From a young age, the 6’4 actor with effortless cowboy swagger captured the hearts of countless fans around the world. Through his many decades on the silver screen, Clint Eastwood even managed to catch the eye of a costar or two – including his Play Misty for Me love interest, Donna Mills:
Mills was an up-and-coming actress at the time, but she managed to score the role millions of women would’ve killed for thanks to her friendship with Burt Reynolds.
“I worked with Clint Eastwood because of working with Burt Reynolds,” the actress explained to Fox News. “I had come out here to California. I was living in New York at the time where I was doing a soap opera.”
“About a month or so later, I was getting ready to leave the soap,” Mills continued. “I had already given them my notice. All of a sudden, I got a call. I was told I got this new movie with Clint Eastwood. My instant reaction was ‘What? How did I even do that if I’ve never met Clint?’ I didn’t audition for it or anything.”
“It turned out he ran into Burt Reynolds at a bar one night, and he was saying, ‘I can’t find a girl I like to play my girlfriend in this movie I want to do,’” she shared. “Burt said, ‘Well, I just worked with this girl from New York. Maybe you’d like her. I thought she was great.’… Clint hired me from that!”
Donna Mills Gushes Over Clint Eastwood – And His Kissing Prowess:
As Clint Eastwood’s on-screen girlfriend, Donna Mills, of course, got to share a kiss with the Western legend. And as Mills explained, his kissing skills were more than up to par. “I would give him a triple A!” Mills gushed.
In addition to the kissing, Play Misty for Me included another, slightly more risqué, scene. But being the epitome of gentlemanly behavior, Eastwood offered to cut the scene entirely if Mills was uncomfortable with the finished product.
“While we were shooting, [Clint Eastwood] was so laid back and so nice to me,” Mills recalled. “He was very generous. He actually did something that I’ve never had anybody else do. There’s a scene in the film that’s a montage scene where we’re in a pond naked together.”
“He said, ‘You know, we’re gonna have to be naked together in this,’” she continued. “I went, ‘Oh, my parents aren’t going to like that!’”
Rather than pushing her boundaries, Clint Eastwood eased her fears about the then-scandalous scene:
“He said, ‘I know it might be difficult for you,’” Mills explained. “‘But we’ll shoot it and then I’ll show it to you. If you don’t like it, if you think it’s lascivious or anything at all, I won’t put it in the film.’”
“He honored that. I saw it and it was just beautiful. He shot everything so carefully and out of respect. It came out so incredibly beautiful and worked so well for the storyline. There wasn’t anything lascivious about it at all. So of course, I said, ‘Yes, put it in the film.’ But that’s just a very kind, considerate, and generous thing to do.”