How did "Under Suspicion" come about?
Gene and I said when we were doing "Unforgiven" that we must find a project to do together. He had this project with him, which he been carting round for 12 years. I told him "Let's do it." He said, "Well, I'm gonna have to leave it in your hands. I have been trying to get it done for years and failed!" So my production company produced it.
The film is a remake of Claude Miller's 1981 film "Garde à Vue". Had you seen it?
I had forgotten that I'd already seen that version, but I was sitting and watching it with the idea of Gene and I doing it. I was very excited, because what I thought was that I was watching a play. Primarily, these actors are in a stage setting that has nothing else to distract them. Just the human integration, and that's very exciting. Normally, if you're doing a film with some special effects, you shoot very short segments. You very seldom have to learn a page of dialogue. But with "Under Suspicion" we could do an entire scene in one take. An actors talent, if they have any at all, is for memory. I can't remember names, but I can look at a page of dialogue and do it.
How did you find working with an icon like Gene Hackman?
Working with Gene was wonderful. I didn't find it too hard working with an icon I so respected. I learned how to deal with that from working with José Ferrer. He was the first chance I had to work with someone I really venerated. It was difficult for him too. He had to say "Morgan. Get over it!"
Read a review of "Under Suspicion".
Read an interview with Gene Hackman, star of "Under Suspicion".
Read an interview with Stephen Hopkins, director of "Under Suspicion".
