“My idea of being a Hollywood movie actor”: the role that left Gene Hackman feeling ashamed
The best actors pride themselves on giving the best performances in the best movies, but just like any other walk of life, it’s hard to say no to a fat stack of cash. Gene Hackman has taken a few paycheque gigs in his career, but befitting his reputation, it’s been impossible to tell.
He admitted the only reason he made Hoosiers was because he needed as much money as possible, and it ended up becoming known as one of Hollywood’s most beloved sports movies. He hung around the Superman franchise for a bit too long as Lex Luthor, but history remembers his hammy turn in Richard Donner’s original as one of cinema’s most memorable comic book villains.
After earning his first Academy Award nomination in 1971 for I Never Sang for My Father, Hackman went one better the following year when William Friedkin’s crime classic The French Connection nabbed him the prize for ‘Best Actor’. He was a star and a made man, which meant the offers came flooding in.
Hackman had never been more in demand at any point in his career, and as committed as he was to perfecting his craft, he wasn’t above having one eye on the A-list. After all, the biggest names make the most money, and having displayed his credentials in the performative sense, he wanted to test himself out as a draw.
To do so, he hopped on Hollywood’s latest bandwagon by headlining a blockbuster disaster thriller, which also happened to be one of the best. In his second credit post-French Connection, Hackman anchored The Poseidon Adventure alongside a stacked ensemble that also numbered Ernest Borgnine, Roddy McDowall, Shelley Winters, and Leslie Nielsen.
A resounding success, the seafaring epic earned $125million at the box office, notched nine Oscar nominations and won two for its visual effects and original song, enduring more than half a century later as one of the most enjoyable and entertaining disaster flicks ever made.
It was a natural progression to segue from acclaimed dramas into more populist and escapist fare, with Hackman saying to The New York Times of The Poseidon Adventure, “That was my idea of being a Hollywood movie actor.” Audiences clearly agreed, but it came at a personal cost for someone who took their profession very seriously and treated it with the highest regard.
“When I was working on it, I was kind of ashamed of myself,” he admitted of his self-perceived selling out, to the point he hated the fact his hairdo in the film reminded him of an industry power player. “The producer, Irwin Allen, was one of those guys who used to comb his hair from one ear across the top of his head, and I just didn’t want to look like him.”
There’s no shame in any esteemed thespian slumming it in an effects-heavy caper, but at least Hackman managed to do it in a classic.
