Clint Eastwood’s daughter has said she hopes the revered actor does not retire because he will “probably drop dead” if he ever stops working.
Alison Eastwood appears alongside her 88-year-old father in The Mule, in which he stars as an elderly drugs courier for a Mexican cartel.
Four-time Oscar winner Clint, who also directs and produces the film, has been praised for his performance ahead of awards season.
Alison plays Clint’s daughter in the movie and says working keeps him “lively and young”.
Speaking at the film’s premiere in Los Angeles, she told the Press Association: “I’m thrilled he’s still working, I’m glad he keeps learning and expanding and keeps wanting to tell stories and do this. I think if he retired he would probably drop dead.
“It’s just so much ingrained in him and he’s so passionate about it that I want him to work forever because I think it’ll keep him lively and young.”
The Mule is based on the true story of Leo Sharp, a World War II veteran who became a drugs courier for the notorious Sinaloa Cartel in his 80s.
It is Eastwood’s first acting project since 2012’s Trouble with the Curve and also stars Bradley Cooper, Laurence Fishburne and Andy Garcia.
Alison said playing her father’s daughter on screen was difficult because the relationship was strained.
She said: “I play his daughter, which obviously isn’t a huge stretch. But it was challenging because I play a daughter who is extremely resentful, doesn’t speak to her father and really dislikes him and holds a big grudge and that’s not a relationship.
“So it was hard for me to build that and I didn’t really want to go there. But I decided we would do it and it was going to be OK and the good thing is we got to laugh when we were off set…as long as we could go have a beer at the end of the day and have a good laugh, I knew it was going to be fine.”
Alison, Clint’s daughter with the actress Maggie Johnson, said growing up with her father gave her a unique education in acting.
She said: “It was amazing growing up with him, I got the cheapest film school you’ll ever get.
“I didn’t have to sit in a classroom and watch a bunch of weird movies from Europe. I just got to watch him work, I got to shadow him, and I’ve directed two films myself. It’s been pretty amazing, I learn a lot from him.”
The Godfather Part III and The Untouchables star Garcia plays a drugs boss in The Mule.
The 62-yer-old said Eastwood was “incredible”.
He said: “The movie was shot in Atlanta in the summer so it was very, very hot and his stamina was incredible, he just kind of coasted through it. No special treatment – lunch break, go eat with the crew, go back to work. Incredible.”
Asked how he prepared for a role as a boss inside a cartel, Garcia joked: “I do a lot of drugs.”
The Mule will be released in UK cinemas in January 2019.