In one of his most in-depth and interesting interviews, Clint Eastwood talks to London's Daily Mail about viewing life at age 80. He admits he thinks more about the frailty of his life nowadays, but it doesn't slow him down. His latest film Hereafter is just opening in the UK and he is about to begin work on a big screen biopic of J. Edgar Hoover. Among his observations:
- He was raised as a church-goer, but eventually gave it up, preferring meditation to any established religion.
- He jokes about his age, saying that there would be no point in going to a school reunion because there wouldn't be anyone else to show up.
- He's somewhat conservative and voted for John McCain, though paradoxically he has nothing against Barack Obama and opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- He says people still want him to revive the character of Dirty Harry
- He recalls his early days in show business and his friendships with Elvis Presley, James Dean and Steve McQueen.
Eastwood also elaborates on the bizarre offer extended to him to play James Bond (he wisely turned it down):
‘I love London,’ says Eastwood. ‘I guess it’s in my genes. My dad was Scots/English and my mother was Irish. It’s funny, but years ago when Sean Connery left the James Bond pictures the producers contacted me and asked if I would like to be James Bond.
'I’d been doing all those Westerns, so it was flattering to be asked, and they offered quite a bit of money. But I told them I thought they should have a Brit; I was so associated with Americana. I said, “I don’t think that’s good casting.†It would have been fun to do it once but it would have been a very bad move." To read click here