That’s not gonna hack it.
Keanu Reeves recently looked back on his experience working with Gene Hackman on the 2000 sports comedy “The Replacements” during Travis and Jason Kelce’s podcast, “New Heights.”
“Such a gentleman and hero of mine,” Reeves, 61, said about Hackman, who died in February at age 95. “When you look at his career, the breadth of roles like comedy, drama, the filmmakers… it’s just so special.”
“And he was really nice to me,” Reeves added. “He was generous. We had a good chemistry.”
Hackman meant business when they were filming the Howard Deutch-directed project.
“He was like, no-nonsense, no b-llsh-t, came to work ready to go, knew lines, knew what was going on and didn’t really suffer people who weren’t doing that,” the “Matrix” actor said, adding that Hackman “had a look” as he mimicked the late star.
“Sounds like a real coach, right? Sounds like Andy Reid,” said Travis, 36, referring to his Kansas City Chiefs coach. “My coach gives you one look, you already know you better tighten it up, man, get this thing rocking and rolling.”
Reeves reiterated to the NFL brothers that Hackman was “a total pro and a gentleman and sweet.”
In “The Replacements,” Hackman plays a football coach who leads the replacement players when the real players go on strike. Reeves plays left-handed quarterback Shane Falco.
The film also stars Orlando Jones, Brooke Langton, Rhys Ifans, Jon Favreau, and Jack Warden. It made $50 million at the box office.
During the podcast interview, Reeves debunked the theory that he was scouted to play in the NFL by the Baltimore Ravens after “The Replacements” came out.
“That’s absolutely nonsense,” Reeves said, as the Kelce brothers laughed.
Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 65, were found dead in their Santa Fe, NM, home on Feb. 26.
The “French Connection” star’s cause of death was revealed to be heart disease, with advanced Alzheimer’s disease being a contributing factor.
Arakawa died of hantavirus, a rare flu-like disease linked to rodents, roughly a week before her husband’s passing.
The couple was laid to rest in a private memorial in Santa Fe roughly two months after their deaths.
