The Saturday Evening Post : by Donald Liebenson

On the 100th anniversary of Marlon Brando’s birth, we interview the author of “Marlon Brando: Hollywood Rebel” about his best films, his reputation for Method acting, and why Brando was the original punk.

April 3, 2024, marks the centennial of iconic actor Marlon Brando, whom the American Film Institute ranked among the top five greatest movie stars of the 20^th century. But according to Burt Kearns, author of Marlon Brando: Hollywood Rebel, Brando’s influence is still keenly felt today.

Kearns is usually drawn to cultural figures who fly under the radar (his last book was Lawrence Tierney: Hollywood’s Real Life Tough Guy). That’s not Brando, about whom much has been written. But Kearns is also drawn to cultural outliers, and Brando profoundly changed the art of acting (even if he was dismissive in interviews about his own profession).