William Friedkin on Gene Hackman and Slapping Actors
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2024
- Legendary director William Friedkin on keeping Gene Hackman angry during the filming of 'The French Connection', and why he decided to slap a priest to get what he needed for 'The Exorcist'.
William "I slap priests in the face" Friedkin
its ok to abuse people. he hired non actors and so it justifies beating them. plus he thanked him afterwards, therefore it's not abuse. stop saying its abuse. did Weinstein abuse people? did Epstein? then why would we say friedkin abused anyone?
Maybe he's been "picking his feet in Poughkeepsie", again. LOL.
Picking his feet in Poughkeepsie equals automatic face slap. Every priest knows that.
If William Friedkin asks you "do you trust me?"... shit's about to get real.
replace "actor" with "woman". it's ok to do that because the actor thanked him. that made this ok. if the actor struck him back, that would be wrong and awful, but its ok with friedkin
Friedkin was a bit of mad man. He shot that chase scene in the french connection without permits. He had off duty cops close the side roads, but didn't bother to tell anyone parked on the road that they were shooting a movie.@@businesswalks8301
Bill Hickman probably asked Friedkin the exact same thing before they got into the car together to film the one chance only illegal high speed L train chase.
@chetsenior7253 You're clearly not an actor...or a good one if you are.
Should have got smacked back
Sorcerer is a underrated gem.
It's on my list after watching the original French movie which blew me away. Currently watching Cruising and I must say I'm enjoying it more than I had expected
You called it. Such a great movie.
@@sayno2lolzisbackyou are gonna enjoy it
@@sayno2lolzisback My reception of Cruising was similar. It's by no means a masterpiece but stands as a rough gem of sorts in Friedkin's filmography.
@@BobSmith-dv5rv After finishing it and in retrospect, I fucking loved it. I think Pacino was horribly miscast, I wish it were someone different who was on Friedkins vibe. But the story, the idea, the cinematography uplifts it, I don't even mind that the ending is a bit shit. It really is a cinematic gem, and totally unique.
It's funny how some consider Gene Hackman as a "tuff" guy. Yes he did those roles, but in reality he was very different. E.g. one of his favourite hobbies was to paint flowers with watercolors. Wonderful actor, one of my all time favourite.
He was a Marine. He was plenty tough.
@@esteban1487 Sure, he did his duty as a radio operator.
@@oldtimer7635 The job doesn't really matter. They all go through the same basic training. They're all trained how to shoot. The fact that he was a radio operator in the Marines is secondary to him being a Marine.
He could be wonderfully sinister when he wanted. "Have you picked your feet?" Great actor.
@@williamweb9782 in Poughkeepsie!
R.I.P William Friedkin. You were one of the leading filmmakers from 70s Hollywood.
William was the boss and a true original, I love his films, and I could listen to his stories about Hollywood for hours, RIP.
I have always admired Friedkin. His films are, simply put, compelling.
Brilliant. Brilliant man. Director. And hell of an interview.
In the film, you can see the priest's hands shaking in that scene
Ted Kotcheff punched Sylvester Stallone in the first Rambo...made him cry for the scene. Which is also the reason Ted didn't do the sequel.
oh really?
@@HaroldHivart
Ted Kotcheff told the story.
Friedman got a great performance out of one of the all-time greats-Gene Hackman. It still blows my mind to think that, as struggling actors in NYC, Hackman, Hoffman and Duvall, were roommates!
He doesn't look 76 here.
Neither did Swan in Phantom of the Paradise, no wait...Lol
He doesn't look 87 now either. Friedkin is a vampire.
Mr. Friedkin raised a pretty point. Paintings by the Masters are priceless and have been carefully handled for centuries. Likewise, music from bygone eras are still performed by symphonies. Movies and films have not been preserved until recently. They are an art form just as precious as paintings or music.
Friedkin is, for me, the finest living American filmmaker because of the sheer physicality of his movies. James Glickenhaus showed a lot of promise in his early films but fell out with the film industry. Spielberg comes close on a good day, Scorsese maybe Taxi Driver, Coppola maybe the beginning and end of Apocalypse Now. But Friedkin can just turn it on, all of his 70s movies, plus The Birthday Party, To Live and Die in LA, Jade, Bug... the more you watch them the better they get.
Sorcerer is very underappreciated. It is great in every sense. Friedkin, Scheider and a score by Tangerine Dream plus Nitro in the jungle!
