Clint Eastwood rose to stardom in the 1960s by employing a minimalist style of acting as Sergio Leone’s Man with No Name in “A Fistful of Dollars,” “For a Few Dollars More,” and “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” His characters were men of few words and even fewer expressions. Some critics at the time mistook this as a laughable lack of range on Eastwood’s part — an assertion the actor would prove incorrect with shockingly vulnerable performances in “Play Misty for Me” and “The Beguiled.”
But while Eastwood was not precious with his image, he was keenly aware of what he could not, or should not, do. He could play blustery types like John Wilson (based on director John Huston) in “White Hunter Black Heart,” but he knew not to emote. He could tweak his on-screen persona, but he almost never went broad (even when the movie did, like “Every Which Way But Loose”).
In terms of performance style and genre preferences, Eastwood’s obvious comparison is John Wayne. Eastwood is far more adventurous than The Duke was in picking projects, but his approach to the craft of acting is similarly unfussy. So you might be surprised to learn that Eastwood’s only a fan of one particular actor, and he wasn’t exactly known for his restraint.
In an interview with Patrick McGilligan (as featured in the 1999 book “Clint Eastwood: Interviews”), Eastwood acknowledged that while he liked John Wayne as a young man (“depending on the film”), his favorite actor was James Cagney. Yes, James “Top of the World!” Cagney. A man whose rat-a-tat delivery synced up perfectly with the lead sputter of the tommy guns his characters often brandished. An joyously outsized performer who was just as likely to hoof as put a bullet in you. Cagney could do it all, and did –- until Billy Wilder drove him to exhaustion while making the antic comedy “One, Two, Three” in 1961.
Eastwood loved Cagney, especially his early movies, and was aware this was an unexpected choice. As he told McGilliagan:
“He isn’t at all like me. When I first started out as an actor, all the secretaries used to call me Coop, because they thought I resembled Gary Cooper, kind of a backward kid –- quite a few years ago. But Cagney … I always liked Cagney’s style and energy. He was fearless. Most of those guys were, though: they were fearless. Going back to the most famous thing, sticking grapefruits in people’s faces, they weren’t afraid to do things that were outrageous. A lot of good actors get wrapped up in images.”
Eastwood turned 92 in 2022 and has yet to line up a new film after the box office failure of 2021’s “Cry Macho.” If he does get around to acting in another film, it’s highly unrealistic to expect him to break with his tried-and-true approach to performance and, for the first time in his career, indulge his inner Cagney. Eastwood doesn’t do surprises. He just does Eastwood. And speaking strictly about movies, we like Eastwood just fine.