As a director, Clint Eastwood has established his own rules when it comes to filming. This is mainly because of the things he has learned over the years as an actor. His prolific career brought him a reputation as one of the most respected Hollywood filmmakers.
Actors who have worked with Eastwood attest to his method of making everyone feel comfortable on set. The relaxed ambiance, paired with very few takes, makes everything easier for both the cast and the crew.
Clint Eastwood Reveals His Biggest Nuisance On Movie Sets
While it seems that Clint Eastwood gives off an easy-to-work-with vibe, there is one thing that he strictly implements on set. During the Q&A session at AFI Fest for the promotion of Richard Jewell, the filmmaker shared some valuable insights about his time as an actor (via CheatSheet):
“I started out in an era where they’d ring a bell inside the studio that would take your ears out. I did some pictures over in Italy where people were playing football in the background in my eyeline. I thought do you think it would be too much if I go and say, ‘Would you mind not kicking the soccer ball just for a second or two?’ They kind of got it and the director kind of picked up on it and said, ‘That’s a good idea. I don’t know where you’ve been all this time.’”
The distractions on set have been a nuisance to Eastwood, and ever since he became a director, he made sure nothing will interrupt the production:
“They’d do everything to distract you from playing a part. I thought, ‘I’m going to do everything I can do to make these people, the men and women in films, to make them feel like they’re there and they’re part of it. They don’t have to sit there and have somebody, people having an argument.’”
He noted that these kinds of distractions are something that most actors can relate to:
“Unless you’ve done it yourself, you don’t know. There’s a million things that could distract you. Why make it tough? Make it as easy to fit right in.”
With nothing to interrupt the cast, the filming process will become smoother and stress-free. Indeed, Eastwood likes to maintain a quiet and relaxed environment for everyone on the set.
Clint Eastwood Is The Chill Director Everyone Would Love To Work With
As if Clint Eastwood does not radiate enough positivity amongst his crew, he acknowledged the talent of actors appearing in his movies:
“There’s just a lot of tricks that you do after enough years, you learn a lot of tricks to make people comfortable. That’s about all you can do. The people have the talent. All actors have the ability to do great things. They just need to be helped in a nice way.”
He also noted that directors do not necessarily need to boss everyone around:
“You don’t have to have people in their eyeline. You don’t have to have bells going off. You don’t have to have people yelling, assistant directors yelling, and what have you. You just don’t need that. You just keep it nice and quiet and everybody can have a nice time.”