- I was trained to be an actor, not a star. I was trained to play roles, not to deal with fame and agents and lawyers and the press.
- [on aging] It really costs me a lot emotionally to watch myself on-screen. I think of myself, and feel like I'm quite young, and then I look at this old man with the baggy chins and the tired eyes and the receding hairline and all that.
- The difference between a hero and a coward is one step sideways.
- [on accepting his Best Actor Oscar] I wish all five of us could be up here, I really do.
- If I start to become a "star", I'll lose contact with the normal guys I play best.
- I came to New York when I was 25, and I worked at Howard Johnson's in Times Square, where I did the door in this completely silly uniform. Before that, I had been a student at the Pasadena Playhouse, where I had been awarded the least-likely-to-succeed prize, along with my pal Dustin Hoffman, which was a big reason we set off for New York together. Out of nowhere, this teacher I totally despised at the Pasadena Playhouse suddenly walked by HoJo's and came right up into my face and shouted, "See, Hackman, I told you that you would never amount to anything!" I felt one inch tall.
- [on seeing Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and becoming determined to be an actor] He made it seem something natural.
- I wanted to act, but I'd always been convinced that actors had to be handsome. That came from the days when Errol Flynn was my idol. I'd come out of a theater and be startled when I looked in a mirror because I didn't look like Flynn. I felt like him.
- I suppose I wanted to be an actor from the time I was about 10, maybe even younger than that. Recollections of early movies that I had seen and actors that I admired like James Cagney, Errol Flynn, those kind of romantic action guys. When I saw those actors, I felt I could do that. But I was in New York for about eight years before I had a job. I sold ladies shoes, polished leather furniture, drove a truck. I think that if you have it in you and you want it bad enough, you can do it.
- The difference between a hero and a coward is one step sideways.
- Dysfunctional families have sired a number of pretty good actors.
- People in the street still call me Popeye, and The French Connection (1971) was 15 years ago. I wish I could have a new hit and another nickname.
- When you're on top, you get a sense of immortality. You feel you can do no wrong, that it will always be good no matter what the role. Well, in truth, that feeling is death. You must be honest with yourself.
- I haven't held a press conference to announce retirement, but yes, I'm not going to act any longer. I've been told not to say that over the last few years, in case some real wonderful part comes up, but I really don't want to do it any longer ... I miss the actual acting part of it, as it's what I did for almost fifty years, and I really loved that. But the business for me is very stressful. The compromises that you have to make in films are just part of the beast, and it had gotten to a point where I just didn't feel like I wanted to do it anymore.
- [In a 2011 GQ interview, when asked if he would ever come out of retirement and make another film] I don't know. If I could do it in my own house, maybe, without them disturbing anything and just one or two people.
- [on making The French Connection (1971)] I found out very quickly that I am not a violent person. And these cops are surrounded by violence all the time. There were a couple of days when I wanted to get out of the picture.
- (2011, on how he'd like to be remembered) As a decent actor. As someone who tried to portray what was given to them in an honest fashion. I don't know, beyond that. I don't think about that often, to be honest. I'm at an age where I should think about it.
- (2011, on where he keeps his Oscars) You know, I'm not sure; I don't have any memorabilia around the house. There isn't any movie stuff except a poster downstairs next to the pool table of Errol Flynn from The Dawn Patrol (1938). I'm not a sentimental guy.
- (2011, on Hoosiers (1986)) I took the film at a time that I was desperate for money. I took it for all the wrong reasons, and it turned out to be one of those films that stick around. I was from that area of the country and knew of that event, strangely enough. We filmed fifty miles from where I was brought up. So it was a bizarre feeling. I never expected the film to have the kind of legs it's had.
- I'm disappointed that success hasn't been a Himalayan feeling.
- [on whether he will ever come out of retirement and act again] Only in reruns. Yeah, that's it. I'm at a place where I feel very good about not having to work all night.
- [on writing novels] With me it takes quite a long time, at least a year maybe a little more by the time I go through two or three edits, professional edits, but it's still fun because it's always a challenge.
- Our dreams are usually limited by some kind of reality check and because a guy thinks because he can pluck a guitar a couple of strokes he thinks he's going to be Elvis Presley or whoever.
- [beginning his acceptance speech at the Golden Globes, when he won Best Supporting Actor for Unforgiven (1992) thinking he wouldn't win] Heck, I've just lost a hundred bucks.
- I'd gotten very depressed after Scarecrow (1973) and The Conversation (1974) failed to make money. I was drinking and started to say: 'Hell, I'll do movies that will definitely make money and then I'll have plenty of dough.' I took pictures to play it safe and they turned out to be very dangerous for me.
- (On missing the role of Dr. Berger in Ordinary People (1980)) I would've loved it. I didn't turn it down, we couldn't make a deal. I wanted some points and they were willing to give me some, but not enough to make the picture feasible. Just one of those deals that fell apart.
- (On missing the lead role in Klute (1971)) I wanted it desperately but Jane Fonda vetoed me.
- (On losing the role of Mr. Robinson in The Graduate (1967)) A painful experience. My fault, I guess I didn't understand Mr Robinson because I couldn't make him funny. That's why I believe it takes ten years to become an actor. Luckily, Bonnie and Clyde (1967) was just gonna be released. If I hadn't had a really good performance under me, that would have really done me great damage.
- (On turning down the role of Lips Manlis in Dick Tracy (1990)) I'd just come off a picture a couple days before and was starting another in three days. I was just too tired.
- You go through stages in your career that you feel very good about yourself. Then you feel awful, like, 'Why didn't I choose something else?' But overall I'm pretty satisfied that I made the right choice when I decided to be an actor.
- Dysfunctional families have sired a number of pretty good actors.
- Once, I optioned a novel and tried to do a screenplay on it, which was great fun, but I was too respectful. I was only 100 pages into the novel and I had about 90 pages of movie script going. I realized I had a lot to learn.
- I have trouble with direction, because I have trouble with authority. I was not a good Marine.
- Things parents say to children are oftentimes not heard, but in some cases you pick up on things that your parent would like to see you have done.
- I went in the Marines when I was 16. I spent four and a half years in the Marines and then came right to New York to be an actor. And then seven years later, I got my first job.
- Hollywood loves to typecast, and I guess they saw me as a violent guy.
- I don't like to talk about myself that much.
- My early days in Broadway were all comedies. I never did a straight play on Broadway.
- I'm not a sentimental guy.
- If you look at yourself as a star, you've already lost something in the portrayal of any human being.
- If I start to become a star, I'll lose contact with the normal guys I play best.
- I lost touch with my son in terms of advice early on. Maybe it had to do with being gone so much, doing location films when he was at an age where he needed support and guidance.
- My grandfather had been a newspaper reporter, as was my uncle. They were pretty good writers and so I thought maybe somewhere down the line I would do some writing.
- My wife and I take what we call our Friday comedy day off. We watch standup comics on TV. The raunchier the better. We love Eddie Izzard.
- I write in the morning from about eight till noon, and sometimes again a bit in the afternoon. In the morning I start off by going over what I had done the previous day, which my wife has happily typed up for me.
- The worst job I ever had was working nights in the Chrysler Building. I was part of a team of about five guys, and we polished the leather furniture.
- I left home when I was 16 because I was looking for adventure.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content