Glickenhaus? That's a strange choice. He did some terrible violent 80s junk but Shakedown was a surprisingly good film.
Michael Mann and William Friedkin should do a project together. Heck even bring William Petersen to act in it. The styles would mesh well
“To Live and Die in L.A.” is one of the best crime dramas I’ve ever seen and certainly one of the most underrated. It grabs you from the jump and doesn’t let go until the very end which is shockingly surprising in the best way, doesn’t even feel like two hours have already passed by the time the credits roll. Everyone is perfectly cast in that film, especially Peterson, Pankow and Dafoe. The score and cinematography are both beautiful too.
Agree with pretty much everything on here. Interesting to hear which Spielberg films you thought were gritty. The first Indy, Duel, Jaws?
A different era of film making. One that needs to return. If your actor cant get to where you want them to be you've gotta force it somehow. Friedkin forced it and got what was needed. The rest is history. Real film making.
spoken like someone who never made a film
"Easy Riders, Raging Bulls" is a book that explains what was going on with the 70s film makers. Basically there was a short period there where directors were seen as auteurs but it didn't last long. By 1976 (Jaws, then SW & CE3K) the new doddering old fools who ran the studios were back in control with yes-men like Speilberg, while folks like Scorcese made films like "New York, New York". Coppola tried his American Zoetrope in 81/82 for a second time, made "One for the Heart" and watched it go down in flames again. The directors became self-indulgent and weren't doing their best work.
Unfortunately, cancel-culture today would have a field day with Directors who’d do that to actors
@@rossdiamondthief6627 umm, David O. Russell? Dude's a straight up psychopath. This is what you need to learn about Hollywood: they talk a good game, but when it comes to looking at themselves that way.... hypocrisy.
@@rossdiamondthief6627 while cancel culture did evolve into the modern days' witch hunting, it came from the right place and it aimed at legitimately horrible industry professionals. When you have free reign over not only the material but people involved that creates very dangerous tendencies. Weinstein produced some of the most amazing movies and gave a future to a lot of brilliant people, but he also destroyed myriads of talents. He and guys like him turned the industry into the casting couch and it all boiled down to how "fuckable and agreeable" the people are. Now we as consumers complaining about cancel culture are basically saying "I don't give a crap about behind-the-scenes shenanigans as long as I get my damn movie". The same way the people who want the latest console or pair of jeans from Amazon would not care about minimum wage workers dying in the warehouses, as long as they get one-day delivery. Now does your desire for the product, would it be jeans or movies, excuse the abuse of people and power?
Where's that kind of grit in today's pictures? The silly CGI stuff makes me not even want to watch movies anymore.
And fixation on lame CGI effects.
the majority of films made aren't cgi, broaden your fucking horizons
@@colainc90 the BIG films - you know, the ones that make all the money, and that get all the publicity & marketing, and that the public always talk about - are ALL fucking cgi.
I fucking hate when people make these kinds of generalizations. There are still great films being made and there are still these kinds of films being made. You’re just being obnoxious
@@katelinmarie5360 and you think smaller movies don't have CGI? Just look at David finchers movies. Type I'm David Fincher CGI and you'll be surprised. CGI isn't bad, bad CGI is bad.
Can’t imagine him working in modern sets with intimacy coordinators and the like lol
Lol, that last line... classic.
what is enraging is that now companies like Disney are editing out the "ugly truth" that Friedkin was striving for - the streaming version of French Connection is now edited (one or two scenes removed) which changes both the character of Popeye Doyle and, with it, the impact of the movie. Hold on to your original-version dvds!
RIP Legend
The great William Friedkin, doing his best impression of Roy Schneider in Jaws.
He slapped Ellen Burstyn during the filming of "The Exorcist." I don't think she took too kindly to it...
No, he didn’t.
He did worse to her than slapping her, he had the stagehands yank her backwards so hard with a cord that she suffered permanent injury to her back. It was during the scene where Regan slaps her and she flies across the room.
@@GroovyDoom When you watch that scene, especially in slow motion, you also see how violently it snaps her head around, along with bashing it up against the baseboard. She could have been paralyzed!
@@GroovyDoom ua-cam.com/video/0E1dV3YovZo/v-deo.htmlsi=TzxZ23Key90stugG
@@GroovyDoom it didn’t permanently injure her back. Stop lying.
