The late legend William Friedkin used to be one of the best filmmakers from the years following the 1960s to the early 2010s. Although renowned for his movies like The Exorcist and The French Connection the best, the director cum producer was also quite famous for the old-school and notoriously candid methods he used while in the director’s chair.
In fact, Friedkin was even more than willing to get under his actor’s skin just to get the most perfect performance out of him. And that’s exactly what he did to two stars from his two top-rated films: A Priest from The Exorcist (1973) and the actor Gene Hackman from The French Connection (1971).
William Friedkin Once Slapped A Priest From The Exorcist Across The Face
During an interview from 2011 with George Stroumboulopoulos on the show George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight, William Friedkin was asked if he had ever used physical force on his actors just to get the performance out of them that he wanted. To this, he shared the story of when he slapped a star from The Exorcist because he couldn’t get one scene right.
“He was not an actor, he was a priest,” Friedkin admitted. “And it was four o’clock in the morning, we were freezing and he had to give the last rites to his friend who had just plunged from [the] top of a flight of steps.”
Continuing, he shared how it wasn’t easy for anyone because of the weather and it got even more ugly as the Priest just couldn’t get it right even after numerous takes.
“The crew was there and freezing. And we did about 25-30 takes, [but] he wasn’t getting it. He couldn’t reach the emotional point.”
Something had to be done. And that something, according to Friedkin, was to slap hard the Priest to get the desired emotional reaction out of him.
“I had read that other great directors had [slapped people to get them to read the proper lines] — John Ford, George Stevens. So I took him by the shoulders and I asked him if he loved me and if he trusted me and he said, ‘You know I do, Bill,’” he remembered. “And I told the cameras to get ready and I hit him as hard as I could across the face, I said, ‘Roll it,’ and he went right into this scene. The shock of it brought forth the tears and afterward, he embraced me and thanked me.”
But that wasn’t the only case where William Friedkin had gone out of his way just to get the desired performance from his actors.
Also Read: Why The Exorcist (1973) Is Still One of The Scariest Films Ever Made
William Friedkin Kept Gene Hackman Constantly Angry On The Sets Of The French Connection
Continuing in the interview, the late legend then went on to share how another actor proved to be trouble to him while working on The French Connection: Gene Hackman.
“Gene [Hackman] did not really want to go to the dark side of that cop because Gene is very liberal, he didn’t take really well to using the N-word, and beating up suspects and all that, which was the truth about that cop. And Gene didn’t want to go there.”
Thus, to get him to do exactly what he wanted, William Friedkin had Hackman constantly angry on the sets throughout the shoot of the 1971 blockbuster.
“Gene and I had a constant tug of war,” he continued, “where I had to get him angry. And he’s angry throughout that picture.”
Just like that, the late legendary visionary William Friedkin produced the most perfect of films that never ceased to leave an indelible mark on his worldwide audiences.
