Famous for playing the badass, womanizing cowboy or the ruthless cop, you might think Clint would be a total hard-ass. But according to Richard Schickel- famed movie critic, documentary maker, and long-time friend of Clint- he’s quite the opposite!
Clint Eastwood is the epitome of the American macho-male genre actor. With an acting and directing résumé longer than the entire MovieFill archives, and business and political endeavors scattered along the California coast, it’s about time to celebrate his career with a beautiful box set of his best work. Famous for playing the badass, womanizing cowboy or the ruthless cop, you might think Clint would be a total hard-ass. But according to Richard Schickel- famed movie critic, documentary maker, and long-time friend of Clint- he’s quite the opposite (except maybe for the womanizing. 7 kids with 5 different women? Nice work Clint!)
In celebration of Warner Brothers’ recent release of the DVD box set “Clint Eastwood: 35 Films 35 Years at Warner Bros.” and the premier of
The Eastwood Factor documentary, MovieFill sat down with Schickel and got the inside scoop on his best friend and America’s favorite leading man, Clint Eastwood.
Q: So how did you and Clint meet?
A: He was a nice guy in the sense that he didn’t try to tell any grand stories, we were just chatting, having a few beers. I mean, I think there was a natural affinity. We were of similar age, you know, somewhat similar backgrounds and in the same business…he narrated one of the first films I even did. So it happened in kind of a natural way. So it started with a friendship, and then eventually developed into a professional relationship…so it just proceeded from there kind of.
Q: He definitely has a signature part that he plays. Does the hard-ass, broken man persona reflect what Clint is really like at all?
A: He has this ongoing questioning of that macho-maleness that he plays in his characters…that cock-sure maleness, he’s not fond of it, he’s questioning those values at all times. I mean, I don’t know any actor-slash-director who has more questioned those values…it’s what makes him interesting and makes him different. And I think that comes the fact that he comes from a close, well knit family with the value of family being a big factor, you know, he grew up in the [Great] Depression. So they had to get it through that hard time together and he values that.
Q: You guys are such good friends now. Is it awkward for you to critique his movies?
A: At a point I stopped critiquing Clint’s movies. And not because I cared about preserving my own objectivity because no critic is ever wholly objective. But I did care about maintaining Clint’s feelings and our relationship, so I stopped rating his work. But he has faced his fair share of criticism. But he never makes a big deal out of it. And that’s a great tribute to him—that he never makes it seem like a big deal. Like John Ford once said “I’m a career man.” I think that’s how Clint is too, he likes to be considered in terms of his whole body of work and not to dwell on certain things.
Q: Why do you think he has endured through the criticism and the bombed movies?
A: He really is a very smart guy and he’s endured because he doesn’t stand still; he doesn’t just do what works and is safe. It’s not enough for him to keep doing the same thing. He’s always looking for slight oddities in his parts and his movies that will be new and different and entertain the people in unique ways. He’s know for doing genre films, you know, westerns, cop movies, but he always likes to spin it to some degree—to surprise people.
Q: What can we expect in the documentary? Is it the real Clint Eastwood?
A: People probably expected him to be some version of
Dirty Harry. But he’s really very intelligent and he’s not afraid to show it. In the documentary you’ll see, he’s humorous and he’s ironic, and he’s charming and in a way very self-deprecating. In Hollywood, people are never prepared for how smart he is, they can’t take advantage of him.
Q: Tell us about Clint’s talent for finishing his movies on time and on budget and his attitude towards new media technology.
A: The one thing that gets him angry is people goofing off on set. Normally being on set with Clint is very pleasant, but he gets angry when people waste his time. He’s a frugal guy by nature; it’s the way he was raised. And it’s why he makes his movies on time and on budget. Effects take a long time though, and that gets frustrating because that’s something that not in his hands, that he can’t control. He isn’t all that fond of using the supernatural-type special effects, like you will never see Clint direct a movie like
Avatar. But like, with
Invictus, all the fans in the stadium were done with special effects.
Q: Do you think Clint will keep acting?
A: No. I don’t think he’ll work again in acting. Never say never, if that perfect, small part comes along, maybe. But I could see when he came off shooting Gran Torino that he was just so tired. But he’ll keep directing. He loves directing. He just finished filming that movie [with Matt Damon], what is it called? Oh ya,
Hereafter. And that’s about afterlife and all these near-death experiences. I was surprised that he was interested in that, but I guess when you’re our age that’s really all you have to think about (laughs).
Q: He is involved in so much—acting, directing, business, and politics. Would you call him a workaholic?
A: I’ve never seen him frantic or frenzied, he never seems overstressed, so yeah, he’s always working and loves to work, but he’s not a workaholic.
Check out
The Eastwood Factor and the beautiful DVD box set “Clint Eastwood: 35 Films 35 Years at Warner Bros.,” in stores now!