Wonder if the censors at Criterion would agree with the director himself…
"sometimes actresses get slapped" - Hold Steady
Wait, did he say it was a PRIEST he slapped to tears, NOT an actor???
Guess it's easier than buying a heater 🤷♂️
why is everyone ok with that psycho's directing technique. it's ok to hire non actors and then beat them to get "emotions". besides he even thanked him so its ok for sure
He wasn't union too!
@@businesswalks8301 Cry harder poopkins.
Priests have a pretty strong union though, the Catholic Church. Those folks don't play around with you. Damnation awaits...
@@businesswalks8301 they were making a film for Jesus Christ. The priest was more than happy to thank him for the slap and get a good acting off him!
He made some fine movies that will last the test of time !
Are there any films that Gene Hackman wasn't difficult to work with?
The priest he’s referring to is father William O’Malley. Teacher of mine at mcquaid Jesuit high school in Rochester New York.
Well, Gene certainly went there for The Unforgiven.
Gene Hackman is a Marine.
he couldn't find an actor to play a priest?
I liked To Live In Die in LA too. A lot of people didn't but I sure did. And of course it had the prerequisite Freidkin car chase.
The main thing of interest about Friedkin to me is from Peter Gabriel, who got offered a job as an 'ideas man' in the mid seventies because Friedkin had some clout and wanted to 'reinvent hollywood'. To do that takes some guts back in the seventies.
Went to a daytime movie in LA (Nicholas and Alexandra) and who should come into the theatre and sit directly in front of me? Gene Hackman. My only brush with fame.
Why didn’t he just cast an actor? Then he wouldn’t have to physically abuse anyone? Oh…
RIP 😢
If the priest wasn't doing the job, why was he hired in the first place? Did he have to pass an audition? I don't hold with physical violence.
Richard Brooks `slapped` Debbie Reynolds on the set `Catered Affair`.
And her husband slapped another actress on a different film.
Back when directors were EDGY (early '70s): Peter Bogdanovich, William Friedkin, Hal Ashby, etc.
Watching after seeing roger smith slap Stan to get the same reaction.
Legend
Movies today comes outta machine, the shit machine.
Louis C K
Gene Hackman with a Mean Backhand
Why does he look so much like Chief Brody from Jaws?
That’s how he can slap.
Oh course he’s arrogant. Ignorant…I don’t think so. He’s a great filmmaker, ignorant of what?
RIP Legend.
Every time I see this guy I just think of his episode on JonTron 😂
I am surprised that Gene Hackman would balk at playing the disgusting character as written. Who did he want to portray 'Popeye' Doyle as: Atticus Finch? Hackman had no scruples about playing the murderous sheriff in "Unforgiven". Both non-liberal roles must really bother Mr. Hackman to this very day when he looks at the two Academy Awards that are on his shelf or in his display case. Hackman certainly didn't win those Oscars for "Zandy's Bride" or "March Or Die".
He actually *did* have scruples about his role in Unforgiven. There's a clip of Eastwood explaining how he had to *convince* Hackman to take the part.
Only he would slap a non actor AND a priest by asking this first: 'Do you trust me?'
Friedkin is one of those classic 70s flameouts. A couple of great films then progressively just crap. The book "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls" explains what went wrong with him, Bogdanovich, Cimino and others. They got too much too soon. They were called geniuses right out of the gate and bought into their own hype, then couldn't live up to it. It didn't help that they were insufferable, egotistical assholes. Friedkin, Cimino and Bogdanovich, especially, were infamous for their arrogance and egomania. Friedkin, after a long string of flops, was perplexed by why his films were such failures until he finally realized what the problem was: the films he was making "just weren't any fucking good. They have no soul, no heart, they don't even have any technical expertise. It's as though someone reached up inside an animal and pulled the guts out."
What does an actor’s political views have to do with it? He’s suppose to be an actor. Act.
Rip
Doubt he ever slapped Hackman
I'm going to assume Friedkin isn't Catholic
“He was a very liberal person, so he didn’t like using the ‘N’ word”.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Hackman is a bleeding heart liberal, Egan kicked his ass, and loved it. Thank you, love his interviews RIP
The criminal neighborhood
Gotta keep the SLAPPING !!😁 LUV IT 🤩👍🏻
Assaulting a priest to get a shot for a movie is appalling.
