Alexander Payne attempted to hunt him down for Nebraska, Terence Winter and Martin Scorsese even wrote him into the script for The Wolf of Wall Street (during the opening minutes, narrating the Stratton-Oakmont commercial), but despite all of the offers, Gene Hackman has stayed quiet. The actor suggested the possibility of a return a few years back, saying in an interview with GQ, “If I could do it in my own house, maybe, without them disturbing anything and just one or two people.”
However, a new interview with the legendary talent solidifies that we won’t be seeing him on screen again. Hackman recently took a rare interview with Yahoo on the occasion of the release of his latest book, Pursuit. When posed with the question of whether he’ll return to the screen, the 84-year-old simply says, “Only in reruns.” He adds, “Yeah, that’s it. I’m at a place where I feel very good about not having to work all night.”
Counting myself among his multitude of fans, it’s sad we’ll never see him take on another feature, but after an iconic career, he certainly deserves the time to relax. Yes, his last feature was the forgettable Welcome to Mooseport (which was released a decade ago this week) but as so many of his movies have shown, it’s not about the end, but rather the journey. With this recent update, it seems like a mighty fine time to pop in The Conversation, The Royal Tenenbaums, The French Connection, or any number of his classics.
Are you disappointed we won’t ever see another performance from Hackman? What is your favorite role from the actor?