Clooney gets personal
source:TNT, date: Jun 29, 1998

George Clooney has a great movie on his hands with Out of Sight. Even he thinks it's great, which seems hard for the self-effacing Hollywood veteran who appears more comfortable taking the blame for Batman's than taking any credit for the phenomenal success of "ER." With a healthy sense of humor that he often directs at himself and an ability to talk passionately without coming across as preachy, he's like the buddy next door you always have time for a beer with -- except that he's a multi-million dollar actor, the very sight of which makes grown women lose themselves in hysteria. We saw it first hand at a recent Planet Hollywood appearance after we spoke with him about tabloid journalism, his association with "South Park" and his pet pig. Oh, and about Out of Sight.
Did you meet with Elmore Leonard before the movie?

No, but I was a huge fan of his. But, I hadn't even read the book; it wasn't out when I read the screenplay. The first time I met him was on the set in Detroit. He comes over, and I go, "Mr. Leonard," And he goes, "Call me Dutch." Dutch. Right. Yeah, he's really something.

You've said you felt the screenplay was perfect. Now, when John Travolta got the screenplay for Get Shorty, he didn't like it. He said he wanted more of Elmore Leonard in it.

Well, that's what Scott Frank does really well. That's the genius of the screenwriter. Because the truth is, Elmore Leonard's movies have been really poorly done up until Get Shorty. Because they try to write the plot. And the plots aren't really all that interesting, you know. Oh, we've got some diamonds ... and you fall in love with a girl. You've seen it about a billion times. But it's the characters that are so great. Scott Frank hangs on to the characters. I think Quentin did a pretty good job with Jackie Brown. They're mainly character studies. And this one happens to be fun because there were great characters in the story that happens to work.

What this movie has, which very few movies have these days, is real chemistry between the leads.

Yeah, yeah. That's an accident. You can't plan for it.

When did you know that Jennifer Lopez and you were going to click on film?

I knew that she was great for the part and I knew that you couldn't have found somebody more perfect for the role. We knew, when we were shooting the scenes, that they worked. But there's a big difference between a scene working or there being great chemistry between the two leads. I didn't even know it until I saw it four days ago, and I went, "Oh ... there it is. It worked." It's great chemistry.

How do you relate to this character in this movie?

Well, we're the same height.

You said you could relate to him. How's that?

I read the first four pages of the script and I set it down and I said, "This is the one I want to do." Because nothing was black and white. You know, none of these guys are good guys -- with maybe the exception of a couple horrifically bad guys -- there were these characters that you really couldn't put your finger on, but that you liked. The minute this guy walks in and he doesn't use a gun and he kind of talks this girl out of her money and at the end of it he says, "OK, thanks, appreciate it." I loved that guy! I loved that opening scene from the movie and I love that these two characters get in the back of the trunk and they end up talking about movies. The only line I ad-libbed -- because every line was done exactly as written because it's so well written -- but the only line I ad-libbed was getting the Network quote wrong. It's my favorite thing because I love watching people get famous quotes wrong and do it really blatantly. Just get them really wrong and loud.

Did you actively seek out this role?

Well, yes and no. I actively sought it out because after Batman, which was not the most fun to do, I wanted to do something that I felt was great character stuff and great fun to do. It's also about career salvation. You have to try and do something you really like. So, it was about nine months of reading five scripts a week. That's all I did. That and drink beer.

What's the future of Batman?

I don't know. I think I buried that franchise. I don't know if we'll end up doing that one again.

So, are you through with it?

Somebody just came up to me in Miami and they said, Kurt Russell's doing the next one! Well, I don't think so, because Warner Bros. isn't doing it. And I'm under contract to do it. So, I would imagine that they'd at least mention it to me and I don't imagine Kurt would want to jump into that. But, my guess is I think they're going to work and get Superman back on board. It's going to take them a little bit [of time]. They need to get the script in shape. Warner Bros. is learning, and has learned, the lesson that all the studios had to learn over the last couple of years, which is you can't [pick] a release date, then write a script and make a movie. Which is what people got away with for a long time. Really, since Star Wars and Superman hit so big, it became about event. And those events became the thing to do.

Aren't they backing away from that, though?

I think we're starting to. I think we're getting more savvy. Batman was a good example of that. It wasn't a good movie. I wasn't very good in it. It was very repetitive of the film before it and the film before that. So there wasn't anything really original. Basically, you're buying a big opening; you create this event. And then I think people eventually don't go to see it because it's not interesting to them and they don't think it's a very good movie. That's the thing about this new movie: it probably won't open number one. There's a lot of big movies out there. The X-Files will still be around and The Truman Show will still be around. But the best publicity is [critics'] reviews, which we've been getting, and word-of-mouth, which is by far the best. So, we have a movie that can stick around for a long time.

What makes a pig such a good pet?