C'mon. Priests have it coming. You know, all that pedophilia.
I don't approve of slapping someone for entertainment. 👎🏻
Love This Guy...Firm Director Who Puts His Spoiled Candy Azz Actors in Their Place (Whoever is on The Set)...Actors Believe They are GODS
Mel Gibson and Kevin Costner didn't take any shit from their spoiled leading men in Braveheart and Dances With Wolves.
This director believes he is god
@@kassiogomes8498 He is on The Set
@@jackwoods9604 so he can be a spoiled candy ass but other don't? Interesting
Faye Dunaway was slapped repeatedly in Chinatown by Jack Nicholson-either she or Roman wanted it to be real
honestly I loved the use of good cgi to tell a good story, like the crazy MCU movies all tied together with crazy characters, technology, crazy powers, strange coincidences, phenomenon, heroic deeds, etc., all culminating with end game and guardians 3....
but Jesus Christ it really does get old. now I'm more in lined to watch a really old movie where it was unheard of for a good director to ignore the story, plot, elements like pacing, keeping up the suspense, etc. just plain better story telling is something you just can't get when you're constantly pumping out one blockbuster after another with barely even enough time to finish writing it before the camera is scheduled to start rolling.
I don’t like Friedkin. He was a good director but the more he talks the more he comes across as incredibly arrogant and ignorant.
I don't think you're getting what he's all about
“Arrogant and ignorant”??? He’s one of the most passionate directors out there when it comes to discussing film.
@Sarah ... re: "He was a good director ...but" 1. Either Mr.Friedkin was GOOD director, or not !! 2. "Ignorant?!?" 3. Mr.Friedkin's "good" directing was directly responsible for Gene Hackman to win Best Actor Oscar. 4. Any other false judgmental observations??
@@warriormanmaxx8991 Agree wholeheartedly!
I liked Exorcist, French Connection has been co-opted far too much. I love/hate Sorceror and To Live and Die in LA. It's hard to like him, honestly.
"Gene was very liberal...didn't take well to using the N word."
Sort of implies a conservative actor would find it easy. Seems the people who hate stereotypes have no problem perpetuating them.
Pretty sure Friedkin's conservative, so he'd be insulting himself there.
Who cares?
Be honest. Most conservatives wouldn't have a problem with it, where people more likely to have a liberal stance take more of an issue with it. Don't be disingenuous.
@@dyveira For you to say "most conservatives wouldn't have a problem with it" convinces me you've never bothered to actually get to know a conservative. You are precisely what is wrong with this country. You are a shining example of the people referenced in my original comment.Thankfully I have many honest, unprejudiced, liberal friends. Sadly I think they're becoming outnumbered.
Given the behavior of some of Trump's devotees, can you really blame liberals and even non-partisan folks from drawing such conclusions? Are you in such a small bubble that you can claim any sort of innocence. What should other citizens be thinking while all this division and chaos reigns? Please come down from your ivory tower...
Too bad that Gene is a liberal.
Too bad that you find "somebody doesn't think like you" too bad!
@@massi6528 He's missing common sense and that is sad.
My friends and I used to slap each other for fun, just to surprise each other - nothing violent about it, just fun - this guy interviewing is a cream puff.
RIP, William Friedkin. A great director and a great personality..."No, I haven't done it more than 570 times."
Wow, I did not know he has died. 87 or 88.
Friedkin is pure Chicago. Blunt, no BS, wicked sense of humor, raw, zero obfuscation. Calls it like he sees it, and is not afraid to verbally denegrate you if he sees that you are a fraud.
I wanna go to Chicago to meet people just like friedkin
Friedkin made a few great movies but not "The Exorcist". That movie has no fear or scare factor for an Atheists. It was amusing at times.
@@O-es2zn I was just addressing that the movie is not likely to scare non-believers. I was not addressing the theatre in any way. Well, maybe theatre of the absurd.
@@oppothumbs1 LOL! What a sad atheist. I'm an atheist, oppobrain, and nothing is more pathetic than the atheist that just found a new religion. It's a frightening movie and religion has little to do with it, Oppo the Clown.
@@oppothumbs1 LOL! What a sad atheist. I'm an atheist, oppobrain, and nothing is more pathetic than the atheist that just found a new religion. It's a frightening movie and religion has little to do with it.
I'm sure the actor knew something extreme was coming when friedken said trust me
I'm betting he never tried the slap technique with Gene Hackman.
