Such starpower! Seeing the three of these talents in one room for a Clint Eastwood movie is a compliment to the actor/director’s legacy in itself. They had some awesome answers to give about why their Richard Jewell director has so many movies that will stand the test of time. Jon Hamm instantly went to the types of stories he chooses to tell. He thinks Eastwood tells them “incredibly well” and patted himself and fellow actors on the back for his casting picks.
Kathy Bates echoed Jon Hamm’s sentiments and complimented the real stories he tells. Sam Rockwell really expanded on their points by explaining how Clint Eastwood “plays with archetypes.” He took it back to 1992 Best Picture, Unforgiven. Rockwell talked about how the characters in that movie aren’t black vs. white or good vs. evil tales, but complicated characters that surprise you. Like humans do in real life.
The answers to these questions certainly describe how legendary Clint Eastwood was and still is! Unforgiven is a great example, considering it had the actor returning to acting, directing, and the Western genre, along with becoming his first Oscar wins.
Just one year after The Mule, Richard Jewell tells another true American story. After Jewell clears out many visitors in Olympic Park during the 1996 Summer Olympics, he is accused of planting the bomb himself for three months. Kathy Bates plays Richard’s mother Bobi Jewell, Sam Rockwell plays Watson Bryant, the lawyer who helped clear his name, and Jon Hamm plays FBI agent Tom Shaw.