When director Wes Anderson and actors Angelica Houston, Bill Murray and Gwyneth Paltrow took to the stage in 2011 for a panel to celebrate Anderson's “Royal Tenenbaum,” they didn't need to have a small talk before addressing the elephant in the room.
“So there's no Jean Hackman?” Panel co-moderator, coach Noah Bambach, introduced the debate to the obvious real tension.
Hackman, found dead at his wife at the age of 95 at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Wednesday afternoon, approached the “Royal Tenenbaum” in every sense.
Of course, in the film, he is a Puter Familia. He is the royal tenenbaum, and as Hackman put it in an onset interview, he took him to the mainstream from the surprisingly scattered family, the art house, at the heart of Anderson's third film.
The 2011 panel plunged into Hackman's presence, particularly the off-camera slut, which distinguished him from the typical whimsical thing in Anderson's work. Avatar of 1970s grit and paranoia – who won an Oscar for playing bad boy drug detective Popeye Doyle in “French Connection” – fell into a vision of a very different type of film from a very different generation.
The overall tone of the panel, especially from Anderson, was respect and appreciation. However, it was clear that Hackman stood out on the set. At the time of filming “The Royal Tenenbaums,” Anderson said Hackman was already considering retirement, which he announced a few years later, stuck. They said none of the panelists were in touch with Hackman. And they all remembered that he was concise with Anderson.
“I was very scared,” Houston said – herself the daughter of director John Houston, a famous spiritual film legend. “But I was more interested in Wes' protection,” she told the actor that he told the director to “pull up your pants and act like a man.”
On Thursday on “The Drew Barrymore Show,” Murray said on set that Hackman was “irritated” but sympathized with him. “To him, Wes Anderson was just a punk kid, and Gene made some of America's best movies.”
Looking back, the conflict between these two sensibilities can be seen on the screen. It may have made sense for Hackman's character. The estranged father has stopped and is somewhat successful in trying to regain the love of his family. However, it may have also been driven by conscious and intentional discrepancies with some material.
“I won't change my approach in the way the director chose to film,” Hackman said in a 2001 interview, speaking seriously to the camera, dressed in a very Wes Anderson ensemble with a grey pinstripe suit, a pink shirt and a red tie. “You have to be true or honest with your sense of performance.”
“The Royal Tenenbaums” may be best remembered as a comedy. Hackman, who tends to appear in dramas, took the fullest from the serious bit.
“I prefer the heavier kind of scene and feel nervous,” he said. “There were a few scenes with Angelica, who plays my ex-wife.
At the time of the film's release, Hackman stood out even among the cast, studded with famous names such as Houston, Murray, Paltrow, Alec Baldwin, Danny Glover, Ben Stiller, Luke, and Owen Wilson.
This role introduced Hackman to a new generation of film fans. This is far too young to appreciate his series of announced supportive roles in decades born from 1970s classics like “French Connection” and “Superman,” and perhaps even in 1990s classics like “Comfort” and “Company.” A few years later, it was clear who was in everyone's mind. The actor framed with Anderson praised Hackman for not only his performance as a central figure in the film, but also for bringing together the cast. “He was a catalyst,” Houston said.
“Whenever we're together and talk about films,” Anderson said. He was a huge force. ”