He didn't have to. But as Friedkin said, he did know how to make Hackman mad.
Do you pick your feet in Poughkeepsie?
Love this guy, note "other" great directors like John Ford. He just put himself into the great director category.
He was.
He actually was very humble and always considered his work not worthy of the great directors and their movies. That was not what he meant here.
I think thats a slip of the tongue, but when you've got that many Academy Awards and great films I think we should allow it.
He's probably the BEST Friedkin Director of ALLTIME!!!
He is very far from it
he's not. he has to beat his actors to get "emotions" from them. unless you think it's ok to do this to women? if its not ok for women, why is ok to do this for anyone else, you miserable clown?
@@skerigyttorpoh yea? Name a better Friedkin director
@@crossedpolars Stanley Kubrick
(there aren't many better than BF, but you asked for one...)
@@HorySmokes No.
RIP WILLIAM FRIEDKIN
One of the greatest modern directors is gone. A huge loss to cinema and the World.
RIP
We’ve lost some real greats last few years
@Horicert directors dont have to be fluffy personalities to make good films. Preminger, Hitchcock, Stone, Bunuel;, plenty of good directors were complete pricks
Proof that talent doesn't make people nice.
To Live and Die in LA...brilliant. Friedkin pushed William L. Peterson to the limit.
Dynamic directer, RIP William Friedkin.
@chetsenior7253 you are unintelligent
Im sorry but he should have got his ass kicked for that
It is amazing listening to Friedkin. He speaks with such economy and directness and clarity.
Other directors do take upon take with an empty camera until actors are frustrated and angry or bored, depending on the mood that has to be reached. Friedkin spoke the magic words first : do you trust me?
He kicked Julie Andrews right in the sound of music.
RIP
this is the kind of genius that the world now needs the most; courage and sense of humor to back it up
Nice bait on the title...I doubt the Friedmeister ever slapped Gene Hackman..( just throwing that out there )
This host sounds exactly like jon stewart
I bet that he wouldn't have slapped Hackman. Just saying.
According to one actor on the set of the Exorcist, friedkin would randomly walk around and fire off a handgun in the air just to elicit a reaction from the cast ? .
no it's ok to threaten and beat your actors. how else do you produce emotions? especially since you hired non-actors to begin with, it's all ok and justified. in fact, they say thank you for the abuse afterward, so it's ok and it's NONE of your business
@@businesswalks8301 Get a grip of youreself son !
@@vinnyvincent2862 you're girl that you love already got a grip on me, two hands and she's moaning. I'll slap her on the face like William friedkin did that priest, then she'll thank me afterwards too
Incompetent director, a child could get everyone on edge if he shot a gun too
@@azv343 a child whose never gonna make movies like The Exorcist or The French Connection!
So the devil possessed Friedkin for that moment.
Ah yes! The old wrestling coach tactic!
I miss this man.
Friedkin more like Freakin' am I right?
Try to shame him all you want but you do what you need to to make eternal Cinematic Art.
RIP 🙏
Ah 570 times. I didn't see that coming. I loled. Nice one.
I contacted Friedkin years ago and he confided to me the actor he had ready for Hannibal Lecter in his unproduced version of RED DRAGON....he went on to do To Live and Die in LA
which was?
@@jackprescott9652 Ian Richardson...starred in Brit version of House of Cards
@@anthonydileonardo8156 cool
@@anthonydileonardo8156 excellent choice. By the way, both Richardson and Brian Cox, who then starred as Hannibal Lecktor in Michael Mann's masterpiece Manhunter, were born in Scotland, a couple of hours by car apart from each other.
@@viviandarkbloom8847 when I read RED DRAGON, I pictured Frank Langella as he looked in 1979's DRACULA for Lecter.....Friedkin and I both saw something in William L. Petersen, but when he said David Caruso was going to be as big star as Steve McQueen, I said...NOT
Never saw his face till now, but it's like a friend took the journey, a nonreligious follower of Christ's teachings like me. 🌹 A great character. "Do y' pick yer feet?" (Thanks Gene, you are amazing too.) 😊
William Friedkin the Legend Director his movie the Exorzist shocking the World really a Master Film maker
Go away 🙄
William friedkin is a miserable clown and deserves to get slapped like he did to the non actors he hired just so he can beat them, you miserable clown
Wow, that’s really fascinating!