It’s a rarity to see Clint Eastwood in front of the cameras these days. The Dirty Harry star is mostly found doing some behind-the-scenes work, serving as director for films such as Flags of Our Fathers , Letters from Iwo Jima , Invictus , and the upcoming Jersey Boys .
The last time Clint Eastwood was in front of the camera was 2012’s Trouble with the Curve , according to his IMDb page. Before that, he directed himself in 2008’s Gran Torino and 2004’s Oscar-winning drama, Million Dollar Baby . During an interview with The Star Ledger , Clint Eastwood said he would act again “if the role is right.”
“ Gran Torino , that was a successful film, and it also had a nice little message,” Eastwood said. “I liked that it dealt with prejudice, [and] that it was about never being too old to learn.”
Clint added that the role was “challenging” for him, and “there aren’t many roles like that for guys my age.” However, he doesn’t have plans to take on another role just yet.
“If I see another, that’s great, but I don’t have the urge, or let’s say, the need to always be in front of the camera,” Eastwood said.
Clint Eastwood does have plans to continue his directing career, and his next film will be the Chris Kyle biopic, American Sniper , according to a recent report from The Inquisitr . That film, which stars Bradley Cooper as the late Navy SEAL, is scheduled for release in 2015.
During the interview with The Star-Ledger , Clint Eastwood mentioned how he originally had plans to direct just a few films after his debut, Play Misty for Me .
“Afterwards, I swore I’d only do it once or twice more, but things would come up and I’d think, ‘No, I have some ideas for his, and if I give it to someone else, they’ll have different ideas,’” Eastwood said. “So I just kept doing it and I guess it became a habit.”
The interviewer then asked the 84-year-old Clint Eastwood if directing kept him “young.” He said it did, and he mentioned how some directors, like John Huston, kept at it in their 80s and produced some great work.
“He was older when he did Prizzi’s Honor , The Dead – some of them, he was in a wheelchair with an oxygen tank,” Eastwood said. “I thought, ‘How the hell can he be in that shape and still be directing?’ But he was still doing great work as a senior guy.”
But Clint also brought up the fact that some directors, like Billy Wilder and Frank Capra, “just stopped.”
“I never could figure that, why you’d just stop,” Eastwood said. “But the truth of it is, the business, you make a film or two that doesn’t work, you get written off. They think you’re old and out of touch and that’s it for you. That great portfolio you have doesn’t seem to matter.”
As for why he decided to take on Jersey Boys , Clint Eastwood gave a very straightforward answer to the Toronto Sun .
“Seemed like something to do,” he said.
But Clint admitted that he also liked The Four Seasons.
“Their music was energetic and great fun and superior for that time,” Eastwood said.
[Image credited to Reuters via Fox News Magazine ]