Anjelica Houston explains how she “protected” Wes Anderson from Gene Hackman
Wes Anderson‘s third feature film, The Royal Tenenbaums, brought the director international acclaim, becoming his highest-grossing movie until the release of 2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel. Set in the 1970s, Anderson’s 2001 effort explores the dysfunctional dynamics that exist between the Tenenbaum family, who attempt to reconcile after their absent father, Royal, returns with the news that he is dying.
The film stars Gene Hackman as the eccentric patriarch, Angelica Houston as his wife, and Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Luke Wilson as their children. Anderson’s ensemble cast also includes Danny Glover, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, and Alec Baldwin as the narrator.
Despite being one of Anderson’s most popular films, the director has frequently discussed his experience of working on the film, which was often made rather difficult by a certain cast member. Hackman, who made one of his final performances in the feature, received much acclaim from critics for his portrayal of Royal Tenenbaum, even taking home a Golden Globe.
Despite a glowing on-screen performance, behind the scenes, Hackman and Anderson clashed, with the actor frequently insulting his director and even reportedly calling him a c*nt. Anderson has since referred to Hackman as “one of the most challenging and best actors [he has] worked with,” stating that the actor “was not a relaxed, comfortable person in my company”.
Things got so tense that Murray would come to set on his days off to “shield” Anderson from Hackman. Furthermore, Houston also felt a strong urge to protect the director, saying: “I was a lot scared, but I was more concerned with protecting Wes.” She also shared that there was a moment when Hackman told Anderson to “pull up your pants and act like a man”.
The actor had to hit Hackman round the face in their first scene together, which she recalled by saying: “I hit him a really good one. I saw the imprint of my hand on his cheek, and I thought, he’s going to kill me.” Houston noted that since the film’s release, none of the cast have “heard or seen of Gene”.
Despite the difficulties he faced by working with Hackman, Anderson claimed that “[the actor] did like a complicated shot where you have to be here and here and where there is a challenge for him. He liked the idea of doing a scene where you do something here and then you have to run around the back of something and appear somewhere else, like theatre.”
He also shared during the 10th-anniversary panel for the film that Hackman was “one of the things that pulled everybody into this movie,” he said, before adding: “Anytime we are together and talk about the movie we always talk about him. He’s a huge force and I really enjoyed working with him. Even though he was very challenging with me, it was very exciting seeing him launch into these scenes.”
