Cuckoo Quotes

(On playing Derek the Cuckoo) I think it`s hilarious. I`d already signed to do Low Winter Sun so it wasn`t about the money. My two nephews and niece were always too young to be allowed to stay up late to see me play right bad yins. Now they think I`m a real golden living god.

"I aspire to be Jack Nicholson. I love his every single mannerism. I used to try and be him in virtually everything I did, I don`t know why. I watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo`s Nest when I was about 13, and I dressed like him. I tried to do his accent. I did everything like him. I think it kind of stuck with me."

(on Peter O`Toole) He can do anything. A bit cuckoo, but sweet and terribly funny.

Hackman has said that the failure of Scarecrow (1973) turned him off of art films due to the disappointment of working hard on a film that was critically acclaimed, but that tanked at the box office and failed to garner any awards. After this flop, Hackman mainly concentrated on acting for money, turning down such films as One Flew Over the Cuckoo`s Nest (1975) and Network (1976) for roles in films like March or Die (1977) and Lucky Lady (1975) that offered him fatter paychecks.

I really believe that people like Bill Murray or John Belushi are just as great and just as valid as Robert De Niro or Al Pacino. And I don`t think you can say One Flew Over the Cuckoo`s Nest (1975) is a better movie than Animal House (1978); they`re different genres. I think they`re both examples of great craftsmanship.

(on working with Liza Minnelli on "The Sterile Cuckoo") One of the happiest times in my life was during "The Sterile Cuckoo," mostly because of Liza. I`ve never seen anybody get more joy out of working and it`s contagious.