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Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood has spoken of his dreams of still making films when he reaches 105 years old, describing his ambition as ‘the ultimate optimism.’
The 82-year-old actor and director admits that he uses his age to his advantage, explaining that he found it more of a struggle to get films off the ground as a young filmmaker.
Speaking at the Tribeca Film Festival, Eastwood expressed his admiration for the 104-year-old Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira, who after beginning his film career in the 1920s continues to direct.
The Dirty Harry icon said: “It would be great to be 105 and still making films.
“In the early days it was more of a fight. Now, they go, ‘Oh, well, if he’s the old guy…”
Eastwood has several films in development after directing 2011’s J. Edgar and acting in last year’s baseball drama Trouble With the Curve, he talked on his relaxed approach to directing.
The Unforgiven director revealed he prefers to use “Go when you’re ready,” as opposed to the traditional “Action!” when beginning a take, adding that it puts “a bad connotation out there, like some firecracker that goes off to get everyone going.”
Giving further insight into his filmmaking, he admitted his willingness to take suggestions for a scene from anybody, explaining “You have to steal a lot. You have to have a criminal mentality to be a film director.”
The Million Dollar Baby director joined fellow director Darren Aronofsky for a staged talk at the festival following a screening of Richard Schickel’s documentary Eastwood Directs: The Untold Story.