The iconic role Gene Hackman turned down: “The situation was touchier”
Imagine being an actor who sits so high up the ranks of Hollywood royalty that you turn down the opportunity to appear alongside one of your acting heroes. While some actors would do anything to work with a star that has greatly inspired them, Gene Hackman was much more practical.
The actor began his career back in the 1950s, taking inspiration from classic actors and eventually landing a part in the anthology series The United States Steel Hour. He then got his first film role in 1961’s Mad Dog Coll, an uncredited part that was miles away from the leading roles he’d soon come to harness.
Bonnie and Clyde was a turning point for Hackman, who played a supporting role as Buck Barrow and earned an Oscar nomination. However, The French Connection, released in 1971, cemented Hackman as a leading star. In the years to come, he would appear in many more classics, like The Conversation and Young Frankenstein.
By the end of the decade, Hackman had reached a point in his career where he was able to turn down parts that he would’ve initially done anything for, like a role in a film opposite Marlon Brando. The actor once explained to Antenne 2, “Brando has always been my ideal as an actor, with the kind of personality he has, and the kind of craft he has, and the kind of physical presence. I’ve always tried to think of myself in terms of the intent of Brando.”
Thus, it was somewhat surprising that Hackman then turned down a part in Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola, who had previously directed Hackman in The Conversation. He was asked to play the part of Lieutenant Colonel William ‘Bill’ Kilgore, which was eventually portrayed excellently by Robert Duvall, who’d also worked with Coppola in The Godfather.
Brando played Colonel Walter Kurtz, feared by all for his psychotic behaviour, something that the actor mastered perfectly. Meanwhile, Bill is one of several who accompany Martin Sheen’s Captain Willard to hunt down Kurtz and stop his tyrannical behaviour, and Hackman certainly had what it took to play the role.
Yet, when it came down to it, money became an issue for Hackman because Coppola wanted to pay him rather unconventionally. He told the Chicago Tribune, ”The Apocalypse Now situation was touchier because I have such regard for Francis Ford Coppola as a director. But he wanted me to work for points [earning a percentage of the film’s gross], which I don’t think I should do.”
Hackman wasn’t happy with the lack of a proper salary, although the Hollywood daredevil and drug aficionado Dennis Hopper didn’t seem to mind, reportedly being paid in heaps of cocaine. In the end, Apocalypse Now grossed around $180million and continues to earn acclaim today, so it’s safe to say that Hackman probably would’ve walked away with a decent paycheque. Still, it’s risky business to sign onto a film without a proper salary, and Hackman chose to go with his gut and step away from the project.
