US actor in an Asian forest? (8)

I believe the answer is:

eastwood

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'us actor' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'an asian forest?' is the wordplay.
'an asian' becomes 'east' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'forest?' becomes 'wood' (synonyms).
'east'+'wood'='EASTWOOD'

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for eastwood that I've seen before include "Clint . . . . . . . . Is a leading film star and director" , "Clint --, US actor" , "Clint - home of Lawrence" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.

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