Gene Hackman was remembered fondly by his former co-star Bill Murray.  

The late Oscar winner, who was discovered alongside his wife in their Santa Fe home on Wednesday, starred as the тιтular character in the acclaimed 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums, alongside Bill Murray, Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, and Anjelica Huston. 

Murray, 74, remembered Hackman coming down hard on director Wes Anderson who was helming one of his first big projects. 

Murray had worked with Anderson previously on 1998’s Rushmore and stepped in to try to buffer the tension between the two. 

‘He was a tough nut, Gene Hackman. But he was really good. He was really difficult, we can say it now, but he was a tough guy,’ the Stripes actor told the ᴀssociated Press.

‘Older, great actors do not give young directors much of a chance. They’re really rough on them, and Gene was really rough on Wes,’ the Saturday Night Live alum explained. ‘I used to, kind of, step in there and just try to defend my friend.’ 

Murray also spoke of Hackman’s work ethic on the project.  

Bill Murray remember his former co-star Gene Hackman fondly following news of the Oscar winner’s death on Wednesday  (pictured in New York City on Thursday)

‘I watched him do like 25 takes where he did it perfectly with an actor who kept  blowing it every single time, big long camera move, panning, all this stuff.’ he revealed.

‘Gene would do it perfectly, the other actor, oh God, I was watching going “no wonder this guy wants to throttle people,”‘ he explained.

Read More Gene Hackman’s greatest screen moments from Bonnie and Clyde to The French Connection

‘And then he [Gene} gave just a sort of ordinary performance  and the other actor got it right, and I thought Gene was going to throw the guy off the ledge of the building… so he was a great one. He was a great actor.’

In an clip from of The Drew Barrymore Show where Murray was promoting his new film, Riff Raff,  the actor spoke again about his experience working with the two-time Oscar winner. 

‘So he was a little irritable, but he had to work with children, dogs … they put him in very challenging positions to work, and so he just felt a lot of responsibility and kept thinking, “What am I doing here with these people?”‘

‘But the performance he gives is brilliant,’ Murray declared in the episode scheduled to air March 5.

‘When you see the movie, it’s a real piece of work. Wes Anderson makes great movies, and so [did] Gene Hackman. You put them both in the same movie, what are you gonna get? You’re gonna get a good movie.’ 

Murray and Hackman starred together in 2001’s The Royal Tenenbaums, seen here with Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, Grant Rosenmeyer, Jonah Myerson, and Anjelica Huston 

Murray admitted Hackman was tough on director Wes Anderson. ‘Older, great actors do not give young directors much of a chance. They’re really rough on them, and Gene was really rough on Wes,’ he explained. ‘I used to, kind of, step in there and just try to defend my friend’

In a clip from The Drew Barrymore Show, Murray spoke again about his experience working with the two-time Oscar winner. ‘So he was a little irritable, but he had to work with children, dogs … they put him in very challenging positions to work,’ he explained 

Murray called Hackman’s The Royal Tenenbaums performance ‘brilliant. When you see the movie, it’s a real piece of work. Wes Anderson makes great movies, and so [did] Gene Hackman. You put them both in the same movie… You’re gonna get a good movie’

Hackman, 95, his wife, Betsy Arakawa, and one of their dogs were found ᴅᴇᴀᴅ at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Wednesday. Two other dogs on the property were found alive. 

Arakawa, 65, appeared to have died some time ago, according to investigators, and Hackman seemed to have fallen down. The actor was fully clothed and his sunglᴀsses were found next to his body. 

Investigators say the case is still open and they are awaiting the results of autopsies and toxicology tests. 

Hackman’s death and contribution to Hollywood will be recognized at Sunday’s Oscar ceremonies, but the show’s producers have not revealed if he will be included in the annual in memoriam segment