American actor and director Clint Eastwood, now nearing 93 years old, has returned to the director's chair after a hiatus with "Juror No. 2." The film stars Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, and Gabriel Basso, and it is believed to be the last cinematic work of the western film icon.
Despite his age, Eastwood is still able to stand behind the camera directing, having led crews for over 41 films and appearing as an actor in another 60, with starring roles in America's most famous cowboy films.
In "Juror No. 2," Hoult plays juror Justin Kemp who grapples with a moral dilemma after accidentally killing someone in a reckless driving incident. Kemp attempts to manipulate the jury to save an innocent defendant without implicating himself, creating an exciting legal drama. Toni Collette portrays the role of the district attorney, while Gabriel Basso embodies the unjustly accused man standing trial.
Clint Eastwood in 2019, who is now around 93 years old (Getty)
The main scenes of the film were shot in Savannah, Georgia, last June and July, with additional scenes filmed in Los Angeles. Filming was paused due to an actors' strike ten days before completion but resumed in November 2023 after the strike concluded.
An Impressive Career
Eastwood's most recent work prior to "Juror No. 2" was the 2021 film "Cry Macho," which he both starred in and directed. The film did not receive much acclaim upon release, prompting him to direct a new film to end his long cinematic career. After reading the script by Jonathan Abrams, which included rewrites to change the age of a certain character and add an assistant role for the protagonist, Eastwood chose "Juror No. 2." The invoices for the film carry the note "Clint Eastwood's last film."
Eastwood's extensive movie career can be divided into four stages, starting with the Cowboy films. Before this phase, his career was defined by supporting roles. His roles shifted after the "Rawhide" series, where he played cowboy Rowdy Yates in all 217 episodes, concluding in 1965.
Clint Eastwood in full cowboy attire in a scene from his 1980 film "Bronco Billy" (Getty)
Much of Eastwood’s work until 1970 revolved around the American West, most notably his role in the "Man With No Name" trilogy, also known as The Dollars Trilogy, directed by Sergio Leone. This cowboy phase ended in the 1970s with "Two Mules for Sister Sara."
The following phase was Eastwood's era of rebellion, where he swapped the old western look and cowboy hat for modern clothing and replaced the horse with a Ford car.
Seeking Justice
During this stage, he presented characters that embodied a rebellious nature opposed to authority and in pursuit of justice. An example is his 1971 role in "Dirty Harry" as a police officer who defies his superiors' orders. This phase ended at the beginning of the 1980s.
The pursuit movies phase began in 1982 with "Firefox," about a former Vietnam War pilot given a secret mission in the Soviet Union to steal a jet fighter prototype. This period concluded with his 1993 role in "In the Line of Fire," which revolves around the period following the assassination of the former American president John Kennedy.
Clint Eastwood stands on his yacht at the Quay on the Croisette during the Cannes Film Festival 1985 (Getty)
Eastwood's current phase is that of the stern, older man with a grumpy demeanor. In most roles in this period, which began in the mid-1990s, he plays an old man with a bad temper, stubborn and disgruntled about something, as seen in his role in "Trouble With the Curve" in 2012. The character struggles to keep his position against a young, ambitious Justin Timberlake aiming for the same job.
His latest role in this phase was in "Cry Macho" in 2021, in which he played Mike Milo, a former horse trainer tasked with bringing his ex-boss's son away from his drug-addicted mother. During the journey from rural Mexico to Texas, the man teaches the boy what it means to be a good man.
