Clint Eastwoods daughter Francesca shares why it can be ‘sometimes bittersweet’ to see her ‘very strict’ dad as a grandparent
Clint Eastwood and Frances Fisher's daughter Francesca explained that it is "sometimes bittersweet" to see her parents as doting grandparents to her son after they were "very strict" when she was growing up.
Clint Eastwood and Frances Fisher's daughter, Francesca Eastwood, reflected on how it can be "sometimes bittersweet" to see how her parents are as grandparents to her son after her own strict upbringing.
The 31-year-old actress, who is starring in the new movie "Running on Empty," shares son Titan, 5, with her boyfriend, Alexander Wraith.
During an interview with Fox News Digital, Eastwood opened up about her parents' relationship with Titan, describing Clint as an "amazing" grandfather.
"I mean, just the sweetest," the "Outlaws and Angels" star said. "You know, my dad was very strict and my mom — both my parents were very strict with me when I was a kid. And it's so lovely and sometimes bittersweet to just see how just doting and just classic grandpa and grandma to their grandson who can do no wrong."
Clint Eastwood and Frances Fisher's daughter, Francesca Eastwood, opened up about her "very strict" upbringing. (Getty)
"But it's lovely," Eastwood added. "And they have their own relationship that I'm obviously involved in," Eastwood added. "They're fantastic, and they're so present."
"It's a connection unlike anything else. And it's definitely like the most important part of my life right now is nurturing those relationships."
Eastwood is the only child of Clint, 94, and Fisher, 72, who met in 1989 and went public with their romance in 1990. The two went on to co-star in the 1992 Western "Unforgiven," which Clint also directed. The movie won four Academy Awards, including best picture and best director for Clint. The former couple split in 1995.
WATCH: Clint Eastwood's daughter Francesca shares the ‘great life advice’ that her father gave her
While speaking with Fox News Digital, Eastwood recalled how spending time with both of her parents on the sets of their movies was a "huge blessing."
"At the time, I don't know if I appreciated it that much, but looking back — they kind of dragged me around with them, and they really included me and had me visit," she said.
Eastwood recalled that her parents mentored her while she was on set and inspired her to follow in their footsteps by becoming an actress.
Eastwood said she finds it "sometimes bittersweet" to see her parents as doting grandparents to her son, Titan, 5. (Francesca Eastwood Instagram)
"That was always of the only things that they always spoke to me like an adult about," Eastwood continued. "Anything filmmaking, anything acting, whether it was watching movies or sitting behind the camera, watching them direct, sitting in hair and makeup, all this stuff."
"I have such a respect and an appreciation for all that goes into making a film," she added. "It really is somewhere that I feel — I feel like it's a home away from home, being on set no matter what, no matter what the set is. Some are better than others but I feel like it was a huge blessing in that it opened my world to something that I really love to do, and I appreciate them for kind of treating me like an adult in that way. At a very young age."
Eastwood is the only child of Clint and Fisher, who were in a relationship from 1990 to 1995. (Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
Eastwood told Fox News Digital that she has sought acting advice from both of her parents and explained how their guidance differs.
"My dad's best advice is to keep going, keep churning them out no matter what," she said.
"Every project I always ask [him], I'm like, 'All right, I'm going off.' And he always just says, ‘Just do a good job. Just focus on your part and do a good job. And you know, it's the director's movie and all you can do is do your best and just keep your head down. Do a good job.'"
"Which is great life advice, too," she added.
Director Clint Eastwood and daughter Francesca Eastwood attend the premiere of "The 15:17 To Paris" at Warner Bros. Studios on Feb. 5, 2018, in Burbank, Calif. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
However, Eastwood told Fox News Digital that her mother has a more traditional approach to the craft.
"My mom is very heavy on the old-school acting advice," Eastwood said. "So, she's kind of opened my world to the more — I don't want to say method — but the more studious and based on the quality plays."
Eastwood said that "The Lincoln Lawyer" star introduced her to the techniques and exercises taught by famed acting coaches, including Uta Hagan, Stella Adler, Lee Strasberg and Konstantin Stanislavski.
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Though Eastwood's parents are very supportive of her career, she admitted that she does feel "pressure" to live up to their expectations when it comes to her acting work.
WATCH: Clint Eastwood's daughter, Francesca Eastwood, admits she feels 'pressure' to ‘do a good job’ as an actress
"I feel pressure to do a good job because I want my parents to be proud of me. So, it's more of an intimate pressure than I think other people think," Eastwood said.
"My dad's best advice is to keep going, keep churning them out no matter what."
She continued,"It's definitely more of a like, 'OK, Mom's going to see this, Dad's going to see this. What are they going to think' type of feeling."
"And so, yeah, there is pressure," Eastwood added. "And I'm so proud of them. I'm so proud to be their daughter. They are both extremely talented and amazing. And there is pressure and that, you know, I want them to like or give critical feedback or whatever it is, whatever I do."
Fisher and Eastwood co-starred together in an episode of "Fargo." (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Environmental Media Association)
While speaking with Fox News Digital, Eastwood recalled growing up on the sets of some of the most iconic Hollywood movies and reflected on which productions were the most memorable to her.
