NEW YORK—Clint Eastwood was gazing with that quintessential stare. It’s the one he’s been known for his entire acting career—from his western anti-heroes to Dirty Harry, to most recently as Walt Kowalski in Gran Torino.
He holds it just long enough so that the tension builds in the room of approximately 100 reporters, at a press conference for his new film Hereafter (at the New York Film Festival’s closing on Oct. 10).
The blank, passive-aggressive stare is the immediate response to a long meandering statement, requesting Eastwood to comment on a noticeable theme running through his films (about trying to remain relevant as one becomes older)—a possibly touchy topic if misinterpreted by the 80-year-old filmmaker.
“What?” blankly replies Eastwood after the longest five second pause ever, maintaining his stare and causing the entire room to burst out in laughter as the reporter appears a bit nervous.
“What was the old John Ford thing when they would ask him a long question and he would say ‘Cut!’” quipped Eastwood, imitating the celebrated director on set. The room yet again erupts into laughter, as the reporter feels like perhaps he’s digging himself in deeper.
“I was just wondering if you had any comment,” whispers the reporter.
The brief and hilarious exchange exemplified the 45-minute conversation, where Eastwood was flanked by actors Matt Damon, Bryce Dallas Howard, Cecile De France, as well as screenwriter Peter Morgan.
“You know its very subjective, and it’s a very difficult one for me to answer,” genuinely replied Eastwood—like a lovable and mischievous elder uncle who’s made his point and now wants to move on after having his fun.
“I think it would be better for someone else than me to evaluate, because I don’t think of it in that way. I think, to me that, everything is spontaneous. Unforgiven to me is an example of a script that I liked right away but, I said ‘This is great, but I’d like to do it when I’m older.’ So I stuck it in the drawer for 10 years. And then I took it out.
“I have no real rhyme or reason. I wish I could give you some pseudo-intellectual thing that would be great and maybe if this was a French cinema class I’d have to fake something.” The room burst out yet again with laughter and whoops.
Just as Eastwood gently brushes off the question, Matt Damon pipes up.
“I actually asked a similar question of him [Eastwood] on Invictus, but it was about directors as they got older. Why was it that they historically seemed to fall off … I remember asking him, because he has obviously completely avoided that,” as Damon nods in Eastwood’s direction.
“Not so fast” interjects Eastwood with another dose of self-deprecation—gently but firmly squashing any and all adulation directed his way—as if he’s built up a search and destroy mechanism to pretension.
He holds it just long enough so that the tension builds in the room of approximately 100 reporters, at a press conference for his new film Hereafter (at the New York Film Festival’s closing on Oct. 10).
The blank, passive-aggressive stare is the immediate response to a long meandering statement, requesting Eastwood to comment on a noticeable theme running through his films (about trying to remain relevant as one becomes older)—a possibly touchy topic if misinterpreted by the 80-year-old filmmaker.
“What?” blankly replies Eastwood after the longest five second pause ever, maintaining his stare and causing the entire room to burst out in laughter as the reporter appears a bit nervous.
“What was the old John Ford thing when they would ask him a long question and he would say ‘Cut!’” quipped Eastwood, imitating the celebrated director on set. The room yet again erupts into laughter, as the reporter feels like perhaps he’s digging himself in deeper.
“I was just wondering if you had any comment,” whispers the reporter.
The brief and hilarious exchange exemplified the 45-minute conversation, where Eastwood was flanked by actors Matt Damon, Bryce Dallas Howard, Cecile De France, as well as screenwriter Peter Morgan.
“You know its very subjective, and it’s a very difficult one for me to answer,” genuinely replied Eastwood—like a lovable and mischievous elder uncle who’s made his point and now wants to move on after having his fun.
“I think it would be better for someone else than me to evaluate, because I don’t think of it in that way. I think, to me that, everything is spontaneous. Unforgiven to me is an example of a script that I liked right away but, I said ‘This is great, but I’d like to do it when I’m older.’ So I stuck it in the drawer for 10 years. And then I took it out.
“I have no real rhyme or reason. I wish I could give you some pseudo-intellectual thing that would be great and maybe if this was a French cinema class I’d have to fake something.” The room burst out yet again with laughter and whoops.
Just as Eastwood gently brushes off the question, Matt Damon pipes up.
“I actually asked a similar question of him [Eastwood] on Invictus, but it was about directors as they got older. Why was it that they historically seemed to fall off … I remember asking him, because he has obviously completely avoided that,” as Damon nods in Eastwood’s direction.
“Not so fast” interjects Eastwood with another dose of self-deprecation—gently but firmly squashing any and all adulation directed his way—as if he’s built up a search and destroy mechanism to pretension.
