Movies - TV
Marlon Brando Handicapped His Own Hearing For The Godfather
By CAROLINE MADDEN
During a 2022 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, actor Talia Shire expressed her admiration for Marlon Brando's transformation into Don Corleone in "The Godfather."
Brando utilized various makeup and acting techniques to transform himself into a weathered and wise mafioso, including a unique performance method called "active listening."
"Brando had a technique where he put wax in his ears, so he had to strain to hear you. And we all tried it — and we missed our cues," she jokingly remembered.
Brando also refused to learn his lines, relying on off-camera cue cards instead. These were old-school, artisanal techniques that Brando learned under Stella Adler’s tutelage.
With these methods, he lit up parts of his brain that forced him to behave differently and carefully formulate what to say next, producing one of the greatest performances ever.