John Wayne Revealed 1 Thing He Hated About Acting That Made Him a Lot of Enemies
Movie star John Wayne made a career out of acting, but he stood for a whole lot more away from the motion pictures themselves. He was a larger-than-life personality who represented a certain type of masculinity and nationalism that many Americans aligned with. However, Wayne once revealed how one part of his acting career stunted his ability to express himself fully. Nevertheless, the cracks in his armor ultimately made him a whole lot of enemies across Hollywood.
John Wayne brought his morals to his acting career
Wayne had an acting career that primarily had its roots in Western and war features. He got his start thanks to the “natural look” that he had. It ultimately earned him his first leading role in Raoul Walsh’s The Big Trail. Its box office failure and other industry politics led to him starring in many B-movie Western flicks. However, he wasn’t very proud of his involvement in them.
The more power that Wayne accumulated in his acting career, the more he started to have a hand in his own storytelling. He infused his morals and politics into films, such as The Green Berets and The Alamo. The movie star instilled pro-American and pro-war messages into his narratives on the silver screen, lifting up machoism and pride in one’s country.
John Wayne hated that acting made it so he couldn’t speak his mind about politics
Jean Ramer’s book, Duke: The Real Story of John Wayne, detailed how the movie star’s acting career impacted the man behind the cowboy aesthetic. He was outspoken against Communism, trashing the ideologies and its supporters at every turn. Stalin even wanted the actor killed for his anti-Communist beliefs. However, Wayne worried some of the Hollywood insiders that supported him because he was taking his political nature a little bit too far.
“Duke, I’ve got to warn you,” a movie executive told Wayne. “You’re going to be in big trouble if you don’t get out of that MPA. You just don’t realize how much this kind of thing can hurt your career. Your box office showing will fall. You’ll hit the skids!”
The idea that he couldn’t freely speak his opinion was the one thing that he hated about his career.
Wayne responded, “Thanks for the warning, but one thing I hate is this attitude that an actor’s going to be ruined if he becomes involved in anything political. Hell, a butcher or a baker can say what he thinks, but not an actor. It’s not fair!”
The executive told the actor to be sensible, noting that “I don’t think I have to tell you how many enemies you’re making in Hollywood. It’ll give you a bad name with the producers. And when they don’t want to hire you, you’re finished!”
Wayne confirmed that they’re already his enemies, refusing to “cuddle up to the Communists.”
He once believed himself to be a liberal
Beyond the monumental acting career that Wayne generated over the years, his name grew to stand for something so much more than that. He became closely associated with conservative politics, but he didn’t initially consider himself to be aligned with that term. In fact, Wayne once said that he thought of himself as a liberal until his colleagues and the public called him out to be otherwise.
Even if it meant destroying his movie career, Wayne wanted to stand up against Communists at all costs. He did exactly that, but his troublesome politics got him into trouble with his 1971 Playboy interview that continues to taint his legacy due to his racist and homophobic beliefs.
