Why Marlon Brando Wore White Face Paint, a Dress, and an Ice Bucket on His Head in 1 Film
Marlon Brando is one of the most iconic actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Known for his intense acting style and tendency to take on roles that allowed him to play rebellious characters, he first rose to fame in the ’50s, following his portrayal of Stanley Kowalski in the movie A Streetcar Named Desire. Later on in his career, Brando developed a reputation for eccentricity, which carried over to the sets of the movie projects he worked on. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the stories relating to his 1996 film, The Island of Dr. Moreau, where Brando is said to have behaved in a truly outrageous fashion on set, including wearing all-white face paint and having an ice bucket strapped to the top of his head.
Marlon Brando was an infamous Hollywood bad boy
Brando was one of the first high-profile Hollywood actors to bring method acting to mainstream audiences. Brando was able to get inside the heart and mind of a character like no one else in the industry, and his roles in movies like On The Waterfront and The Wild One solidified his status as not only a generational icon but a star who was raw, intense, and deeply talented.
A notorious ladykiller and heartthrob, Brando experienced a career slump in the ’60s, only to return full-force to the big time thanks to his roles in The Godfather and Last Tango in Paris. By the ’90s, he was an icon — who took on a series of smaller supporting roles in order to allow him to flex his talents as a character actor.
Marlon Brando’s outrageous behavior on the set of the film ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau’
In 1996, Brando appeared in the science fiction horror film, The Island of Dr. Moreau. The movie is based on the acclaimed novel by H.G. Wells, and featured an all-star cast in addition to Brando, including Val Kilmer, Fairuza Balk, and David Thewlis. Unfortunately, the production was beset with difficulties from the beginning, with Brando’s outrageous behavior contributing to much of the trouble.
As reported by BuzzFeed, Brando spent most of his time on the set in his trailer, eating large amounts of pizza. When he did appear on the set to shoot for his role as the mad scientist Dr. Moreau, he didn’t want to stick to the script, or the dialogue prepared for his character. Instead, Brando improvised wildly, opting for all-white face paint and a dress for his character’s costume, and even wearing an ice bucket on the top of his head.
Additionally, Brando developed a strong attachment to his co-star, Nelson de la Rosa, a Dominican actor who was one of the shortest men of the last two centuries. As director John Frankenheimer later recalled, “Brando absolutely fell in love with this guy. He put him on his chest in the hammock and sang ‘Frog Went A-Courting’ to him. There was 90 minutes of that. This is all I can persuade Brando to do.'”
Marlon Brando’s life remains a subject of fascination for film fans
In spite of Brando’s legendary status, the later years of his life were plagued with troubles, both personally and professionally. His many children were embroiled in legal issues, especially after the tragic death of his oldest son, Christian Brando. Through it all, Brando remained a mentor to several other Hollywood stars, including Johnny Depp. The two even worked together in the 1994 movie Don Juan DeMarco.
Brando died in 2004 at the age of 80 — leaving behind a complicated legacy that is still the subject of intense fan debate to this day.
