The actors Clint Eastwood compared to well-trained horses: “Thoroughbreds”
When Clint Eastwood moved into directing, it opened up an interesting relationship between him and his connection to his fellow actors. Eastwood hadn’t just been a star himself; he’d been the star, but when switching roles, it could have done interesting things to his perception of actors in general.
Because I’m sure Eastwood always regarded himself as a good man to work with. I’m sure he always thought he was easy and professional and respectful, but when he became a director, he could have realised that perhaps from the other side of things, actors aren’t always that easy.
We hear of so many Hollywood horror stories of true divas. There are people known for showing up underprepared, throwing tantrums that cost a production thousands upon thousands, messing up so intensely and so often that it ends up costing the whole crew hours of overtime. Then there are the even wilder stories of method actors leaving everyone, including their director, feeling deeply uncomfortable, or fights breaking out between casts and the leading crew.
Only from the director’s chair would Eastwood see quite how annoying those things could be, or face up to how painful a production with the wrong cast would be. Luckily, though, he got the flipside. Instead of horror stories, the director only gained more hope in the acting world. In particular, one 1992 production left him completely blown away by just how easy things can be if you bring in the right talent and if that talent has a good work ethic.
Obviously, with the power of his name, his cast often had powerful names too. In this instance, he was working with a supreme double act of Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman on Unforgiven, calling in the absolute big leagues for an epic revisionist western.
He started out just doing his usual process of prepping the cast and then calling them in for rehearsals. Quickly, though, he realised that would be pointless. The story was so rare that it got whispered around, landing in the ears of Matt Damon, who recalled, “He said, ‘They each got one or two lines out, and I said – stop, just get the cameras in here right now.'”
Realising that those two leads needed no help or preparation, Damon recalled Eastwood saying, “‘I never rehearsed again with either of them… They’re ready to go. They’re like thoroughbreds.”
Obviously, they are. In the world of movie making, it doesn’t really get bigger than Freeman or Hackman, and it’s pretty impossible to think of two names who garner more respect for both their talent and their commitment.
For Damon, merely hearing that story was an inspiration that shaped his own work ethic. He knew from then on that that was the gold standard all actors should aspire to, as Eastwood told him, “When they show up at work, you have to be ready to go.“
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