I don't know. It was, you know, a pet I got when I did the first season of "Roseanne." He was playing a rat in a factory. (He was tiny) and he was doubling as a rat. So, I took him home because they said he was a miniature and now he weighs 150 pounds. I call him my earthquake survival kit. The big one hits, I'll mash an apple in his mouth.

Do you eat bacon?

Yes. In fact, I gave him a little slice of Honey Baked Ham once...

Cannibal!

Yeah, like if I slid you a Larryburger you'd know...

Has your acting method changed now that the stakes are higher? Do you get nervous or are you more comfortable as an actor now?

You're still nervous and more comfortable. I mean, more comfortable because it's easier when you do a television show. When you're in front of a camera all day, everyday and you're doing 10 pages a day, which is what we do on the show, which is insane, you're certainly more comfortable in front of the camera. But you're always nervous the first day of shooting. You're nervous on some of the scenes that you don't [think you can] do very well. But, it's a funny thing. You get credit when the movie is good and then you take some heat when things are bad. You know, I will go tank some other movies next and everybody will like, nail me. It's very cyclical and it all has very little to do with you. You just do your job. And sometimes you're good at it and sometimes you're not. Just like everyone.

Are you at all nervous about going back to "ER" with everybody knowing that you're not coming back? Is that going to change things?

No. It doesn't change anything. They're all my friends. We're all really close friends. The executive producers are my friends, Noah, Eric, Tony and I are best friends. Nothing changes over there. I said after the first season, when everyone said I was going to leave the show, that I'd honor my contract, which I have. And I will continue to through this season and do what's right. Not just because it's right, but also because it's a great show to be on. And then after it's over, I may come back and do some more. You know, I may come back and do some guest shots.

You don't have them writing you out?

No. I don't think they're going to kill me.

Just 400 days until the final Clooney (on "ER") ...

They won't do that. I think they'll really underplay that because the smart thing would be to avoid that. The show always will be the star. That's not in any way false modesty, that's the truth.

I noticed that Hollywood and a lot of actors have been fascinated with these morally ambiguous characters like the Vinny Vega or a Gecko brother, where it's like they have really bad qualities but at the same time they have a moral code.

Yeah, but it's the oldest; it's the Old West. When you think about those guys, the Billy the Kids, most of these guys were ruthless killers. And most of them didn't have these great fights in the middle of the street; they shot everybody in the back. You know, they were scumbags. And the truth is, I'm a bank robber and a pretty deplorable character. It's the same character that, not to compare myself at all, that Humphrey Bogart was. And you know, Cagney and Edward G. Robinson.

What about the amazing love scene in Out of Sight?

Well, Steven is a really smart filmmaker. And so he looked at it and it wasn't about placating to an audience; You don't always have to see it. Read the script and it's just a love scene. Basically it's, you know, we make out. But the way Steven Soderbergh made that scene, it's actually a really unique love scene, a very special love scene.

When will you know that you've officially made it as a movie star and how do you define that?

It depends upon when the meteor hits you. I've done four films and three of them opened at No. 1. That day, all of a sudden, it's "[George Clooney's] made it." OK. And then they all underperformed, and [you get slammed by the press]. Five years ago, Kevin Costner was a God. He was untouchable and now he does The Postman. I remember Judd Nelson used to get every role I ever auditioned for. Every role. And I was doing "Facts of Life" at the time. And now he's doing a sitcom on the stage next to me, and somebody said, "Well, you know, [after your films], does that make you feel better? And I say, "Yeah, if I get hit by a bus today, I win."

So you won't be on "The Facts of Life" big-screen reunion movie?

I'm hoping. I want to be Tootie, though.

How does your performance in this movie compare to the other movies?

Well, this time I'm wearing no rubber, which I think is a key. I like the character so much better than the other characters that I've done. And because this was the first part that wasn't about my availability or about getting a big break. In Batman, as bad a movie as it became, it was the biggest break of my life. Biggest break I ever had in my life. I don't regret a moment of it. I don't know how anyone would have turned it down. Now, this is a movie that's about my decision. I had nine months to figure it out.

What's next?

Another movie with Steven Soderbergh called Leatherhead. About the beginnings of football. Think a Howard Hawks film. Really funny and strange.

Where does The Thin Red Line fall into all of this?

I'm in a tiny, tiny part in that. That's the danger sometimes. I called up Terrence Malick when I heard he was doing it and I said, I'll carry your camera case, I'll do anything you want. He said, "OK," and found me two scenes in the movie. I hear it's like a four hour movie; come see it, I'm in the last two scenes. I literally worked for a week. But I wanted to work with Terrence Malick ... because before you get hit by the bus, you want to be able to say, "Hey, I worked with Terrence Malick, by the way." And what happens is that you see an entertainment report, and it will say, "The Thin Red Line starring George Clooney," and it insults those guys who worked for five months on the film. I show up and stay in a nice hotel room in Australia and play golf and then put on some fatigues and do the last scene of the movie, you know. I really try and downplay it. Not in any way to fault [Mazzy], but in absolute reality, I'm barely in the movie.

