James Dean

Dean at home.

As some of you know, I'm a big fan of James Dean. The man, the myth the legend and the icon.

But most importantly, the actor.

Is my fandom justified though?

I've read blogs in the past on the internet in which people voice the opinion that James Dean was, at best, a capable actor who is only remembered because of is early and tragic death. I'm not saying these people are wrong, obviously, everyone's entitled to their own opinions, I'm just of the mindset that he was, in places, a truly exceptional actor.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think he was (as some people claim) the be all and end all of acting, a messianic figure who could do no wrong and whose mere presence on screen lead to a near obsessive following. He made mistakes, as all actors do, that's just part of doing the job.

On the set of 'Giant'.

Speaking as a drama student, I've probably done more cock-ups on stage that I have remarkable performances, but that's part of learning the trade and for Dean, who wasn't much older than I when he died, he hadn't had that long to get to the standards he would almost certainly have reached.

I honestly believe that's why he's so revered to this day, not just because of his embodying of the mantra 'live
fast, die young'. I truly think that it was untapped potential that make people rave about how good he was. Yes he was good, but he wasn't great. One just has to look at the three-hour dull-fest that is 'Giant' to see how, in places, his instincts as an actor could be wrong.

What he could've been, however, is remarkable. People often state that Dean is of the Marlon Brando school of acting, and indeed, that's true, it's on record that Dean was a fanatic Brando fan, (after all, Brando's early performances really were worthy of the praise they receive), however, I feel that while Brando started of excellent and deteriorated (for the most part, his performance in 'The Godfather' was sublime, his performance in 'Superman'... not so much.) I feel that Jimmy would have done the opposite and his starring roles would probably be forgotten today, if not cited as a jumping board to get him where he could well be today.

Dean and the 'Little Bastard'.

Maybe he would've gone down the Clint Eastwood road and become a director, after all, it's well documented that Dean pretty much helmed 'Rebel Without a Cause' (the film he's most famous for and one of my favourite films of all time), so it would've been interesting to see what he could've done if given the chance to officially take charge of a film. Who knows, it could well have been disastrous, especially in light of the fact that Dean is reported to have been a diva of the highest degree; he may well have thrown all his toys out of the pram, as he very nearly did while filming 'Giant' but I guess we'll never know.

Of course, I honestly believe that Dean would've continued his racing career and become more famous as a driver than an actor, and going by the records of the few races he participated in before that fateful day in 1955, he could well have made it as a professional racing driver.

All this is speculation, of course, and thank you for indulging me while I rambled about it. The truth is, no-one  knows what James Dean would've done or achieved if he hadn't passed on so tragically earlier, what we do know is we have one remarkable performance from him, one okay performance and one poor one. On top of all that we have an enduring image and a fanatic memory of a man that could've been, and at the end of the day, if anyone of us leaves a mark like that on human culture, then hey, more power to them.

"If a man can bridge the gap between life and death, . if he can live on after he's dead, then maybe he was a great man."
-
James Dean