Bill Murray is remembering Gene Hackman as a “tough nut” following his death.
In a preview from his interview on The Drew Barrymore Show, airing in full Wednesday, March 5, the 74-year-old Riff Raff actor recalled working with the late Hackman on 2001’s The Royal Tenenbaums, praising him as a “really good” actor who could have little patience for newer filmmakers.
“I sympathize with Gene ’cause, to him, Wes Anderson was like just a punk kid, you know? And Gene’s made some of the greatest American movies,” said Murray. “So he was a little irritable, but he had to work with children, dogs … they put him in very challenging positions to work, and so he just felt a lot of responsibility and kept thinking, ‘What am I doing here with these people?’ ”
“But the performance he gives is brilliant,” Murray added. “When you see the movie, it’s a real piece of work. Wes Anderson makes great movies, and so [did] Gene Hackman. You put them both in the same movie, what are you gonna get? You’re gonna get a good movie.”
Murray recalled Hackman as a “tough nut” in another interview with the Associated Press, adding, “But he was really good. And he was really difficult, we can say it now, but he was a tough guy.”
“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. I used to kind of step in there and just try to defend my friend,” the Ghostbusters star added.
Murray went on to recount how he once watched Hackman “do like 25 takes where he did it perfectly with an actor who kept blowing it every single time.”
“I was watching going, ‘No wonder this guy wants to throttle people,’ ” he told the AP. “And then he gave an ordinary performance and the other actor got it right, and I thought Gene was gonna throw the guy off the ledge of the building.”
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Authorities found Hackman, 95, and wife Betsy Arakawa dead at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Wednesday, Feb. 26, along with one of their dogs. Two other dogs were discovered alive and healthy on the property.
Arakawa, 65, appeared to have been dead for some time, as her body was in a state of decomposition with her face bloated and mummification in her hands and feet, according to a search-warrant affidavit. Hackman, meanwhile, appeared to have fallen, as his sunglasses were found next to his body as he was fully clothed.
Upon finding Hackman and his wife’s dead bodies, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office confirmed to PEOPLE that foul play was not suspected, though Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said on the Today show Friday, Feb. 28, that investigators were not ruling it out.
Although the cause of death has yet to be determined, there is an active and ongoing police investigation, and much of the case’s progress is pending autopsy and toxicology results.
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