Marlon Brando’s big acting secret revealed by Richard Harris in hilarious unearthed clip

Harris, who died in 2002, was a hugely popular actor and singer; who starred in the likes of Unforgiven, Gladiator, Camelot and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. He worked with Brando on the 1962 film Mutiny on the Bounty, on which they were rumoured to not get along. And speaking on Parkinson in 1973, he opened up on the secret behind Brando’s performances.

The clip was shared by the Reconsidering Cinema Twitter account yesterday and has racked up nearly 80,000 plays in just 18 hours.

“He’s a fantastic actor,” Harris said. “Probably one of the greatest of all time.

“He developed a style of acting because he either didn’t want to [learn his lines] or he just couldn’t remember them.

“So he’d do a scene with you and beside the camera he’d have a big board, and the lines would be written on the board.

“That’s how he developed that terrific Brandonian look!”

Squinting his eyes and looking very focussed as he did his impression, Harris said: “He’d be looking at you in the scene and suddenly he’d do this… [the look]!

“And that’s because he’s reading the lines! It’s true, I promise!”

Harris went on to imitate some of Brando’s performance in Julius Caesar – including one moment when he suspected he checked for his lines.

“Remember when he was doing Julius Caesar… and I know, sure as hell, Shakespeare never wrote ‘ah’! You can see it happening!”

Brando, a true icon of cinema, passed away at age 80 back in 2004.

His most famous works included The Godfather, A Streetcar Named Desire, Apocalypse Now, On The Waterfront and Last Tango In Paris – among many, many others.

Parkinson, with veteran broadcaster Michael Parkinson, ran from 1971 to 2004 on the BBC, then 2004 to 2007 on ITV.