“You can’t give up that quick. You didn’t really want it then. You’re just getting your feet into it. You’re just kind of understanding the landscape of the business at that point.” – Scott Eastwood
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Mark just tried MUD/WTR drink and wants to tell his tribe about it. MUD/WTR is a very healthy alternative to coffee. It actually does a better job of giving you the focus you need, without the jitters or crash. They’re not mad at coffee, just disappointed. Go to their site at mudwtr.com.
Scott Eastwood, (#scotteastwood) actor and host of the Podcast “Live Life Better” sits down with Mark to talk acting, his latest project “The Outpost”, nutrition, business and the mental and emotional practices he used to become successful.
Find out:
- How too tight of a deadline can guarantee that you’ll move on too quickly
- Nutrition and the key to staying focused even while on set
- The importance of journaling and your daily learning
Don’t miss this episode and find out how techniques of an Unbeatable Mind will help in show business just as they do in every other kind of business.
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We’d love your feedback, please leave a rating and review.Transcript
Mark: Hey folks, welcome back. This is Mark Divine with the Unbeatable Mind podcast. Thanks so much for joining me today. We’re going to have a blast, because my guest is Scott Eastwood. Before I introduce him a little bit more or we just get into it let me remind you that it really helps if you can rate the podcast and provide a review. That’s how other people find it. And Man, there’s podcasts popping up all over the place these days and some money behind some of the bigger ones. And so they got big marketing cloud, big power behind them and you can bet that they’re going to be pulling all the tricks that get them up front and center. So, the way that Scott and I need to get our podcast noticed is for you the listeners to go rate them, right? Hopefully with five stars. Appreciate that.
Scott: Definitely five stars, five stars.
Mark: So that’s that. And then the other thing I want to say is we’ve got our Unbeatable Mind experience coming up.
That’s something we run twice a year. This is the second time we’ve done it. This is where my team and I go really deep on all the principles of Unbeatable Mind. All the training over three days in Carlsbad, California. First one’s coming up in, I think the first weekend of March. Check out unbeatablemind.com for information on that. It is an extraordinary event. And if you really want to go deep and learn from me and my team, then I’d love to see you there.
Introduction
05:23
Mark: All right. Scott Eastwood. Actor, philanthropist, podcaster…
Scott: The podcast’s a hobby. It’s a thing. It’s to highlight people who are doing cool things with their lives, like you.
Mark: Yeah, that’s cool. I mean, so you’ve done the podcast for just a couple of years then?
Scott: No, we started last year. Like a year. A year. Yeah. Just…
Mark: I was surprised that you had a podcast cause it takes a lot of time.
Scott: It takes some time.
Mark: Yeah. Clearly, you’ve got a nice set up and you’ve got to, Tim’s a great partner for you. I’ve got Geoff. So that really helps. And Alison.
Scott: They can fight it out at the end, see who wins.
Mark: Most people would recognize your name because they recognize the Eastwood brand, so to speak. And I’ve seen you in some of the movies and so I know you’re just probably running around like a chicken with your head cut off doing projects these days. Surprised to see that you have time to sit down for podcasts, but…
Scott: It goes in… I work really hard in concentrated times and then I have time off. And then I can do things, but yeah, my schedule is pretty, pretty busy. I mean, it takes, a lot… People don’t realize it takes a lot to film a movie. So, like one movie could be like three months of all day, every day, six days a week, sometimes seven.
Mark: What does that…? Like everyone wants to know, I’m sure there are some actors listening to this, but what does your day look like when you’re filming? What was the most recent movie you were filming?
Scott: I just filmed a film called “The Outpost.” It’s actually based on a true story in Afghanistan. 2009. That was two and a half months in Bulgaria, six days a week, wake up at 5:00 AM, hit the gym, leave at six to get to set by 6:30 or 6:45. It was like a 45-minute drive.
Mark: Someone there to pick you up? Or you have your handlers to take it or do you like have to like, ride your bike?
Scott: No, don’t ride my bike. Not 45 minutes in a car. A little bit of a long ride. Yeah, someone picks me up every day. So, we’ll hit the gym first thing, we got to take care of our self first.
So, then we do that. Head to set.
Mark: Do you have a trainer?
Scott: Yeah, I have a guy. I have a guy that travels with me. It’s really nice too. It’s good to have buddies. You know?
Mark: He works out with you.
Scott: Yeah. We workout together.
Mark: That’s the way we like to train.
