THB #680: Gene Hackman

Gene Hackman didn’t need to speak to be heard. He was an actor who told you exactly where he was with a look.

And then, he would add that voice… a little gravelly… not deep, but not high… almost always calmer than seemed appropriate for the moment.

“My motherfucker is so cool, when he goes to bed, sheep count him.”
- Heist, written by David Mamet

Hackman’s men were strong and sometimes overreaching, but never over the top. He raised his voice, but never to the point of screaming… of losing control. There was always more going on in Hackman’s performances than what was offered in the text.

Hackman’s characters could be heroic… but they were never traditional heroes. And when they were evil, they were never just evil. He always seemed to let us know why he was making the bad choices that we, as an audience, would judge.

The grayer the character, the better Hackman was… with notable exceptions. Popeye Doyle was gritty, but not overly complex… still, Hackman made him real from head to toe… …