Kevin Costner He has worked with a multitude of great performers throughout his long career, but he has obviously gotten along better with some than others. Asked about this subject in The Rich Eisen Showthe person in charge of ‘Horizon: An American Saga’ He admits that he has met many great actors, but he does not hesitate to say that the best is probably Gene Hackman.
A long list of great actors
Costner and Jackman worked together 37 years ago in ‘No Way Out’, a thriller directed by Roger Donaldson which is somewhat forgotten today. That did not stop Costner from giving his co-star this tremendous praise: «The list of great actors I’ve been able to work with is very long, but I would say that Gene Hackman is probably the best actor I’ve ever worked with.«.
In fact, the protagonist of ‘Waterworld’ even remembered a curious anecdote which happened on the set and already made it clear how much he admired Hackman beforehand. The fact is that Costner was already beginning to put his character in a certain place and this is what he answered Donaldson when he asked him about his co-star’s reaction:
Gene will figure out what to do… because he’s very good.
The scene was shot without incident, but at the end of the work day, Hackman stepped in front of Costner as the latter walked to his car. Afraid that she would scold him for what had happened, he was greatly surprised when the following happened:
He looked at me and said, ‘When I saw you fighting for what you wanted today, I remembered how I felt when I acted. It was good what you did.’ And he got into his car and drove away.
It’s logical that Costner was impressive. and that so many years later he still remembers to praise the now retired Hackman.
In Espinof | The 8 best Netflix movies in 2024