The late Gene Hackman was a sterling performer but “a little irritable” on the set of The Royal Tenenbaums, Bill Murray recalls. Speaking on The Drew Barrymore Show, Murray acknowledges that the shoot was tricky for Hackman given how much he was working with children and dogs. “I sympathize with Gene ’cause, to him, Wes Anderson was like just a punk kid, you know? And Gene’s made some of the greatest American movies,” Murray says. “They put him in very challenging positions to work, and so he just felt a lot of responsibility and kept thinking, ‘What am I doing here with these people?’”

Of course, “the performance he gave was brilliant,” Murray adds, theorizing that Hackman had to know the juice was worth the squeeze after seeing the film. “When you see the movie, it’s a real piece of work. Wes Anderson makes great movies and so does Gene Hackman. You put them both in the same movie, what are you gonna get? You’re gonna get a good movie.”

Murray additionally spoke about the experience with the Associated Press, sharing, “He was a tough nut, Gene Hackman, but he was really good. And he was really difficult. Like, we can say it now, but he was a tough guy because older great actors do not give young directors much of a chance. They’re really rough on ’em. And Gene was really rough on Wes and I used to kind of step in there and just… you know, try to defend my friend.”

“I watched him once do like 25 takes where he did it perfectly with an actor who kept blowing it every single time,” Murray remembered of The Royal Tenenbaums set. “I was watching it going, ‘No wonder this guy wants to throttle people.’ Then he gave a sort of ordinary performance and the other actor got it right, and I thought Gene was gonna throw the guy off the ledge of the building. … He was a great one. He was a great actor.”

Since news of Hackman’s death broke on Thursday, Hollywood has been remembering and celebrating the Oscar winner for his contributions to cinema. Tributes have poured in from various admirers and friends, including Clint Eastwood, who said in a statement to the AP, “There was no finer actor than Gene. Intense and instinctive. Never a false note. He was also a dear friend whom I will miss very much.” Francis Ford Coppola also paid tribute, writing on Instagram, “The loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration: Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity, I mourn his loss, and celebrate his existence and contribution.”