The iconic co-star Clint Eastwood refused to speak to: “I was getting alarmed”
Some actors love nothing more than a long-winded monologue that gives them a chance to show off their dramatic chops, but Clint Eastwood has always been the kind of star who can do more with one word than many of his peers could dream of doing with a thousand.
Onscreen and off, he’s preferred to let his actions do the talking. Even with his breakthrough role in Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy, Eastwood went through the screenplay and pared down his dialogue so the ‘Man with No Name’ would be even more mysterious, stoic, and enigmatic, and he maintained those traits for the rest of his career.
Even when he’s directing, the four-time Academy Award winner has always opted for the less is more approach. 40 features deep and his productions always come in on time, on schedule, and on budget, with Eastwood very rarely extending beyond two takes. He’s something of a minimalist as an actor and filmmaker, which left one of his more esteemed co-stars concerned they’d gotten on his bad side.
The combination of Eastwood and Meryl Streep was an enticing one for audiences, who responded in kind by driving The Bridges of Madison County to over $180 million at the box office, while Streep earned her customary Oscar nomination for ‘Best Actress’.
As has often been the case with Eastwood’s directorial efforts, he signed on to helm the picture after Steven Spielberg dropped out, and he was the one who pushed the studio to cast her as the female lead. However, during production, Streep interpreted her director and co-star’s silence as being less than golden.
“He didn’t really speak to me for the first half of the film, and I was getting alarmed,” she admitted to the Los Angeles Times. “Finally, one day, he said, ‘You know, I don’t say much unless I don’t like it.'” Panic averted, Streep knew she was doing a good job because Eastwood barely said a word to her for the opening stretch of production, which is perfectly on-brand.
It’s understandable that she would be concerned, though, especially when they weren’t just sharing scenes together. He was also overseeing the entire picture, plunging Streep into a panic that she was messing up The Bridges of Madison County because she barely heard a peep from the guy who was both in charge and playing her onscreen paramour.
Silence has always been golden for Eastwood, which Streep clearly wasn’t aware of at the time. In fact, he gave her the ultimate seal of approval by comparing her to two of his Unforgiven alumni. “She’s like Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman,” he said. “She’s just one of those people who are ready to roll.”
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