SUBMITTED BY Timbo

October 13, 2003 — The Chicago Sun-Times talks to Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman about going to acting school together, their relationship over the years, and how they felt about working together in "Runaway Jury".

"To make a few bucks to pay the rent, Gene moved furniture. That was his backup job," Hoffman recalls, providing a few details. "My strong friend Gene would strap a refrigerator on his back and move it six flights upstairs for people who lived in lower side tenements with no elevator."

The more diminutive Hoffman wanted to be like his friend in every way. "There was a very funny day when I said, 'Gene, you've got to let me help you. I'm strong. I can do that sh--. So Gene gave me a box of books and I took it up six flights and nearly collapsed. Five minutes later, I said, 'I'll see you much later.'"

Funny, all these years later and the two are working together again where they finally share the heavy lifting.

In "Runaway Jury," opening Friday, they're equally dangerous lawyers. Set in New Orleans, "Runaway Jury" revolves around a mysterious juror (John Cusack) impaneled on a pivotal case against a gun manufacturer. Hackman and Hoffman play the attorneys: Hoffman is for the plaintiff and Hackman is the cutthroat jury adviser to the gun company's lawyer, played by Bruce Davison.

For Hackman, 73, it's his third movie based on a best-selling John Grisham novel, after roles in "The Firm" (1993) and "The Chamber" (1996). "It just worked out that way," he says, laughing. "I wasn't searching for to be in all the Grisham movies. It's just one of those things."

As for playing despicable characters so well, Hackman has to admit that he's guilty of having that talent. "Well, that's part of me," he says, laughing. "What you always try to do is use various things in your personality that you might not even find attractive. But they are useful."

Read the rest at the link below.