne was lucky that back then, the audiences were non-the-wiser unlike now, when actors get canceled on the daily on the internet for their problematic behavior.
It comes as no surprise that after Marlon Brando turned down the role of the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan, John Wayne took it. He lobbied to get the role only to be posthumously awarded a Golden Turkey Award (awarded to movies and performances that are considered the worst) in the ‘Worst Casting’ category, for his performance as Khan.
The Conquerer, directed by Dick Powell, was released in 1956 and might have had a chance to do good if they had cast an actual Asian in the role of Genghis Khan instead of using makeup to make Wayne look Asian.
The Conquerer May Have Been the Cause of Death of Some Cast and Crew Members
The production of The Conquerer was doomed from the start. Writer Oscar Millard had weighed in on the fact that John Wayne had not done well in the movie when he was contacted for a statement for Harry and Michael Medved’s book The Hollywood Hall of Shame: The Most Expensive Flops in Movie History.
If there weren’t enough bad things about this movie, it was shot near the nuclear testing sites around Utah. While there is no proof of the fact that the reason that 41 percent of the cast and crew was diagnosed with cancer later, it has to be noted that 21 percent of these people, including John Wayne, passed away. So, there is a huge that the reason behind this was exposure to nuclear activity during the filming of The Conquerer.
