"I'm a weirdo in it. I play a real racist," he said. "It's a great time in life (to do that) because, you know, what can they do to you once you're past 70? There's nothing they can do. But it also has redemption. This Hmong family moves in next door, and he has been in the Korean War, in the infantry, and looks down on Asian people and lumps everybody together. But finally they befriend him in his time of need because he has no relationship with his family."

His "Gran Torino" character is Walt Kowalski, a racist Korean War veteran whose prized possession is a classic car that catches the eye of local gangs in his Detroit neighborhood. One of the troubled kids who covets the vehicle is from a family of Hmong immigrant neighbors, whom Kowalski has long resented.

"[Kowalksi] worked on the line in the Ford plant and retired and had this one car he bought himself. It's sort of a symbol of his days with the Ford plant," said Eastwood. "The M-1 is sort of a symbol of his days in the military. He's clinging to the memory of the war. You'll find out when you see it, some of (the memories) are not as pleasant as others. That helps make him even tougher to get along with."

Newcomer Bee Vang, a 17-year-old Hmong American originally from the Minneapolis area, was cast as the neighbor boy who strikes up a mutually reluctant relationship with Walt. "The young kid, as part of a gang initiation, tries to steal it, and the old guy gets him at the end of the M-1, which becomes kind of a big deal," Eastwood explains. "The kid has to do penance because of the pride of the Asian group. They make him do penance. He has to come over, and the old guy doesn't want anything to do with him, doesn't want him anywhere around."

The fastest way to rid himself of the boy, Kowalski decides, is to cooperate. "Walt helps him get a job and helps him toughen up a bit," Eastwood says. "(Walt) doesn't work construction. He's retired. But he gets the boy in through a buddy, an old crony. They take him in and try to show him how to handle himself in life."

"The old guy," as Eastwood calls his character, ends up confronting prejudices that have isolated him. "It's got a lot of twists and turns in the story. It also has some good laughs."

The first trailer for "Gran Torino" will appear in front of Eastwood's "Changeling" this weekend and the first poster can be seen by clicking on the link below.

"Gran Torino" is scheduled to hit theaters on December 17th.