Tributes poured in for Hollywood veteran Gene Hackman following his mysterious death on Thursday amid new developments in the probe bringing to light alleged inconsistencies in preliminary investigation.

Actors Clint Eastwood, John Cusack, Valerie Perrine, Anil Kapoor and filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola were among the Hollywood and Bollywood celebrities who paid tributes to the two-time Academy Award-winning actor on Friday.

Hackman was found dead with his wife, Betsy Arakawa, and their dog at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Thursday.

Initially, there was no foul play suspected, with Hackman’s daughter speculating carbon monoxide poisoning as a possible cause. However, further investigations have raised suspicions due to inconsistencies, including the couple being found in separate rooms, pills scattered near Arakawa’s body, and the absence of clear signs of a gas leak, the US media reported.

While preliminary autopsies have been conducted, the official cause of death remains undetermined, the US media reported on Friday, stating that the toxicology report was yet to be shared.

Amid the ongoing investigation, Eastwood expressed how he has never seen a single bad performance by Hackman. “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,” the 94-year-old actor said in a statement to US-based entertainment website Variety.

Eastwood and Hackman worked opposite each other in the 1992 neo-western Unforgiven, which was directed by Eastwood. The filmmaker also directed the actor and worked alongside him in the 1997 film Absolute Power.

Coppola, who directed Hackman in the 1974 film The Conversation, said, “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.”

Morgan Freeman starred alongside Hackman in Unforgiven, which won best picture and best supporting actor for Hackman at the Academy Awards. The veteran actor posted a picture of them from one of their collaborations with Monica Bellucci. “One of the personal highlights of my career was bringing the French Film Gardé a Vue (Under Suspicion) to life with the incredibly gifted Gene Hackman. And of course... Unforgiven. Rest in peace, my friend,” he wrote in his tribute.

“He was a genius and one of the greatest to grace the silver screen. I had the honor of working with Him on Superman. His performances are legendary. His talent will be missed. Goodbye my sweet Lex. Till we meet again,” wrote Hackman’s Superman films co-star Valerie Perrine.

John Cusack, Hackman’s co-star in the 2003 feature adaptation of John Grisham’s Runaway Jury, took to X to express his grief. “RIP Gene Hackman — an all time great. One of the most influential screen actors ever. There was nothing he couldn’t do. His work was searingly truthful and often brutally honest — he never let you off the hook. Not afraid of ambiguity — a lost quality these days. Lucky and grateful to share screen with him. RIP Gene.”

Another of Hackman’s Runaway Jury co-star Dustin Hoffman compared the late “genius” to Marlon Brando, calling the actor a “giant among actors”. Taking a trip down memory lane, Hoffman told Deadline, “I met Gene in acting school, at the Pasadena Playhouse, when he was 27 and I was 19.”

Drawing similarities between Hackman and Brando, Hoffman added, “He brought something unprecedented to our craft, something people didn’t immediately understand as genius. He was expelled from our school after three months for ‘not having talent.’ It was the first time they ever did that. He was that good. Powerful, subtle, brilliant.”

Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor, too, penned a tribute on X. “Cannot believe the world no longer has Gene Hackman in it...His effortless performances in films like ‘The French Connection,’ ‘Unforgiven,’ and ‘The Firm’ are just a few times the world witnessed his genius. A true legend whose legacy will live on. Rest in peace,” he wrote.

Hackman’s daughters, Elizabeth and Leslie, and his granddaughter, Annie, expressed their grief in a statement to The New York Times. “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our father, Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy,” they said in a joint statement. “He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa. We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss,” they added.