The sci-fi classic Clint Eastwood turned down: “I almost got screwed”
Clint Eastwood has enjoyed the longest career in the Hollywood spotlight of just about anyone who has ever made movies. From his time as a western TV star in the 1950s through nearly six decades as a leading man and one of the industry’s most reliable directors, Eastwood has forgotten more about making movies than most people will ever learn. During this insanely long run in the movie business, he’s played countless iconic roles but also turned down his fair share. In fact, he supposedly passed on one of the lead roles in a ’90s sci-fi classic despite the studio pushing hard for him.
In 1990, an underground comic book was published that caught the attention of Hollywood despite remaining resolutely obscure. Written by Lowell Cunningham and illustrated by Sandy Carruthers, the comic told the story of the “Men in Black,” an organisation of black-suited government agents investigating extraterrestrial and paranormal mysteries. In some ways, it was a precursor to shows like The X-Files and Supernatural, and when writer Ed Solomon was hired in 1992 to adapt the comic, he wrote a very faithful first draft screenplay.
Over the next several years, the script was rewritten to focus exclusively on the titular Men in Black battling aliens. At this point, Columbia Pictures and producer Steven Spielberg knew who they wanted to play the stoic Agent K, and they supposedly offered the role to Eastwood. While it has never been confirmed why Eastwood turned it down, the script soon found its way to another grizzled, taciturn actor: Tommy Lee Jones.
Director Barry Sonnenfeld, who was attached to the project for many years before it finally got off the ground, told Inverse, “The studio really wanted Clint Eastwood. It was me who asked for Tommy, and then I almost got screwed — they couldn’t hire me because Tommy had director approval.” Thankfully, Jones agreed with the Addams Family director helming the project, and Sonnenfeld got his man.
Amusingly, though, Jones always had a strange relationship with the idea of Men in Black as a comedy. Solomon told Inverse, “He said I needed to make up my mind whether it was a comedy or science fiction, and that it couldn’t be both. I said it wasn’t good enough science fiction to be dramatic. Comedy would allow the leaps of faith needed for this to work.” At this point, Jones even asked the writer to pen a new draft that made the film a drama, but he “argued that wasn’t a good idea.”
According to Sonnenfeld, Jones still wasn’t comfortable with the comedic tone even when he was shooting the movie and wound up having to place his trust in the director. “He didn’t like my direction while we were working because he thought I was trying to make him not be funny,” Sonnenfeld told HuffPost. To convince the actor that he had his best interests at heart, he explained that every great comedy duo has the “funny guy and the flat guy” – and Jones’ deadpan delivery made him the best straight man around.
Interestingly, Men in Black wouldn’t be the only time Jones would benefit from Eastwood deciding a role wasn’t for him. In 2006, Million Dollar Baby screenwriter Paul Haggis pitched Eastwood on playing the lead in his next film, In the Valley of Elah, a mystery drama about a military father investigating the death of his son, a soldier who recently returned from Iraq.
Eastwood politely declined but helped Haggis get the movie greenlit, and Jones stepped into the lead role – notching a ‘Best Actor’ Oscar nomination for his trouble.
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