Clint Eastwood only gets offered "grumpy old men" roles.

The Oscar-winning actor and director, who has just finished directing the biographical drama 'J.Edgar' with Leonardo Dicaprio, admits as he has gotten older the variety of roles he is offered has dwindled, so he relies on powerful scripts to help him make his decision.

He said: "Once and a while they come up with a grumpy old men thing and they say, 'Okay, let's get Eastwood for that.'

"Regardless of what age you are, most actors would all agree that it's all based upon material and the material has got to Spark with you. It may be great material, but you think it's great material for somebody else. Or it's great material and I'm perfect for it. So, you just have to make that judgment and if you feel in the mood to do it."

The 81-year-old star has always struggled to decide whether he wants to be in front or behind the camera, because so often a role will come up he feels he has to do.

He told ScreenCrave.com: "When I first started directing, I said you know, if I could pull this off, I could someday just move in back of the camera and stay there. I never was able to pull it off because somebody offered me a role."