Bullitt was on TV last night.
Once again I was so drawn in to Steve McQueen‘s role that I forgot I was watching an acting performance. The word natural gets overused, but McQueen so becomes the character that you can forget you are watching fiction and get completely involved in the story.
Raymond Chandler once said of the actor Alan Ladd that he was a small boy’s idea of a tough guy. Now, I like Alan Ladd, and enjoy movies such as This Gun for Hire or The Glass Key for what they are. Ladd’s stone-faced performance was what viewers bought as a tough guy at the time.
But it’s also apparent he’s playing a part, an actor working maybe a bit too hard, trying to imbue his lines with some heightened toughness that probably works better for the very young than it does for those past grade school.
Likewise, Clint Eastwood for me, overdoes the sotto voce whisper, as if there is some incredible tension in his lungs and throat he is straining to contain but a few springs might snap and he could suddenly splay bullets everywhere. (Which sometimes he does.)
At times I think the boys who like Alan Ladd become teens who like Clint Eastwood, and even after they grow up they have a nostalgic fondness for Clint’s ever-coolness. Oh, wouldn’t it be nice to always be so in charge, and seem so calm and collected about it.
I don’t mean to be too hard on Clint. He’s done some great things, such as Unforgiven, where he doesn’t seem to be straining so hard. And from everything I’ve heard about Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, I fully expect I’m going to love them.
I just never forget that he’s acting, when I watch him, while when I watch Steve McQueen his acting is so transparent to the character that I can forget I saw a performance at all.
That’s cool.
That’s why for me, Steve McQueen accomplishes what others attempt. He behaves the way a guy would, given whatever particular problem he’s solving at that point in the story. His genius is in not trying too hard to look like he’s not trying too hard, while still stealing a performance.
You probably can’t teach that — it’s God-given.
OmbudsBen 
Steve McQueen’s secret was he wasn’t acting. He was a super-cool, yet sensitive, daredevil. That’s what comes through on screen. As you said, he had it, other’s try really hard but they are acting.
I liked Clint Eastwood in Heartbreak Ridge. He was the foul-mouthed Gunny with a sensitive side. In that film his acting looked a little more natural.
You’re right about the daredevil stuff. In looking up sites for this one I found a quote of his whereby he said auto racing was his life, everything else was just waiting. Funny to think of a career that accomplished, summed up as “just waiting”!
I’ll keep an eye peeled for Heartbreak Ridge, thanks.