Marlon Brando was lured out of his trailer ‘with food’ while filming Superman, says Cary Elwes

Marlon Brando was famously paid a ridiculously huge sum for just 12 days of work on Superman.

The Godfather actor was cast as Jor-El in Richard Donner’s 1978 film, but due to the impressive deal he’d managed to make, he allegedly remained in his trailer for long bouts of time.

It turns out this caused a particular headache for the actor Cary Elwes, who, as a 16-year-old, found work on the film’s set and stepped up when an assistant director became ill.

His job was “to get Marlon out of his trailer,” the actor told The Telegraph’s Tim Robey.

“Marlon had no incentive to be on time, because his agent had struck the most amazing deal for him,” Elwes said. “Every day that the picture went over, he got another million dollars.

“So he drove poor [Richard] Donner up the wall, because he just strolled in whenever he felt like it,” he continued. “Sometimes before lunch, sometimes… not before lunch.”

Elwes, who found fame as an actor following his appearance in The Princess Bride (1987), swiftly discovered that the best way to lure Brando out of his trailer was “mainly with food”.

“Once you fed Marlon, he was in a much better mood,” the actor recalled. “So I tried to find delicacies that appealed to him, which were limited at Shepperton at the time. He mainly wanted desserts.”

Brando’s Superman deal was branded “unprecedented” at the time. He ultimately received $3.7m (£2.8m) plus 11.75 per cent backend for what amounted to less than 20 minutes on screen.

The film was a huge success, earning box office takings of $.300.5m (£227.6m) globally.

Brando died on 1 July 2004, aged 80.

West Side Story actor Rita Moreno recently remembered the actor, whom she dated for eight years after they met on the set of 1952 film Désirée when she was 22.

After discovering that Brando was “constantly cheating on her”, she revealed that she agreed to meet with Elvis Presley in order to make him jealous.

However, Moreno said that Presley, whom she dated “several times”, was “sweet but boring”.

Elwes’ new film, Last Train to Christmas, is on Sky Cinema from December 18. Moreno appears in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, which is in cinemas today (10 December).

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