Clint Eastwood had only one note for Kevin Bacon at Mystic River

To quote Roger Ebert, even if Clint Eastwood had never acted one day in his life, he would always be a Hollywood legend. As a director, Eastwood is one of the most prolific in industry, having made 40 feature films since its beginnings, “Play Misty for me” in 1971. His last film, “Juror # 2”, was released in 2024, which means that he was 93 years old when he finished his work.

On the screen, Eastwood movies tend to be soft and slow. He prefers a naturalist aesthetic, associated with a cloudy and ethereal photograph. He works in all genres, from the dramas of cops to the westerns to the romances, including musicals (although little appreciated his cinematographic adaptation of “Jersey Boys”). As an actor, Eastwood is best known for playing firearm badashes like the nameless man and dirty Harry. As a director, his films tend to be softer and more sensitive. In many cases, his films did not cope as long as Crest slowly. He also carries his policy on his sleeve, often taking on a style of conservatism of “good old days”. That said, many of his films are progressive in their messages.

Five of his films – “Unforgiven”, “Mystic River”, “Million Dollar Baby”, “Letters from Iwo Jima” and “American Sniper” – were nominated for the best film at Academy Awards, with “Unforgiven” and “Baby” winning. He also won the best director for these two films.

As a director, by all accounts, Eastwood is very fast and without hand. He wants to put the camera, take the photo and continue. It is not the type to take control of production and microgestion. Indeed, according to the star of “Mystic River” Kevin Bacon, he barely gives a direction to his actors. In 2003, Bacon spoke with IGN of “Mystic River” and realized that Eastwood had never given him only once throughout the filming process. This direction? Speak faster.

In “Mystic River”, Bacon embodies a police detective named Sean Devine, a cop raised in the streets of Boston. His best friends were once Jimmy (Sean Penn) and Dave (Tim Robbins), but they separated in adulthood. Dave was mistreated and assaulted as a child, leaving him deeply traumatized. The three men have developed, have been married and are still vaguely linked by their spouses. They start to interact more directly when Jimmy’s teenage girl is murdered; Sean must investigate and Dave is a suspect. “Mystic River” is, as you can see by description, a offbeat and difficult film.

Bacon said in the IGN interview that he wanted to work with Eastwood for years, and had been able to tell him after the release of “Space Cowboys” in 2000. Eastwood listened and thrown Bacon in “Mystic River”, giving the actor nothing more than start. Bacon said:

“He throws you for a role, and this call he makes is his vote of confidence that you are the actor he wants. You will play the role, and you do the homework for yourself. Normally, you show at least a few weeks for a film like this on rehearsals and camera tests. Nothing.

It was up to the bacon to do all the necessary research. He went to Boston by himself, learned the Bostonian dialects alone, and plunged into the character alone. It was only when Bacon was completely left alone as an actor he realized how much he had failed to make him supervise. “After so many years,” he continued, “it’s embarrassing to admit that I don’t honestly know how much I want to be directed.”

Working with Eastwood challenged Bacon’s point of view on what a director is doing, and he was not used to this current level of independence. He always believes that Eastwood is a great director, because his approach without frills and freelancers allowed everyone to assign a more professional position. It ended up helping Bacon. And, he recalls, the brief unique element of direction that Eastwood gave him. He said:

“I thought when I was a child that the director was someone who came and improved and brought out this incredible performance. A good director creates an environment that gives the actor encouragement to fly. He keeps a very, very friendly and stress -free whole. The days are short. He makes one or two taken. I do better on the first three taken. [it]Because I did my things and I am ready to do it. I will not be better at 20 catches. And Clint, the only thing I ever told me was to talk faster. “”

That’s it. Speak faster.

Bacon and Eastwood did not work together on other films, but Eastwood does not have too many “favorite actors” that he tends to throw a photo after the image, so it’s not light for the bacon. Indeed, Bacon has continuously improved as an actor over the years, leaving him one of the best players of his generation. He is certainly underestimated. He was certainly enough of everything to create a detective guesses himself, and he did an exemplary job.