When mentally sorting out the names of those who might be considered the sole figure representative of the entire brilliance of American cinema, Clint Eastwood comes in strong at the top of the pile. After all, throughout his impressive time in the spotlight, Eastwood has shown his brilliance as an actor and a director.

After appearing in the TV western series Rawhide, Eastwood earned notoriety and respect for his efforts in Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy and the Dirty Harry movies, just to mention two of his many acclaimed roles. Before long, Eastwood had taken to the director’s chair to deliver the likes of High Plains Drifter, The Bridges of Madison County, Mystic River, and Letters from Iwo Jima.

Even though he had established himself as an icon of the big screen by the time the 1960s were over, considering his widely admired acting roles, Eastwood still had to begin from somewhere when it came to his directing career. Long before the brilliance of Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby, he was given his first shot with 1971’s Play Misty for Me.

During an interview, Eastwood once spoke of his first time in the director’s chair and explained how he was keen to prove himself away from the glare of the camera. “I went in to see the head of the studio, and I was with several other people. I said, ‘You have this project, Play Misty for Me. I’d like to do it,’ meaning be in it, and he said great. He was always anxious for me to do something. Then I said, ‘Oh yeah, and I’d like to direct it,’ and he kind of looked at me and went ‘Okay’.” 

When Eastwood came out of the meeting, he thought to himself, “Boy, that was easy,” thinking that he was going to have to sell himself without having any directing experience. What happened next was that Eastwood was told he wouldn’t be paid for his directing efforts because of his lack of experience, but Eastwood took this on as a challenge to prove himself.

“Why would they pay some guy directing for the first time out?” he noted. “But by [director’s] guild rules, they had to give you at least minimum wage. I thought, ‘Well, I’m way ahead of the game’. I would have paid them.” Eastwood then set about getting to work on Play Misty for Me, learning the ins and outs of the directing profession.

The film starred Eastwood alongside Jessica Walter and Donna Mills and tells the story of a radio disc jockey who is stalked by a crazed and obsessive female fan. Play Misty for Me ended up becoming a critical and commercial success, showing that Eastwood had achieved his goal of showing the studio that he had what it took to become an acclaimed filmmaker and an admired actor.

The moment became one of the most important in Eastwood’s career, and he continued to deliver many brilliant directorial efforts, including several in which he starred. Eastwood had also once explained why every actor should try directing at least once, admitted that it helps “to learn the hurdles and the obstacles the director faces and the concentration it takes – a concentration equal to that of the actor, just in a different way.”