Clint Eastwood, a man who needs no introduction, has gone through several periods in his career as an actor and director. Once a rough and tough cowboy and then a serious rebel who represented a very specific image of rugged masculinity, Eastwood has since turned most of his cinematic attention to his work behind the camera. However, there was a time when this man was ubiquitous in a number of action films, cop films and bloody westerns. Given the scale of Eastwood’s presence - especially in the 70s when he was in high demand - it’s no surprise that the versatile talent star turned down quite a few projects, although there is one Francis Ford Coppola a project that would certainly look good on his resume.
The picture was APokalipsis nowone of Coppola’s most stunning achievements, the production of which was infamous almost as hellish and weird as the movie itself. A Nightmare Acid Journey Through the Vietnam War. Apocalypse has come grids Joseph Conrad’s heart of Darkness with the incomprehensible hell of war. Its hyperbolic aesthetic eschewed most of the traditional war film clichés in favor of a surreal, psychedelic approach to the genre. Instead of showing lavish war scenes with a patriotic twist, it focuses on the gigantic horrors of war, portraying the Vietnam conflict as an absurd and futile fight against a superior enemy. Not only did it reimagine the picture of war, but it spawned one of the most compelling filmmaking documentaries ever made. Given the colossal cultural significance that Apocalypse has come has been going strong since its release, and given that by 1979 Coppola was practically swimming in the Oscars, turning down the role seems like a ridiculous move. But Eastwood did it anyway, and for good reason.
Why did Eastwood turn down Apocalypse Now?
Clint Eastwood’s connection to Apocalypse has come in fact, partially can be attributed to the actor Steve McQueen, who was originally slated to play Colonel Kurtz, but whose requested salary of $3 million was too high to be directed. McQueen initially turned down the role of Willard in favor of Kurtz simply because the latter required shorter filming times. According to Eastwood, director Francis Ford Coppola suggested Dirty Harry star for her role alongside Kurtz McQueen.
Instead, none of the actors received their roles. Eastwood stated that he “doesn’t understand [it] too much”, leaving him unsure whether to do the film. He read heart of Darkness and could figure out which direction the movie was heading, but there was obviously something about it that eluded him. This is understandable, given the painting’s notoriously unconventional approach to depicting war, showing it as a bloody battlefield for the souls and sanity of two soldiers, rather than a real battle between nations.
More important, however, was Eastwood’s discomfort with the lengthy filming that took him overseas. He had just built a house and couldn’t justify staying abroad for 14 months. This is a perfectly fair example of how a famous actor refuses what could become one of the most meaningful roles of their careers simply because they weren’t ready for it. It’s not like he really needed the job. The actor had one of the biggest box office successes in a film last year. In any direction, but freely, 1979 brought him an excellent mark Escape from Alcatrazand in 1980 he reunited with his co-star the orangutan in the film In every possible way. By this point, Eastwood’s directorial career had already taken off. Play Misty for me, High Plains Drifter, And Outlaw Josey Wales everything is neatly under the belt.
Like the time he turned down the role that went on to Elvis PresleyEastwood intuitively turned down the role, though this time for largely different reasons. Though old Eastwood is a fantastic artist in his own right, Martin Sheen brought an unsettling complexity to the role, which really helped bring the character to life. Shin allowed himself to completely lose his mind in the picture, and the finished product may have been better for that.
Harvey Keitel was hired (and fired) from Apocalypse Now
After Clint Eastwood turned down the role of Willard and Steve McQueen left the film without directing a scene, another actor was briefly hired before being pulled from production. It would be Harvey Keitel, who filmed a fair amount of footage for the film before his departure. Actually the scene where Willard walks from his helicopter to the boat In fact there is a picture of Keitel in this role. According to Walter March of Web of Stories, one of the editors for the Oscar-winning film, “it was a great chance… the sunset was perfect.” It’s almost impossible to catch: a bloody sunset beating like a naked heart in the background takes up the entire focus of the frame.
Looking back, it’s not hard to imagine Keitel in this role. I mean, just look at his turn as a mentally perverted titular lieutenant in Abel Ferrara’s bad lieutenant. It is interesting to watch his complete psychological collapse, his descent into madness and moral decay, when he accepts the cruelty of his inner demons. However, the actor was obviously not a good fit for the film. According to Coppola, Keitel, a hard-nosed New Yorker at heart, allegedly felt uncomfortable with the lengthy location shooting in the Philippines, and the director subsequently fired him from the film. The actor denied this accusation: also citing that he was “not upset with Coppola” due to being fired.
Why Clint Eastwood’s Ditching Apocalypse Now Was a Good Deed
How shamefully damn Warner Herzog painting Fitzcarraldoor the big cat masterpiece of the 70s, which resulted in almost 100 people being seriously injured, Apocalypse has comeThe production of the film was notoriously rife with problems that would drive even the most sane people insane. First, Typhoon Olga in 1976 brought tropical chaos to the set and destroyed the sets. There were problems with the crew, including a drug addict. Dennis Hopper without learning your lines, or Marlon Brandocategorical refusal to heed Coppola’s demands.
Francis Ford Coppola describing how the cast and crew slowly “went crazy” sounds almost exaggerated, but the film’s production as described in the documentary Heart of Darkness: Director’s Apocalypse it was actually as hellish as the director suggests. Near the end, you can see the director descend into a growing mental breakdown, driven to the brink of sanity by his film. Martin Sheen, who took on the proposed role of Clint Eastwood, not only suffered a similar injury, but also suffered a heart attack while filming the picture.
So perhaps Eastwood’s refusal to play Willard was even more rational than the actor could have imagined. Sure, he missed out on one of the greatest war films ever made, but he ended up making a masterful double feature depicting the two opposite sides of the war with Letters from Iwo Jima And Flags of our fathers. Even if none of them can match the harsh, dizzying experience ApocalypseThey also certainly didn’t push the cast and crew to the brink of mental collapse. Rejecting Apocalypse has comeClint Eastwood missed out on the cinematic experience of a lifetime, but he also clearly escaped the searing, maddening hell that the movie was made of.
- Clint Eastwood turned down a role in Apocalypse has come due to his discomfort with lengthy filming and 14 months overseas.
- Harvey Keitel was hired for the role, but was fired due to perceived discomfort while filming in the Philippines.
- Although Eastwood missed the grand picture of the war, his decision to Apocalypse has come allowed him to later make highly acclaimed war films while avoiding the mental trauma associated with chaotic production.
Source: Collider
I have worked as a journalist for over 7 years and have written for many different publications. I currently work as an author at Daily News Hack, where I mostly cover entertainment news. I have a great deal of experience in the industry and am always looking to learn more. I am a highly motivated individual who is always looking to improve my skills. I am also a very friendly and personable person, which makes me easy to work with.
