In a 1959 interview first aired on the French television program Cinépanorama, conducted during the filming of Rocco and His Brothers, Alain Delon expressed his admiration for Jean Marais, stating that he idolized the actor. “Everything is happening very quickly for you, you must be caught in a whirlwind, do you manage to find yourself?” He answered: “I try to not let myself be overwhelmed. To remain what I was before, to remain as simple. I took as a model an actor that I love and that is Jean Marais, who always remained the same.”
Delon next made two films that ensured his international reputation. In 1960, he appeared in René Clément’s Plein Soleil, released in the US as Purple Noon, which was based on the Patricia Highsmith novel The Talented Mr. Ripley. Delon played protagonist Tom Ripley to critical acclaim; Highsmith was a fan of his portrayal. The movie was a hit in France and on the art house circuit in English-speaking countries. He then played the title role in Luchino Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers (1960). Critic Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote that Delon’s work was “touchingly pliant and expressive”.