A Year of Gene Hackman: An Introduction
A prologue for a long and nerdy project
Before I begin, let’s get one thing out of the way: Gene Hackman is America’s greatest living actor. That is just a fact.
You can try to counter that by bringing up Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks, Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, or Denzel Washington.
If you want to get serious, you can mention Morgan Freeman, Robert Duvall, or Tommy Lee Jones.
Heck, you could even go younger and throw out names like Leo, Pitt, Hawke or Joaquin.
But, you’d be wrong. Objectively. On all counts.
What’s so great about Gene Hackman?
Sure, many American actors have had more star power. There are better leading men and better “character” actors out there. There are quite a few who deliver flashier performances. And there are others who disappear — physically and/or psychologically — into their roles in ways that Hackman rarely, if ever, attempted.
These are all good points. But, my assertion still stands.
