the unforgiven

rod steiger on making On the Waterfront in 1954 with brando:

'I was very excited. Mr. Brando had a tremendous success at the time with Kazan's A Streetcar Named Desire [1951], and they wanted me to play his elder brother in the picture. So I was feeling a little nervous because he was a great actor. I got the part in the end, so we finally worked together. And then came the very famous cab scene. We did two shots and then his close-ups. I was off screen talking to him. Because acting is in the first place reacting to somebody. The actor off screen helps the one in front of the camera. You need somebody to act to. Well, we did his close-ups together, and then when we were about to shoot mine he just went home. I haven't forgiven him for that, and I think I never will.'