Scott Eastwood appeared in 2016’s Suicide Squad as “GQ” Edwards, a Navy SEAL Lieutenant who assists Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) with the group’s mission. As it turns out, appearing in David Ayer’s original film wasn’t going to be it for Eastwood and he was offered to return in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad but he ultimately turned it down after some advice from his father, Clint Eastwood.
During an interview with Insider, Eastwood admits he was apprehensive about signing on for The Suicide Squad when the offer came his way because the money offer was too low and there wasn’t a script for him to look at yet. After calling his father Clint for some advice, Eastwood ultimately turned the sequel down:
“They didn’t want to pay me any money for those next movies and … they didn’t have another script for the other movie, so I didn’t know what I was going to be signing myself up for. I called my dad. I said, ‘They don’t want to pay me.’ He said, ‘If it feels like they really need you and if it’s a good part, then do it. If not, then don’t.’ I didn’t have the answer to those questions at that time. I wasn’t going to have the answers, and they were pressuring me. So ultimately it didn’t happen.”
When speaking about David Ayer’s 2016 film, Eastwood explained how committed Ayer was to having him on the project and he admits his character got more love in the infamous Ayer Cut:
“He basically was like, ‘Come on this journey with me. I’m going to make you look like a badass. I’m going to make your character pop,’” Eastwood said of Ayer’s pitch to him. “I didn’t even know what the character was at the time… I have talked to David, and I know my character got a lot more love in the Ayer cut.”
The “Ayer Cut” mentioned here refers to the alternate cut of Suicide Squad that apparently existed before Warner Bro. mandated changes drastically changed the final cut of the film. Ayer and several members of the cast have spoken about the “Ayer Cut” and they all feel it should see the light of day, much like Zack Synder’s Justice League. Eastwood doesn’t appear very long in the theatrical cut of the film but apparently, he had more to do in the “Ayer Cut.” He maybe would’ve had more to do in The Suicide Squad but I respect him declining the chance to appear because he didn’t feel too confident about it and the advice from his Hollywood legend father certainly doesn’t hurt.
Do YOU think Scott Eastwood should’ve been in The Suicide Squad?