Bill Murray is sharing his memories of Gene Hackman.
While reflecting on his experience filming The Royal Tenenbaums, Murray admitted the late screen legend—who was found dead inside his home Feb. 26 at age 95 alongside wife Betsy Arakawa—wasn’t the easiest person to work with on the 2001 comedy.
“I sympathize with Gene ‘cause to him, Wes Anderson was just a punk kid and Gene’s made some of the greatest American movies,” Murray recalled in a preview clip of his appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show airing March 5. “He was a little irritable, but he had to work with children, dogs… they put him in very challenging positions to work, and so he just felt a lot of responsibility and kept thinking, ‘What am I doing here with these people?’”
But despite the two-time Oscar winner’s onset demeanor, Murray, 74, pointed out that the final product was a resounding success.
“The performance he gives is brilliant,” the Saturday Night Live alum went on. “When you see the movie, it’s a real piece of work. Wes Anderson makes great movies, and so does Gene Hackman. You put ‘em both in the same movie, what are you gonna get? You’re gonna get a good movie.”
Murray concluded his story with a farewell salute to the Hollywood icon.
“Goodbye Gene,” he said. “I hope you’re well wherever you are.”
The talk show appearance was filmed the day after Hackman and Arakawa’s bodies were discovered in their New Mexico home, along with the remains of one of their three dogs. While an investigation into the case is ongoing, authorities have not yet determined when exactly the deaths occurred.
“It’s very difficult to put a timeline together, even with the help of the Office of the Medical Investigator,” Santa Fe County Sheriff Adam Mendoza told Savannah Guthrie on the Feb. 28 episode of Today. “Just based on their body and other evidence on the body, it appears several days, possibly even up to a couple of weeks.”
Keep scrolling for a look at Hackman’s life in photos.
1965
1969
1971
1974
1976
1986
1988
1988
1989
1991
1992
1993
1993
1993
1995
1996
1996
2000
2001
2001
2003
2003
2005
