The co-star who couldn’t stand Gene Hackman: “He was really insecure about that”
Just like it’s impossible to call Gene Hackman anything other than one of America’s greatest-ever actors and a true titan of the silver screen, it’s equally undeniable to say he couldn’t be a difficult customer on occasion whenever things on a set weren’t to his liking.
Wes Anderson is one of many who suffered Hackman’s wrath, with The Royal Tenenbaums director enduring a miserable experience at the hands of a veteran who couldn’t quite wrap their head around what kind of film he was making. This being one of the best in the business, though, he still delivered a Golden Globe-winning performance in his last great role.
Even when he won his first Academy Award for The French Connection, Hackman was so convinced that he was wrong for the part of ‘Popeye’ Doyle that he tried to get William Friedkin to fire him. He admitted he felt like a sellout when he agreed to appear in The Poseidon Adventure and Superman, both of which stand tall as two of the best blockbusters of the 1970s.
Whenever he had his misgivings, Hackman still put in the work. That was especially true with Hoosiers, a movie he never wanted to make in the first place. When the first choice, Jack Nicholson, dropped out of the role of grizzled coach Norman Dale, his replacement admitted he only agreed to headline the acerbic sports drama because he needed the money.
The two-time Oscar winner repeatedly butted heads with director David Anspaugh throughout production, and the unhappy set culminated in a typically formidable tour-de-force from Hackman and one of the most perennially popular sports flicks in Hollywood history.
The results were even more impressive considering Hackman and co-star Barbara Hershey couldn’t stand each other. The former never felt comfortable with an onscreen love interest almost 20 years his junior, while the latter didn’t care for the way he made her feel on set.
“She hated Gene,” cast member David Neidorf informed The Hoosiers Archive. “He was really insecure about his love interest, because she was so much younger than he was. He was really insecure about that, didn’t like it, didn’t want to do it. Her bad attitude came from her bad relationship with Gene and from not necessarily feeling supported enough by an inexperienced director who could maybe recognise that and help her through that.”
Chelcie Ross, another supporting player in the ensemble, echoed those sentiments when reflecting on the tension between Hackman and Hershey seeping into every facet of the production. “The drama that was going on behind the scenes was unbelievable,” he said before sharing his condolences for Aspaugh. “David’s a sensitive guy. It was really difficult on him.”
It’s remarkable that Hoosiers, a movie headlined by an actor who was only doing it for the paycheque, directed by an under-pressure filmmaker who didn’t get along with the star, and supported by a female lead who hated her opposite number, worked out as well as it did. Hackman, Hershey, and Aspaugh may not have all parted as friends, but they made a hell of a movie together.
