A new special reveals Clint Eastwood, famous as one of the most successful actors in history, used his experience on set to transform himself into one of Hollywood’s A-list directors. Those who know Eastwood best open up on how it all happened in REELZ’s Hollywood Outlaw.

“Everyone else would go back to their trailers and he would kind of hang around and watch how everything was done. So I think he was really interested in the whole process,” says Clint’s son Kyle Eastwood, who describes his dad in the portrait of an artist straddling the worlds of studio filmmaking and independent passion projects.

Adds film critic Grae Drake, “When the cinematographer was setting up a shot, he would ask, ‘Why are you doing it like that?’ And this thirst for knowledge is really what fed into all of his artistry.”

REELZ Clint Eastwood
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Clint made his name in television with acting roles in Westerns like Rawhide, which launched a career that has spanned six decades including starring roles in films like Dirty Harry and The Good the Bad and the Ugly. But he became a legend for his straight-shooting, unfussy filmmaking as the director of blockbuster movies like Sully, Flags of Our Fathers and Gran Torino.

“He was always after the producers to let him direct, and they shot him down and they made him feel like an amateur. That burned Clint, and later on he would pay Hollywood back for that day,” says Marc Elliot, Clint’s biographer.

REELZ Clint Eastwood The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
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Actor Kevin Bacon also opens up in the REELZ special on the lessons he learned during filming of Clint’s Oscar-winning crime drama Mystic River.

Find out all the details in Clint Eastwood: Hollywood Outlaw on Saturday, October 24, 8 p.m. ET​​​ on REELZ.

Watch REELZ on DIRECTV 238, Dish Network 299, Verizon FiOS 692, AT&T U-verse 1799 and in HD on cable systems and streaming services nationwide. Find REELZ on your local cable or satellite provider at www.reelz.com.