For nearly five decades, Gene Hackman was a staple of American cinema.
During that time, the San Bernardino-born actor won four Golden Globes, two BAFTAs,
and two Academy Awards while starring in classic films like Hoosiers, Unforgiven, and Get Shorty,
to name just a very few.
Since the early 2000s, however, we haven't seen or heard much from the accomplished actor
and all-American tough guy.
So what's Hackman been up to?
Retired
First and foremost, Hackman is retired — which explains why we haven't seen much of the guy
lately.
His last role was in the 2004 romantic comedy Welcome to Mooseport, in which he acted alongside
sitcom star Ray Romano.
After that, Hackman called it quits, but he didn't really make a big deal out of it.
He told Reuters,
"I'm not going to act any longer.
I've been told not to say that over the last few years, in case some real wonderful part
comes up, but I really don't want to do it any longer."
"Absolutely and without discussion!"
Novelist
Just because Hackman retired from acting doesn't mean he's not working.
In fact, he's actually penned quite a few novels.
In addition to co-writing three works of historical fiction, Hackman has also released two solo
efforts: Old West revenge story Payback at Morning Peak and police thriller Pursuit.
These days, Hackman greatly prefers writing to acting.
He told Reuters,
"I like the loneliness of it, actually.
It's similar in some ways to acting, but it's more private, and I feel like I have more
control over what I'm trying to say and do."
Painter
In addition to acting and writing novels, Hackman's other artistic pursuits include
painting — and he's pretty darn good at it.
The accomplished actor actually studied art at the Art Students League of New York as
a young man.
"I thought maybe I could feed myself as an artist while I was waiting to be an actor"
"I'm doing something almost all the time, drawing or painting."
He's been creating art ever since, but rarely shows what he calls his, quote, "unshowable"
work to the public.
He has, however, donated some artwork to charitable causes.
No grandpa roles
There's one pretty big reason why we'll likely never see Hackman come out of retirement for
another big-screen role: the aging actor simply isn't interested in playing older characters.
According to ContactMusic, Hackman said,
"At my age, they would have me playing grandfathers and great grandfathers.
That's not a heck of a lot of fun."
Nobody puts Hackman in a box.
Behind the scenes
Perhaps the main reason Hackman is happy to be done with showbiz is that he really doesn't
miss all of the behind-the-scenes nonsense that comes with the job.
He told ContactMusic,
"I don't miss the business.
I miss the process of being on-set with actors when things get cooking.
But there's so much crapola in order to get there.
It's just too painful."
When you've accomplished all that Hackman has, there's really no reason to take anyone
else's "crapola."
"If he doesn't like it, then that's his problem."
An important narration
Although Hackman doesn't lend his physical presence to the screen anymore, he's not afraid
to lend his voice to worthwhile projects.
Hackman sort of came back from retirement to narrate 2016's The Unknown Flag Raiser
of Iwo Jima, a one-hour documentary aiming to correct the misidentification of one soldier
in Joe Rosenthal's famous World War 2 photograph.
"The picture conceals an extraordinary case of mistaken identity."
Hackman himself dropped out of high school at the age of 16 to enlist in the Marine Corps,
where he served as a field radio operator for over four years.
"He's a ballsy little bastard isn't he?"
Will he act again?
Well, probably not.
Hackman seems quite satisfied with the arc of his award-filled career.
Speaking of which, the actor seems to have distanced himself so much from that part of
his life, he may not even know where his awards are.
He told GQ,
"I don't have any memorabilia around the house.
There isn't any movie stuff except a poster downstairs next to the pool table of Errol
Flynn from Dawn Patrol.
I'm not a sentimental guy."
Still, there is one role that could possibly entice Hackman out of retirement.
He explained,
"I like Edmond in The Count of Monte Cristo.
[...] Having been able to keep that terrible vengeance in his soul for so many years and
then carrying out what he thought were justified events in the end.
I like that as a novel."
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