Nicholas Hoult was certain that somebody had erred.
He wanted to talk to Clint Eastwood about being in his new movie, a slow-burn legal thriller about a normal guy who has to decide between two extreme moral choices. He reasoned that Eastwood must have meant someone else. But they were soon talking on the phone about “Juror #2,” which opens on Friday.
According to the British actor, “I was so nervous.” I clearly recall telling him, “I really like the script.” I tried so hard to please.
Hoult slipped into a pitch-perfect imitation of Eastwood’s gravelly voice for his comeback: I’ll have to read it if you like it so much.
Hoult was suddenly laughing. There was no more tension.
He stated, “I was like, wow, this guy is cool.” We’ll get along because he has a great sense of humor.
The story may contain a healthy amount of English self-deprecation, but the spirit of it is not Hoult’s alone. Eastwood, who is now 94 years old, is the kind of living legend that makes even seasoned veterans feel a little like starstruck. His 42nd film, Juror #2, is receiving positive reviews for being a clever, original courtroom thriller about an impossible problem.
Hoult’s character, a recovering alcoholic who is about to have his first child, is chosen to serve on a murder jury in the original script by Jonathan Abrams. However, as the facts begin to come to light, so do his memories, and he is forced to face the possibility that he may have been unintentionally responsible for the incident.
Eastwood sent an email that read, “After the first read, it had me.” It got me thinking about what you would do in this situation. Which is correct? What’s the issue? Who would you safeguard? a real moral conundrum. That seems like something I’d like to watch.
Toni Collette as the ambitious prosecutor, Chris Messina as the public defender, J.K. Simmons as a fellow juror, Zoey Deutch as well as Kiefer Sutherland, who wrote a letter asking if there might be a role for him, and Hoult, whom he called a true “movie star,” began to round out his cast.
Sutherland stated, “He’s not efficient for the sake of being efficient.” I believe Sydney Pollack, for instance, was extremely efficient, and kind of when he became well-known for his efficiency, he began attempting to demonstrate it. I think Mr. Eastwood just sort of looks at a set and a scene and decides how to shoot it the straightest way.
There has been a lot of discussion about whether “Juror #2” will be Clint Eastwood’s last film. But he is not stating that, either in private or in public. In fact, he didn’t even take a break during the actors’ strike when production was on hiatus.
“I remember wondering, ‘What did you do?’ when we finally came back from the strike. And he said, “Well, I was looking for new material,” according to Collette. Nobody claims that this will be his last film.
