LOS ANGELES , California ( CNN ) -- Clint Eastwood does n't know if he 's a legend . Clint Eastwood attends the `` Gran Torino '' premiere this month with actors Bee Vang , left , and Ahney Her . `` Maybe , what is it ? '' he asks , before making a reference to a line from director John Ford 's `` The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance , '' `` When the legend becomes fact , print the legend . '' But for more than 50 years , he 's appeared on the screen and behind the camera . His film credits include `` Dirty Harry , '' `` Every Which Way But Loose '' and the three `` Man With No Name '' Westerns . He owns four Oscars -- two for direction of `` Unforgiven '' and `` Million Dollar Baby '' and best picture wins for those two films -- and he 's been nominated for six others . His most recent contribution to the film world is `` Gran Torino . '' In the film , which Eastwood also directed , he stars as Walt Kowalski , a Korean War veteran who is forced by immigrant neighbors to challenge his prejudices . Kowalski is a recognizable type , the gruff , sometimes bigoted old man who may be hiding more heart than he lets on . Even though he 's not too caring at the start , `` he ends up expressing love to a family he 's never known before , '' Eastwood said . CNN talked with Eastwood , 78 , about the movie , his future as an actor and what he expects in terms of awards . The following is an edited version of that interview : . CNN : When you read the script , were you at all concerned about the nature of the language ? Clint Eastwood : No , I was n't . If you 're going to learn something and progress in the movie as a character , you have to start as something else in order to learn tolerance . And your character obviously is never too old to learn that , so he has to be a certain way . But I -- being politically incorrect -- I find [ it ] fascinating because I hate the so-called PC thing . I think that 's one of the things that 's damaging our generation at the present time . Everybody is taking themselves and everything so seriously . If they just relax a little more and take themselves and everything else a little less seriously , they 'd have a lot more fun . CNN : I understand Nick [ Schenk ] was the original screenplay writer . Boy , did he get a grand slam , getting Clint Eastwood to sign onto his project . Eastwood : Well , it was interesting because he had a hard time getting it to us for some reason . Anyway , they did and finally they got it to Rob Lorenz , who 's my associate . And he read it and said , `` Well , it 's kind of interesting . You might find this character interesting . '' He says , `` He 's got a lot of -- he 's kind of a racist -- he 's a little bit of a lot of things . '' I said , `` Well , it sounds interesting , I 'll read it . '' You know , he said the same thing you 're saying . He said , `` It 's not exactly politically correct . '' I said , `` Perfect . Let me read it . I 'll read it tonight . '' CNN : It 's great that after doing so many films in your long career , you 're still looking for that edgy material . The material that 's not quite in the box obviously . And I heard that you do n't know if you 'll be doing too much acting anymore ? Eastwood : I do n't think so . I just do n't think there 's going to be that many good roles , or as you say , edgy material . CNN : Maybe not edgy material for the typical senior that 's an actor , but you 're a legend . You 're Clint Eastwood . So I 'm thinking people are writing stuff for you . Eastwood : I 'll tell you why . It 's that I do enjoy being behind the camera . I started directing 38 years ago in order to be involved in the whole project and not just the one component of acting . And so it became interesting to me to look at the whole picture . And so I 'm enjoying it back there . And next picture I do , Morgan [ Freeman ] 's going to be upfront and I 'm going to be behind the camera . And that 's where , I think , where I belong . CNN : And you guys are shooting that film [ about Nelson Mandela ] in South Africa ? Eastwood : Yeah . CNN : You guys are buddies now . Eastwood : Well , this will be our third together film over the years . The other two films [ `` Unforgiven '' and `` Million Dollar Baby '' ] seem to be reasonably successful , so we just hope we can keep a trend . CNN : You 've got `` Changeling , '' and then you 've got `` Gran Torino . '' Both of them are getting a lot of buzz . What 's your reaction to the fact that you 'll probably be getting a lot of [ award ] nominations ? Eastwood : Oh , I do n't know about that . I do n't think about that . I just make the pictures and where they fall is where they fall . If somebody likes them , that 's always nice . And if they do n't like them , then too bad . It 's just you -- you just make this picture . Actually , I kind of make a film for myself to sort of express myself . Or it 's a story I might want to follow . I never think too much about anybody seeing it . And then when you 're done with it , you go , `` Oh my God . Now we got to see if anybody wants to see this thing . '' So we 're at that period right now , at least on `` Gran Torino . '' CNN.com 's Jacque Wilson contributed to this report .
Clint Eastwood stars as bigoted Korean War veteran in movie `` Gran Torino '' Eastwood says people take themselves too seriously nowadays . `` I do enjoy being behind the camera , '' actor-director says . Score: 6