“I stored away all the mistakes”: Clint Eastwood’s $10M Directorial Debut Was Inspired by His ‘Starving Days’ That Made Him a Rare Breed in Hollywood With 4 Oscar Wins

Besides his role in the energy-packed action flicks, Clint Eastwood is also known for being an outstanding director over the years. The Dirty Harry fame also flaunts some of the most prestigious accolades for his contribution to direction. Eastwood made his directorial debut with the 1971 psychological thriller Play Misty for Me and according to the director-actor, a unique connection from his earlier ‘starving days’ inspired him to make the movie.

Clint Eastwood wanted to try his hands at directing for a long time when he worked in Rawhide. Reportedly, the Dollars Trilogy lead faced a lot of problems with the antics of the directors of that time. This led him to learn about various things that shouldn’t be done while making a movie and he made a name for himself in making them more efficiently than others.

Also Read: “An inferior piece of trash”: Clint Eastwood Almost Never Made His $139M Oscar Winning Movie After His Script Writer Threw Away the Script

What inspired Clint Eastwood for his first directorial?

Clint Eastwood took quite some time before trying his hands at directing. All this time, he used to focus on his acting credits and gained more experience. However, when he entered the field, it was an incredible entrance as his first movie Play Misty for Me earned critical appreciation and was a decent hit at the box office.

Eastwood also admitted how happy he was to have full control of a project. After all those years of working under several directors and going through some unfavorable circumstances, the 93-year-old star admitted that he was ready to take control of everything. He stated that all the experiences he gathered helped him, and also made him feel good about it.

“I stored away all the mistakes I made and saved up all the good things I learned and now I know enough to control my own projects and get what I want out of actors. So I directed this picture and I’m editing it myself and I think it’s damn good.”

Also Read: “An inferior piece of trash”: Clint Eastwood Almost Never Made His $139M Oscar Winning Movie After His Script Writer Threw Away the Script

One of the key aspects of Clint Eastwood’s direction is his team with whom he has collaborated over numerous projects. According to him, when he thought of making Play Misty for Me, he remembered co-screenwriter Jo Heims who also had a struggling journey similar to the actor. He knew from his “starving days”, that Heims was also struggling with her script.

“In my starving days, I knew [Heims] went around knocking on doors trying to get a job as a writer while she worked as a secretary. She wrote a 60-page treatment about a small town disc jockey who meets a girl in a saloon one night and even after he goes back to his real girl, this chick turns psychotic, starts haunting him, murders his maid and turns his life into a nightmare.”

The 4-time Oscar-winner understood the potential of the script soon and decided to make his feature on it. Everything from the crew to the making was crystal clear to Eastwood and Play Misty for Me went on to collect over $10 Million.

How did Clint Eastwood cast the lead for his directorial debut?

Also Read: “This piece of sh-t again”: Clint Eastwood Was Offended After John Wayne Humiliated His Script by Refusing to Work With Oscar Winner for a Surprising Reason

Play Misty for Me is focused on a radio DJ Dave Garver who is been stalked by a psychotic female fan Evelyn Draper. While Clint Eastwood played a very different role of the DJ unlike his other movies, Jessica Walter was immensely praised for her performance as Evelyn Draper.

When Eastwood was asked about the casting of Walker in the movie, he revealed that Sidney Lumet’s 1966 feature The Group convinced him about the potential of the actress. There was a particular violent scene in the Sidney Lumet movie that impressed him so much that he did everything he could to get her onboard.

The Unforgiven director was also advised by the studio to get someone more popular who could get better deals. But Clint Eastwood stood strong to his point. For him, deals and popularity didn’t matter and all that made sense was someone who could ace the role- “I don’t want deals, I just want someone who is right for the part.” With a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress and worldwide praise, Jessica Walter proved to be the perfect choice for the role.