Clint Eastwood is calling out fake news.
The 95-year-old actor and director released a statement Monday stating that Austrian newspaper Kurier published a fake interview with him last week for his birthday.
In the “phony” interview, Eastwood allegedly slammed Hollywood’s growing reliance on sequels and remakes.
Clint Eastwood recently says he longs for “the good old days” when Hollywood made more original films. Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images“A couple of items about me have recently shown up in the news,” Eastwood told Deadline.
“I thought I would set the record straight. I can confirm I’ve turned 95,” his statement continued. “I can also confirm that I never gave an interview to an Austrian publication called Kurier, or any other writer in recent weeks, and that the interview is entirely phony.”
Clint Eastwood attends “Richard Jewell” Atlanta screening in 2019. Getty Images for Warner Bros.
Clint Eastwood at the 10th Annual Governors Awards gala in 2018. AFP via Getty Images
Clint Eastwood during an interview at the “Richard Jewell screening in Atlanta, Georgia in 2019. WireImageEastwood was quoted by Kurier as saying that Hollywood filmmakers need to stop making sequels and remakes.
“My philosophy is: do something new or stay at home,” the Oscar winner allegedly said.
Eastwood directed and starred in “Gran Torino.” ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection“I long for the good old days when screenwriters wrote movies like ‘Casablanca’ in small bungalows on the studio lot. When everyone had a new idea,” he supposedly added. “We live in an era of remakes and franchises. I’ve shot sequels three times, but I haven’t been interested in that for a long while.”
Kurier also claimed that Eastwood, who’s won four Academy Awards for the films “Million Dollar Baby” and “Unforgiven,” said he won’t retire for “a long time.”
Clint Eastwood has been working in Hollywood for seven decades. Courtesy Everett Collection“There’s no reason why a man can’t get better with age,” the “Mystic River” director allegedly said. “And I have much more experience today. Sure, there are directors who lose their touch at a certain age, but I’m not one of them.”
Eastwood was further quoted saying: “As an actor, I was still under contract with a studio, was in the old system, and thus forced to learn something new every year. And that’s why I’ll work as long as I can still learn something, or until I’m truly senile.”
Eastwood most recently directed “Juror No. 2.” His latest acting roles have included 2021’s “Cry Macho” and 2018’s “The Mule.”
