"The people that really were important, that mattered, had a great foundation. I had no training. I had to learn while doing, and it was really difficult"
About this Quote
Tab Hunter’s candor lands like a quiet rebuke to the glossy machinery that made him famous. In a classic Hollywood system built to manufacture stars, “foundation” is the unspoken class marker: training, mentorship, craft, even the safety net of being allowed to fail privately before failing publicly. Hunter positions himself outside that circle. The sting is in the phrase “that really were important.” It’s not just admiration; it’s a glimpse at an industry’s hierarchy, where “importance” often tracks with preparation and pedigree as much as talent.
“I had no training” is doing double duty. On the surface it’s a humble confession, the kind that invites empathy. Underneath, it’s an indictment of how studios routinely treated certain young performers as surfaces to light, dress, and sell rather than artists to develop. Hunter is describing a kind of aesthetic exploitation: the camera loved him, the culture wanted him, but the infrastructure to make him durable wasn’t part of the bargain.
The most revealing line is “I had to learn while doing.” That’s the romantic myth of show business and the cruel reality of it. Learning on the job sounds scrappy until you remember what the “job” was: carrying films, anchoring a public persona, absorbing scrutiny, and being punished for mistakes that trained peers were coached away from. “It was really difficult” reads less like complaint than like belated truth-telling from someone whose era demanded polish and silence. In a few plain sentences, Hunter punctures the fantasy of effortless stardom and replaces it with labor, disadvantage, and survival.
“I had no training” is doing double duty. On the surface it’s a humble confession, the kind that invites empathy. Underneath, it’s an indictment of how studios routinely treated certain young performers as surfaces to light, dress, and sell rather than artists to develop. Hunter is describing a kind of aesthetic exploitation: the camera loved him, the culture wanted him, but the infrastructure to make him durable wasn’t part of the bargain.
The most revealing line is “I had to learn while doing.” That’s the romantic myth of show business and the cruel reality of it. Learning on the job sounds scrappy until you remember what the “job” was: carrying films, anchoring a public persona, absorbing scrutiny, and being punished for mistakes that trained peers were coached away from. “It was really difficult” reads less like complaint than like belated truth-telling from someone whose era demanded polish and silence. In a few plain sentences, Hunter punctures the fantasy of effortless stardom and replaces it with labor, disadvantage, and survival.
Quote Details
| Topic | Learning |
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