Nicholas Hoult initially thought there had been a mistake. Clint Eastwood wanted to speak with him about starring in his new film—a slow-burn legal thriller centered on an ordinary man confronted with an extraordinary moral dilemma. Surely, Hoult mused, Eastwood must have meant to reach out to someone else. But soon, he found himself engaged in a phone conversation about “Juror #2,” which is set to hit theaters this Friday.
“I was incredibly nervous,” the British actor recalled. “I remember telling him, ‘I really like the script.’ I was so eager to impress.” In a playful moment, Hoult even mimicked Eastwood’s iconic gravelly voice, quipping, “If you like it so much, I guess I’ll have to read it.”
The tension quickly dissolved, and Hoult found himself laughing. “I thought, wow, this guy’s really cool,” he said, noting Eastwood’s great sense of humor. “I felt like we were going to get along well.”
While there might be a touch of English self-deprecation in Hoult’s recounting, his feelings are hardly unique. At 94, Eastwood is a living legend who leaves even the most experienced actors feeling a bit starstruck. His latest directorial effort, “Juror #2,” marks his 42nd film behind the camera and has garnered strong reviews for being a smart and original courtroom thriller that tackles a truly impossible moral conundrum.
In Jonathan Abrams’ original script, Hoult plays a recovering alcoholic who is selected for jury duty on a murder case just as he is about to welcome his first child. As the details of the case unfold, his own troubled memories resurface, forcing him to confront the unsettling possibility that he may have been unknowingly involved in the crime. “After the first read, I was hooked,” Eastwood expressed in an email. “It made me think about what you would do if you found yourself in this situation. What is right? What is wrong? Who would you protect? It presents a genuine moral dilemma, and that’s the kind of story I want to watch.”
Eastwood assembled a stellar cast around Hoult, whom he referred to as a true “movie star.” Toni Collette shines as the ambitious prosecutor, while Chris Messina plays the public defender. J.K. Simmons takes on the role of a fellow juror, alongside Zoey Deutch and Kiefer Sutherland, who wrote to Eastwood expressing his desire for a role in the film.
Sutherland noted Eastwood’s unique directorial style, stating, “He’s not efficient just for the sake of being efficient. I think of someone like Sydney Pollack, who became known for his efficiency and sometimes tried to showcase it. But Mr. Eastwood simply assesses a set and scene, finding the most straightforward way to capture it.”
Speculation has surrounded whether “Juror #2” might be Eastwood’s final film, but he has not publicly or privately confirmed any such plans. In fact, during the actors’ strike, he didn’t take the opportunity to rest. “When we returned from the strike, I asked him what he had been up to, and he said, ‘Well, I was looking for new material,’” Collette shared. “It’s really nobody’s place to say this is his last movie.”
Sutherland added with a grin, “His parking spot at the Warner Bros. lot isn’t going anywhere.” The enduring presence and work ethic of Eastwood suggest that, regardless of what the future holds, he remains dedicated to his craft and passionate about storytelling.
