The Golden Age of Hollywood, from the late 1920s to the early 1960s, produced legendary stars and films. Faye Dunaway, a standout actress known for her intense performances and off-screen drama, epitomized this era. Her role in the 1974 film noir classic Chinatown, directed by Roman Polanski and co-starring Jack Nicholson, highlights the era’s blend of artistic collaboration and personal conflict.
Faye Dunaway and Roman Polanski had a tumultuous collaboration
Faye Dunaway, known for her demanding and challenging nature on set, often found herself at odds with directors and co-stars. Her time working on the 1974 classic film noir Chinatown was no exception. Although Dunaway had a smooth working relationship with co-star Jack Nicholson, her interactions with the film’s director, Roman Polanski, were far more contentious.
“We had difficult times, he and I, but he’s a great film director,” Dunaway, now in her 80s, reflected in the HBO documentary Faye. She humorously added, “Roman the terror. But he thought I was a terror also, I’m sure. We had a pretty complicated time. Jack helped, though. Nicholson being there made all the difference.”
One particularly explosive incident occurred on set when Polanski grew frustrated with a stray piece of hair that kept falling on Dunaway’s face, disrupting the scene. In a moment of exasperation, Polanski yanked the hair from her head. Dunaway, incensed by his action, stormed off the set after shouting obscenities at him. “That’s enough to set off the manic depression,” Dunaway recalled with a laugh. “It’s offensive. You don’t do that. So I went to my trailer. It was a whole situation.”
Despite these clashes, Polanski’s rigorous demands and Dunaway’s fiery spirit contributed to the film’s intense atmosphere, a testament to the creative tensions that sometimes yield cinematic brilliance.
She shares a unique bond with Jack Nicholson
In stark contrast to her fraught relationship with Polanski, Dunaway found a kindred spirit in Jack Nicholson. Their chemistry, both on and off the screen, played a crucial role in the success of Chinatown. Dunaway affectionately remembered Nicholson’s nickname for her: “After that hair incident, Jack nicknamed me ‘Dread’… ‘The Dreaded Dunaway’ was his name for me. He still, to this day, calls me ‘Dread.’ And I love it.”
One of the film’s pivotal scenes involved Dunaway’s character making a shocking confession, leading to Nicholson’s character slapping her several times. Initially, they relied on the standard fake slaps, but Dunaway sought greater authenticity. “I said, finally, to Jack, ‘You’re going to have to slap me. Just go ahead and do it,'” she recounted. “He said, ‘You sure, Dread?’ And so I said, ‘Yeah.’ And so we did it again, and it worked.”
Their dedication to their roles paid off, earning both actors Oscar nominations for their performances. Chinatown itself garnered a total of 11 nominations at that year’s Academy Awards, solidifying its place as a cinematic masterpiece.
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In the end, Dunaway’s complex experiences on the set of Chinatown highlight the passionate, often volatile nature of filmmaking, where the lines between collaboration and conflict blur, ultimately contributing to the creation of enduring art.