It’s been said before that Sam Elliot’s decades-long association with the genre of western movies has been due to many factors. Among them are his height, his commanding physical presence, and his deep powerful baritone voice. Yes, his mustache hasn’t exactly hurt either. And of course there is his outdoor upbringing and a father who worked for the US Fish & Wildlife Service. But there’s also something else that has drawn Sam to this near-mythical world.
“I think it has something to do with integrity and a man’s word and honor and all that kind of stuff,” Elliot said. “Values, morality, all that kind of stuff that everybody looks kind of down their nose at”. Amen, Sam. Nobody could have said it better.
Always A Perfectionist
After the decades of success that Sam Elliott has enjoyed in the challenging and competitive Hollywood world, you might think that he would have a pretty high opinion of his skills and prowess. But it has by no means always been that way. He is often critical of his own performances, and sometimes even regrets not being able to go back and do it over again better. This is particularly true of his earlier roles.
Sam has expressed regret over not having had more formal acting training in his youth, saying that if he had, he “might have been a more interesting actor”. Hard to imagine him being any more interesting, but it’s a credit to his integrity that he would even say such a thing in public.
Creative Control
As we learned earlier, Sam Elliott is very picky about which roles he will accept, crediting his pickiness with his longevity in Hollywood. But his creative control actually goes deeper than that. He has on occasion assisted in rewriting screenplays when necessary, and has not backed down when he felt the need to disagree with a director.
In describing his willingness to clash with the powers that be, Sam has said, “I’d rather be a pain in the ass and make better art”. Hard to argue with that logic.
The Reason He Did It
We know that Sam Elliott’s father never approved of his choice to pursue acting as a career. And yet he has indicated that his father was a major reason behind his decision. It’s not easy trying to do something that you think will make someone happy and facing rejection for that very thing. One can only imagine the burden Sam has been carrying since his father’s sudden death when Sam was just 18 and not yet successful.
“That’s the worst part of it,” Sam said. “When you don’t think your dad’s proud of you.” He said that many of his other hobbies, like fishing, found favor in his father’s eyes, but not his choice of career.
What’s Sam Up To?
What’s been keeping Sam Elliott busy the last few years? For starters, he not only starred in the Netflix series The Ranch, but also produced 18 episodes. He had a starring role in 2017’s The Hero alongside his wife Katharine in a role written especially for him. His performance in the 2018 smash A Star is Born has been critically acclaimed and has been nominated for numerous awards.
Sam’s wife Katharine, who was a huge star in the 1960s and 70s, has been working less over the last few years, but is still far from retired. She recently completed filming a performance in the upcoming comedy Attachments.