Son of a Gun

Photography by Grey Lockwood, greylockwood.com, @greylockwoodphoto | Styled by Kristi Brooks | Hair by Rochelle Sunglao, Bluxom Salon | Makeup by Libbey Lazarus, Kiss and Makeup Now | Photographer’s Assistants: Justin Galloway, Josh Morse

On and off the silver screen, Scott Eastwood’s life is fast and furious ...

When he isn’t behaving like an action figure in real life, Eastwood acts like one in movies. His upcoming roster of films includes roles in Fast 8, the latest installment in the popular Fast and Furious franchise. He’ll also appear in Live By Night, a Prohibition-era drama written and directed by Ben Affleck, who also co-stars in the film.

There’s more.

“I’ve got Suicide Squad coming out next, in August,” Eastwood says. “After that, in the fall, Snowden comes out.”

Slated for an August 5 release, the former is a superhero flick starring Will Smith, Jared Leto and Margot Robbie, among other big names in the biz. The latter is an Oliver Stone project (starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt) in which Eastwood will play an agent with the National Security Agency.

To say Eastwood is getting a piece of the action is an understatement. Together with his starring role in Overdrive, a French action-thriller due out sometime this year, the rising star already has more than 30 films under his belt, including three directed by his father: Flags of Our Fathers, Gran Torino and Invictus.

“Working with great directors is more important than [playing] a specific character,” Eastwood says. “If the director is a visionary and is a good director, he’s typically going to make a good film.”

In hopes of establishing his acting career on his own merits versus those of his father, Eastwood arrived on the Hollywood scene as Scott Reeves, using his mother’s maiden name when he first began appearing on camera. Now, however, he’s upfront about being a chip off the old block.
“Obviously, it’s a blessing; I’ve had a great life,” he says. “I’m comfortable in my own skin, I love my family, I love my dad ... couldn’t be more happy to be where I’m at, and I continue to want to work hard and stay a part of making films.”

When the action subsides, Eastwood likes to enjoy what he calls the “calm, simple, active lifestyle” of North County, where he has resided since graduating from Loyola Marymount University, in Los Angeles, in 2008. But the dull moments never last, as his life near the homefront sometimes involves bartending at Solana Beach’s Saddle Bar, of which he is co-owner.

“I’ve just kept going,” Eastwood says, “kept my head down and kept going.”

Lights, camera ...