Gene Hackman Was ‘Ashamed’ of His Role in This ‘70s Disaster Film

Gene Hackman is considered by many to be one of the best actors of all time, but there is one film that he never watched his performance back in.

According to Far Out Magazine, Gene spent his life avoiding watching The Poseidon Adventure. Despite being considered one of the best films in the disaster movie genre and earning multiple award nominations, Gene felt that something went wrong during its making and that he may have signed on for the wrong reasons.

“That was my idea of being a Hollywood movie actor,” he told The Guardian. “When I was working on it, I was kind of ashamed of myself. I had to have my hair poufed up at the end and slicked over. And the producer, Irwin Allen, was one of those guys who used to comb his hair from one ear across the top of his head, and I just didn’t want to look like him.” 

The 1972 adventure film stars Hackman as Reverend Frank Scott alongside an all-star cast including Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters and Roddy McDowall. Directed by Ronald Neame, The Poseidon Adventure centres on a fictional luxury liner which is overturned by a wave. Hackman’s preacher must lead a group of survivors to safety as the ship falls apart around them.

Ben Stiller occasionally tells the story about the time he told Hackman how much he loved the disaster film, only or his The Royal Tenenbaums co-star to bluntly respond with: “Oh yeah. Money job.”

As much as Gene struggles with The Poseidon Adventure, he at least managed to escape the poorly received sequel, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, which instead starred Michael Caine on a fatal journey across the sea.