Why Clint Eastwood Now Only Stars in His Own Movies

While he initially was known for his roles in westerns and “Dirty Harry,” Clint Eastwood became equally renowned as a director. In recent years, the film icon shifted towards appearing in movies he himself directs.

Eastwood first rose to fame in Rawhide before making his transition to the big screen. He then starred in the Dollars trilogy, in which he played “the Man with No Name.” In 1971, he stepped behind the camera for the first time with Play Misty for Me. From then on, Eastwood became invested in controlling every aspect of his films. The director even composed the music for a number of his own films.

Additionally, Eastwood’s career became even more successful since taking up the director’s chair. The actor has won several accolades. Most notably, he scored Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director for Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby, respectively. Eastwood also has two Best Actor nominations.

The last time Eastwood acted in a film he didn’t also direct was in the 1980s. From 1990 onward, each and every film he starred in, he directed.

While he never outwardly stated as much, Eastwood likely stepped back from other directors because of working conditions on set. He once said that “sets didn’t have to be nerve-wracking or bell-ringing or booby-trapped as it was with some” in his book. In addition, the actor explained that movies were best produced in a “comfortable and calm environment.”

Clint Eastwood Pitches Dirty Harry 6

Previously, Eastwood shared a humorous response to a question he hears all too often: will he reprise Dirty Harry? In fact, Eastwood has an idea for a sixth installment to the series.

“Harry is retired,” said Eastwood. “He’s standing in a stream, fly-fishing. He gets tired of using the pole — and BA-BOOM! Or Harry is retired and he chases bad guys with his walker? Maybe he owns a tavern. These guys come in and they won’t pay their tab, so Harry reaches below the bar. Hey, guys, the next shot’s on me . . .

For Eastwood, he prefers to focus on new ground. Though, he did provide one condition for his return.

While Eastwood has no plans to revisit Dirty Harry, he has one condition to return. Eastwood said: “I guess if there was a truly great script or something, but it’s hard enough to find good scripts any time, let alone one you have to bend to make it fit some franchise. The movies that interest me now take me to new places.”

Additionally, Eastwood explained why Dirty Harry stuck a chord and why it wouldn’t be as groundbreaking today.

“At the time in the press, there was a lot of attention to the rights of the accused, and that’s not bad or wrong, but nobody thought too much about the rights of the public or the rights of the victim, that’s not what the attention was on,” Eastwood said. “All of a sudden here was a picture about the rights of all the victims, and I think it really resonated with people who were frustrated.”