Chris Messina Says Director Clint Eastwood Is 'Badass' and 'Cracking Jokes' on Set at 93 (Exclusive)

"He was awesome. I really loved him," Chris Messina says of working with Clint Eastwood on the upcoming film 'Juror No. 2'

Chris Messina will cherish his time spent working with Clint Eastwood.

PEOPLE recently caught up with Messina, 49, to talk about his time collaborating with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon on Air and his role in 93-year-old Eastwood's upcoming film Juror No. 2.

"You think you're going to get some tough guy and he is completely gentle and calm and fun and cracking jokes, and a lot of the crew members — [for example], the craft services woman has been with him for 22 years," Messina shares of his time on Eastwood's film set.

Messina stars in Juror No. 2 alongside an ensemble cast that also features Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Gabriel Basso, Zoey Deutch, Chris Messina, Leslie Bibb and Kiefer Sutherland, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The movie follows a juror in a murder trial (Hoult) who "finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma … one he could use to sway the jury verdict and potentially convict — or free — the wrong killer," per a synopsis as described by the outlet.

Eastwood has maintained a consistent work ethic as a director even into his 90s. The Oscar winner has released seven movies as director since 2014. His latest film was delayed for several months when this year's SAG-AFTRA strike shut down major Hollywood productions from July 14 through November 8.

Related: Chris Messina Says Air Costars Ben Affleck and Matt Damon 'Love Each Other': 'They're So Cool' (Exclusive)

"He was awesome. I really loved him. 93 years old and completely with it, great notes, up on his feet behind the camera — just a badass," Messina says of Eastwood. "It was super inspiring. And to go from something like Air with Ben and that incredible crew — I get to look into Viola Davis' eyes and Matt Damon's eyes and Jason Bateman, and then I go to Clint Eastwood's [set] and look into Toni Collette's eyes and J.K. Simmons and Nicholas Hoult."

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Messina, who has been acting since the late 1990s, has collected an impressive series of roles in recent years. On top of Air, he starred in this year's Stephen King adaptation The Boogeyman and appeared alongside Casey Affleck in Dreamin' Wild and Kaley Cuoco in the Peacock series Based on a True Story.

Related: Clint Eastwood, 93, Smiles While Directing His Next Film Juror No. 2 on Set in Georgia

Messina will next appear on the big screen alongside Ariana DeBose in I.S.S., a space thriller centered around astronauts on board the International Space Station when a nuclear war breaks out between the United States and Russia.

"I feel very lucky," he tells PEOPLE. "I've had a very beautiful run and I know how many talented actors there are out there that struggle, just struggle to find work, struggle to find an agent, struggle to be seen or heard, so I feel very grateful that for whatever reason I've been allowed to work in this business."

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