Were Kevin Costner and Gene Hackman costars? Horizon star posts old interview praising late actor

Kevin Costner is the latest star to pay tribute to the legendary actor Gene Hackman. Hackman's passing under mysterious circumstances has shocked Hollywood, prompting an outpouring of tributes from around the world.

Costner, who shared the screen with Hackman on the 1987 neo-noir thriller- No Way Out, posted a heartfelt tribute to the late actor. The "Dances with the Wolves" actor, shared an old video of himself on the Rich Eisen show, where he spoke highly of Hackman, he said:

"I would say probably Gene was the best actor that I’ve ever worked with."

He further continued:

"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."

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Kevin Costner honors the brilliance of Gene Hackman

In the caption of his post, Costner further honored Gene Hackman, reflecting on the legendary actor's generosity, immense talent, and the invaluable lessons learnt from him.

"Gene Hackman was my favorite actor, and I was lucky enough to work with him more than once. Sharing a story that I told years ago with @richeisen—a moment with Gene that showed me that his generosity and vulnerability ran even deeper than his well of talent. This moment was probably small for him, but really huge for me. As an actor, a man, and even a director. My heart is with Gene, his wife, and his family today. I’m lucky to have gotten to learn from him in this life."

In the interview, "The Bodyguard" actor also shared that Hackman was present in the room when he approached director, Roger Donaldson, to discuss his vision for a scene in the movie.

When someone quipped about Hackman's role in the scene, asking "what's Gene going to do?" Costner replied that "Gene will figure out what to do. Because he's really good."

In the interview, he shared that Hackman later praised him for standing his ground and shared a rather personal story.

"Hey, you know I went through a divorce, I’ve been doing a lot of kind of questionable movies lately, dand when I saw you fighting for what you wanted today, it reminded me of how I used to feel about acting."

Adding:

"It was good what you did,” before he drove away.

The incident struck a chord with the Yellowstone actor, who had previously shared the same clip in 2022, praising Hackman. The caption of the post read:

"35 years ago today we released ‘No Way Out’! In honor of this anniversary, I want to share this story of Gene Hackman that I told on the @richeisenshow a few years back that has stuck with me to this day."

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Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, a concert pianist, were found dead under mysterious circumstances in their home in New Mexico. Investigation is currently underway. Although there are no signs of foul play, the "circumstances of the case are enough to consider it as suspicious".