Scott Eastwood: I was going to be a fire fighter - I didn't think I'd make it as an actor

Clint Eastwood may be a Hollywood icon and one of the industry’s leading men – but his son feared he wouldn’t make it as an actor even with a famous father.

Scott Eastwood graduated with a degree in communications in 2008 and considered a career as a fire fighter over fears he wouldn’t be able to support himself as an actor.

“I was a huge fan of film growing up and I thought ‘what a cool way to go through life and tell different stories and affect people’,” he told Standard Online. “I didn’t think I’d always make it as an actor. It’s a flighty thing.

“For many years I was working odd jobs as a bar tender, as a valet, while I was making movies, but I didn’t really know if I could support myself doing it. At some point it started to kick in. But I always thought maybe I’ll go and be a fire fighter.”

He continued: “I got a college degree so I always had a backup plan. I really was looking into fire fighting because I thought that would be a fun career choice – it’s outside, helping people, it’s different all the time.”

Scott has enjoyed roles in Suicide Squad, The Fate of the Furious and recently joined the Pacific Rim franchise to play pilot Nate Lambert alongside British star John Boyega in Pacific Rim: Uprising.

Asked if he feels he has cemented his status as an actor he said: “I’m trying to do different stuff, not just to get my name out there, doing stuff that I think is cool and interests me and films that I would want to see. Pacific Rim is a perfect example of that. I was a fan of the first one, it’s a global movie, it’s multi-cultural and has a great message for kids.”

Scott could soon be swapping one sci-fi world for another after he was rumoured to be in the running to take over from Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. The Australian actor played the X-Men mutant for 17 years before bowing out in Logan last year.

Scott said he is keen to take on the Marvel hero, but is yet to be approached by film bosses.

He said: “I have heard some things online. Of course [I’d love to play him]. Wolverine is an iconic character. He’s one of my favourite comic book characters, but I haven’t talked to anybody about that.”

Pacific Rim: Uprising is in cinemas now