Hackman's Moustache
When Gene Hackman was cast to play Lex Luthor in Superman (in 1978), he agreed to
wear a fake bald headcap, but refused to get rid of his bushy moustache. Dick Donner, the
film's director, was not amused. Luthor, he complained, was supposed to be clean-shaven.
"That," Hackman retorted, "is your problem!" In a desperate bid to persuade him to shave,
Donner visited Hackman in makeup one day and offered him a modest proposal: If he would
get rid of his treasured moustache, Donner himself would follow suit - right then and there.
Eventually, Hackman agreed and was soon clean-shaven - whereupon Donner plucked
from his face... a fake moustache!
After a moment of incredulous anger, Hackman joined Donner in a round of laughter.
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Barry Sonnenfeld: Get Shorty
One day during the production of Get Shorty (1995), director Barry Sonnenfeld was
dismayed to learn that the film's $30,250,000 budget would be cut by $250,000 (roughly
two days of shooting). After considerable agonizing, Sonnenfeld called producer Michael
Shamberg and told him that he had found a way. A certain night scene (with John Travolta,
Ben Stiller, and Gene Hackman) could be cut from the script. Though the scene was amazing,
Sonnenfeld explained, it did not really advance the story. "Wait," said Shamberg, "I love that
scene!" "You can't have it," the director replied. "Yes I can." "No you can't." "How much would
it cost to shoot the scene?" Shamberg asked. "$250,000," Sonnenfeld replied... Sure enough,
Sonnenfeld was granted his original budget.
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Likely Story?
One year two students at the Pasadena Playhouse acting school were jointly voted "least
likely to succeed" by their peers. The students? Future Oscar-winners Dustin Hoffman and
Gene Hackman.
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Hoffman & Hackman
One day during the production of Gary Fleder's Runaway Jury, Jeremy Piven
found himself hanging out with Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman. "Dustin
had a little boom box and he put on 'Ease on Down the Road' [from The Wiz]
and he was playing along on his bongos and... Gene started moonwalking and
Dustin broke out a skipping rope... I thought I had taken five sheets of high-
power blotter acid..."
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MORE COMING SOON
