Gene Hackman is one of those actors who feels like they’ve lived nine lives (or careers).
He was one of the most employed and accomplished actors of the ’70s and ’80s.
In particular, Hackman was known for his work in the Best Picture winner The French Connection (for which he won the Best Actor Oscar), leading Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation, and plotting against Superman as the original Lex Luther.
Hackman has also explored creative avenues beyond acting, having become a novelist since his retirement.
With a decade-spanning career at the center of some of the biggest films, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Hackman considered directing a movie of his own at one point.
Surprisingly enough though, that movie was The Silence of the Lambs, and Hackman didn’t just want to direct it but also play the lead role of Hannibal Lecter.
Read full article