“It is kind of mystifying to me,” continues Damon. “Historically the great directors—not all of them but many of them fell off as they get older, and it never really made sense to me.”
“I knew Frank Capra a little bit, and I spent some time with him … And he was always so bright, and I remember thinking ‘why isn’t this guy still working,’” reminisced Eastwood. “I also knew Billy Wilder somewhat. And he had actually stopped working in his 60s, and I thought—that’s amazing. Here’s a guy who is bright and lived well into his 90s and didn’t work [anymore]. I never could figure that. I just figured your best years should be at a point where you absorbed all this knowledge.
“There is a Portuguese director (Manoel de Oliveira) who is still making films at over 100 years old, and I plan to do the sa-ame thing,” which brought a hearty round of applause—as if Eastwood finally allowed himself the tiniest sliver of pride even if just in jest.
Eastwood patiently and kindly replied to every question, frequently drawing laughs with his dry yet affable sarcasm. He explained the making of his new film “Hereafter”—from obtaining the Peter Morgan script via Steven Spielberg, to casting a set of twins for a pivotal role—who’d never acted before, to differences of opinion with the studio about giving away too much detail in the film’s trailer.
Hereafter deals with the topic of mortality and what happens after we die. It features three distinct story lines and characters taking place simultaneously in San Francisco, Paris, and London.
“An unusual aspect of the script was taking actual events and placing them into a fictional story. And so the Tsunami of four years ago of the Pacific was one and the London bombings—I thought that was a unique thing to do,” explained Eastwood.
As the film progresses, the characters’ lives intertwine around this central theme of what happens to loved-ones after death.
“Most religions seem to ponder the afterlife, but I thought this was interesting because it wasn’t really a religious project—it had a spirituality about it—but it wasn’t tied in with any particular organized thought.
“I believe everybody, whether you believe in the afterlife or the chance of a near death experience and you come back and see some semblance of it—whether that has happened or not I don’t know, but certainly I think everyone has thought about it at some point or another in time. It’s a fantasy, that if there is anything like that out there it would be just terrific, but that remains to be seen,” said Eastwood.
Much of the discussion centered on the film’s delicacy in exploring the theme of the afterlife.
“Yeah it raises a lot of questions,” confirms Eastwood. “But the questions, that’s where it ends. The questions are there, and you’re posed the questions, and then its up to the audience to meet you half way and think about it in terms of their own life and what their thoughts are or what experiences they might have had.”
“I knew Frank Capra a little bit, and I spent some time with him … And he was always so bright, and I remember thinking ‘why isn’t this guy still working,’” reminisced Eastwood. “I also knew Billy Wilder somewhat. And he had actually stopped working in his 60s, and I thought—that’s amazing. Here’s a guy who is bright and lived well into his 90s and didn’t work [anymore]. I never could figure that. I just figured your best years should be at a point where you absorbed all this knowledge.
“There is a Portuguese director (Manoel de Oliveira) who is still making films at over 100 years old, and I plan to do the sa-ame thing,” which brought a hearty round of applause—as if Eastwood finally allowed himself the tiniest sliver of pride even if just in jest.
Eastwood patiently and kindly replied to every question, frequently drawing laughs with his dry yet affable sarcasm. He explained the making of his new film “Hereafter”—from obtaining the Peter Morgan script via Steven Spielberg, to casting a set of twins for a pivotal role—who’d never acted before, to differences of opinion with the studio about giving away too much detail in the film’s trailer.
Hereafter deals with the topic of mortality and what happens after we die. It features three distinct story lines and characters taking place simultaneously in San Francisco, Paris, and London.
“An unusual aspect of the script was taking actual events and placing them into a fictional story. And so the Tsunami of four years ago of the Pacific was one and the London bombings—I thought that was a unique thing to do,” explained Eastwood.
As the film progresses, the characters’ lives intertwine around this central theme of what happens to loved-ones after death.
“Most religions seem to ponder the afterlife, but I thought this was interesting because it wasn’t really a religious project—it had a spirituality about it—but it wasn’t tied in with any particular organized thought.
“I believe everybody, whether you believe in the afterlife or the chance of a near death experience and you come back and see some semblance of it—whether that has happened or not I don’t know, but certainly I think everyone has thought about it at some point or another in time. It’s a fantasy, that if there is anything like that out there it would be just terrific, but that remains to be seen,” said Eastwood.
Much of the discussion centered on the film’s delicacy in exploring the theme of the afterlife.
“Yeah it raises a lot of questions,” confirms Eastwood. “But the questions, that’s where it ends. The questions are there, and you’re posed the questions, and then its up to the audience to meet you half way and think about it in terms of their own life and what their thoughts are or what experiences they might have had.”
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