Francis Ford Coppola names the three greatest actors of all time

When talking about the greatest actors of all time there’s a lot of different judges, as no two people will generally agree.

But when looking for someone to make that decision, can you really look much further than the guy who made not just one of the greatest films of all time, but three of them.

In Apocalypse Now and the first two Godfather films (we don’t talk about the third one), Francis Ford Coppola has produced three all timers.

As such, amidst the insane reactions to his ‘batsh*t’ new film Megalopolis, we’ve looked at who the iconic director has named amongst the three greatest actors ever.

Marlon Brando

The late Brando starred in two of the above three listed iconic films Ford Coppola created, so it is no surprise that he considers the actor one of the greatest actors ever.

His performance as Stanley Kowalski earned him his first Oscar nomination in Streetcar Named Desire – which was followed by a subsequent four straight years of being nominated.

The final of these saw him win his first, with his second being for the role of Vito Corleone in The Godfather.

With seven nominations, he is one of the most respected and iconic actors of all time – and to no surprise Francis Ford Coppola holds him in high esteem.

Laurence Olivier

When asked about casting Vito Corleone, Francis Ford Coppola stated that after a long time, he realised something about casting the role.

The elder statesman of the family, full of gravitas and reputation, the role could only go to ‘the best actor in the world’.

He said: “We finally figured that what we had to do was hire the best actor in the world.

“It was that simple. It boiled down to Laurence Olivier or Marlon Brando, who are the greatest actors in the world.”

The publication that Francis Ford Coppola, one of the great filmmaking minds of our generation, revealed this gem to?

Playboy, of course.

But regardless of the source, it revealed Olivier as one of Coppola’s greatest actors, to no surprise to anyone who’s seen Olivier act.

Paul Muni

Paul Muni (left). (Getty Images)

A name that only the more rabid film fans amongst you may know, Paul Muni was one of the original movie stars.

Debuting in 1929 and starring in 23 films before his retirement in 1959, Muni was one the first proper method actors, considered amongst many to have been a pioneer for the modern ‘method actor’.

In a post on Instagram, Ford Coppola said:

“Paul Muni is arguably the greatest actor of modern times, and as Marlon Brando said, his own inspiration for what acting really was.”

This is echoed by Al Pacino, whose iconic film Scarface was actually a remake of a Paul Muni film from 1932.

Talking about trying to recreate Muni’s performance, Pacino said: “Well, that character, Tony Montana, was written by Oliver Stone and directed by Brian De Palma, who wanted the heightened reality.

“Brian wanted to do an opera. All I wanted to do was imitate Paul Muni!”

He retired nearly 20 years prior to Ford Coppola’s Feature Debut, but for those who know, his fingerprints are all over The Godfather and other films by Ford Coppola.