Actors can be a sensitive bunch at the best of times, and self-preservation and ego are two key traits they need to make it to the top of the industry. John Wayne had both of them in abundance, which also convinced some of his peers that sharing the screen with ‘The Duke’ wasn’t in their best interests.
Whenever Wayne signed on for a picture, he was almost always positioned as its biggest selling point. It didn’t matter to audiences who the director was, what story was being told, or who else was part of the ensemble; they’d turn up because the iconic star was playing the lead role, and he knew it.
‘The Duke’ crafted his entire persona around giving the people exactly what they wanted to see, and his track record of success emboldened him to stay firmly inside his wheelhouse. He knew that broadening his horizons, stretching himself, or playing against type was a risk, and as a result, that aforementioned sense of ego and self-preservation convinced him that the easiest way to retain his position at the top of the A-list was to continue leaning into his own mythology.
Countless co-stars suffered issues when they were forced to stand under Wayne’s shadow, which was one of the reasons why one of his most notable contemporaries rejected an offer to take second billing in a passion project. ‘The Duke’ didn’t want to headline The Alamo so he could focus on directing, but when the studio insisted it stood the best chance of box office success with him front and centre, he agreed to play Davy Crockett.
Richard Widmark took the second lead as Jim Bowie and didn’t have the most enjoyable experience. It could have been an Academy Award winner in the part, though, only for personal and political differences to torpedo that idea. Another major star of Wayne’s era, Charlton Heston would have provided a formidable onscreen opponent for ‘The Duke’, if it wasn’t for his disinterest in ceding the spotlight and a stark difference in their political beliefs.
While the Ben-Hur and Planet of the Apes star became a staunch Republican later in life, when The Alamo was coming together he was one of Hollywood’s most prominent liberals. A registered Democrat, Civil Rights activist, and ultimately somebody who publicly opposed the Vietnam war, it was clear Heston and Wayne would never get along in the early 1960s.
“There seemed good reasons for me not to do the film,” Heston told Michael Munn. When asked if one of the major ones was because he’d be sharing the screen with and being directed by Wayne while spending months in close proximity on set, his response said it all: “It might be.”