The tough guy in the director's chair

Clint Eastwood, at 78, is not slowing down, directing two movies that opened this year. (Kevin scanlon for the new york times)

Clint Eastwood shows no sign of slowing down. The legendary Hollywood filmmaker both directs and stars in his latest movie, "Gran Torino," about a retired auto worker who's none too happy about the changing demographic of his Detroit neighborhood. We spoke to Eastwood recently about moviemaking, his impressive work ethic, and the future.

Q. You've made two more movies this year, "Changeling" and "Gran Torino." You seem to be working harder than ever at 78.

A. Well, it just seems like when the stories are there, you ought to go ahead and tell them, and I liked this story.

Q. "Gran Torino" is by a first-time screenwriter Nick Schenk. Tell me what appealed to you about the script.

A. Everybody has someone or knows somebody who has someone like this in their family. You know, someone who's out of synch with the current generation, someone who comes from the generation before all the PC stuff that we have now. All of this guy's friends have died off, and he looks around and, all of a sudden, these Asian people have moved into the neighborhood. I like the story because you see that this character, Walt, is never too old to learn - to learn anything, much less about tolerance.

Q. That's interesting. You talk about all the PC stuff, and then what Walt learns is tolerance. That's kind of PC, isn't it?

A. Absolutely. And that's not a bad thing. But he has to be a person of a certain generation to have somewhere to go, somewhere to grow. He looks in the mirror at one point and says, "I have more in common with these people than I do with my own spoiled, rotten family." He's surprised to feel this way.

Q. Immigrant culture is a big part of the film because of the Hmong. Have you paid attention over the past few years to the politics of immigration?

A. Yes, all of a sudden, it's become a very big deal, and it's something we have to come to grips with. The Hmong came over as refugees from Laos and Thailand. There are a lot of them in Fresno and the St. Paul area of Minnesota. Many of them speak English, but they also maintain their parents' language and customs.

Q. Many were also acting for the first time, right? Was that difficult? Eli Wallach, who worked with you on "Mystic River," told me that you just told him to come to Boston for the day and then you started shooting. Is that really the way you work?

A. (Laughs) It depends on the situation. First-time actors are a little different than Eli Wallach, who's the consummate old pro. I knew I could bring Eli in, talk to him about old times, and then try him out. With these kids, we'd talk about the sequence and a few things and then, sometimes, we'd roll the camera when they didn't know it. They thought we were rehearsing. You don't always use the material, but you hate to leave a good take on the floor.

Q. Did you have a translator on the set?

A. Yes. The kids could translate for the older people, but we had a lot of people on the set. It was kind of the same way with "Letters From Iwo Jima."

Q. And in Boston? Did you have a translator on the set of "Mystic River"?

A. (Laughs) No. We had no problem with that. I had Chappie [actor Kevin Chapman] and a few guys from there that helped the others with the accent.

Q. In "Gran Torino," you seem to take a dim view of religion, at least based on the character of the priest, or the "padre," as Walt calls him dismissively. Are you a religious person?

A. No, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it. I had no organized religion growing up. My family moved all the time in the '30s. I must have gone to five or six denominations of churches over the years. My dad was working very hard, both my parents were, and Sunday was the day they had off, so we didn't participate in it. They wanted me to be exposed to it, I suppose, to figure out what I wanted to figure out. But I must say, I was never into any of that 'God will strike you dead' stuff. I liked religion when it wasn't being threatening.

Q. This movie marks the return of the tough guy for you. Your character has a line: "Ever noticed how you come across someone you shouldn't have [expletive] with?" You have a real knack for playing that character.

A. Well, I know those guys. I was in the military. It's not a generation that rolled over easy and they weren't walking on eggshells. Now, we're afraid to say anything about anything. . . . People will sue you if you come to their rescue. Or people see you on the highway and they'll drive right by you, saying "Tough [expletive], buddy." There's something wrong with that.

Q. You shot the film in Michigan and your character, a retired auto worker, loves his Gran Torino. What do you make of the auto industry bailout?

A. A lot of people, including [Bill] Clinton, used to talk about electric cars but nothing ever came of it. Everybody talks about being more self-reliant when gas prices are high, but they forget about it when prices come down. They just forget. Most Americans have trouble remembering 9/11.

Q. You distinguished yourself as an actor a long time ago, but over the past decade, you've become known more as a director. Do you have a preference?

A. You know, in Europe, I used to be considered a director who sometimes acted, and in the US, I was an actor who sometimes directed. I've been doing more directing lately, and I enjoy it. If I could do only one, I'd direct. Acting is about the character, and if I find something interesting, I'll do it. But if it's monotonous or the character doesn't change at all, I wouldn't be interested.

Q. You're certainly working at a frantic pace.

A. It's the material. It just happened that way. Next year, I'm doing one or maybe two movies. In the old days, everybody did that. John Ford and [Howard] Hawks and all those guys made a lot of movies.

Q. You've managed to do what you've wanted for a long time. Is there something that you're still looking to do?

A. If there wasn't, I guess I'd hang it up. I'm doing a story in March about [Nelson]Mandela.

Q. So directing gigs mostly?

A. Yes, directing gigs. There aren't going to be a lot of acting gigs. They don't write a lot of great scripts for 78-year-olds. "Million Dollar Baby" happened to be one and "Gran Torino" is one.