Bill Murray Remembers ‘Tough Nut’ Gene Hackman Being ‘Difficult’ on ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ Set

Bill Murray has a lot to say about the late Gene Hackman — and it’s not all positive.

“He was a tough nut, Gene Hackman. But he was really good,” Murray, 74, said during an interview with the Associated Press published Thursday, February 27. “He was really difficult, we can say it now, but he was a tough guy.”

Murray starred as Raleigh St. Clair alongside Hackman, who played Royal Tenenbaum, in 2001’s The Royal Tenenbaums, which was one of Wes Anderson’s first major directing gigs.

“Older, great actors do not give young directors much of a chance. They’re really rough on them, and Gene was really rough on Wes,” Murray continued. “I used to, kind of, step in there and just try to defend my friend.”

That being said, Murray wasn’t surprised by Hackman’s alleged behavior, especially after one instance on the film’s set.

“I watched him once do, like, 25 takes where he did it perfectly with an actor who kept blowing it, every single time,” Murray said. “Gene would do it perfectly, the other actor would blow it, and I’d go like, ‘Oh, God.’ I was watching it going, ‘No wonder this guy wants to throttle people.’ And then he sort of gave an ordinary performance and the other actor got it right and I thought Gene was going to throw the actor off the ledge of the building.”

The Groundhog Day alum added, “He was a great one.”

During a separate interview, Murray — who is promoting his new movie Riff Raff — recalled specifically how Hackman was a “little irritable” with director Anderson on the Royal Tenenbaums set.

“He had to work with children, dogs. … They put him in very challenging positions to work,” Murray said during his Thursday appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show. “He felt a lot of responsibility and kept thinking, ‘What am I doing here with these people?’ But the performance he gives is brilliant.”

Murray acknowledged that getting Hackman and Anderson together in one movie would have produced an incredible final product no matter what. (The Royal Tenenbaums won Hackman the Best Actor Golden Globe in 2002.)

Murray’s comments about his former costar came amid that news of Hackman’s death at age 95. The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to Us Weekly on Thursday that Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found deceased in their New Mexico home on Wednesday, February 26.

An initial statement from law enforcement declared that foul play was not suspected, but a copy of the search warrant reportedly stated their deaths were “suspicious.” The fire department did not find any evidence of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning, according to an affidavit obtained by TMZ on Thursday.

A preliminary autopsy report has since stated there was no “external trauma to either individual,” but their cause of death has yet to be determined.