Clint On Being Old

And interview with Clint Eastwood is not quite what it seems. Although not quite as monosyllabic as his screen characters, he is still a man of few words. In an interview with the Rowdy Yates and Dirty Harry actor-cum-Oscar-winning director to be published Sunday, The New York Times’ Bruce Headlam’s many thousands of words contain only a few dozen from the great man himself. But they are worth heeding, particularly if you are an aging actor. “It’s ridiculous when you won’t play your own age,” said the 78-year-old. “You know when you’re young and you see a play in high school, and the guys all have gray in their hair and they’re trying to be old men and they have no idea what that’s like? It’s just that stupid the other way around.” Harrison Ford, 66, Jack Nicholson, 71, et al., please note.