Clint Eastwood says the most Clint Eastwood thing on set instead of ‘cut’

Tom Hanks talked about it after working with the director on Sully

I’ve heard a few actors say that Clint Eastwood is pretty straightforward on set, often going for just one or two takes and notoriously preferring to simply use a fake baby rather than bother with the hassle of using a real one.

This isn’t necessarily pejorative - like or loathe him he’s an effective director - but his approach is an interesting and idiosyncratic one.

Tom Hanks, who just finished working with Eastwood on Sully, discussed it on The Graham Norton Show sofa at the weekend, joking: “He treats his actors like horses.

“In Rawhide he had all these old directors who’d directed movies and made a big deal about yelling ‘action!’”, Hanks explained, “you know: ‘We’re rolling! Alright standby! This is a take everyday ready, 3, 2, 1, ACTION!

“And every time they would do that the horses [the actors] were on would bolt, and so when you’re in a Clint Eastwood movie you don’t even know the camera’s rolling and you just hear over your shoulder [softly]: ‘Alright, go ahead.’”

He added of Eastwood’s aloof directing style: “Sometimes you’re doing some pretty hot stuff and you just keep doing it until you hear him say: ‘That’s enough of that,’ and then you move onto the next setup - it’s intimidating as hell."

Fellow guest Joseph Gordon-Levitt jumps in, incredulous: “Every time: ‘that’s enough of that’, every time?! Instead of ‘cut’?”

"He’ll say stop if he means you won’t have to do it again, but mostly that’s enough of that," Hanks clarifies. "And you’re thinking, ‘hey, thanks for the vote of confidence!’”

Watch the full Graham Norton Show interview on iPlayer here (Tom’s anecdote starts at 15:50).