Eastwood was one of the first actors approached for Signs. At this juncture in his career, Eastwood was backing away from acting to focus on directing. In fact, he once recounted he considered quitting performing entirely following his lackluster thriller Blood Work.
Prior to being offered Signs, Eastwood hadn’t worked with another director besides himself in nearly a decade, with the last being Wolfgang Petersen h
elmed In The Line Of Fire. It would be easy to see Eastwood as Graham, with the actor showing with his work in movies like The Bridges Of Madison County that he could turn in tender dramatic work too.
Unfortunately, Eastwood had to pass on Signs due to a scheduling conflict. Shyamalan approached another screen great in Paul Newman, who would have been around 75 during this time. As opposed to Eastwood – who starred in a lost Western – Newman simply wasn’t interested in the project and declined.
Signs Would Have Been Clint’s Only True Horror Film
Outside of tiny roles in b-movies from the ’50s like Revenge Of The Creature or Tarantula!, Eastwood has more or less entirely avoided horror. Signs would have been his only pure outing in the genre and one that would have played to his talents. He starred in films that border on the genre, like 1971’s Play Misty For Me or 1984 slasher movie Tightrope, but they belong in the thriller section more than anything. The sheer novelty of seeing Clint fighting off aliens would have been a must-see in 2002, but alas, it wasn’t to be. Jannahnews
