Gene Hackman once named the actors he admired the most: “I felt I could do that”
Every actor grows up with dreams of emulating the stars who inspired them, but not many get to enjoy careers that arguably surpass those of their biggest influences. As one of the all-time greats, though, Gene Hackman certainly did.
He broke through at just the right time, too, because in any other era, his rugged looks would have more than likely seen him typecast as a character actor. Fortunately, unconventional leading men were one of the ‘New Hollywood’ era’s most defining traits, which allowed Hackman to thrive taking centre stage.
His first two Academy Award nominations were both in the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ category. However, he didn’t become a star until the third time marked the charm, when his next time being shortlisted—and first in the ‘Best Actor’ race—saw him emerge victorious after The French Connection’s Popeye Doyle blew the competition out of the water.
With his leading man status now secured, Hackman became one of the biggest stars of his era while also establishing himself among its most talented performers. It was no easy feat when he regularly found himself battling for supremacy alongside such double-pronged threats as Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, and Jack Nicholson.
Having decided fairly early on to pursue acting as a line of work, Hackman’s imagination was spurred by his favourite silver screen stars, who convinced him that if he put his mind to it, he was more than capable of following in their footsteps and taking himself right to the top of Tinseltown.
“I suppose I wanted to be an actor from the time I was about ten, maybe even younger than that,” he explained to the BBC. “Recollections of early movies that I had seen and actors that I admired like Jimmy Cagney, Errol Flynn, those kind of romantic action guys. When I saw those actors, I felt I could do that. But I was in New York for about eight years before I had a job. I sold ladies’ shoes, polished leather furniture, and drove a truck. I think that if you have it in you and you want it bad enough, you can do it.”
It took him a while, but he got there in the end and then some. Cagney was the single most notable influence on Clint Eastwood’s call to pursue acting, too, while Flynn was the poster child for cinematic swashbuckling. Not that Hackman ever felt compelled to stuff himself into a pair of tights and brandish a sword, making it curious that he was inspired by “romantic action guys” without ever folding that tool into his own arsenal to a noticeable extent.
Still, he gracefully retired with his legacy intact as one of the best to set foot under the bright lights of a film set, making those eight jobless years worth the sacrifice in the long run.
