Celebrity Interview - George Clooney
Hollywood heartthrob gets serious
George Clooney Hollywood heartthrob gets serious
Considered one of the most eligible bachelors in the world, it must sometimes seem as though life has been easy for George Clooney - but, like most actors, he has had to struggle through hard times.
It was barely 10 years ago when George Clooney made the move from TV stardom, in ER, to a leading film role in One Fine Day. Some believed his success in Hollywood would be fleeting, but the ruggedly handsome actor and renowned party boy has not only proved to be resilient but also versatile - moving effortlessly from that romantic comedy of a decade ago to a more demanding - and controversial - facet as director, co-writer and actor in the compelling 2005 release Good Night, and Good Luck, about journalist Edward R. Murrow's historic confrontation with Communist-baiting Senator Joe McCarthy in the 1950s (see following interview). It's been a long, hard road for the newscaster and beauty queen's son. Born in Lexington (Kentucky) on 6 May 1961, he initially wanted to emulate his father as a broadcaster but apparently decided to find his own career path, and studied at university for several years and also unsuccessfully tried out for the Cincinnati Reds. Perhaps inevitably, however, he got into acting at 21 when his cousin Miguel Ferrer (son of actress-singer Rosemary Ferrer) found him a part in a small feature film. He moved to California in 1982 but spent the next year unemployed - reportedly sleeping in a friend's closet and bicycling to auditions. After completing an unreleased feature with Charlie Sheen, he gained a contract with ABC, and when that expired joined the cast of the medical sitcom E/R (1984). Ten years later, another TV series - ER - made him a star. He has since starred in several films - he was the sixth actor to play Batman, in Batman & Robin - and, in a less known side to his thespian career, has appeared on stage in 15 plays, including a starring role in the award-winning Vicious at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre in 1987. Off the set, he is a "golf maniac", relentless practical joker, ardent baseball fan, collector of motorcycles and committed political "liberal".
10 TITBITS ABOUT GEORGE
- He was married to Talia Balsam from 1989 to 1993 - and has vowed never to marry again.
- After auditioning five times for the role of J.D. in Thelma & Louise (1991), the part went to future friend Brad Pitt.
- He was voted "Sexiest Man Alive" by People magazine in 1997.
- He owns a pet pig named Max - presented to him by Kelly Preston when they were sharing a home in LA as struggling actors.
- He was the second man after Richard Gere to appear on the cover of Vogue magazine - and they are still they only two to be so-honoured.
- Women he has dated include Renée Zellweger, Céline Balitran and Mariella Frostrup.
- Michelle Pfeiffer and Nicole Kidman both bet $10,000 that - contrary to his own insistence he would never have children - George would be a father before he turned 40. He didn't but it's not clear if they paid up.
- A keen fan of TV show South Park, he asked creator Trey Parker for a part in an episode and was given the role of gay dog Sparky.
- A great beer lover, he reportedly had a keg installed in his dressing room while filming Ocean's Eleven.
- He was paid $250,000 for From Dusk Till Dawn in 1996 and $20 million for Ocean's Eleven five years later.
"I don't like to share my personal life... it wouldn't be personal if I shared it"
"Most of the films I've done haven't done particularly well. I'm surprised I'm continuing to work"
"Directing is really exciting. In the end, it's more fun to be the painter than paint"
Interview by Enric González (El Pais)
George Clooney is a charming man - almost irresistible. He smiles, he jokes and he clearly wants to become involved with the interviewer. Held in a Venice hotel, the interview is focused on Good Night and Good Luck, his second film as a director. It's the most audacious commitment of his life: he had to personally guarantee the $8 million (about € 6.5 million) it took to produce the film with his own house, as nobody wanted to risk their money on a film which criticised the government and could be considered "anti-patriotic" by the US right-wing. In fact, it was politically discredited even before the premiere. "I'm called a traitor in my country," he says.
It seemed unlikely that United States could again go through similar times to the fifties. However, there's Guantanamo, an anti-terrorism law approved after 11-S, abuses in Iraqi jails... What's happening today looks even worse than the McCarthy period...
