21 - 27 March 2002
Issue No.578
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 21 - 27 March 2002 Issue No.578 |
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Limelight
The royal gene
He is no matinée idol, can neither sing nor dance and seldom gets the girl. There is a roughness and ruggedness about him that men admire and women desire. He possesses a tenderness beneath the brawny surface, more felt than revealed, and there is no mistaking the brains behind the broad-shouldered, well-knit, hard as steel features that have made Eugene Alden Hackman a superstar of international stature and an established member of Hollywood royalty.
He did not decide on an acting career until he was past thirty. At 16, Hackman quit school, lied about his age, and joined the Marines. After his discharge, he studied journalism and TV production at the University of Illinois. He moved to New York and attended Radio School, supporting himself with a succession of odd jobs ranging from doorman to radio producer. He worked as an announcer at small radio and TV stations across the US. One blessed day, he woke up and decided to study acting. He enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse in Southern California where he roomed with another late bloomer, Dustin Hoffman. Their much younger classmates voted the duo "least likely to succeed." Hackman moved back to New York, worked in summer stock and "off" and "on" Broadway. His first break on the big screen came as Norman in Lilith opposite Warren Beatty in 1964. Impressed by his strong presence, Beatty cast him as his brother Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde (1967), a performance that earned him his first Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. He was nominated again in 1970 for I Never Sang For My Father. The following year he exploded on the screen as Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in William Friedkin's blockbuster police drama The French Connection, for which he won an Oscar for Best Actor. Finally he had reached full-fledged stardom -- at age forty. While other careers begin to fade, Hackman's was only starting. Unvarnished and unprepossessing, Gene is recognized as one of America's most versatile and convincing actors. He excels at playing ordinary men, in extraordinary situations. His tremendous ability has earned him the title of "Hollywood's Uncommon Everyman." Like the legendary Spencer Tracy, his looks and manner make it easy for men to identify with his persona of outraged common sense. He is often cast as a military man, consistently over-charged with a high degree of vitality and virility. "Military characters kind of choose me. It is very hard to break out of the mould you're in," but if anyone can, Gene can and Gene does, regularly. He keeps coming back like a giant refreshed, expanding his talent and widening his range. His second Oscar winning performance was for the sadistic Sheriff Little Bill Daggett in Clint Eastwood's classic western, Unforgiven (1992). This uncommonly versatile actor is universally hailed as equally adept at the dramatic as well as the comic. His timing and the underlying eccentricity strain that surfaces now and again in most of his roles, allows him this incredible range that is rare in Hollywood. Character, straight man, leading man or comedian, he does it all. Even if the role is small, it is incisive, memorable and well crafted. He always paints an effective picture of a brave man fiercely loyal with bull-dog courage and bravery, yet intensely passionate, living a life of everyday tragedy with every heartbeat.
Though he cornered the market on authority figures, Gene has moved from one genre to another with ease and grace. He first surprised his fans with his hilarious appearance as the blind hermit in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein. It was only the first in a series of brilliant comedies which include his high camp portrayal of Lex Luther in Superman (1978), not to mention the utterly ridiculous conservative Senator Kevin Kelly in Mike Nichols remake of the French/Italian farce, La Cage Aux Folles (Bird Cage 1996). Audiences were roaring with delight as the "macho" senator disguised as a woman, wig and all, sneaks out of the gay cabaret to avoid the paparazzi. The quality of films may vary, but he is simply incapable of a less than excellent performance. Equally comfortable in the lead as in supporting roles, he tackles both with vigour and skill, resulting in a believable convincing, satisfying, and qualitative portrayal of each and every character.
Hackman with one of his two Oscars
One of Hackman's unforgettable performances is the unorthodox FBI agent Anderson in the controversial civil rights drama Mississippi Burning (1988). Though he did win his fifth Oscar nomination, many critics believe he deserved to win the "little man himself." Instead, it went to his old chum and former roommate Dustin Hoffman for Rain Man. "Oscar", a very eccentric "fellow", cloned in a hundred gilded images has a penchant for psychological disorders -- consider 8 nominations for A Beautiful Mind. This year Oscar again has totally overlooked a masterful Hackman performance, as outrageous as it is touching, as Royal O'Reilly Tanenbaum in Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums. Nominated for the quirky screenplay, written by Andersen with Owen Wilson, it tells the tale of the most dysfunctional family of geniuses ever to hit the screen. Royal, a successful lawyer, ill equipped to be father and husband, walks out on his wife and 3 highly gifted children. Twenty years later, disbarred and thrown out of his hotel room, Royal decides to reunite with his family by faking a terminal illness. Supported by a powerful cast, Angelica Houston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Danny Glover and Ben Stiller, the film received rave reviews in Canada and the US. This offbeat, intellectual production has garnered several prestigious awards for Hackman, including the American Film Institute and the Golden Globe Awards for best actor in a comedy; but nary a nod from "Oscar", who dances to a different drummer.
As for Hackman, like "Ol' Man River", he just keeps on "rollin' along," unwithered and unshaken. His favourite film? "I am not comfortable watching myself". Retirement? He has considered it, but not seriously, despite a coronary angioplasty last year. He does not seem to slow down either: "for me, this is slowing down" he jokes of his current 3 films in 2001. Now that his three children from his first marriage are grown, he and his second wife Betsy plan to sail around the world -- someday. For now, the business of Gene Hackman, the actor, remains a consuming affair.
"I was trained to be an actor, not a star. I was trained to play roles, not to deal with fame, agents, lawyers and the press." He shuns publicity, lives away from Hollywood, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. "I don't handle the limelight too well. I don't enjoy it -- I just enjoy what I do and I hope I do it well." Critic David Denby has described Hackman as "consistently the finest American screen actor for the past quarter century," and we hope for many more years to come. He is 72, vigorous, tireless, steadfast and hard. No wind will move him, no tempest will shake him. "Inside I'm 21, but I look in the mirror and I see a guy old enough to be my grandfather". He dismisses the scope of his skill, the magnitude of his talent, "a lot of the credit you get is just from still being around."
It is said, "there's something in Gene Hackman's voice that only women can hear"; a special male gruffness, like the inaudible noises that animals alone can detect. Prick up your ears ladies and keep listening and watching. As for "Oscar", he is missing out on a "Royal" performance by a royal Gene.
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