Clint Eastwood has been one of the most renowned figures in Hollywood both for his skills and extraordinary looks. He has delivered some brilliant films and amassed a massive fandom over the years. Numerous people and stars are madly in love with the Dirty Harry star. However, the Oscar-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden’s admiration for the star led to her having a painful injury.
Marcia Gay Harden is also a popular name in the industry, with several prestigious accolades under her name. She has won an Oscar for Supporting Actress for her performance in the biographical drama Pollock. She had been one of the biggest fans of Clint Eastwood. She has stated in several interviews about her love for the Man with No Name.
What did Marcia Gay Harden say about her love for Clint Eastwood?
While speaking on the 20 Questions: On Deadline podcast for the promotion of her 2022 fick, Confess, Fletch, several unheard stories about Marcia Gay Harden were revealed. The Gigi & Nate actress admitted that she loved Western movies in her childhood- “We fell in love with the cowboys and how s*xy they were.”
Further, when she was asked about the character she wanted to be in her childhood, the answer was Clint Eastwood. The star is regarded as the icon of the Western genre for his immense contribution. She referred to Eastwood’s iconic role in the Rawhide series and did not hesitate to state her love for the cool and calm nature of the star.
“I wanted to be Clint Eastwood. I wanted to be his character Rowdy Yates in Rawhide. The way he swaggered. The way he was so cool. The way he was so s*xy. The way he gave nothing away… He was so cool, calm, and collected. And, I was in love with him so much that I wanted to be him.”
Marcia Gay Harden openly stated that her personality is very different from that of Clint Eastwood. She agreed that it was between the ages of ten and twelve when she developed a massive crush on the Harry Callahan fame. However, her love for the star also led to one of the most embarrassing moments of her life.
How did Marcia Gay Harden embarrass herself in front of Clint Eastwood?
Interestingly, Marcia Gay Harden’s dream-coming-true moment also became one of the most embarrassing moments of her life. The actress got a golden opportunity to work with Clint Eastwood in his directorial, Space Cowboys. Although it was not very hard for the actress to bag a role in the film with the help of her Pollock co-star, Ed Harris, the encounter was a disastrous one.
When the 64-year-old actress sat for a conversation with the Chicago Tribune, she shared how she behaved extremely weirdly on the first day of the film. As Eastwood was greeting everyone on the first day of the shooting, Marcia Gay Harden could not control herself and hugged the legend in panic.
“And slowly but surely, he makes his way down, saying hello to people. And it’s like they’re all family, he’s known them for years. I’m in the last chair. And I went into a silent panic — kind of interior frothing going on — that when he finally approached, I lurched out of my chair and threw myself at him and hugged him, which garnered all the looks from everybody in the trailer. And then in the highest pitch voice — and you know my voice is not high-pitched — I said, ‘Hi!’ And started laughing.”
As if the situation was not awkward enough, Marcia Gay Harden kissed the Dollars Trilogy star- “And then I couldn’t think of anything to say, so I lurched at him again and kissed him on the cheek.” The situation turned worse for the actress she “opened her mouth to say something”, only to bite her tongue hard- “I’m telling you, I literally had a hole in my tongue.”
When the Miller’s Crossing actress stopped her tongue bleeding and went to shoot her scene, she was informed that her dialogue had changed. It was a nightmarish situation as she had a swollen tongue and had trouble speaking. As expected, the actress had a painful time while filming the sequence and it only got worse with time. However, in the end, it was revealed that it was a prank by Clint Eastwood. Following Space Cowboys, she worked in Eastwood’s Mystic River.
