The only actor Mel Brooks called perfect: “Needless to say, I was over the moon”
Comedy icon Mel Brooks worked with a cavalcade of Hollywood’s funniest stars in his seven-decade career. He crafted memorable roles for legends like Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Teri Garr, Peter Boyle, John Candy, Cloris Leachman, Rick Moranis, and Leslie Nielsen, all of whom are responsible for more laughter than just about anybody in history. However, Brooks didn’t just work with comedians. In fact, he felt one A-list dramatic star delivered a “perfect” performance in one of his most beloved movies.
The story of Brooks becoming involved with this Oscar-winning star begins in an unusual place: a tennis court. In the early ’70s, Wilder played tennis every Saturday with, as Brooks later put it, “another Gene”. That’s right—the Willy Wonka star regularly faced off against Gene Hackman, as the two Genes were good friends. One day, in the middle of a game, Hackman asked Wilder what he was working on. Wilder explained that he and Brooks were developing a horror spoof based on a classic piece of literature, which they planned to title Young Frankenstein.
To Wilder’s shock, though, Hackman wanted in. “Is there anything in that crazy movie I could do?” he asked, to which Wilder pondered, “There’s a blind man in a hut.” Brooks admitted he soon jumped in to warn Hackman, who had recently won the ‘Best Actor’ Oscar for The French Connection and was one of the most respected actors in Hollywood, that the role was little more than a cameo. Even worse, he confessed, “There’s no money in it”. Once again, though, Hackman surprised the two funnymen by saying, “I don’t want that. I just want to do it.”
The next thing Brooks knew, Hackman donned a wig and fake beard on the Young Frankenstein set. He proceeded to nail his cameo as a lonely, blind priest who welcomes the company of the Monster, even making the entire crew burst out in hysterics with a legendary improvisation. Brooks revealed Hackman asked him if he could try a few different lines to put a button on the scene, and he told him to go for it.
So, at the end of the scene, after the priest accidentally spills soup on the Monster’s lap and sets his thumb on fire instead of his cigar, the lumbering giant flees. The priest follows him to the door, yelling, “Where are you going? I was going to make espresso!” As soon as Hackman delivered the line and everyone cracked up, Brooks smiled and said, “Oh, that’s a keeper.”
When the movie was released, Hackman’s cameo quickly became one of its biggest talking points – mostly because audiences didn’t recognise ‘Popeye’ Doyle under the false beard and were stunned to find out Hackman had such an aptitude for comedy. It wound up becoming a genuine highlight of Hackman’s long, storied career – so much so, in fact, that after he tragically passed away in February 2025, Brooks mentioned it in his heartfelt tribute to the fallen star.
“I was privileged to know Gene Hackman,” Brooks posted on social media. He reminisced about Wilder telling Hackman “about a little role called ‘The Blind Hermit’ in our movie Young Frankenstein. He said, ‘Do you think Mel would let me play it? I’ve always wanted to do a comedy.’ Needless to say, I was over the moon, and he was perfect.”
