Wes Anderson Says Gene Hackman Was ‘Grumpy’ About ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ Salary

According to renowned director Wes Anderson, the late Gene Hackman could be “grumpy” — especially when it comes to his money.

“Gene was very annoyed about the money,” Anderson told The Times of London in an interview published on Sunday, May 18.. “He was furious. Also, he didn’t want to do the film anyway. I talked him into it — I just didn’t go away.”

Hackman, who starred in Anderson’s 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums, was apparently not happy with making the same amount of money as the rest of the cast. (The practice has been established for each film Anderson, 56, has made.)

Hackman’s casting attracted costars Anjelica Huston and Gwyneth Paltrow, who the director said had no issue with the base salary arrangement

“And everybody else said yes to the salary, so Gene just went with it — and that just became our way,” Anderson added.

Hackman and his wife were both found dead in their New Mexico home in February.

The director also said the last time the pair spoke was at the movie’s premiere, and Hackman admitted to him that despite the salary dispute he really enjoyed being in the film. “But he told me he didn’t understand it when we were shooting,” Anderson admitted. “I wish I’d shown him 10 minutes, early on. Then, maybe, he would have said, ‘OK, I get it.’”

Anderson has worked in movies since 1996’s Bottle Rocket, which he made with friends and frequent film stars Luke and Owen Wilson. He had hoped to get Bill Murray, who would eventually star in several of Anderson’s films, for the part that went to James Caan. He tried again for his second movie, 1998’s Rushmore.

“Then one day the phone rang and it was Bill. I still don’t know how he got through to me, but we talked for 45 minutes and he said he would do the movie and offered to work for the same amount as Jason — the kid,” he said. The kid in question was actor Jason Schwartzman, cousin of Sofia Coppola.

“[Murray]said, ‘I’ll take what he’s taking, but I have to be able to leave for a golf tournament.’ And then, for the next movie, we just said to the studio, ‘Can we do that again?’”

His newest movie, The Phoenician Scheme, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday, May 18. The movie stars Benicio Del Toro and Mia Threapleton as an estranged father-daughter pair who are reunited following a near-fatal crash.

Anderson didn’t go so far as to tell the Times that his movies are inspired directly from his life, but he did tease its origins.

“Well, people get all this programming from the first 25 years of their lives. You retain so much and it forms you,” he said. “It becomes a well you draw from, but now I have a daughter. Would I have made this film about a father and daughter if it was not for her? Very possibly not.”