For some bizarre reason AMC has actually been showing some halfway decent movies recently. I saw Hoosiers and Mississippi Burning over the last few days and was struck at how good an actor Hackman is and I was trying to figure out what it was that made him so good. I think it’s because he has this core of anger inside him which he puts into all of his characters. In some it is barely visible and you have to watch really closely to see that it is there as in The Royal Tennenbaums, while in other roles it explodes as in Mississippi Burning.
He has a huge head. All great actors have big noggins. Brando, DeNiro, Caan, Fonda, Scott, Stewart, Malden, Steiger, Bogart, Cagney, etc. Disproportionate to their body. Even some not so great, but wildly popular actors have this feature. Eastwood and Wayne are examples. Reagan. Welles.
Deep voice, well modulated. See above.
Camera just loves the guy. Some people are just loved by the camera. Some truly great actors aren’t. Olivier was a much better actor than his screen presence would indicate. He was considered the best British actor of his generation, but looked awful stagey and mannered in films despite technically doing a better job than anyone around him. He simply did not show up as well on film. Think of his roles in Boys from Brazil or Marathon Man in particular where he takes method master Hoffman to school in old fashioned acting. In Boys, he winds up only just besting out all time wooden actor Gregory Peck (voice and head) despite acting circles around him.
Raw intelligence and comfortableness behind the camera are important too. All of these qualities Hackman has in spades. See The Conversation, considered his best film.
I think it helps that he is not especially attractive. “Attractive” actors can just pose, but less attractive actors are forced to act and Hackman does. Look at the movies he has done with good-looking actors and look how he always comes out on top.
Things like Down Hill Racer with Redford or* Lucky Lady* with Reynolds are good examples. Granted his stint as Lex Luthor in the Superman films did not advance his credibility as a great actor much but he was still fun to watch hamming it up.
I saw The Conversation last week on a a big screen. The sound has recently been redone - which is a big deal because it’s a film about bugging. Look out for it. And yes, Hackman is wonderful in it.
Gundy, it’s hardly an original observation, I heard it over 20 years ago. Kinda makes ya think that the seven dwarfs should break out of Disneyland and head for Universal, doesn’t it?