Scott: I like that better. Yeah. So, then we’ll go to set and I mean, we’re right in it. I mean it’s from the second I land on sets. Whenever it’s 6:30 AM, it’s, straight into, hair, makeup. Straight into wardrobe. Straight into, rehearsals. Right into, blocking rehearsals of whatever scene we got up and then continued back into makeup. Then they set up the cameras, the lighting and it’s all happening in parallel. Right? So, every minute is accounted for because, I mean, you’re talking about, certain days or million-dollar days, $100,000, $500,000 days, you know? It just depends.
Scott: And so, every second it can be accounted for and say, we’re, we just burnt $10,000. Talking about this shit. Right?
Mark: So, you got to show up prepared. Like if you’ve got lines that day, you know them cold and…
Scott: Yeah. Practicing them, weeks before if it’s, if it’s big dialogue. And nightly. So, we work all day long, sometimes 15-hour days and you leave exhausted and you go home and I try not to eat late, but then you go right into studying before you fall asleep. I mean, you’re working for the next day. And you’re working for subsequent days. And anytime you have to catch up, you’re working down the line. Yeah. So, it’s not as glamorous as people think.
Mark: So that sounds like a lot of work, but when it’s over you’re like, whoa. Sounds like, in the Navy SEALs, a lot of our work was contracted like that. In three weeks, six weeks, six-month chunks. And then you got to take a break, but intense while you’re doing those chunks.
Scott: Yeah. I’ve done six-month movies.
Mark: Have you?
Scott: Oh yeah. I did a six-month movie the year before last. One the year before that too.
Mark: So, you get one get one day off a week and you just crash and kind of recover…?
Scott: Yeah, I mean, look, everything’s different. I mean, there are times you might have a few days off depending on… But if you’re the lead of the film you’re in every day. Yeah.
Mark: How many films have you been the lead in?
Scott: Oh, I don’t know. 10? Maybe more. I don’t even know now. I mean, I’ve done like 40 something films, so yeah.
Mark: Now let’s back up. You know, I mean it seems kind of natural that you would get into acting because your dad and whatnot, but not everyone follows in their dad’s footsteps. Were you drawn to acting in spite of that kind of family influence, do you think? Was it your calling?
Scott: I think I was drawn more towards storytelling and filmmaking. And I loved that you could create something that would affect people. You could create something and it would make people feel something, you know? I genuinely like to do movies that are positive, not really into doing…
Mark: Murder and mayhem.
Scott: Yeah. I mean, look, there can be that… there can be that stuff. I mean, true stories, whatever. But I like something that makes people feel and it makes people feel good or positive or give some sort of lesson out of it.
Scott: I mean, you’re really creating art is what you’re doing.
Mark: So, tell us about kind of your childhood. Like what did that, what was that like? I know you had some siblings, let some sisters, right? and where’d you grow up and what was that like and what were some of your formative experiences?
Scott: I grew up in California and Hawaii. My mom moved to Hawaii when I was eight years old. Her and my dad split up.
Mark: Was your mom an actress? I don’t know much about your history…
Scott: No, no, no, no, no. My mom was a flight attendant for 25 years. She did a few other things. Interior decorating and stuff. But so, they split up. And then I spent, I’d say half of my childhood in Hawaii, and half of my childhood in California.
Mark: Okay.
Scott: I was raised with my full sister, with my mom, but I have a bunch of other sisters, half-sisters, but they’re like my sisters. I mean, we all grew up either… A few of them grew up in my father’s household and with me. And my older sister – who was… She’s about 11 years older than me. She was sort of my big sister. She babysat me. And she was by far probably my mentor, at least in grade school and going into my middle school years.
Scott: So, yeah. raised between them. My Dad, is Clint Eastwood…
Mark: (laughing) Oh really?
Scott: I know. I almost forgot. he’s pretty old school.
Mark: Were you close to him?
Scott: Yeah, we’re much closer now. I was a little bit of a punk for a while. I used to have a shirt that said “troublemaker.”
Mark: There you go.
Scott: He didn’t like that very much. no. Yeah, he was pretty old school dad and the way he raised… especially with me, with his sons – his two sons. I have a brother. He’s definitely hard. My dad grew up in the Great Depression. So, I think he really had a different upbringing than most people that I know. and he very much valued hard work and dedication to something.
Scott: And when you say you’re going to do something, you’re there and you do it and you do it 150%. And he definitely didn’t believe in handouts. So, he was pretty old school and I was kind of a punk. And then luckily, I got into some trouble early on still in high school and then I sort of got straightened out…
Mark: I love that. Luckily, I got in some trouble.,
Scott: yeah, no, I mean, it really was. It was super lucky that I did it when I did it. Yeah, I was really lucky, and I was able to realize that there are consequences for your actions. And then I was focused. Then I was really focused and I knew, I mean when there is no handouts and you have to do something to survive and you have to figure it out. Bartending. Busing Tables.