"I'd probably say ‘Million Dollar Baby.’ And ‘Titanic.' I mean, those are not secrets. Those are pretty big movies," she said with a laugh.
In "Titanic," Fisher played Ruth DeWitt Bukater, the aristocratic and elitist mother of Rose Dewitt Bukater, the film's female lead played by Kate Winslet. Fisher's character disapproves of the romance developing between her daughter and the poor artist played by Leonardo DiCaprio and takes action to separate the two.
The 1997 epic romantic drama about the real-life tragic sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912 during its maiden voyage became a major blockbuster, raking in over $2 billion at the global box office. "Titanic" won 11 Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and four Grammy Awards.
Eastwood remembered that she was on the set of "Titanic" "quite a bit" when she was a child during the film's production, which took place from July 1996 to March 1997.
Eastwood recalled spending time with her mother on the set of "Titanic." (Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty Images)
"I was probably 4 and 5 [years old]," she said. "I still remember it vividly. And that kind of made me fall in love with just the idea of like, 'Oh, you can time travel, and you can change your age, and you can do this, and you can do that, and you can make this serious, serious movie that everyone's crying about.'"
"I didn't know why they were crying, but everyone's crying about it," Eastwood recalled. "But then everyone behind the scenes is having so much fun and there's so much love and there's so much joy."
Clint directed, co-produced, scored and starred in "Million Dollar Baby," which was released in 2004. The sports drama was met with critical acclaim and became a box office smash with a haul of $216.8 million in ticket sales worldwide.
WATCH: Clint Eastwood's daughter Francesca shares why it can be ‘sometimes bittersweet’ to see her ‘very strict’ dad as a grandparent
"Million Dollar Baby" earned seven Academy Award nominations, winning for best picture, best director, best actress for Hilary Swank and best supporting actor for Morgan Freeman.
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"'Million Dollar Baby,' I was on the set of and to see that be made and to see all those performances and then to see…the audiences' kind of reaction to it, I realized, ‘Wow, this is one of the most powerful mediums that we have to just reach people and not influence people but touch people and make people feel things.’"
Clint Eastwood and daughter Francesca (L. Cohen/WireImage)
In addition to Eastwood, Clint is father to seven other children: daughter Laurie, 69, son Kyle, 56, daughter Alison, 52, daughter Kimber, 60, son Scott, 38, daughter Kathryn, 36, and daughter Morgan, 27.
Despite juggling a large family and a busy career, Clint's children have spoken out over the years about how their father has always been very involved in their lives.
CLINT EASTWOOD ALWAYS SPENT TIME WITH KIDS DURING HIS BUSY CAREER
For the past decade, Clint had been in a relationship with philanthropist Christina Sandera, who died last month at age 61 due to cardiac arrhythmia and coronary artery disease.
During her interview with Fox News Digital, Eastwood shared an update on how her father was coping in the wake of the loss of his longtime partner.
"He is the strongest person that I know," she said. "It's never easy when things like this happen. And he's himself, and he's handled things with grace and with a beauty that I think few other people could."
Eastwood and Clint are pictured at the premiere of his movie "Sully" in 2016. (Rob Latour/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images)
Eastwood made her film debut in the 1994 drama "The Stars Fell on Henrietta," which was produced by Clint. She went on to make appearances in two movies directed by her father, 1999's "True Crime" and 2014's "Jersey Boys."
The actress's upcoming projects include the movie "Queen of the Rings" as well as "Juror #2," which will be directed by Clint and also stars Nicholas Hoult, Zoey Deutch and Toni Collette.
Eastwood is starring in the new romantic drama "Running on Empty." (Lionsgate)
During her interview with Fox News Digital, Eastwood discussed her latest movie, "Running on Empty," which premiered on Aug. 9. She stars alongside Lucy Hale, Keir Gilchrist and Jim Gaffigan in the romantic drama.
A plot synopsis for "Running on Empty" reads, "Mort discovers he has less than a year to live. After his fiancée leaves him, he meets Kate on a dating service that matches people by their death dates, all while being stalked by a crazy pimp."
WATCH: ‘Running on Empty’ star Francesca Eastwood on whether she relates to her ‘villain’ character in new movie
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Eastwood described the script for "Running on Empty" as "dark" and "morbid." She explained that she didn't really relate to her character, Mort's fiancee, Nicole, who she said was the "villain" of the story.
"She's the ditzy evil girlfriend. You know, that kind of gets the plot rolling," Eastwood said. "What I didn't relate to was how just absolutely shameless this character was."
"She's not very self-conscious about, 'Oh, am I on my phone too much or am I going to break someone's heart?'" the actress added. "So, those are the differences that I thought would be a nice challenge to kind of jump into."
"But I do think we all have especially — I mean — I don't live too far from the valley. She's a valley girl. We all care about what the outside world thinks about us and material things sometimes, maybe a little too much so."
The actress said she didn't relate to her character but felt that the role would be "challenging." (Lionsgate)
Eastwood also weighed in on the message that she would like film-goers to take away from "Running on Empty."
"It's hard to say what you want an audience to take out of a piece of art or out of a film or anything, but if we weren't laughing about it, we would be crying about it," Eastwood said.
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"That's my quote of the day," she said "And if someone can have any cathartic experience or any sort of laugh or positivity about something so dark, then that would be great."
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