The Big Picture
Frank Oz became a pop culture icon thanks to his work alongside Jim Henson in the 1980s. In addition to providing the vocal and puppet work for beloved characters like The Empire Strikes Back’s Yoda and The Muppet Show’s Fozzie Bear, Oz established himself as a promising filmmaker. After working alongside Henson’s production company to direct films like The Great Muppet Caper and The Dark Crystal, Oz found that he had a knack for live-action comedies. His success with Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, What About Bob?, Bowfinger, and The Little Shop of Horrors inspired Oz to get more ambitious as a filmmaker. Oz had the skills required to helm a modern crime classic, but he wasn’t prepared for the taxing experience of working with Marlon Brando. Apparently, The Godfather star wasn’t as cooperative with Oz as his puppet stars had been.
Filming ‘The Score’ Was a Nightmare for Frank Oz
The Score was a 2001 heist thriller that paid homage to classic “cat burglar” movies like Gambit and To Catch A Thief. While Oz’s work up until 2001 had been largely within the comedy genre, he chose to challenge himself with something much more serious. The Score follows the aging thief Nick Wells (Robert De Niro), who is attempting to leave his criminal past behind him so that he can propose to his girlfriend Diane (Angela Bassett) and spend his life with her. Nick promises that he will only take “one last job” from his fence Max (Brando) after joining forces with the fellow thief Jack Teller (Edward Norton). Teller’s manipulative techniques catch Nick by surprise, forcing him to question his new partner’s loyalty.
The Score was pegged as the union of three generations of acting talent. Brando had initiated a newfound realism in American cinema with his performance in classics like A Streetcar Named Desire and On The Waterfront, and De Niro had been the most exciting actors of the 1970s and ’80s thanks to his work with Martin Scorsese on Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and The King of Comedy amongst others. Norton appeared like he was going to be the most significant actor of his generation, as Primal Fear, American History X, and Fight Club indicated that he was willing to commit to capture the psychology of many disturbing characters.
Both De Niro and Norton became known for being “particular” about etiquette on set; De Niro famously balked at Joaquin Phoenix’s method acting techniques on the set of Joker, and Norton’s controlling nature caused headaches for the creative team on The Incredible Hulk. However, De Niro and Norton weren’t to blame for the issues on the set of The Score, as it was Brando who was up to his old shenanigans. Brando may have once been one of the most beloved actors of all-time, but his disrespectful behavior on set had landed him a toxic reputation in the decades since his work on The Godfather. Although The Score was pitched as his first major “comeback role” after the disastrous production of The Island of Dr. Moreau in 1996, Brando made the film’s production absolutely miserable for everyone involved, particularly Oz. Oz quickly learned that the On the Waterfront actor had a unique acting style that tended to be fairly combative during filming.
Why Frank Oz and Marlon Brando Didn’t Get Along
At this point in his career, Brando had already worked with a number of prestigious directors. Apparently, Oz’s qualifications didn’t impress him, as he would frequently refer to The Muppet Show star as “Miss Piggy” during the production. Oz had been hesitant about casting big names in the film, revealing that he had “always imagined my first drama would be lower budget” so that he “could get really dark and dirty with actors who were unknown.” That dream seemed to fade after a few days working with Brando, who reportedly made fun of Oz’s work on The Muppet Show and Sesame Street. At one point, Brando quipped to Oz, “I bet you wish I was a puppet” so that the director could make him “do what you want.”
As the situation grew worse, Oz was forced to turn to his other actors in order to control the situation. After Brando refused to listen to Oz’s direction, De Niro stepped in to guest direct some sequences so that Brando’s work could be completed. Brando continued to play cruel jokes on Oz throughout the film’s production, often wearing underwear on set to make his director feel uncomfortable. Oz lamented at one point that “Marlon was too upset with me to act while I was on the set,” and that he had “watched from outside, with a monitor.” He praised De Niro for serving as a “mediator” who could communicate with Brando during some of the critical sequences.
Although the tensions on set of The Score had earned the film some unwanted attention from tabloid publications, Oz later stated that the reported friction between him and Brando was overblown. He described Brando as “a very sweet, gracious, childlike in some ways, very, very humane, very complex person.” Oz admitted that while the production was “a difficult situation,” as the tension had boiled down to a genuine “difference in creative interpretation of the role.” Oz revealed that the two had reconciled, and that “Marlon did come around” after further discussion about the role; Oz even took some of the blame, and mentioned in an interview with Ain’t It Cool News that he could have been more supportive of Brando’s unique acting methods.
The discourse may have been heavy, but thankfully, Oz and Brando managed to make a great movie together. Roger Ebert said that The Score was “true to its story, and the story involves characters, not stunts and special effects,” and called it “the best pure heist movie in recent years.” Although Brando’s recent track record hadn’t been very strong, his work in The Score served as another great performance, and would sadly be his last. Sometimes it all comes down to a matter of creative differences between two passionate storytellers. In the case of Oz and Brando, the friction making The Score at least created a classic that is worth celebrating.
