Why Gene Hackman Walked Away from His Acting Career and into Writing
After reading the article in the What's New section of the September/October edition of AARP about Gene Hackman walking away from acting to become a full-time novelist, I realized how much of things he talked about inspired me. There were a few things I didn't know about his writing capabilities as well.
Gene has co-authored three books with Daniel Lenihan before going out on his own to write Payback at Morning Peak.
He decided after having a procedure for congestive heart failure, acting was more of a stressor than he wanted and cared to have in his life.
He was in his mid 70s when he got the writing fever. He walked away from a successful career and published his first solo book in his 80s. I call that moxie.
He had such a successful career as being an actor in 80 featured films. Gene also proved his low minded teachers from the Pasadena Playhouse wrong with his acting career.
Hackman also found out the hard way to never, ever to surrender your screenplays to someone else. He did that when he was a third of the way through writing the "Silence of the Lambs" screenplay back in the 70s. He also said he would never write a screenplay again because he doesn't like the writing style of them. I don't think I could do that either because everything has to be precise and spot on in order for them to be taken seriously by directors and producers.
I did however know to never give away your rights to anything you take on because you can use them later on for other projects. Also, there are those advances, residuals and royalties, and several other things that factor into writing whether it's novels, screenplays or article writing. Money is money and it pays the bills.
Although I had quit a job that was stressful on different levels, I can understand why Gene Hackman chose to take a new career path on a passion he loves. Sure there are deadlines, contracts, and other people to deal with, but you can decide for the most part when any of those things happen rather than relying on others to set all that up through a job you absolutely find to be more stress than it's worth.
One thing I would like to point out to anyone reading this is you are never to old to follow your dream and passion. Hackman did it. I did it in my early 40s. You can do it.
Sources
Katherine Coble; Let's Talk About Royalties, Shall We?; Mycropht.wordpress.com
Franz Lidz. AARP Magazine. p 16. issue Sept./Oct. 2011
Gene has co-authored three books with Daniel Lenihan before going out on his own to write Payback at Morning Peak.
He decided after having a procedure for congestive heart failure, acting was more of a stressor than he wanted and cared to have in his life.
He was in his mid 70s when he got the writing fever. He walked away from a successful career and published his first solo book in his 80s. I call that moxie.
He had such a successful career as being an actor in 80 featured films. Gene also proved his low minded teachers from the Pasadena Playhouse wrong with his acting career.
Hackman also found out the hard way to never, ever to surrender your screenplays to someone else. He did that when he was a third of the way through writing the "Silence of the Lambs" screenplay back in the 70s. He also said he would never write a screenplay again because he doesn't like the writing style of them. I don't think I could do that either because everything has to be precise and spot on in order for them to be taken seriously by directors and producers.
I did however know to never give away your rights to anything you take on because you can use them later on for other projects. Also, there are those advances, residuals and royalties, and several other things that factor into writing whether it's novels, screenplays or article writing. Money is money and it pays the bills.
Although I had quit a job that was stressful on different levels, I can understand why Gene Hackman chose to take a new career path on a passion he loves. Sure there are deadlines, contracts, and other people to deal with, but you can decide for the most part when any of those things happen rather than relying on others to set all that up through a job you absolutely find to be more stress than it's worth.
One thing I would like to point out to anyone reading this is you are never to old to follow your dream and passion. Hackman did it. I did it in my early 40s. You can do it.
Sources
Katherine Coble; Let's Talk About Royalties, Shall We?; Mycropht.wordpress.com
Franz Lidz. AARP Magazine. p 16. issue Sept./Oct. 2011
Published by Karen Barnes
Karen is an online marketer, freelance writer, online game player, crafter, mother, wife, and home cook. She has worked in fast food, grocery stores, and a home and farm store. She studied business in hig... View profile
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