True Grit gave John Wayne his one and only Academy Award and, in his opinion, his role in the movie ended a 20-year career rut. John Wayne was arguably the greatest Western star of all time, and he had appeared in over 80 Western movies since his breakout role in 1939’s Stagecoach. Stagecoach was one of the movies that defined John Wayne’s career, and Wayne played the sharpshooting antihero, The Ringo Kid, who was on a revenge mission after being falsely accused of murder. Since then, Wayne usually played cowboys, soldiers, and other assorted heroes.
True Grit’s Rooster Cogburn was an aging, drunk, grumpy old man and a break from type for John Wayne. True Grit follows Cogburn as he becomes a cantankerous father figure to the teenage girl who hires him to track down her father’s murderer. True Grit has some of John Wayne’s best Western movie scenes, showed that he had a much wider range than he had been allowed to show, and won him the Academy Award for Best Actor. Even John Wayne considered one True Grit scene his best-ever work, which was high praise, as Wayne was famously critical of his performances.
What John Wayne Said About His True Grit Role
John Wayne Felt That His Previous Hero Characters Were One-Dimensional
John Wayne talked to famed critic Roger Ebert while he was filming True Grit, saying that he loved the story and that he had a good part “for a change.” Wayne described the role as “my first good part in 20 years.” Wayne clarified that he understood that he had played many good roles in the sense that they were lead characters, with admirable qualities, but that wasn’t what he meant by “good.” As an actor, Wayne wanted a challenge. He told Ebert that “I’ve gotten damn few roles you could get your teeth into and develop a character.” Wayne felt that, compared to his co-stars, his own characters had nothing to do.
Wayne knew his movie roles well and was critical of himself, even frustrated that his recovery from cancer affected The Sons of Katie Elder because he could hear himself breathing. Playing the same character again made him look one-dimensional, which irritated Wayne, who wanted more interesting parts. He compared his role as Rooster Cogburn to previous roles, saying “I’m always the straight guy who heaves the pack up on his back and shouts, ‘Follow me!” Playing what he described as “a fat old man” in True Grit gave John Wayne the chance to show nuance, and the movie became one of the best John Wayne movies ever made.
Is John Wayne Right About True Grit?
John Wayne Should Have Tried Something New Instead Of A True Grit Sequel
John Wayne’s most underrated movies often show his skills more than his best-known ones. Wayne’s more subtle performance in The Sons of Kate Elder made the movie both emotional and compelling. Though Wayne felt that his role in El Dorado was similar to other movies like Rio Bravo, he combined stoicism and comic timing in his role as the gunslinger, Cole Thornton. John Wayne may be wrong about True Grit, but it is easy to understand why he would want to return to a role he enjoyed, though this may have been a bad idea.
John Wayne reprised his role as the grouchy Rooster Cogburn in the True Grit sequel, Rooster Cogburn, which also starred Katharine Hepburn. Unfortunately, Rooster Cogburn was a major Western misfire, which may be because it was a rehash of True Grit and gave John Wayne nothing new to add. If Wayne was trying to escape his old hero roles, it may have been a better idea to play another drastically different character than return to Rooster Cogburn. A second break from type may have offered Wayne more good parts than trying to replicate the success of True Grit.