Mark: Most people assume that, kids of famous actors are going to have the carpet rolled out for them, the silver spoon in their hand and not the case with you, Huh?
Scott: No, we didn’t even grow up in LA. my dad’s not… He makes movies, but he’s very far from this world.
Mark: He’s not a Hollywood cling on.
Scott: Not at all. Um, and so, then I went to college. And I was a busboy at a restaurant. I had a, I had a bicycle. I went to college in Santa Barbara. city college. I went to college in Santa Barbara for about a year and I realized I had this… I sort of always knew film was really interesting. But I had, I guess what people would call an epiphany or I just had a moment of clarity after my… I wasn’t even done with my first year.
And I looked around and I remember it and I saw some of my older friends who I had been in high school with – and they were much older – four or five years older. And they were out of college and they were busing tables or waiting tables.
And I looked at it and I said, “Oh shit, I gotta get the fuck outta here.” And I was like, “I got to go and make this happen if I’m going to do it and I got to go do it while I’m in college and do it in parallel.”
So, I jammed, I was like, “I’m done. I’m not going back to party school. I’m not…” I was having fun. I was young, I was, 18 years old, busing tables, going to parties, doing the thing. And I was like, “Nah, I’m out.”
And a I left LA, which, I didn’t really want to live in LA. there was no real interest, and I didn’t really want to be there. But I was like, “I got to be here.” And I enrolled in Santa Monica City College and I started Valet Parking cars at the Chart House in Marina del Rey, and at Dukes in Malibu. And really just scraping whatever I could together to go to college and start going on auditions. And start trying to see if I could do it.
Mark: Had you taken any acting classes or studied…?
Scott: Prior? yeah, I had been in theater. I’ve been in theater in high school. I did some theater, but not a lot. I was much more into Girls, Football, surfing. So, I had taken a break from it. But then I started in acting class, I started taking an acting class in Santa Monica and so I was going to acting class at night, maybe like once or twice a week.
I was busing. Waiting. valet parking cars and going to college. And I was just, I mean I was, I was flying, I was like not taking no for an answer. I was head down charging. I had a ’91 Crown Vic was my first car. Whatever hand. Awesome. Um, before that, I took the bus to several auditions. I can remember across town.
Tim, did you know me then? When I had the Crown Vic? Did I have the Crown Vic or did I have the old Tacoma? Had the Tacoma. That was my second car.
Mark: So, what was the break? Like, was it incremental or did you have like one kind of like breakthrough moment?
Scott: I got jobs, but they were, sometimes they were big movies, but they were really small parts. And anybody in the acting business will tell you, they don’t really pay anything.
You’re more or less doing it for experience. I mean, you know nothing, you don’t really even know how film works. You’re learning in those moments. You think you know how to act and you’re like, “okay great. I can sort of do it.”
But then you get these small roles and they may take you all over the world. So, I would get a movie – a small movie, big movie, whatever. They’d be tiny little parts. And I would have to figure out “how can I keep my day job?”
Mark: Right. If I got to go to Bulgaria to shoot something…
Scott: Yeah, for two weeks, three weeks, a month and be there a lot of times too, when you’re a young actor, they kind of pick you up for like the run of the show if even if you have a small part.
So, you go out there, you’re making like SAG minimum and you’re out there and then when you get back, it’s like, “oh shit. Like, well, I just, I got to go back and get another job because they didn’t let me leave.”
Mark: So, it was a juggling thing. And at the same time, I was, I was going to college. And it was really important to my mom that I get a college degree. I don’t think it was as important to me at the time. I’m glad I did.
That must have been a slog. Did you… How long did it take you to get your degree? Did you do it in 4 years…?
Scott: I think it took Five years. It wasn’t too bad, I mean, I had to piece it together. And then, still after college, I wasn’t a working actor, really. I would work. But…
Mark: Were you coddling enough to make a living?
Scott: Yeah, making like 30, 40 grand a year, you know sort of cobbling it together. But I had a strong work ethic because of my dad. And I was like head down and I was smart with my money. I wasn’t like some of these kids going out and doing bottle service and you’re like, “what are you doing? What are you spending all that money for? Spending every dollar you have, you know?”
Mark: Right.
Scott: So, I did that. Then I started bartending. I was like actually making more money bartending than I was acting. I lived down in San Diego doing that and then I was… I had sorta decided after college that I didn’t really love living in LA and if I had to stay here and do the acting business, like, that wasn’t gonna fly.
