Dennis Hopper Reveals the Magnetic Power of Dean and Brando

Without Dennis Hopper, the face of American film would look very different. His work on Easy Rider kicked off the New Hollywood era, showing that bold, independent projects could strike a chord with punters everywhere. Hopper wore many hats—actor, director, writer, and visual artist—and his knack for reimagining classic Hollywood types made him a standout for a new generation, even if he did ruffle a few feathers along the way.

It’s no shock that Hopper drew inspiration from the legends who came before him. In one chat, he singled out two blokes he reckoned had a rare kind of pull. He described their presence as a sort of animal magnetism, saying,

“I’m going back to sort of the ape theory. There’s the apes and they all go, ‘Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh’, and they leave the room and none of the female apes follow, but then there’s this one ape, that’s been sitting over there, gets up and leaves, and all the females and all the males follow them, and that’s like, there were three guys, when they were young.”

James Dean: The Reluctant Icon

For Hopper, James Dean was the first to fit this bill. He pointed out that Dean

“was a star only in Hollywood and New York because he never had a picture that was successful until after he was dead”.

Dean’s role in Rebel Without a Cause sparked a new wave of anti-authority films and captured the spirit of 1950s youth. Tragically, Dean died in a car crash at just 24, never seeing the impact of his later films, East of Eden and Giant. Both earned him posthumous nods for Best Actor at the Oscars, cementing his legacy as a symbol of youthful rebellion.

Marlon Brando: The Room-Changer

The other actor Hopper mentioned was Marlon Brando. According to Hopper, Brando could walk into any gathering and,

“half the party would leave with him”.

Hopper also reckoned Bob Dylan had a similar effect, but he never saw the same reaction to Elvis Presley. Brando’s breakout came with The Wild One, a film that left a mark on Easy Rider and the whole anti-establishment vibe. But Brando’s roots were on stage, and he brought that same raw energy to his film roles.

Brando’s big moment arrived when A Streetcar Named Desire made the leap from stage to screen, with Elia Kazan at the helm. Kazan later directed Brando in On the Waterfront, a film that scooped up eight Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Brando. Both Brando and Kazan earned a reputation for being tough to work with, and when they teamed up again for Apocalypse Now, things got so heated they nearly came to blows—living up to Hopper’s wild ape analogy.