A magnificent example to illustrate this…
In 1960, Steve McQueen was a rising young actor. He’s made a few films but it’s not yet the headliner he’ll soon become.
He then landed a role in the blockbuster The Seven Mercenaries .
The star of the film is Yul Brynner. Huge star at the time.
Steve McQueen is counting on this project to advance his career. Very competitive by nature, he arrives on set with the desire to stand out among the star-studded cast.
The first scene he shoots opposite star Yul Brynner is that of the saloon, at the beginning of the film, where Steve McQueen agrees to join the gang to defend the villagers.
He asks Yul Brynner how many there are to attack the bandits.
Brynner raises his index finger, to say that he is alone, for the moment.
Steve McQueen must then indicate that he also agrees to be part of the adventure. He then makes “2” with his fingers. To say that there are now two of them.
The scene is strong and well played.
But as soon as the director shouts “Print!”, announcing that the scene is complete, Yul Brynner takes Steve McQueen aside and sharply reframes him. He tells him that he sees what he’s trying to do and that this sort of thing won’t go away with him.
According to him, Steve McQueen wanted to be smart by first raising his fist, then sticking out his two fingers in an overly theatrical manner.
Yul Brynner is convinced that McQueen is trying to steal the show by overacting. For him, this is a blatant ploy to get noticed.
From there, the relationship between the two actors will only get worse.
Steve McQueen actually does everything to steal the spotlight from his partners, and mainly from the star of the film.
While Yul Brynner has made it known that he wants his co-stars to stay away from him and stay still when they have a scene in common, Steve McQueen does everything he can to draw attention to himself .
In the film, it is actually amusing to see the means he deploys to stand out in each scene and attract the viewer’s attention to him.
-he constantly fiddles with and takes off his hat
-he plays with his gun
-he counts his ammunition
-he squirms in his saddle
In a scene where the troupe crosses a river on horseback, he leans from his mount and scoops water into his hat to splash his face. That wasn’t in the script…
Yul Brynner quickly becomes annoyed by Steve McQueen’s behavior.
So much so that he even asks his assistant to count the number of times McQueen touches his hat while he says his lines, so he can prove what’s happening to the director.
In an interview years later, Steve McQueen would discuss this enmity with Brynner:
“We didn’t get along. Brynner came up to me one day in front of everyone and grabbed my shoulder. He was angry about something, I don’t remember what. He didn’t ride horses well and he didn’t know anything about guns, so since I was in my element, he thought maybe I was a threat to him. Anyway, I don’t like people grabbing me like he did. I told him: “Take your paws off, let go of me.” When you’re doing a scene with Yul, you’re supposed to stay perfectly still ten meters away from him. Well, I don’t work that way. So I protected myself as best I could.”
Ultimately, the film will transform Steve McQueen into a big screen star and his film career will be launched.