Like I just couldn’t do it. It was too heartbreaking to be here and…
Mark: LA’s brutal. I try to stay away from this town.
Scott: Yeah.
Mark: But just down the road, San Diego, North County is unbelievable.
Scott: Don’t tell. Don’t tell people.
Mark: Don’t tell them about this little town we both used to live in.
Scott: Yeah. I moved to Texas. I got away from the crowd here too, but… and so I was still kind of piecing it together and I said, “okay, I’m going to give myself to 30. I was 23 or 24… I don’t know where I was at the time. I was like, “I’ll give myself to 30.” and that was sort of my goal. I was like, “if it doesn’t really happen for me, then cool. I gave it like a really good run and I put my head down and I grinded.”
Mark: Did you have a backup plan? Like what would you have done if it didn’t work? If acting wasn’t the path.
Scott: Yeah. I mean, I had ideas of things I would’ve done.
Mark: Podcasting. Didn’t even know what it was back then.
Scott: Yeah. it didn’t even didn’t even exist back then. I had a college degree – a degree in communications. I always was interested in possibly being a firefighter. That’s a cool job.
Mark: I had an interest too and I didn’t pursue it. I wish I had after I left the SEALs, active duty. I have a lot of friends who are firefighters. absolutely love it.
Scott: And it always seems like something that was active. That took place in different locations every day. And you go somewhere to do something and then like you provide a cool…
Mark: Great service to it. You’re saving lives. Huh. I can see you doing that. It’s not too late.
Scott: Yeah, I know. I was like, I still think about it.
Mark: One of my buddies became a firefighter at 45. Former SEAL.
Scott: That’s awesome.
Mark: Mike is Awesome.
Scott: And he likes it?
Mark: Loves it. He’s crushing it. Of course, he’s got the physical structure, he’s a former team guy. You know, he was a crushing the younger guys. Absolutely loves it.
Scott: Yeah.
Mark: And one of our SEALFIT coaches right now, John Wurnham is on the path. He’s in the fire… paramedic academy right now. And he’ll get hired. He was already the honor man of his first firefighter academy. But it’s cool path. Anyways…
Scott: it seemed really cool and I also really liked the idea that you could work for a few days and then have like four or five days off. Work a few days, like concentrated and you could pack it in if you want to and sort of move your schedule around, work a bunch for a month, maybe take a month off.
Mark: So, you can have that dual. You can have a business on the side and be, yeah.
Scott: Yeah. You can do other things.
Mark: Yeah. My friend Phil Black was a SEAL firefighter, but he built a company called Fitdeck. Fitness training cards. You flip the cards and have little WOD on the card or a series of cards. He sold the business and did really well and he’s still a firefighter.
Scott: There you go.
Mark: So anyways, you didn’t have to become a firefighter, although I still don’t think it’s too late for you.
Scott: It’s not too late. It’s not too late. I’m 33. not too late.
Mark: Right. Because acting worked out for you.
Scott: Yeah. It started taking off. it started taking off more and more. And then I had some better roles, some bigger movies, bigger roles, smaller movies. It’s kind of, sort of the ladder. And then, yeah, eventually – at some point, just sorta had to give up bartending.
Acting and Business
26:53
Mark: Did you have like a breakout movie or one particular role you think was like a turning point?
Scott: I don’t know if it was like one, it was probably an accumulation of a few. But yeah, I mean, to be honest, sometimes I feel like I still haven’t done
Mark: you’re just getting warmed up.
Scott: Yeah, Like I’m like, I’m like “what? breakout?” I’m like, I’m still charging. Like, I got a lot of stuff that I want to do and a lot of stories that I want to tell. So…
Mark: this is a lifetime pursuit for you or do you think that you have a timeline and then you’re going to retire and move on to something else?
Scott: I don’t know. I like to give myself 10-year goals. Like, okay. I’m like, let’s see where I’m at 40. Let’s see if I still, if I still really enjoy it and I love it, then I’ll still do it.
If I don’t, then I’m out. You know? The business side of it can suck. There’s a lot of thieves, a lot of liars, lot of a lot of bullshit. In the business.
Mark: While you’re cad’s inside now, Right? He became a successful producer. Is that the right term?
Scott: Director and producer. But he started, he started doing his own projects.
Mark: Where he owns the IP and he was finding himself.
Scott: Yeah, he’s just started, started doing it himself. He said, “I’m going to direct it. I’m going to do it.” And he proved that he could do it and make people money and, and the rest is history.
