If Ryan Phillippe winds up landing one of the leads in a much buzzed- about biopic about America’s first – and only – black-and-white comedy team, he’s got Clint Eastwood to thank.

Clint: Mulling biracial biopic?

While chatting with Movie Addict Headquarters host Betty Jo Tucker this week about Tim and Tom: An American Comedy in Black and White – the recently-released memoir he penned with former stand-up partner Tim Reid – Tom Dreesen recounted this anec- dote:

“Clint Eastwood is a good friend of mine and I wanted to introduce him to Tim, so we went out to dinner one night at [Hollywood eatery] Dan Tana’s and I intro- duced him to Tim. And while we were having dinner, Ryan Phillippe came up and . . . Clint said, ‘Ryan, this is Tim Reid. Tim and Tom were America’s first black-and-white comedy team, and they were the last. And they’ve got a book out on their life.’

“And Ryan said, ‘Wow, that would make a great movie!’

“And I said, ‘From your mouth to God’s ears.’

“[Then Ryan] said, ‘I could play you.’

“And I said, ‘I was a lot better lookin’ than you when I was your age!’”

To hear the Tom and Tim’s full interview, click here.