Both also got to flex more dramatic muscles with prestigious live-television anthologies such asPlayhouse 90andThe United States Steel Hour.
Hackman, on the other hand, was just starting out in features.
This being my first film, I was so full of tension.
Credit: Steve Granitz/WireImage; Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage
But still, Warrens interest in the technicalities of filmmaking impressed me.
Making note of Beattys curiosity, Hackman could tell that his costar would someday end up behind the camera.
I remember thinking, Im not going to do any other movies without him.
But those were all jobs for hire.
He didnt have any say in casting.
He immediately thought of Hackman for the part of Buck Barrow, his on-screen brother and partner in crime.
Actor-producers were rare in those days, says Hackman.
There was no doubt as to who was in charge.
Just 30-years-old when the film was released, Beattywasan upstart.
ButBonnie and Clydehappened to be the kind of revolutionary movie that only an upstart could make.
At first, the films violent, hail-of-bullets finale was reviled by critics.
Timemagazine just panned the hell out ofBonnie and Clyde, Beatty says.
And four months later they put it on the cover.
There are times when the rules no longer apply.
AfterBonnie and Clyde, both actors would go their separate ways.
But Beatty was always on the lookout for the right part Hackman.
It finally came with 1981sReds, Beattys three-plus-hour epic about the American Communist movement.
I think I disappointed him, says Hackman.
Although he never said so.
The fact that I hadnt solved the character well enough to get it even close was never brought up.
When I recently interviewed Beatty at his home in Los Angeles, I read him Hackmans statement.
And when I finished the quote, I looked up to see Beatty quietly tearing up.
He said, Im not getting this.
And I said, No, you are!
With Hackman, you just do more takes because who knows?
Lets see what might happen here.
But I knew I had it.
Ive never worked with a better actor.
Did you hear that?
Gene Hackman, if youre reading this, you could stop beating yourself up.
Additional reporting by Sara Vilkomerson