Mark: Does that interest you to go down that path?
Scott: I think so. I mean, if I’m gonna stay doing it, it’s probably got to morph. And it is morphing. I’m doing… We have a lot of projects that I’m a producer on and that we’re putting together. I don’t necessarily want to direct them yet. I like working with a really creative director and I think they push me to be better. So, I still want to do that before I take that next leap.
Mark: Right. When it comes to acting like – just that art of acting – what is the, what are the biggest challenges for you? Like what, what is hard about it for you?
Scott: I think the business is hard about it. I mean, the acting’s the fun part. That’s the creative stuff. That’s the awesome… You’re on set, you get to make these great choices. You get… I mean, certain days are hard, certain long hours are hard, certain scenes are hard. And if you’re out in the middle of the rain in the cold and you’re putting your body through a ton of shit that, a normal person wouldn’t be doing. You’re under rain towers and it’s 30 degrees outside.
Mark: Rain tower.
Scott: Yeah. I mean they have those, they make rain.
Mark: No shit.
Scott: Yeah. And you’re freezing and you’re under a heat lamp in between takes and then you’re running back and doing that for 10 hours, 12 hours, sometimes all night. Those are hard days.
And then there’s some people who suck to work with. Lack of better term.
Mark: You find that anywhere.
Scott: Yeah. That’s kind of like anything, right? Like nothing is going to be ever perfect. So, I think the business is probably the hardest. The hardest thing that I don’t like.
Mark: As an actor business for you is really the contract negotiation or what’s, what do you get involved in as an actor?
Scott: No, no, no.
Mark: Or do you mean more in your new role where you’re moving into the more of producing and stuff like that.
Scott: No. The business for me is the meeting filmmakers, producers, financiers. Putting projects together, being a part of projects. There’s a lot of, just a lot of bullshit, a lot of politics about who’s going to be in it, who isn’t. There’s just a lot of… it’s kind of a shitty… it can just be like a shitty dealing with people. There’s just shitty people out there and it’s just a lot of crap. And a lot of it’s sort of like intangible things, right? It’s like, well, who is, is that person’s movie? Did they do good last year? where it’s not really like, “Oh hey, I love that this person is great to work with. They show up on time, they work really hard.
It doesn’t matter. that stuff doesn’t matter. Right? I mean, you think it would and, and it does in the sense that, that’s your reputation, right? That’s like all you have to hang your hat on.
But there’s a lot of intangibles. You know what you mean in the rest of the world. Foreignly, you know, if you have a financeable name, if people want to put you in a movie because of those things or they don’t. So, there’s a lot, there’s a lot of weird stuff.
Mark: Sounds like it. How much leeway do you have to be spontaneous on set?
Scott: that just depends. it really depends on the project and the person and the director. And, you know, what kind of relationship you have going into the movie. If you’ve talked about those things. If they’re on board with a lot of Improv or, or working on the script, working on the dialogue, changing the dialogue.
I mean some guys, and rightfully so – like, I mean, if you’re in a Quentin Tarantino movie, you’re going to say his damn words and do it probably his way because he’s Quentin Tarantino and that’s his, that’s his thing. and you’re going to show him respect cause that’s the deal.
But somebody maybe who isn’t as good as Quentin Tarantino? It just depends, right? Yeah.
Mark: Do you do any of your own stunts?
Scott: I usually do them all. I like that part. That’s like I said, that’s the easy stuff. That’s being onset. That’s fun.
Mark: So, so here’s, this is a business question cause I’m totally clueless about that industry. If you go in and you say, “you know what? I do my own stunts.” Does that get you more money because they don’t have to hire a stunt actor to follow you around?
Scott: No, but I should start collecting like a stunt fee.
Mark: Yeah, I should be your agent and be like, “Dude, you should get the stunt fee and the acting fee.
Scott: Yeah. I get you in the negotiating room next time.
Mark: That’s funny. So, let’s talk about like, you already gave us like your onset morning ritual. What is it that is your mental… like what’s going on through your mind? when you wake up in the morning, how do you, how do you forge your unbeatable mind, right? What’s your internal dialogue? What kind of practices do you have to stay mentally clear and sane throughout all the craziness of that industry? And all the travel and all the stress, all the craziness of the world that you’re living in?
Scott: That’s a good question. it’s really multifaceted. I mean it’s first and foremost that it comes down to my health, right? I mean, that’s like the first thing. And so, staying super fit and healthy and that to me is a lot of things, right? That’s yoga. That’s working out, whether that be, swimming, lifting weights, cross training Moutai, Jujitsu. All of those things that I love to do and I love to shake it all up and I love those all be a part of, of what I do. That’s really important to me that I make time.
