Bill Murray is remembering his Royal Tenenbaums co-star Gene Hackman, who was found dead in his New Mexico home earlier this week along with his wife and their dog.
In a preview for next Wednesday’s (March 5) episode of The Drew Barrymore Show that was posted to the show’s Instagram page, host Drew Barrymore asks Murray what it was like to make The Royal Tenenbaums.
“It’s kind of a funny day today because today Gene Hackman passed away, who was the star of The Royal Tenenbaums,” Murray says in the clip. “He won a Golden Globe for it, though he didn’t show up. He was really good. The guy was really, really good.”
According to Murray, Hackman — who had already won two Oscars by the time he made the 2001 comedy — did not take director Wes Anderson seriously on set.
“I sympathize with Gene because to him Wes Anderson was just a punk kid and Gene’s made some of the greatest American movies,” Murray says. “So he was a little irritable, you know. He was a little irritable but he had to work with children, dogs, Kumar [Pallana], who was an absolute mystery to all of us anyway.”
“They put him in very challenging positions to work and so he just felt a lot of responsibility and kept thinking, ‘What am I doing here with these people?’” Murray continues. “But the performance he gives is brilliant.”
The actor adds, “I watched him and I suffered with him because I saw what he was going through. But his timing, his patterns, his rhythms were really, really advanced. He was very, very good.”
Murray assumes that Hackman had to have come around to liking the film once he saw the finished product.
“He was not an ignorant man. He was a bright guy,” he says. “And when he saw the movie he had to go, ‘Well, I acted like a jerk.’ I’m sure he did because when you see the movie, it’s a real piece of work. Wes Anderson makes great movies and so does Gene Hackman and you put them both in the same movie, what’re you gonna get? You’re gonna get a great movie.”
Murray ends the conversation with one last message to his former co-star, saying, “Goodbye, Gene. I hope you’re well, wherever you are.”
The Drew Barrymore Show airs on weekdays on CBS. You can check the website for local airtimes.
