Clint Eastwood on "Baby"

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I WAS WITH YOU ONCE WHEN YOUR FANS SORT OF GOT OUT OF HAND. YOU SAID, "WELL, WHEN YOU SIGN ON, YOU SIGN ON FOR THE WHOLE RIDE." WOULD YOU LIKE TO EXPAND ON THAT A LITTLE? It's just, you know, a trail boss--ism. I used to get a kick out of actors who'd have 10 minutes of fame and they'd start going, "Oh, my God, I can't stand this, and I don't really like it and I just wanted to be an actor. I didn't want to really be successful." And you go, "Oh, come on. Who the hell are you trying to bulls___?" The only people who are working are the ones who are successful.

IT SEEMS TO ME, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAPPENS TO AN ACTOR IS THAT FAME CUTS HIM OFF FROM HIS SOURCES. Yeah, You can't see out if everybody is seeing in.

STILL THERE'S SOMETHING ENVIABLE IN THE WAY LIFE HAS COME OUT FOR YOU. I'M NOT TALKING NOW ABOUT MOVIES-- I know what you mean. I've been lucky. You have to be lucky. I've kind of made a life for myself here in Carmel, and I was lucky to run into my wife Dina. She's enhanced my life so much, bringing my family together. I don't know if I could have done that on my own. She's helped me put all the pieces together.

FINALLY, HOW DO YOU HANDLE OSCARS? I MEAN YOU'VE BEEN THERE A FEW TIMES. You go. Sometimes you have the goods. With Unforgiven, we were kind of favored and we prevailed, at least as Best Picture, the nicest one to have. And then last year [with Mystic River] we got Hobbitized. Now, here I am back the second year in a row. It's almost like the kid won't go away. Maybe they'll give it to him just to get rid of him.