Couldn't you not take billing like Michael Keaton and Samuel L. Jackson in this one?

Yeah, you could have. We tried. In fact, when they first offered it to us, they offered us all "favored nations" pay, which is where you make a big chunk of money and then everybody gets the same billing. I wouldn't take that because they said then they would be able to advertise the film using my name. And they'd have the right because they paid me for it.

Do you ever get the urge to just give it all up?

Not give it all up, but take it back. If I had known the extent of how encompassing it is, I'd certainly reconsider. I don't know that I'd do it any differently, but we're at a time right now, where the focus is on celebrity now more than ever, I think. Mostly because we don't have a war. And because we don't have other things to be focused on as much. We did it in the '50s, we did the same thing, you know. And it's cyclical and it will go back and go away. But, it becomes kind of encompassing, not just about being in the press, but I mean, being in public in general. It's a little overwhelming at times. And that's my own responsibility and my own fault.

You were outspoken about paparazzi.

Actually, not really about the paparazzi, but about tabloid journalists. We, as actors, can't whine about it because we make too good a living. But the truth is, they are ruthless. But what we can't do is try and create a law that says they can't be there. Because that is infringement. And that is infringing on the things that are most important to us. So it can't be about making laws that say you can't take the pictures on the public street. That's a dangerous area. But you have to make the magazine responsible for telling the truth. And the way you do is by saying, if you lie and you know ahead of time that you lied, then you have to be held responsible. Right now you're not. But it's not really my banner to pick up and I got caught in it. I had a guy do a dumb thing. He gave me a piece of paper saying he'd never put me on "Hard Copy" again, and I thought it was a significant piece of paper because I don't think you can be a news organization and say that -- especially put it on paper. And I used that piece of paper against them. We got Paramount to change their policy statement. And that was a big thing. But I'm not some sort of a spokesman. When Princess Diana died, I wasn't going to get involved at all until a bunch of actors, who shall remain nameless, started calling me and said they were going to hold a press conference and talk about how unfair and how miserable their lives are and I said to them all, "Three months from now this will be an old story and what will be remembered is a bunch of you making $20 million a year complaining about your lives." It's horribly invasive. And I'm not about talking about pictures, 'cause I'm walking through an airport, and I'll have a 17-year-old kid with a video camera picking a fight with my assistant and then it's like, "Screw you!" And then they film that, and that's creating the news. That's dangerous. I grew up with, my father's [been in broadcasting for] 25 years and I picked up that the most important job we have in the world is journalism. It's more important than government. It's the watchdog of government, watchdog of ethics ...

It has gotten better since then?

No. And it won't. And it wasn't supposed to. And it wasn't really my intention. I didn't try and start a boycott, you know. I just said I'm not going to help you guys.

You've done a lot of theater, like the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago. How do you differentiate the way you create characters in theater, television and movies?

I have no difference. I mean, I'm not the deepest actor in the world. I go off, read the script, make some decisions and go do it. But, you know, theater's a blast to do. I haven't done a play in eight or nine years.

How about the live "ER"?

That's theater -- to hell with it -- that's 40 million people theater! That's a big-ass theater. That was my idea. It ended up not really working, but boy it sure felt good on the set. It didn't look right. Videotape was our big downfall, I think. You know, direct-to-video. It has a real one-dimensional look to it, and I think it hurt us.

But still fun. It was captivating.

Oh, we loved doing it. It was so exciting.

Did you really do the voice of the gay dog on "South Park?"

Yeah. Well, that was funny. They called me up. I was sending that tape around before the show got picked up by everybody. I mean...

You're the one that started it really.

Sometimes they give me too much credit. I didn't start it. But I sent it. I made about 200 copies and sent it to everybody because I thought it was hysterical.

As a Christmas present?

Yeah. Well, they made it as a Christmas present for somebody... and I thought, well, that's the rudest Christmas present I've ever seen. Have you ever seen the original?

Yeah, yeah

Hysterical. And by the way, I have all episodes of "South Park" unedited... you know, on a tape. They do them first unedited -- unbleeped -- and it's hysterical. It's horrifying and hysterical. And then they ended up getting a show and they called me up and said, "We're going to do a TV show and do you want to play Sparky the gay dog?" And I went, "Yeah, what do I have to do?" And they came over to my trailer on "ER" and they set up the microphone and you've got the big muffle on it and everything's set up and I'm thinking I'm gonna have to say something. And they just had me bark into the thing. I'm sitting there, the door of my trailer's open, and all these trailer people stop by and they call us on to the set and I'm barking into the thing. Noah Wyle walked by, looks into the room, looks at me. I go, "I'm Sparky the gay dog." And he walks away.