Gene Hackman Played His Greatest Movie Villain Because Clint Eastwood Convinced Him To Do It

In 1992, Clint Eastwood released his mid-career masterpiece, Unforgiven, a revisionist Western that’s arguably his greatest achievement as a director. Eastwood plays the movie’s central hero, veteran outlaw and gunfighter Will Munny, as part of a stellar cast that also includes Morgan Freeman and Richard Harris. But every great hero needs a villain of equal might to test their strength and elevate their stature, and Unforgiven’s actor-director found the perfect person to play his opposite number in the form of Gene Hackman.