But more importantly that I have like a really good routine. So, it’s waking up early. It’s writing in the morning. First thing I do…
Mark: Journaling or are you working on something?
Scott: Journaling. I find I like to, if I have time, I love to write and read first thing in the morning. Because my mind is really clear and I can focus. But if I don’t have time, then it’s just probably journaling and making sure I’m taking care of me first.
Mark: Do you have a specific journaling routine? Questions you ask yourself? Or things a that you’re like…? People have like gratitude and then your insights and ideas for the day or do you have a process around journaling? It’s such an important process, I agree with you 100%. It’s such an important skill and really…
Scott: I don’t have like a structured process. I like writing first thing because I feel really lucid and just clear about whatever I’m dealing with or thinking about. And I like to put it down on paper, so I can understand and sort of identify it and go, “okay.”
Mark: Writing forces you to clarify the thought.
Scott: Yeah, “this is bullshit.” Like, and you can look at it later and go, “okay, why did I even care about that?” You know? And then you can learn those lessons. Like, “man, I was obsessing about that,” and then you learn for next time, “okay, maybe I don’t need to obsess about those things.” I can let those things go and focus in more.
Then it comes to diet… diet and making sure I am drinking lots of water. And taking care of myself. And eating the best nutrients I could possibly have.
Mark: what does it look like for you? Are you working on ketogenesis or intermittent fasting? Do you eat just whole foods and…? What’s the simple diet plan that you follow?
Scott: the answer is I’ve done Keto, I’ve done intermittent fasting. I like both. Not entirely sustainable. I don’t think to do keto all the time. I find myself a little low energy. It’s great if you want to shred. And I do like some of the focus, but if you’re working out really hard, I think you need some sort of carbohydrates.
I like intermittent fasting. I’m, I’m not deathly strict on it.
Mark: intermittent, intermittent fasting.
Scott: Yeah. What’d I say?
Mark: No, I’m just saying your intermittent fasting is intermittent.
Scott: Yeah. It’s intermittent. Yeah, it is. and it’s because, sometimes I’ll just drop in and out of it, depending on what my goals are for that period. If I’m doing… Whatever I’m doing.
meditation.
Mark: You do that after you read and write?
Scott: no, I’ll do that at night if I do it. I don’t do it every day, but I should. I would say probably two days a week. I will make time to do that.
Mark: And Do you use an app like insight timer or do you just sit down…?
Scott: And, no. I do TM.
Yeah. Focus at night. Like I really enjoy meditation and Yoga in the evening because I find I sleep much better. I’m really lucky. I actually apparently have not a lot of problems sleeping and I get a lot of sleep. And I’m really, really… Like I value my sleep. And I don’t…
Mark: like the jury’s out finally and the research about the power of sleep and how most of our world is sleep deprived. just not getting enough. Cause they really, they had this macho thinking that “I only need five hours of sleep a night.” now the research is out saying “no, you actually need like seven to eight and the more the better.”
Scott: The more the better. And I try not to use my phone like two hours before, like an hour… But at least an hour before I go to bed.
Mark: Do you shut it down and put it in a different room kind of thing?
Scott: I don’t like to sleep with it by my bed. So, I’ll plug it in and I’ll leave it in like a far corner of the room, or the bathroom or somewhere else. And it’s always on silent. My phone’s always on silent, so I’ll do that. And I’ll usually read or do some sort of meditation and breathing or something before I go to bed.
Mark: Right. Or read your script.
Scott: Yeah. And I read not typically on a computer. I love hard copy. Yeah. I’ll read in the morning on a computer. I’ll read the news, I’ll scan through, things, emails and such. But at night I don’t like that light. I don’t like that. I think it really screws things up.
Mark: You got a girlfriend now. It sounds like you moved to Austin, Texas to be closer to the source.
Scott: Yeah. they make them good in Texas.
Mark: So, do you have an interest in having a family someday?
Scott: Um, yeah.
Mark: I don’t want to make your girlfriend uncomfortable. She probably won’t be listening to this. Just speak freely.
Scott: It’s, yeah. I don’t know. The jury’s still out. Not right now. Not right now. but I think I do want kids. I just don’t… it’s not a burning desire of mine right now. Like I said, I have a lot of a lot of movies and a lot of stories that I want to tell before I can hang my hat and go. “Okay, cool.” Like I feel accomplished in the movie making and the stories I’ve told and now maybe things can slow down, but I still would like to tell more stories but I can take a back seat to that.
