Remembering Gene Hackman
"I left home when I was 16 because I was looking for adventure."
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The difference between a hero and a coward is one step sideways.
— Gene Hackman
The film world’s poorer without Gene Hackman.
Nobody did gruff, world-weary, and secretly-has-a-heart-of-gold quite like the two-time Oscar winner. Here sat a man whose sheer "get off my lawn" energy even Clint Eastwood could never hold a candle to.
Hackman was the porkpie-clad, tough-talking Popeye Doyle. He was the poster child for terrible dads — Royal Tenenbaum. He made Lex Luthor’s harebrained real estate scheme involving beachfront property and nukes seem positively believable.
The man had a gift for playing the villain.
Villains are always the best roles. It's the best kind of acting. The things you get to do.
What other actor could believably portray both a blind man detecting a monster in "The Conversation" and a basketball coach turning Indiana farm boys into champions in "Hoosiers?”
The man managed to be terrifying in "Unforgiven" while dressed like your uncle heading to a barn dance after church.
Hollywood doesn't make 'em like Hackman anymore – if, truly, they ever did.
People like Hackman are self-made — the ones who put in the time and dedication to their craft. Who probably have had regular jobs, and didn’t nepo baby their way into the industry.
There's something wonderfully genuine about a leading man whose face suggests he might've punched a timecard or fiddled with a carburetor on a studio backlot.
When he retired in 2004, Hackman didn't do the usual farewell tour or endless comeback specials. He just... left. Wrote some novels. Lived his life. The ultimate French Connection-style exit – no fuss, maximum impact.
The next time you see a character actor stealing scenes with nothing more than a furrowed brow and perfect timing, tip your porkpie hat to Gene Hackman. They're all just living in the house that Gene built.
And if you want to explore the house that Gene built, and never really checked out his movies — here’s a few of my own favorites.
My Favorite Gene Hackman Films
The French Connection (1971)
Watch a sweaty, racist cop in a porkpie hat destroy half of New York City just to catch some French guys smuggling heroin. Contains one of the greatest car chases in cinematic history. Even more impressive when you realize Hackman's character is basically pursuing a subway train in what appears to be your granddad’s Buick. Popeye Doyle: making police misconduct entertaining since 1971.
The Conversation (1974)
A surveillance expert slowly loses his mind after recording a conversation he thinks might lead to murder. If that sounds weird, maybe imagine if Edward Snowden was really bad at handling stress and played the saxophone alone in his apartment. Never mind. That doesn’t help. Hackman carried this movie — delivering paranoia so authentic you'll be checking your own Roomba for planted bugs after watching.
Superman II (1980)
Lex Luthor (though looking more like Willy Wonka) breaks out of prison with a plan so batshit it involves hijacking a nuclear missile control center just to help some aliens. Hackman delivers every line like he's a Shakespearean actor who's been accidentally cast in a children's birthday party. And I mean that in only the best way. His chemistry with Ned Beatty's bumbling sidekick proves that even super-villains need someone to appreciate their megalomaniacal monologues.
Unforgiven (1992)
A criminally underrated movie that the 90s, for some godawful reason, decided should be a flop. Hackman plays the “other” Little Bill — Sheriff William “Little Bill” Daggett, a man who beats people to death while simultaneously giving lectures about proper home construction techniques. He squares off against a classic western trope — a retired gunslinger that picks up their Peacemaker one last time. Perhaps the only villain in Western history who's equally concerned with killing outlaws and preventing roof leaks.
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) A high-caliber deadbeat dad fakes cancer to reconnect with his estranged children, who are all various flavors of dysfunctional genius. Hackman somehow makes you root for one of cinema's worst fathers while wearing the kind of track suit typically reserved for either Florida retirees playing shuffleboard. His delivery of "I've had a rough year, Dad" might be the most perfectly timed line reading in film history.
What’s your favorite Hackman movie? Let’s share in celebrating the life of one of the Hollywood greats.
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