Clint Eastwood, 88, Spotted on Set for First Movie Role in 6 Years

After six years away from the big screen, Clint Eastwood was spotted on set of his upcoming movie, The Mule. The 88-year-old Oscar-winning director will be starring in a movie for the first time since 2012’s Trouble with the Curve.

In photos taken for the Daily Mail, Eastwood can be seen exiting his trailer on set, stepping out to shoot the feature film. He wore a striped button-up shirt, gray cargo pants and brown sneakers.

See photos of Eastwood on set here.

The Mule will be Eastwood’s first acting role since starring in Trouble with the Curve, although he did appear in a brief cameo in 2014’s American Sniper, which he also directed and produced. In The Mule, Eastwood stars as Earl Stone, a man in his 80s who is broke, alone and facing foreclosure of his business when he’s offered a job he can’t refuse. At first he’s simply required to drive — but it doesn’t take him long to realize he’s actually carting drugs for a Mexican cartel.

The Mule also stars Bradley Cooper, Laurence Fishburne and Dianne West. American Horror Story‘s Taissa Farmiga, Narcos‘ Michael Peña and Bones’ Ignacio Serricchio also appear in the movie.

In addition to starring in the film, Eastwood will also direct; his Gran Torino collaborator Nick Schenk has been writing the script.

The film is based on the true story of Leo Sharp, a man who is said to have been the world’s oldest drug mule. The Mule follows his life around the time he was arrested for attempting to smuggle 200 pounds of cocaine into the state of Michigan. Sharp was 87 years old when he was nabbed by police and was eventually sentenced to a three-year prison sentence in 2014 at the age of 90. He was released from prison early due to a terminal illness and died in 2016.

Throughout his time as a drug mule, Sharp reportedly dealt with more than 1,000 pounds of cocaine, mostly into Detroit, for the Sinaloa Cartel.

Eastwood’s return to the big screen comes after he’s spent time behind the scenes, having made the Tom Hanks-starring Sully in 2016 and The 15:17 to Paris, a biographical thriller-drama that was released in February.

Based on the autobiography The 15:17 to Paris: The True Story of a Terrorist, a Train, and Three American Soldiers, the film starred the actual soldiers (Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler and Alek Starlatos) who were hailed as heroes after stopping the 2015 Thalys train attack.

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