Positivity
43:03
Mark: How old’s your dad right now?
Scott: He’s 88.
Mark: so, when you’re 88 and you’re looking back, what’s the one thing that you’re going to be most proud of that you’d be like, “Yeah, that was really important that I did that.”
Scott: It’s a good question. The one thing. I mean, I hope there’s more than just one, but if I had to put, I guess importance on one thing, affect other people in a positive way. I want people to, to be like, “wow, that guy really inspired me or he changed my life. Or he created this amazing art that really moved me.”
And then, I mean, I would say probably say… Look, I don’t have a family right now, but I would imagine if I have a family that that should be first or second, right?
Mark: The new one thing.
Scott: Yeah. That becomes the new thing, right? Like, “okay, have I inspired my kids? have I led a, a powerful example to them?” I would hope so. You know?
Mark: Right. So, someone listening to this thing, you know what? “Gosh, that acting is really, really cool. I really want to do that. I don’t know where to start. I live in Iowa, what should I do?” What would be your advice to 16-year-old? Or 18? or 25-year-old is like, “dude, I hate what I’m doing and I really wanted to become an actor.”
Scott: Wow. I would have answered it so differently 10 years ago. 10 years ago, I would’ve said, move to LA or New York. Get involved in theater or get involved in acting class. Put yourself in rooms where, yeah, like you go and do these things. And you go out there and you really try and you meet people and you hopefully get noticed by a casting director.
Mark: Nowadays You can just basically start your own YouTube channel and start acting in front of a camera. That might work, right?
Scott: you can. You can make your own movies. Really simple. Really simply. You can make your own movies on an iPhone. And you could do your own thing. You can write, you can do so many other things.
I’d also say that you can… I would advise that I think you would enjoy it if you also work on other aspects of your career. So becoming financially secure I think is an important thing too. Because if you really enjoy it but you have to – you are just so strapped and living paycheck to paycheck and you come to LA, it will eat you up. And it will grind you out.
And it becomes, I mean, I don’t think it’s sustainable cause there’s so many intangibles, right? I would in parallel be working on a career that can provide for you. So something else, whether it’s, something you create yourself or an alternative income stream. I think that would really help you become, not dependent on somebody else saying, “okay cool, I want him in my movie.” Because that sucks, Right? That doesn’t, you can’t,,, you’re Not in Control of your own destiny at that point. Right.
Mark: With all…. because these days you got Netflix, producing their own shows. And Amazon producing their own shows and who knows who else is getting into that? It seems like there’s just so much more, it seems to me as an outside of, there’s just so much more opportunity, like literally thousands of TV shows all with people acting in them.
Are they making any money? like if I’m on like a first season show, let’s say first year of “Shameless,” am I making any money? Or is it a total crap shoot and most don’t make it to season two or and I’m not, it’s not sustainable.
Scott: You can. I mean, it just depends on, it depends on, on a lot of factors, right. It depends on are you a principal person in that show? Or are you coming on as a small bit part? There’s a lot of, there’s a lot of factors to it.
Mark: It’s a mind-boggling kind of profession to me. When you see all the, like how many thousands and thousands of people vying to get noticed, you know?
Scott: it’s actually, I feel like it’s… I mean there are a lot of people that are trying to do it. I don’t know how many people are putting in, like a lot of times people come to LA and they come in and they hit it hard or they’re here for two years and they’re like, “oh, it didn’t work out.”
and you’re like, “well shit, there’s something called the 10,000-hour rule.” And that goes with any business, with anything worth creating. Right? It’s like you can’t give up that quick. you didn’t really want it then.
Mark: right. You’re just past the starting line. You’re not even anywhere near…
Scott: You’re just getting your feet into it. You’re just kind of understanding the landscape of the business at that point. So I think there are a lot of people that come in and maybe want it. But then there are some people that they want to do like what you said. they want to die for it, and you know there’s a difference.
Mark: Yeah, there is. Yeah. Interesting. Wow. So, we probably should wrap this up, but um, you have a podcast.
Scott: Yup.
Mark: And what’s the name of the podcast again?
Scott: “Live Life Better.”
Mark: “Live Life Better.” So what was the inspiration for that and what’s your message? Obviously live life better. So you want to… Through your example and through guests basically show people a path to a better life. Is that right? amazing how I figured that out by myself.
