On an episode of the popular The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Scott Eastwood discusses growing up with legendary Clint Eastwood as his father. In the episode, Rogan asks Eastwood a few questions about growing up with the iconic actor and director as a parent.
Joe Rogan: “What is it like talking to him? First off, what is it like being Clint Eastwood’s son and also being a movie star yourself? That’s gotta be weird.” Scott Eastwood then explained how his father is a treasure trove of stories, insights, and lessons.
“Well…look, I’m stumbling through it just like anyone else in life. You know, you’re taking the information you have and trying to make the best decisi ons at the time. Speaking to my dad, it’s like there’s a wealth of knowledge in Fort Knox. And you’re just trying to like pull little slivers out when you speak to him. Because he’ll just say things casually like ‘yeah…’ and everyone shuts the f*** up at dinner, you know, finally he’s about to say something. And then he’ll say, ‘well you know back in the ‘60s I was with Frank Sinatra at that place at that time. Oh yeah, and we met her and we did this thing’ and you go ‘wait, what? Did you just say you were with Frank Sinatra?’ Like ‘stop, stop, more, give us more,’ and he’ll be on to something else and you can’t get it out of him.”
So, per his son, Clint Eastwood casually revealed that he was friends with Frank Sinatra to his shocked family. Apparently, moments like these are frequent. In the episode, Rogan and Eastwood touched on how fans’ perceptions of Clint Eastwood are different than who he actually is. His son Scott maintains that the image you see in movies is a more complex and nuanced figure in reality.
Scott Eastwood says: “What’s interesting though is like what people think about him, they think they see this bigger than life character, but he’s so much more complex than what you see and the movies he’s in. He’s—there’s a lot of nuance. It’s like humans. I’m sure that things people think about you Rogan because of whatever, and they’re like ‘oh well, he’s just this thing.’ They don’t know about your personal life. They don’t know about how you are with your kids. Or how you think esoterically about things, you know, when you’re speaking to your wife. He’s like much different than just that. He’s got a lot of shades, and he’s very, I think, middle-of-the-road on a lot of things. He looks at issues and says ‘well this is that,’ and ‘this is that,’ maybe there’s a middle ground.”
Scott makes a comparison between his father and the host Rogan, who has a similar public perception that may not match his real self. It’s comforting to know that the great ‘everyman’ Clint Eastwood has problems and complexities just like any other person. You can watch the full interview clip below. Also, check out this article where Scott Eastwood pays tribute to his friend and co-star Ray Liotta.