Kevin Costner chokes up over Gene Hackman in resurfaced clip: My favorite actor

An untouchable legacy.An interview in which Kevin Costner recalled an emotional exchange with Gene Hackman that left him choked up resurfaced Thursday after news of the “French Connection” star’s mysterious death broke.Hackman, 95, his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, 65, and one of their three dogs were found dead at their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home on Wednesday.The deaths are still under investigation by local police, but according to the sheriff of Santa Fe County, Hackman may have been dead for over a week before the couple’s bodies were discovered by a maintenance worker.As tributes to Hackman poured in this week, Costner, 70, was among those who posted a clip from the 2017 sit-down he did with sports commentator Rich Eisen.In the video, Eisen asks the “Yellowstone” star what it was like to be on set with Hackman, who he starred alongside in the 1987 political thriller “No Way Out.”“I would say probably Gene was the best actor that I’ve ever worked with,” Costner told Eisen at the time.“People ask all the time, you know, ‘Who is the best actor? Who is the biggest star? Who is the blah blah blah?’ The line is long for the great actors I’ve been able to work, it really is,” the Oscar winner added.Costner then went on to share how a confrontation he had with “No Way Out” director Roger Donaldson in front of Hackman about blocking led to a memorable moment that has stuck with him for decades.“We had been doing every scene to that point around a desk,” Costner recounted.

“Every scene.I finally said to the director, ‘Look, I don’t feel like it’s right,'” he added, noting that the entire time, “Gene Hackman’s standing there listening.”Costner told Donaldson, “I feel like [the scene should be] over here.”“And it was like, no one is saying anything and the director and I really butted heads on it,” he recalled.“Finally for whatever reason – and Gene’s just, like, listening.

And finally, for wh...