George Clooney is 63 and he does things differently when it comes to acting. In a joint GQ cover story with his “Wolfs” co-star Brad Pitt, the Oscar winner described “putting in time” as a huge factor in the projects he takes on at this point in his career. If he were to go away for half the year to act, he wouldn’t put himself through hell. Clooney said he just wants to work with “people who love what they do.”
“As you get older, the allocation of time becomes completely different,” Clooney said. “Five months of your life is a very long time. So it’s not just a matter of, ‘Okay, I’m going to do a really good movie, like Three Kings, and I’m going to live a miserable life like David O. Russell, and make my life hell. And make everyone on the crew hell.’ It’s not worth it. Not at this point in my life. Just to get a good product.”
Clooney co-starred in “Three Kings” alongside Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube. The 1999 war film is set at the end of the first Gulf War as four American soldiers attempt to pull off a gold heist in the midst of the conflict. The film's production was notorious as Clooney fought with Russell on set.
The pair's on-set feud has been documented over the years, with Clooney once saying Russell “was yelling and screaming at people all day long” while filming Three Kings. Tensions culminated when Russell allegedly got into a physical altercation with an extra on set, prompting Clooney to fight the director. The two reconciled years later.
“It came to a point where I said, ‘Is this going to last forever? We have to shake hands and let it go,’” Clooney told ShowBiz 411 in 2014. “We put it behind us. And that’s great.”
Clooney’s “Wolfs,” in which he plays a professional who is forced to work with his rival (Pitt), will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival before being released in theaters and on Apple TV+ in September. The actor also recently filmed Noah Baumbach’s new movie, in which he plays a movie star opposite Laura Dern and Adam Sandler.
“I remember talking to [Matt] “I talked to Damon about this 25 years ago, when he had a big hit with his movie and won an Oscar,” Clooney told GQ. “I said to myself, ‘Know that if you have a 10-year career and you play at this level, that’s a big award.’ Nobody can last longer than that. So, yeah, I’m surprised that I still have the work.”
“Wolfs” premieres on Apple TV+ on September 27. The film will be in theaters for a week starting September 20. Head over to GQ’s website to read the latest cover story on the cast in full.
