Why John Cleese thinks comedy actors deserve more recognition at the Oscars
Comedy and horror movies are, quite often, a load of garbage. Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer’s spoof Epic Movie and Stephen Cragg’s mystery horror Circle of Eight stand prominent in my memory as two of the worst films I’ve ever found the patience to sit through. However, while these genres churn bilge habitually, such releases let down sporadic masterpieces that are too often denigrated or panned during awards season.
Beyond the cesspit of substandard movies dragging the comedy genre into ill repute, it appears that critics just can’t take comedy actors seriously. During a 2022 appearance on Rob Brydon’s Brydon & podcast series, Monty Python star John Cleese identified this phenomenon, claiming that comedy actors are often done a grave disservice at the Oscars and similar awards ceremonies.
Early in the conversation, Cleese and Brydon realised their mutual admiration for Peter Sellers. Cleese revealed that he met the legendary comedy actor just after his esteemed role in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. The 1964 movie goes down in cinematic history as one of the finest political satires. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, including ‘Best Actor’ for Sellers, but sadly won none.
Addressing a concurrent Brydon, Cleese noted that the movie’s lack of Oscar wins was a travesty, targetting the fact that Sellers lost out on the ‘Best Actor’ award to Rex Harrison for his role in My Fair Lady. This was less a criticism of Harrison’s acting than a reproval of the Academy’s ostensible inability to revere comedy actors on the same level as “straight” actors, to use Cleese’s terminology.
Cleese lauded Sellers’ work in Dr. Strangelove, where he portrayed Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, Dr. Strangelove and President Merkin Muffley, as “one of the great comedy performances of all time.” Continuing, Cleese asserted that the “fantastic” performance would have won an Oscar in a “sane world”. “Of course, they never give Oscars to funny people,” he lamented.
Brydon pressed Cleese on his point, asking why he thinks the Academy tends to favour serious dramas over comedies. “I think there’s an extraordinary, completely incorrect idea that drama is somehow more important and more difficult than comedy. Whereas, in my opinion, comedy is a great deal more difficult.”
Cleese remembered finding “straight” roles much easier than comedy roles. “All you have to do if you get a straight part is you’ve got to make certain choices to make them believable,” Cleese pursued. “Now, if you’ve got to be funny, you’ve got to make certain choices, make them believable and then put all of your comedy technique on top of that, which a lot of straight actors don’t have.”
Cleese illustrated his point by bringing another cinematic legend into the conversation: two-time Academy Award winner Laurence Olivier. “If you watched old Laurence Olivier trying to be funny, it was embarrassing,” he said. “He appeared once on a Morecambe and Wise show, and he was absolutely awful.”
Concluding his point, Cleese highlighted a prejudice whereby comedy is seen as “trivial” in the art world. “There are some actors who can do funny and some very good actors who can’t, but I think all the very, very best comedians can act,” he noted. “It is an extraordinary prejudice that somehow seriousness or rather solemnity is more important than humour.”