Clint Eastwood Once Revealed the Film That Stopped Him From Quitting Acting ‘on Top’

Actor Clint Eastwood became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars after starring in a series of successful hits like his Dirty Harry series. Soon Eastwood planned on leaving acting behind, and retiring when he hit the apex of his career.

But there was one film the actor didn’t count on that ruined his plans.

Clint Eastwood vowed to never perform again after his first experience with acting

If someone asked Eastwood, not even he’d be sure how exactly he ended up as one of the world’s top movie stars. Eastwood had some pretty off-putting experiences as an actor. Starting out In his first play ever, he vowed he’d never participate in the craft again.

“As a kid, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was forced to do a one-act play when I was in an English class,” he once said according to AZ Central. “We had to put it on for the senior high school. This was junior high school. Jesus. We were all talking about cutting school and not showing up. And I did the play and it was successful. Everybody kept going around saying, ‘Oh that was fun.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, but I never want to do that again, ever.’”

But he eventually developed a passion for acting, going so far as to sign up for classes.

“We would have acting classes where you do inhibition-relieving exercises or whatever they were, where you played chickens walking across the floor. How the hell do you play a chicken? I don’t know but you tried all kinds of things like that. And you did all kinds of improvisation and they’d have you stand and just be. I had an acting coach who once said ‘Don’t just do something, stand there,’” Eastwood once told The Guardian.

Clint Eastwood once revealed the film that stopped him from quitting acting ‘on top’

His newfound passion for acting would eventually lead him to his breakthrough role in the TV series Rawhide. From there, he’d cultivate one of the most prolific careers in the business. His acting career was only rivaled by his time as a director, a field that he’d been interested in during his time in Rawhide.

Eastwood would lean more towards filmmaking in his older years, while occasionally acting in the same films he directed. But he thought the 2004 feature Million Dollar Baby would be the last movie he’d shoot as an actor. The film won several Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Clint Eastwood. It also earned Hilary Swank a Best Actress Oscar, and Eastwood found himself nominated for Best Actor in the movie. Ending his acting career with Million Dollar Baby seemed like the perfect swan song for the Dirty Harry star.

“I said that back when we did Million Dollar Baby. I figured maybe this would be good – to quit on top, unlike a prize fighter who fights one too many fights,” Eastwood once told Yorkshire Post.

Eastwood took a long hiatus from his acting career after Million Dollar Baby. But after four years, he admitted the 2008 film Gran Torino pulled him back in.

“Then Gran Torino came along. It seemed like an interesting part. It was a man my age and I figured I wasn’t stretching things that much. So I decided I’d go ahead and have another shot,” he said.

Clint Eastwood threatened to quit acting as a ‘defense mechanism’

One of the reasons Eastwood considered strictly staying behind the camera while making movies was due to the roles available to him.

“I’ve threatened to quit, but maybe that’s a defense mechanism, because there aren’t enough good roles at my age. That’s probably true, and if it is, I’ll stay behind the camera,” he once told Film Comment.

Eastwood also figured that his career would look slightly different when he reached his older years.

“The reason I started directing 37 years ago was I thought some day I or the audience would probably look at the screen and say, ‘That’s enough of that,’” he continued.

But it seemed audiences still couldn’t get enough of Eastwood. With that, the veteran star became careful with making any statements about retiring.

“I’m not saying it won’t happen again but the odds get less if you set yourself a goal that fits your age group. You just never say never,” he said.