George Clooney is 63 and has a different approach to acting. The Oscar-winner, who recently shared the cover of GQ with his “Wolves” co-star Brad Pitt, said time management was a big factor in the projects he takes on at this stage in his career. He’s not going to make life hell for himself, even if it means taking half the year off to act. Clooney said he only wants to work with “people who love what they do.”
“As you get older, you allocate your time in a totally different way,” Clooney says. “Five months of your life is a long time, so you can’t just say, ‘Oh, I’m going to be in a really good movie like Three Kings, and I’m going to have horrible sex like David O. Russell and make my life hell, and I’m going to make the whole crew’s life hell.’ It’s not worth it, at this point in my life, just to make good work.”
Clooney starred alongside Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube in Three Kings, a 1999 war film set at the end of the Gulf War about four American soldiers who attempt to steal gold bars at the height of the conflict. The film became infamous after Clooney had an altercation with Russell on set.
The pair had a well-publicized feud on set over the years, with Clooney once saying that Russell was “yelling at the audience all day” while filming “Three Kings.” Tensions reached a breaking point when Russell allegedly assaulted an extra on set and Clooney got into a fight with the director. The pair reconciled a few years later.
“Look, there came a point where I said to him, ‘Is this going to go on forever?’ We have to shake hands and forget about it,” Clooney told ShowBiz 411 in 2014. “We’ve put it in the past, and it’s great.”
Clooney’s “Wolves,” in which he plays a professional fixer who is forced to work with his rival (Pitt), will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival before hitting select theaters and Apple TV+ in September. Clooney also recently starred in Noah Baumbach’s new film, playing a movie star opposite Laura Dern and Adam Sandler.
“I remember talking to[Matt]Damon about this 25 years ago when he had his first hit movie and won an Oscar,” Clooney told GQ. “I said, ‘If you can have a 10-year career at that level, that’s a real longshot.’ Nobody can last that long, so I’m amazed I still have work.”
“Wolves” will be available on Apple TV+ starting September 27. The film will be in theaters for one week starting September 20. To read the actors’ latest cover story in full, head over to GQ’s website
