Paul Newman\u2019s illustrious career was marked by a scarcity of blockbusters, with the exception of two films co-starring Robert Redford, which turned out to be box office sensations. Another notable hit in his filmography was the disaster epic, \u201cThe Towering Inferno.\u201d Despite its success, Newman didn\u2019t find the experience of making it particularly enjoyable.<\/p>\n
Renowned actor Ethan Hawke paid tribute to his idol, Paul Newman, by creating a documentary series about him in 2022. During promotional interviews, Hawke disclosed how Newman\u2019s approach to working on \u201cThe Towering Inferno\u201d influenced his own decision to take on the role of Marvel villain Arthur Harrow in \u201cMoon Knight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he [Newman] admire blockbusters and superhero movies? No, I don\u2019t. He hated doing \u2018Towering Inferno.\u2019 That was his idea of a giant sellout. You see him in physical pain in that movie. But, it\u2019s still a job. You still have to put food on the table,\u201d remarked Hawke, shedding light on Newman\u2019s pragmatic view of his craft.<\/p>\n
One significant reason for Newman\u2019s discontent with \u201cThe Towering Inferno\u201d was his well-documented rivalry with co-star Steve McQueen. The two clashed over top billing, ultimately leading to the pioneering practice of \u2018staggered but equal\u2019 billing, with their names arranged diagonally on the screen.<\/p>\n
The intensity of McQueen and Newman\u2019s feud extended to disputes over dialogue in the film. McQueen relentlessly negotiated with the screenwriter until the two stars had an equal number of lines, resulting in Newman dubbing McQueen \u201cchicken sh*t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Examining Paul Newman\u2019s filmography from the mid-1950s onward, \u201cThe Towering Inferno\u201d indeed stands out as a departure from his usual body of work. Aside from a handful of exceptional westerns, Newman ventured into genre films sparingly. He did, however, take on a peculiar science fiction project in the 1970s under the direction of Robert Altman.<\/p>\n
Despite his iconic status, Newman grappled with insecurities about his acting abilities. He was acutely aware that he wasn\u2019t even the most accomplished actor within his own household, being married to the immensely talented Joanne Woodward. Additionally, Newman harbored reservations about certain films, like \u201cThe Silver Chalice,\u201d recognizing them as missteps in his career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paul Newman\u2019s illustrious career was marked by a scarcity of blockbusters, with the exception of two films co-starring Robert Redford,\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":294,"featured_media":6902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[864],"class_list":["post-6901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-paul-newman"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/294"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}