When it comes to icons of American movies, there is perhaps no greater figure than Clint Eastwood. For nearly 75 years, Eastwood has been a staple of the Hollywood landscape. Though he may have started off as an actor, he would eventually try his hand at directing, giving audiences some truly memorable films across a variety of genres. Coming off of Cry Macho in 2021, Eastwood’s new movie is Juror #2, a gripping crime drama starring Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, and J.K. Simmons.
Eastwood is best known in many circles for his contributions to the Western genre. Some of the most iconic Western appearances are in the Dollars trilogy, with The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (1966) being a particular highlight. In addition to starring in these films, Eastwood has also directed a handful of Westerns, including one title that has since become one of his greatest achievements.
In celebration of working together on Juror #2, Hoult shares a memory of a screening of Unforgiven that he organized. Released in 1992, Unforgiven marks Eastwood’s last major foray into the Western genre. In addition to directing, Eastwood stars as Will Munny, a jaded gunslinger who takes on one final job alongside an old friend and a hotshot new outlaw. Unforgiven was acclaimed and celebrated for its deconstruction of aspects of the classic American Western, and it is now widely seen as one of the seminal works of Eastwood’s career and of the Western genre.
During a recent interview with Letterboxd, Hoult recalls a screening of Unforgiven that he organized for the Juror #2 cast and crew. As it turns out, Hoult explains, many of the crew also worked on the 1992 Western, and he reveals that it was quite an experience to watch them relive the 32-year-old film. Hoult shares, “One of my all-time favorites and favorites of his was Unforgiven. And one of the things that was really special in shooting this was we set up a screening of it, so we got to watch it on a big screen. And with a lot of the crew that worked on the movie and knew about the shooting a lot and so it was just really special to be in the theater watching it on the big screen, but also to hear people reacting to it who had personal memories of that film and being there. That was very special.”
At 94 years old, it’s remarkable that Eastwood is still making movies. Given his age and Warner Bros.’ unenthusiastic rollout for Juror #2, it looks likely that it will be his final movie as a director. If it is, then Hoult’s organization of an Unforgiven screening is a special way to celebrate the career of one of Hollywood’s greatest living legends.