Hackman portrayed Stiller's onscreen father in Wes Anderson's 2001 classic 'The Royal Tenenbaums,' which also starred Gwyneth Paltrow Ben Stiller is still mourning the loss of Gene Hackman. When Stiller stopped by ABC's pre-2025 Oscars red carpet show on Sunday,

He admitted that the late actor was "a little irritable" during filming but ultimately came around to director Wes Anderson and the movie.

One of the first major film stars to break out in the 1970s, Gene Hackman was the epitome of New Hollywood. An actor with livewire intensity, he had a grit and brusqueness that few others could ever match,

It wasn't his final role, but Hackman's turn in Wes Anderson's family drama is the perfect summation of his talents, writes Empire's John Nugent.

Murray said Hackman likely saw director Wes Anderson as “just a punk kid” and wasn’t afraid to be “rough” on him

So, when The Royal Tenenbaums came out in 2001 it was deep calling to deep. What was more: Gene Hackman's Royal became my very own proprietary scoundrel, as everyone else in my family considered him to be Zero Mostel-lite and never fully adopted him. But God, they were wrong. He was simply a newer, more suave model: scoundrel perfection.

Gene Hackman was a singular performer whose work has been widely celebrated in the industry. But his prolific career has only been highlighted by his shocking death, which shines a light on the several classic and formative films Hackman starred in throughout his decades-long career.