Francesca Eastwood admits her dad Clint Eastwood's Hollywood legacy looms large over her own career and has almost cost her roles.

Francesca Eastwood

Francesca Eastwood

The 24-year-old actress is proud to be the daughter of Clint - famous for his western parts and Dirty Harry alter ego - but accepts that his body of work can be linked to her.

Francesca can recall auditioning for the part of Florence Tildon in 2016's 'Outlaws and Angels', a western film about bandits who hide out in home of a frontier family.

However, she was almost rejected because they didn't want to cast her in the same genre which made her father a household name.

Speaking to The Times newspaper, Francesca said: "I loved the story and I really wanted to do it, but some of the producers were like, 'We can't cast Clint Eastwood's kid in a western. That's insane.'

"I pointed out that it wasn't a western, that it was a family drama, and they came around. I'm so glad they did because it was the first time I thought, 'This is what I want to do with my life.' "

Francesca - whose brother Scott Eastwood is also carving out a successful acting career for himself - is determined to prove herself as an actress by showcasing her own talent but she realises that her famous name can also be a help as well as the occasional hindrance.

She said: "The types of projects I want to do don't come easy - whether you have a big name or not. It helps you get a reservation at a restaurant and it helps if you want to start working on just anything. But sometimes it works against you."

Francesca is desperate to land a role in an action movie and she would love to star opposite her idol Tom Cruise.

She said: "Hopefully, it's all going to come in handy because I'd love to get a couple of cool action movies under my belt. I love Tom Cruise and I love that he does it all himself. I would hang out of a helicopter. Absolutely."

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