Scott: You did. It’s in the name. Kinda cheated. It’s in the name. Tim, I just called you right? And I was just like, “dude, I want to do podcasts.” I was like, “I want to do something that gives back. That was like the first thing I said. I was like, I want to do something… I felt really blessed. I feel almost guilty sometimes of, and I beat up myself cause I feel I feel guilty of my successes and I want other people to be able to feel and experience what it feels like to be successful, and to be healthy, and to be clearheaded and I just am sick of all the negative bullshit that we consume.
And I was like, “there’s not enough people doing just positive stuff.”
Mark: Well I love that because you can also just show that, you’re just a human being who happens to be in this career, this profession, and you’re making movies. But doesn’t make you any different or any more special than someone else doing something cool. Like my SEAL team buddies or whatever. And so you get to be human through your podcasts. I think that’s really cool.
Scott: I also like, selfishly, I get to meet a lot of cool people, and it’s cool. I get to sit here and hear about your book and I get to learn more and expand me, which is like the selfish part of it. So I get a, I get to learn more about other people. Cause I never want to stop growing.
That’s like we talked about. I think it’s the death when you stop growing. Because like school doesn’t have to end. Like I graduated College, Oh 10 years ago? Plus more? 12? whenever it was. And I just don’t want to… I want to reinvest in myself all the time. So this is like a school for me. It’s like, “oh cool.” Like, I’m forced to come up with questions, do research on you. Figure out what this guy’s about. Learn something new in the process. And then hopefully the benefit is that we get to like spread positivity. We get to give back to other people, get to give people tools, actual tangible tools. And they go, “okay, Oh hey, he does that. He does this every day. He takes care of this first. He creates lists, he does small tasks that lead to bigger tasks and just, just help people along the way.” That’s like, that’s a cool thing for me, right?
Mark: Yes. So for listeners who didn’t know this cause you wouldn’t, I just did a podcast with Scott on his show before this and we’re up at his studio right now in Culver City. And we had a really fun talk and we talked about some really interesting things. Cause I kept going down the rabbit hole. We literally talked about nuclear weapons, mitigating suffering, veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress.
and you did a great job. You’re a great interviewer. So your podcast, it’s going to be a huge success or already is, I’m sure. So, winding down, people can learn about you just by basically Googling you, right?
Scott: Yeah.
Mark: But do you have like a place that’s your, like you prefer to communicate or interact with people? Is it at the podcast homepage or where people really, if they want to like interact with you?
And I’m not suggesting you give me your cell phone number to hand out to folks, but like what’s the social handle and where can people find out more about what you’re up to?
Scott: I mean, I have an Instagram people can check out. I usually let people know what I’m doing on it, whether it be the podcast or life stuff.
Mark: The Podcast have a URL, like livelifebetter.com or something like that?
Scott: Tim? It’s scotteastwood.co. That’s my like landing page really. Just on the Internet. Some guy actually was another Scott Eastwood. Didn’t want to sell.
Mark: Oh, no kidding.
Scott: Or he wanted like some crazy amount of money, right? We didn’t even get that far. So we’re like, “all right, cool. Just call it scotteastwood.co.”
Mark: That works.
Scott: but no, I’m on Instagram. It’s, you know, Scott Eastwood. And we talk about the podcast and we do other promotion stuff on there.
Mark: And what’s the next kind of big movie that is going to be released? I know when you work on a movie, it doesn’t release for like a couple years, right?
Scott: “The Outpost” will come out in late summer, early fall. In between that, I’ll be going off to shoot a movie or two.
Mark: Right. Yeah. Can you give us any kind of spoiler on “The Outpost?”
Scott: Oh, spoiler, not really. It’s a true story. I don’t want to give away too much. I mean, essentially you can…
Mark: Is it a special ops story?
Scott: No, it’s about regular guys doing extraordinary things. Put in a really shitty circumstance. So, I’m really proud of the film. It’s great. a lot of great people in it. Caleb Landry Jones…. whole an amazing group of young guys. Directed by Rod Laurie. Yeah. It’ll be cool.
Mark: I look forward to that. “The Outpost.”
All right. Scott, thanks so much for your time. I really appreciate it. Thanks for the work you do and keep doing it and keep up with the podcast, because people do need to know how to live life better. And there’s a lot of bullshit out there and a lot of confusing advice. So, it’s good to help clarify the… get to the truth of the matter, so to speak.
Scott: Get to the bottom of it.
Mark: Yeah. And yeah. There you go. Be good. Thanks for your time. Hooyah.
All right, folks. That’s it for now, Scott Eastwood. And check it out. Check out his movies and his podcast “Live Life Better.” ScottEastwood.co. Thanks for your time today. Stay focused. Do the work and be creative and help people be better. I love that message. All right. See you next time.
Out here.
Hooyah.
