Gene Hackman quotes
Born
January 30, 1930, San Bernardino, California, U.S.
Occupation
Actor.
Gene Hackman is a American actor.
Movies
Unforgiven (1992)
I left home when I was 16 because I was looking for adventure.
– Gene Hackman
I have trouble with direction, because I have trouble with authority. I was not a good Marine.
– Gene Hackman
I was trained to be an actor, not a star. I was trained to play roles, not to deal with fame and agents and lawyers and the press.
– Gene Hackman
My early days in Broadway were all comedies. I never did a straight play on Broadway.
– Gene Hackman
The difference between a hero and a coward is one step sideways.
– Gene Hackman
My grandfather had been a newspaper reporter, as was my uncle. They were pretty good writers and so I thought maybe somewhere down the line I would do some writing.
– Gene Hackman
I don’t like to talk about myself that much.
– Gene Hackman
Things parents say to children are oftentimes not heard, but in some cases you pick up on things that your parent would like to see you have done.
– Gene Hackman
If I start to become a star, I’ll lose contact with the normal guys I play best.
– Gene Hackman
I don’t see myself as a violent guy.
– Gene Hackman
If you look at yourself as a star, you’ve already lost something in the portrayal of any human being.
– Gene Hackman
Hollywood loves to typecast, and I guess they saw me as a violent guy.
– Gene Hackman
Dysfunctional families have sired a number of pretty good actors.
– Gene Hackman
I went in the Marines when I was 16. I spent four and a half years in the Marines and then came right to New York to be an actor. And then seven years later, I got my first job.
– Gene Hackman
I’m not a sentimental guy.
– Gene Hackman
It really costs me a lot emotionally to watch myself on screen. I think of myself, and feel like I’m quite young, and then I look at this old man with the baggy chins and the tired eyes and the receding hairline and all that.
– Gene Hackman
Hollywood loves to typecast, and I guess they saw me as a violent guy.
– Gene Hackman
Once, I optioned a novel and tried to do a screenplay on it, which was great fun, but I was too respectful. I was only 100 pages into the novel and I had about 90 pages of movie script going. I realized I had a lot to learn.
– Gene Hackman
I’m not a sentimental guy.
– Gene Hackman
The worst job I ever had was working nights in the Chrysler Building. I was part of a team of about five guys, and we polished the leather furniture.
– Gene Hackman
I’m disappointed that success hasn’t been a Himalayan feeling.
– Gene Hackman