Remember that after the Pearl Harbour attack all American citizens of Japanese origin were locked in concentration camps, and that Soviet nuclear tests generated more fear than the terrorist attacks in 2001. For a period of time, like now, citizens gave priority to security before freedom. In those times, anyone criticising the government was also accused of being anti-patriotic. But I believe that, just like then, things will work out okay. The United States functions like this, in cycles. People are beginning to discover the truth: that the Iraqis had nothing to do with the destruction of the Twin Towers; that there weren't any weapons of massive destruction in Iraq... Accurate information is there: the problem is it's not easy to find it, and it's difficult to distinguish the truth from propaganda spread by certain media.
You were already considered a "dangerous left-winger" by the "new right" which supports George W. Bush. Will this film cause you problems?
Look, certain media in my country have accused me of being a traitor for some time now, and Good night and Good luck won't improve my image among ultraconservatives. But I believe that questioning, and in this case criticising, the government is a citizen's duty. And it's helped me a lot to read Edward Murrow's articles and speeches, because they are inspiring and give you strength. I initially thought of shooting a film about Murrow and McCarthy five or six years ago, before 11 September and all its terrible consequences, and my idea was never to make a political statement. I wanted to talk about the power of truthful and honest information, and the validity of Murrow's position: freedom and constitutional rights are sacred.
What's happening is that the new right wing is rehabilitating Senator Joe McCarthy. Anne Coulter, one of the most well-known conservative pundits, has published a book in which she states that McCarthy was a hero and Murrow behaved like a traitor. By recalling what really happed I've found myself immersed in a political debate. I don't want to give lessons to anybody, but if we don't respect freedom and the rights of our own country, in the name of what are we fighting for?
Your involvement in America's political debate is not by chance. For example, you had a long meeting in Edinburgh with Paul Wolfowitz, ex-Defence Sub-Secretary, president of the World Bank and one of the hawks of the new right wing...
That was very interesting. I have participated in various public demonstrations against Wolfowitz and it was very strange to be in a closed-door room with him. He offered to debate, during the G-8 conference in Edinburgh, how the Third World could be helped. I was invited to the debate and I accepted, like others. It's worth the effort to try to change the enemy's opinion.
Is it reasonable to assume that your father's profession, television journalist, prompted your interest in Edward Murrow's story?
Of course. Murrow was a hero in my home and was always a professional role model for my father. My father, in turn, is a hero for me. Together with my sister, we learnt to eat quickly when we were invited to visit another family, because my father nearly always argued with the hosts and we had to leave before dessert. He is a man with firm convictions who always expresses his opinion: an awkward journalist, which meant he was sacked by quite a few companies. And you know what? I'm proud about all the debates, the unfinished meals and his dismissals.
Your father was a Democratic candidate for the Kentucky Congress in the past elections, but you didn't help him with the electoral campaign...
To not prejudice his campaign. If I had been there, there would have been the same old accusations about Hollywood liberals - millionaire actors who spout armchair progressiveness - so we decided it was best for me to remain on the sideline. In any event, the Republican candidate conducted an extremely fierce campaign against my father, distributing touched-up photos showing him shirtless and with a joint in his hand. My father! A man who has always worn a tie and hasn't seen a joint in his life! My father lost by a massive margin, of course, and at 71 he has no interest in trying again.
You've mentioned Hollywood's moral discrediting of the average citizen. Hollywood also suffered from McCarthy's campaign in the fifties...
Yes. And in the end it was proved that those "armchair progressives" were right. The actors and film-makers who objected to the witch-hunt were right. And they were also right when they defended woman's equality, racial equality, civil rights...Hollywood has always been right with the important arguments. And sometimes it has done more than the press in changing people's opinions. The film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (starring Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn and Sydney Poitier) prompted enormous collective reflection about the stupidity of racism.
Good Night and Good Luck is a black and white film full of dialogue, filmed in a documentary format, and dealing with a delicate moment in America's recent history. What's more, it shows the characters smoking heavily. Aren't you afraid that, like Woody Allen's films, it will be much-liked in Europe and very little in the United States?
Yes, that could happen. Or not. Three Kings, a difficult film with a huge political context, was a success in the United States and a failure in Europe. You never know. What worried us most was the subsequent distribution on television, which enables you to recover your investment in the case of failure in the cinemas. All the major American TV networks rejected Good Night and Good Luck because it's filmed in black and white. Fortunately, HBO (the cable TV channel that broadcasts serials such as The Sopranos) finally bought the broadcasting rights. That means I won't need to sell my house. When the producers found out I wouldn't be the main character, but a supporting actor, they refused to risk the eight million the project cost, and I had to offer my house as a guarantee.
