He's a household name with dozens of roles under his belt - as everything from actor, writer, producer, even director. Now, George Clooney is taking on The Men who Star at Goats, his latest film starring Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey and Jeff ridges. Cloone plays an army officer who claims to have paranormal powers. We caught up with the actor to discuss Hollywood, the "business" and his experience staring down goats!
Q: Do you ever get tired of making good movies?
GC: "(Laughs) No I get tired of making bad movies. When you make a bad movie they are exhausting but the good ones are easy."
Q: Are you really as great a guy as your reputation indicates?
GC: "We'll change all that, don't worry. But really, I've had a pretty good life, so there's no reason to be a butt-head. The things that are going well so much outweigh the bad, you'd have to be a jerk to complain."
Q: What was the first movie you took a date to?
GC: "The first movie I took a date to...I honestly can't remember. I can remember about the time and it must have been like 1976 so let's just call it...erm...Taxi Driver. Not a great date film, Taxi Driver."
Q: You always have a beautiful woman on your arm and have been linked to a number of Hollywood beauties. And you're seeing Elisabetta Canalis now. How interested are you in settling down?
GC: "I don't know. I'm glad you asked the question though. The funny thing
is that in the 20 years of doing this I have never had that question askedof me before. (Laughs) So I will continue to answer it the same way, which is - I don't know."
Q: Do you think you will ever settle down?
GC: "I'm just living my life the way I choose to live it and hope it allworks out, but I'm also well aware that certain things you can do which are cute when you do them at 20 become less cute when you're still doing them at 48."
Q: You've said that you are not going to get married again and you are not
going to have children. How can you be so sure?
GC: "Well, here's the real answer to that. I said those things in 1993 in an
interview and it has kind of stuck with me ever since. I find myself now constantly having to defend it. When you get famous you think it's important to tell people everything you know and everything you think but you don't realise that these will be the headlines down the road. The truth is that it's not a = consideration. I'm not considering marriage, I don't think I will have children - it's a big responsibility. But I don't have this mantra that I have been going around screaming."
Q: What is more important to you, love or friendship? And what would you do for your friends?
GC: "As opposed to lovers? (laughs) I think friendship is a part of love, they're not mutually exclusive. I have great love for my friends. So I don't think you really separate one from the other. But maybe I'm wrong, it's worked out well for me don‘t you think? What would I do for my friends? Do you remember who Al Cowlings was? He was the guy who drove O.J. Simpson's car when he was running away. He was sort of made the bad guy for a while. I always kind of liked that guy. You know, your buddy comes to you and says, ‘Listen get me out of here.' You know you're going to get introuble for it but you go, ‘Alright, I'll drive, go and get a mask, apassport and $20,000 and jump in the back.' I always liked that so I always like to think I'd drive."
Q: You are quite daring with the kind of movies you make. You could just play safe and make sequels to your hit movies but you don't.
GC: "Well I have made some sequels. The truth is I have a really lucky career because I'm kind of doing the projects I want to do. The ones youfeel you are selling out for are infinitely better than the ones other people are making. Some of the movies I make people absolutely hate. People hated The Good German, some hated Solaris - other people loved it. So you are stuck in a situation where you have to go by your own taste and what becomes of it we'll have to figure out. It's like Oh Brother Where Art Thou? When that came out it was a big flop. We were pretty poorly reviewed but now people really like that film a lot."
Q: What can you tell us about your new movie The Men Who Stare at Goats?
GC: "It's very good."
Q: What is your own view about the Iraqi war?
GC: "I think it is the dumbest thing ever. It is the single stupidest folly in American history and I think it will go down as one of the great stupid moments in world history.
Q: You've become well known for your sense of humour and the way you use it against the pressures of fame. Does life in the spotlight ever become
irritating for you?
GC: "The truth of the matter is I grew up around famous people. My father - in the world that I grew up in, Cincinnati, Ohio - was a big star. My Aunt Rosemary was a big star - a singer. I saw how little it has to do with you - it's all about luck and the problem I think with famous people in general is that they actually think they're geniuses. You know, you get famous and you start thinking, ‘Of course I should be famous, I earned it all.' Well, you haven't. You got lucky. I got lucky. I got a TV show that got a Thursday night time slot and it was a massive hit and I get to do movies that I want to do. If that hadn't happened I would be going to a TV show or making a living or not. It's all luck. So, once you understand that everything you are doing is based on stars aligning literally then you don't really take it for granted. You do sort of enjoy it then."
Q: Priorities change as we get older so what would you say are the most
important things in your life now?
GC: "You're right, they do change as you get older. You find that the older you get, the more you are able to participate in other parts of society. The more sort of secure you are in your career the more you can focus on other issues. But I also find I have this great group of friends - and they've been a great group of friends for twenty years - and we find out that the older we get, the easier it gets for us to stay close and spend time together. It's a huge part of my life. So those priorities certainly change."
Q: Do you still remember your very first acting job?
GC: "Absolutely. On TV, the first job I did was a show called Riptide. Then right after I did a show called Street Hawk where I played my evil twin. That was good fun!"
Q: What about the first movie you ever saw?
GC: "The first movie I saw was when my parents took me to see Mary Poppins -which I loved."
Q: You must get to pick and choose what you want to do know - yet a lot of
your movies are politically charged. . .
GC: "As an actor, if you get lucky you get a little bit of time to play with all the toys in the toy chest. It is what you do with that period of time that is important. They take it away pretty quickly. You don't get much time where you have the ability to green light things, so while you are there you try to push as many buttons and push as far as you can until they take all the toys away."
Q: A number of Hollywood stars - including yourself - are using their fame to highlight problems across the world. Why do you think that is?
GC: "If you have the ability to go somewhere and people will follow with cameras then you have a responsibility to do it and a responsibility to be very educated on the subjects that you're going to talk about. There's 15 countries in Africa in trouble. The one we felt years ago was not getting any attention was Darfur. It is about life and death issues that are going on now."
Q: So what is the key to surviving in this business?
GC: "What I've learned is that you have to love the entire process. You have to love auditioning; you have to love going to work, because otherwise it all rushes by. The trouble with this job is that you cannot have a bad day. So exercise is the key. And basketball or a round of golf is better than treading a Stairmaster for two hours. After exercise you find you can deal with the things that were getting on your nerves, I find anyway."
Men Who Stare At Goats Is Now Showing At Irish Cinema