Carmel Magazine

146 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 1 5 Eastwood's hobbies include water sports, learning to fly a helicopter and working out. He worked in construction and bartending before breaking into acting. His credits include "Flags of Our Fathers," "Gran Torino" and now-filming "Snowden." Photo: Steve Shaw/CPI Syndication Beach and the whole area is sort of magical because you can do these things. It's sort of the Wild West a little bit. CM: Where are you based most of the time now? SE: In San Diego, in Encinitas, which is really like a warmer, younger ver- sion of Carmel-by-the-Sea. CM: Your film, "The Longest Ride," based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, was recently released. I read that you actually jumped on a real bull after that was completed. How was that? SE: Well it was a little scary; it was an adrenaline rush, which I like…I had to do it, sorta. I don't want to be one of those little actors who pretends stuff. I was with all these actual bull riders who were filming with us every- day. I became friends with a lot of them. I'm not going to pretend that I know like what it is to ride a bull, unless I actually ride a bull—so I just want- ed to do it one time so I could really speak about it authentically. CM: So would you say that we could generalize that to your philosophy with things in life, that you're one of those people who actually wants to experience things… SE: Yeah, I don't want to read about it. I want to do it…That's the great thing about traveling and actually getting up off your ass and going places and doing things. You get to experience life and live it. You only get one life: you better make it a damn good one. CM: And your dad is the same way, I'm guessing? SE: Very much so. He doesn't talk about what he's going to do, he just does it…My mom was great too. She was an instrumental part of my life. She taught me to be honest and to be more compassionate. CM: What was that culture like, when you were living with your mom on the Big Island? SE: [Living there] I think adds to the aloha spirit of being one with nature. I got really into fishing and diving. I got into outdoor activities and living off the land a little more…It's a lost art [to hunt] and get your own food…what most people are really seeking is pleasure. People are very hypocritical: they want food, but they don't want to kill it…I think that's the part that makes a human. CM: Just curious, since you were originally from California, was it hard to fit in with the locals in Hawaii? SE: Yeah, it's funny you bring that up, because we were just talking about that the other day…there was a lot of anger and hatred to the white peo- ple in Hawaii by the locals. As a young guy, I was definitely called 'haole boy' and made fun of. But ultimately at the end of the day, I think it was good and manned me up a little. I enrolled in football and had to kind of grow up getting in fistfights at school. It's amazing though, once you get a com- mon ground with a team sport like that, you can sort of bridge that gap. CM: So I'm guessing having such a broad variety of life experiences really helps you get into a character as an actor. SE: Yeah, a lot of people just need life experience to pull from, to draw from.

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