Politics & Power Quote by Rod Steiger

Rod Steiger is doing two things at once here: flattering craft while quietly picking a fight with a whole cultural reflex. The line starts with a cinephile’s résumé - he’s read the source novel, he knows the director’s reputation - but pivots into a pointed correction of an old prejudice: that “style” belongs to the British (or at least to the prestige end of European cinema), while Americans bring rawness, volume, and charisma. Steiger doesn’t deny that stereotype exists; he uses “it came as a surprise” to expose how ingrained it is in the industry’s imagination.

The key move is his insistence that American actors can “do style” and “speak” as well as anybody “if given the chance.” That conditional is the whole argument. It’s not about talent; it’s about permission, about casting logic and directorial expectations. Steiger is hinting at a system that funnels American performers into a narrow range of roles - the blunt instrument, the Method bruiser - then turns around and calls them limited.

The context matters: David Lean signals monumentality and refinement, a director associated with sweeping historical epics and exacting taste. Steiger’s remark reads like an actor’s plea for range in an era when accents, diction, and “proper” delivery were treated as class markers on screen. Subtext: stop confusing cultural packaging with ability. Give Americans the same formal arena, and they’ll meet the moment.