Things You Never Knew About Gene Hackman

While tales of Gene Hackman's explosive temper were hardly a secret in Hollywood, working alongside him in one particular film was traumatic enough for his co-stars to speak publicly about it. During a 2011 panel at the New York Film Festival for "The Royal Tenebaums," there was plenty said about Hackman, who was not in

While tales of Gene Hackman's explosive temper were hardly a secret in Hollywood, working alongside him in one particular film was traumatic enough for his co-stars to speak publicly about it. During a 2011 panel at the New York Film Festival for "The Royal Tenebaums," there was plenty said about Hackman, who was not in attendance. As IndieWire reported, both director Wes Anderson and star Gwyneth Paltrow admitted they were "scared" of Hackman.

Apparently, Hackman was particularly irked by Anderson, who noted that several of the film's stars banded together "at various times" to "defend" him. Anderson's frequent collaborator Noah Baumbach, also a panelist, recalled the choice epithet that Hackman had for the director. "He called you a c***, didn't he?" said Baumbach. Anderson, seemingly recognized too much may have been said, tried to shift the narrative. "Can I say something? I kind of feel, through my own fault, we kind of made Gene look bad. Do you think we gave enough balance to him?" he said.

Anderson then followed up by throwing Hackman some compliments. "He was one of the things that pulled everybody into this movie. Anytime we are together and talk about the movie we always talk about him," he said. "He's a huge force and I really enjoyed working with him. Even though he was very challenging with me, it was very exciting seeing him launch into these scenes."

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