Jeff Daniels’ Netflix series A Man in Full has been dividing both audiences and critics since arriving on the platform last month. While Daniels has been more accustomed to starring roles in movies, it was what he learned from cinema legend Clint Eastwood that helped his transition to television. In particular, Eastwood’s no-nonsense “one-shot” directing style helped Daniels greatly in making sure that filming was as efficient as it could be.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Daniels explained that working in television is very similar to working with Eastwood, in that if the shot isn’t done in one or two takes, then things just move on, and they fix it up in post. Explaining how not planning and rehearsing also helps him hit his best first time, he said:
“I do not sit around with casts on any project and talk about our collective journey. I love to make it happen in front of the camera for the first time in take one. In Clint Eastwood movies, that’s where I learned it. You get one take, and then Clint’s moving the camera.
So that’s where you learn to hit it on one. But television, because they have less money, and they need to squeeze more in every day, if you don’t hit it on one or two, they’re going to edit it later and they’re moving. You got to hit it. So if we aren’t going to rehearse, and we have to hit it on one and two, let’s live dangerously and just roll. Then if the actors know their lines, and they have a plan going in, it collides. I don’t really want to know what Bill Camp has planned. I don’t want to know what Tom Pelphrey is going to do. I want to see it in front of the camera so that I can react to it.”
Clint Eastwood’s ‘One-Take’ Style is as Legendary as the Director Himself
Daniels’ comments about Clint Eastwood’s personal belief that his cast should turn up knowing their lines, and being able to deliver in their first shot, echo those made by several other stars over the years. Recently, Tim Robbins recalled his own experience working with Eastwood on Mystic River, and just like Daniels, the director’s influence became part of Robbins’ own work. Earlier this year he told Deadline:
“[He was] amazing. Amazing. I think what you see in Mystic River, most of what you see in Mystic River is the first take…because he only would do one take. So you come prepared, disciplined, ready to work, know all your lines because you know you only have one shot at it. So, you get three shots, there are three set-ups – you get a wide, a mid, and a close. But he’s not going to do two second takes.”
Eastwood’s directing style is one that has served him well over the years, ensuring that his movies run on schedule, earning the respect of the actors lucky enough to work with him, and inspiring many others when their time behind the camera comes, as it does for many actors. Eastwood’s influence is clearly one that continues to find new corners of Hollywood to work its magic in, even if the man himself is not part of a given project.
A Man in Full is currently streaming on Netflix. Meanwhile, Eastwood has been behind the camera one more time for his new movie Juror No.2, which is due to be released later this year.