![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/John-Goodman-Actor-2022-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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Credit: Far Out \/ YouTube Still<\/p>\n
Sat 6 June 2026 17:44, UK <\/p>\n
As far as modern cinema\u2019s finest character actors go, John Goodman<\/a> is right up there with the very best. While he\u2019s rarely given the opportunity to play the lead, he\u2019s one of those guys that everyone knows is guaranteed to deliver a performance that\u2019s solid at the bare minimum.<\/p>\n With an extensive background in film, television, and theatre dating back to the mid-1970s, Goodman has had plenty of time to hone his craft. Growing up idolising Marlon Brando<\/a>, he may not have adopted the method, but he nonetheless drew inspiration from his hero by dedicating himself equally to every role.<\/p>\n Versatility has been the name of the game over the last half a century, with Goodman pinballing between stage work, small-screen sitcoms, and big-screen outings covering almost every genre available: drama, comedy, thrillers, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, farce, period pieces, creature features, and animation; he\u2019s done it all.<\/p>\n Along the way, he\u2019s worked with some of the industry\u2019s most celebrated auteurs, from his multiple Coen brothers collaborations<\/a> to Steven Spielberg, Mike Nichols, and Robert Zemeckis. Unfortunately, when he worked with one of the all-time greats, a combination of personal and family problems filled Goodman with regret after he failed to make the most of the opportunity.<\/p>\n For an actor of Goodman\u2019s generation, though, Scorsese occupied a different category altogether. By the late 1990s, he had already delivered everything from Taxi Driver<\/a> to Goodfellas, earning a reputation as one of the defining American filmmakers of the era. Opportunities to work with him weren\u2019t simply another credit on the CV; they were the sort of chances performers waited years to receive, which perhaps explains why Goodman remains so candid about his disappointment.<\/p>\n Goodman has been open in discussing his battles with alcoholism and depression, which already meant he wasn\u2019t in the best frame of mind when cameras started rolling on Martin Scorsese\u2019s sorely underrated Bringing Out the Dead, matters that were exacerbated by his only child falling ill.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, I was in a bad place,\u201d he confessed to Business Insider<\/a>. \u201cMy wife brought my daughter up for the shoot, and she got appendicitis. I got home from work at about six in the morning. She had been up all night. We brought a doctor in. We had to get her to a hospital in midday Manhattan, and it was impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n Goodman admitted that throughout the shoot, he \u201cwas not getting a lot of sleep\u201d, leaving his daughter in the care of close friend Dan Aykroyd when he was on set. \u201cPlus, I was in a bad place mentally,\u201d he explained. <\/p>\n \u201cI wish I would have been present for the film because I feel I wasted a great opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n John Goodman<\/p>\n Whether or not those issues were perceptible to Scorsese remains up for debate, although the two have never worked on another project together. \u201cI don\u2019t even think he even considers me to have burned a bridge,\u201d Goodman ruminated. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not worried about that. I had some problems going on at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n The irony, of course, is that Bringing Out the Dead has only grown in stature since its release. Overshadowed at the time by some of Scorsese\u2019s more celebrated crime epics, the film has gradually found an audience that appreciates its oddball energy and bleak humour. <\/p>\n Even though he was reuniting with his Raising Arizona co-star Nicolas Cage<\/a> under Scorsese\u2019s direction, it\u2019s fair to say that Bringing Out the Dead doesn\u2019t feature one of Goodman\u2019s most memorable turns. Of course, he\u2019s more aware of that than most, and he\u2019ll always regret it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/John-Goodman-2019-Actor-Far-Out-Magazine-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>Credit: Far Out \/ YouTube Still<\/p>\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/faroutmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/themes\/far-out-magazine\/img\/google-discover.svg\")
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