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THE TOUGH GUY (REMEMBERING GENE HACKMAN)

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   There's a story that during the making of 'The Royal Tennenbaums', Gene Hackman exploded with the quirky Texan director Wes Anderson, telling him "to pull up his pants and act like a man". Fellow cast members afterwards described Hackman as a "hardass" during the making of the film. But it was also clear they were in awe of him. While Bill Murray was the only cast member on the set not to defer to him, there was a feeling among many of his co-stars that Hackman had earned the right to be a hardass after his stellar career. Born and raised in San Bernardino, California but raised mostly in Danville, Illinois, the former Marine was very good at playing the hardass on and offscreen.   According to a plaque in San Bernardino’s municipal park, Hackman was a dog catcher for the local animal shelter. @ Orion Pictures The family, however, moved around the US finally settling in his maternal grandmother’s home in Danville in Illinois. As a teenager, he knew Di...
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THE GRAND DAME (REMEMBERING MAGGIE SMITH)

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  ©  Lionsgate UK It's hard to believe an actress as accomplished as Maggie Smith could have been gripped by nervousness and fear. However in  a 2015 interview with the Scottish newspaper, The Sunday Post , the Oscar winning actress admitted her reputation in later years for being a difficult star was often borne out of those two emotions. “Obviously at some times I have been like that," she acknowledged.  "The awful thing is, I’m sort of very aware when I’m being difficult but I’m usually so scared," she confessed. “And that’s shaming, at the age one is. Because every time I start anything, I think, 'This time I’m going to be like Judi Dench, and it will all be lovely, it will be merry and bright, the Quaker will come out in me’. “But it never works. Jude has a wonderful calm, it’s very enviable. “When you’re young you’re just so thrilled to be doing it; of course you’re terrified but as you get older it’s because you realise how difficult it is to do. When you’...
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