Why George Clooney is just a law unto himself

By BAZ BAMIGBOYE

Last updated at 09:22 12 September 2007


George Clooney had just recorded a TV

interview when we chatted in Venice.

The room was empty apart from the

bright lights and the two of us.

His face is well lived-in and no attempt,

as we all know, has been made to hide

the premature grey.

He chuckles, leans forward and tells me:

"Here's the nice thing about living long

enough. What happens is when you get

to a certain place in your career, you'll

see other actors who are movie stars

trying desperately to hold on to that

audience they've attained. Like 17-yearold

girls when they're 50. These are

guys who want the young girls and they

want to be action heroes." Who can he

mean?

"But really," he continues, "that train left

the station and those fans are going

away."

It was probably around the time of

Batman And Robin that George realised

he should shift acting gear.

Despite how that movie turned out, his

mindset was that if he didn't take the

role, he'd be on ER for the rest of his

career and he'd never get a break as a

leading actor in movies.

He knows better now and, in recent

years, following in the footsteps of his

hero Paul Newman, Clooney has started

courting character roles. That's why his

new movie, Michael Clayton, works so

well. It's a character-driven part about

a lawyer who has taken on too much.

A lawyer friend of mine in New York told

me it's the most authentic portrait of an

attorney he's seen.

"I'd had back and neck surgery and

because of that my head hurt," George

tells me. "I couldn't exercise, so I turned

up on set 20lb heavier than

I like to be, but I realised the state I

was in served the character well. I

was playing a guy who had nothing left

to give."

The movie opens here on September 28

and Clooney gives one of the year's best

performances, along with James

McAvoy in Atonement and Michael

Caine in Sleuth.

Most watched News videos