The movies Gene Hackman regrets making: “I started doing thing I didn’t want to do”
As an actor, it’s important to take the good with the bad. It’s an industry of extreme highs and lows, with periods of financial instability and struggles to book jobs and pay the bills. But once you’ve made it, you are escalated to a world of fame and opportunity despite also having setbacks. Many iconic performers have spoken about the extreme swings on this career path, with the likes of Al Pacino, George Clooney and Kristen Stewart talking about the downfalls of being a celebrity and the strange inner workings of Hollywood.
There are some films that people invest so much in, expecting them to be well-received, only to realise that mass audiences prefer some other project that you don’t really care about. It’s a weird business, and Gene Hackman has had his fair share of disappointments and successes throughout the course of his career, describing his struggles with the constant pendulum swings.
Hackman has carved out an eclectic and affecting body of work over the years, taking on a variety of roles in action thrillers, intense dramas and studio films, working with auteurs such as Wes Anderson, Francis Ford Coppola and William Friedkin. While his career has been peppered with Academy Award-winning performances and highlights, he has also been subject to periods of uncertainty and doubt, with the actor describing various dry spells and times of financial instability in which he had to accept roles he didn’t really care about.
However, perhaps even more crushing than using your creative energy for a film you don’t love is to pour your heart into a project that is met poorly or with a lukewarm reaction. Creating is such a vulnerable and consuming process, and to use yourself entirely for a role only for it to be largely ignored is surely a devastating realisation. Hackman struggled with this the most, finding it hard to muster up the motivation for another passion project after the reception of his previous ones.
When describing this, Hackman said, “In the early 1970s, I had some successful films. The French Connection had prestige and commercial success. The Poseidon Adventure wasn’t any kind of an acting stretch, but it was a big hit. I felt I could do anything I wanted to do. I had this great omnipotent feeling -and, believe me, I haven’t had it since. So I did all these films that meant something to me personally. And I was so disappointed – so crushed, really – at their receptions. So I started doing things that I didn’t want to do.”
As a result of his failing passion projects, Hackman accepted roles that he didn’t truly care for, expressing his mixed feelings on one movie in particular, saying, “I did Lucky Lady strictly for the money. I did a film called March or Die. To this day, I can’t really believe that I did a film called March or Die. After Superman, I just dropped out for a while.”
While March or Die might not be something he is immediately proud of, every actor goes through dips in their career where they take risks that don’t necessarily pay off. But this is part of the process, and while he might regret this role, it still plays an important part in his overall creative evolution and approach to his craft.
