Hackman Quotes

After attending the Pasadena Playhouse, Hoffman decided to move to New York and looked up former Playhouse classmate Gene Hackman. The two of them roomed together in New York at Hackman`s one-bedroom apartment on 2nd Ave. and 26th St. Hoffman slept on the kitchen floor. Originally Hackman had offered to let him stay a few nights, but Hoffman would not leave. Hackman had to take him out to look for his own apartment.

As roommates, Hoffman and Gene Hackman would often go to the apartment rooftop and play the drums. Hoffman played the bongo drums while Hackman played the conga drums. They did it out of their love for Marlon Brando, who they had heard played music in clubs. They wanted to be like Brando and were big fans of his.

Has appeared in two films about "Peter Pan" (Hook (1991) and Finding Neverland (2004)). Following his appearance in ""Hook", close friend and former roommate Gene Hackman began calling him "Hook" as a joke. The name stuck and his contemporaries call him by that nickname to this day.

The bathroom scene in Runaway Jury (2003), where Roar confronts Finch is the first ever dialog in a movie between him and Gene Hackman. It was added when someone on the crew found out that the two, though they had been friends for 50 years, had never starred in a movie together.

(on he and Gene Hackman as young stage actors and roommates in New York): Psychologically, Gene/myself, we did not think about making it in the terms that people think about. We fully expected to be failures for our entire life. Meaning that we would always be scrambling to get a part. We were actors. We had no pretensions. There was more dignity in being unsuccessful.

Appeared on Richard Nixon`s infamous "List of Enemies" during the 1972 presidential election, the only time Hackman was publicly involved in politics. During an interview on "Larry King Live" (1985) in July 2004, Hackman stated that although he is a Democrat, he liked President Ronald Reagan, who had died the previous month.

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.

Hackman replaced George Segal in the role of Kibby in the notorious flop Lucky Lady (1975). Possibly anticipating that the film would be a turkey, Segal bailed out of the production and Hackman was brought in at the last-minute. The desperate producers paid Hackman -- riding high from the huge box office success of The Poseidon Adventure (1972), a reported $1.2 million for his role, $500,000 more than Segal`s going-rate. Hackman knew co-star Burt Reynolds from starring in the first episode of Burt`s short-lived 1966 TV series "Hawk" (1966).

Dustin Hoffman came to New York after finishing his training at the Pasadena Playhouse. The two of them roomed together in New York at Hackman`s one-bedroom apartment on 2nd Ave. & 26th St. Hoffman slept on the kitchen floor. Originally, Hackman had offered to let him stay a few nights, but Hoffman would not leave. Hackman had to take him out to look for his own apartment.

As roommates, Dustin Hoffman and Hackman would often go to the apartment rooftop and play the drums. Hoffman played the bongo drums while Hackman played the conga drums. They did it out of their love for Marlon Brando, who they had heard played music in clubs. They wanted to be like Brando and were big fans of his.

I`ve done a lot of violent movies, especially in the early days. My recent efforts, like The Bridges of Madison County (1995), weren`t too violent. In recent years I`ve done less, and, yes, I am concerned about violence in film. In `92, when I did Unforgiven (1992), which is a film that had a very anti- violence and anti-gun play - anti-romanticizing of gun play theme, I remember that Gene Hackman was concerned about it, and we both discussed the issue of too much violence in films. It`s escalated ninety times since Dirty Harry (1971) and those films were made.

(on working with Gene Hackman on "Target") Gene Hackman`s good to work with. We really work together, y`know? He gives a lot and likes it when you give. It`s hard to find actors you actually deal with, and he deals with you.

(on doing Scarecrow (1973) with Gene Hackman) Gene and I are two people not very similar. We had to play a very close relationship, but I just didn`t think we were as connected as we should have been. We seemed apart. We didn`t have altercations, we didn`t hate each other. But we didn`t communicate, didn`t think in the same terms. Gene and I were thrown together, but under ordinary circumstances we`d never cavort or be friends. It was two worlds - but I have to say that I was as much responsible as he was.

(on Gene Hackman) When acting is done well it is an extraordinary craft, and there are some who approach it like a job. It is breathtaking and inspiring to see someone like Gene Hackman, who is absolutely unpretentious and has never gone through the imbecilities and self-aggrandizement of other actors.

(speaking about the reshoots of Superman II (1980) after changing directors) It was usually done whenever a set doubled or we had a problem with expensive actors being available. I remember we did many scenes from the Daily Planet, if not all of them, while we were doing Part One. So those were pretty much in the bank. Gene Hackman, to the extent that he was in Part Two, was also done while he was around for Part One. I don`t remember that he came back again.

(Dustin Hoffman on he and Hackman as young stage actors and roommates in New York) Psychologically, Gene/myself, we did not think about making it in the terms that people think about. We fully expected to be failures for our entire life. Meaning that we would always be scrambling to get a part. We were actors. We had no pretensions. There was more dignity in being unsuccessful.

I came to New York when I was 25, and I worked at Howard Johnson`s in Times Square, where I did the door in this completely silly uniform. Before that, I had been a student at the Pasadena Playhouse, where I had been awarded the least-likely-to-succeed prize, along with my pal Dustin Hoffman, which was a big reason we set off for New York together. Out of nowhere, this teacher I totally despised at the Pasadena Playhouse suddenly walked by HoJo`s and came right up into my face and shouted, "See, Hackman, I told you that you would never amount to anything!" I felt one inch tall.

I`m not an Adonis, that`s for damn sure. I`ve never really thought of myself that way, and it doesn`t matter to me. My favorite actors aren`t Adonises. Dustin Hoffman is a flawed-looking man; he`s amazing to me. Tom Hanks is flawed-looking; people love him. Same with Gene Hackman.

A favorite cast? Lisa Kudrow, Anthony Hopkins, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, and my wife.

Accumulating money has never been a real goal for me. Rather, I think about how to make every moment of my life mean something. What`s been my barometer for success is my creative and spiritual growth - I measure my success by the quality of my work. Last year I sat down and re-examined things. I asked myself if I wanted to do anything and everything just to get a lot of money. I decided I`d rather work and collaborate with people at the top of their craft. And my dream has come true. This year I`m doing a picture with four Academy Award winners: Director Robert Benton, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman, and Paul Newman. - 1997.

It humbled me and taught me lessons. (Scott is talking about his experience working with Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington in the movie, Crimson Tide.

From 1980 to 1990, I shot more films than any other actor in the Screen Actors Guild, apart from Gene Hackman.

It was just the thrill of a lifetime. Brando and Hackman were two of my heroes.

(in August 1999, when asked to what he attributes his success) Hard work. You gotta study, man. It`s like any profession. I did eight years in theater. I studied two years in school in New York with Stella Adler, the best teacher in the world. I studied under Nina Foch, I did theater, I learned my craft. You got to learn how to build a character, there`s a way to do it. Everything I ever did was different. I did 125 films, and over 100 television shows, and you`ve never seen the same character twice. I think now, in my 50s, with (Robert Duvall), (Albert Finney) and (Gene Hackman), those guys are getting up there in their 60s, it`s my time. And I`m making sure that I push myself into their slot. So, my best work`s coming.

Hackman is able to live in the moment which means there is nothing for him at that split second than what is occurring in the scene.

We just rewrote a script based on John Grisham`s `The Runaway Jury` starring John Cusack and Gene Hackman,