Clint Eastwood teamed up with Sergio Leone to make three of the greatest Westerns of all time: A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.
He would go on to star in a number of other Westerns and even star and direct in his own hit Unforgiven, but there was a time when he needed a break from the genre – and the director who helped jumpstart his career.
In attempting to establish his career outside of the old West, Eastwood turned down two Leone pictures.
Clint Eastwood Turned Down ‘Greatest Western of All Time’
Every 10 years Sight and Sound asks a group of directors to name the “Greatest Films of All Time” with the latest ranking coming from a total of 480 directors. The latest ranking had Once Upon a Time in the West as the greatest Western from the group.
While the film didn’t need him to be successful, Eastwood revealed he turned down the iconic Western.
“But he talked to be about doing Once Upon a Time In the West and Duck, You Sucker!, but they were just repeats of what I’d been doing. I didn’t want to play that character anymore,” he admitted. “So I came back and did a very small-budget picture, called Hang ’em High, which had a little more character.”
Eastwood claimed he needed to do some “American” films after studios started thinking about him as an Italian actor following the success of the Man With No Name trilogy.
Eastwood’s Hang ’em High owns a strong 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, but Once Upon a Time in the West sits even higher at 96%.
In the end, he established himself as one of the greatest actors – and directors – of his time.
This story was originally published by Men’s Journal on Jul 12, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men’s Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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