The Rushmore Academy

Hollywood Reporter

Speaking to this year’s Cannes, where did the story for The Phoenician Scheme come from?

I had an idea that I actually brought up to Benicio at Cannes when we showed The French Dispatch. We talked about it briefly, and I didn’t really know what it was, but I had the image of Benicio playing a Euro business tycoon, like somebody in an Antonioni movie. I could just see him in it; I could see him and his sunglasses. But one of the main inspirations — along with a handful of real European businessmen — but the more personal connection is my wife’s father [Fouad Malouf]. He’s Lebanese, and he was an amazing kind of larger-than-life figure, and I really loved him. The thing about him was he was somebody who is wise and very intelligent, but a little bit scary. It was always good to walk into a restaurant with him because everything got taken care of immediately. There are many details of this character that draw on him.

Times

The next film, The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), starred a cantankerous Gene Hackman. “Gene was very annoyed about the money,” Anderson says. “He was furious. Also, he didn’t want to do the film anyway. I talked him into it — I just didn’t go away.” With Hackman on board, Anderson cast Gwyneth Paltrow and Anjelica Huston. “And everybody else said yes to the salary, so Gene just went with it — and that just became our way.”

Hackman died this year, aged 95, making The Royal Tenenbaums his last great film. Did Anderson stay in touch? “Not a word,” he says. “In fact he left without saying goodbye. He was grumpy — we had friction. He didn’t enjoy it. I was probably too young and it was annoying to him.”

The last time Anderson spoke to Hackman was after the film’s release. “And he liked it,” the director says, beaming. “But he told me he didn’t understand it when we were shooting.” He sighs. “I wish I’d shown him ten minutes, early on. Then, maybe, he would have said, ‘OK, I get it.’”