New gang Oceans apart from the old

source: Chicago Sun Times, December 2nd 2001

LOS ANGELES--The Joker is wild and his name is George Clooney. The star of the new casino heist picture ''Ocean's 11'' is dealing out something better than a royal flush.

He is serving drinks to Hollywood royalty. ''Age before beauty,'' insists Clooney, devastatingly handsome in gray slacks and a black turtleneck, as he hands Garcia a scotch on the rocks. On a Saturday night in Los Angeles, Clooney is behind the bar in his suite while flopped on overstuffed chairs Julia Roberts in jeans, Brad Pitt awning, Don Cheadle on his cell phone, Matt Damon cracking up, Andy Garcia in a nice suit and director Steven Soderbergh looking bored place their orders.

Handsome. Accomplished. A perfect host, too. Is there anything wrong with George Clooney. In fact, there is. ''You better be gentle with him,'' says his ''Ocean's 11'' costar Brad Pitt. ''George is a little bummed out that he lost the People Magazine Sexiest Man Alive cover this year to Pierce Brosnan. He's busy licking his wounds, so be nice to him.''

On screen, the odds are in his favor. Clooney and his pals are stealing money from casinos, but they might as well be printing money when the remake of the 1960s Rat Pack classic ''Ocean's 11'' opens Friday. Each was happy to show their hand during a group chat:

Q. George, we hate to start with a sore subject. Is it true that you cried bitter tears when People Magazine in the U.S. said Pierce Brosnan was the Sexiest Man Alive this year? Brad Pitt says you're licking your wounds.

Clooney. Let me just say that Brad is a little itchy right now because the crown was just taken from him, too, by Pierce. He had to give up his sash and his tiara. So he's hurting a little right now. I don't want to say this in front of him, but Matt Damon, my other ''Ocean's 11'' costar really wants the crown. He comes up to me secretly and says, "I really just want to be Sexiest Man Alive." So we're lobbying for him. Next year we're going to have a write in ballot. Matt Damon!

Q. Didn't you pull an especially heinous prank on Matt on the set of ''Ocean's 11''?

Clooney (laughing). Well yes, and I'm glad that you asked. Steven Soderbergh and I went to Variety magazine after we put a real ad together. You know how they do those "For Your Consideration" ads for the Oscars. We made up one that said: ''For your consideration: Matt Damon, Sexiest Man Alive.''

Damon. They were going to make it look like I paid for it.

Q. What's the worst thing you ever did to Julia Roberts on the set of ''Ocean's 11"?

Clooney (looking disgusted). Oh we didn't do anything to her. We took it easy on Julia. She actually snuck into my room once and put cellophane on my toilet. Please! Amateur hour!

Q. OK! Were you worried about remaking the 1960 Rat Pack classic which, of course, starred legends like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.?

Clooney. Certainly, this one was risky. I gotta say, though, I read the script for this new version of "Ocean's 11" and it was great. And a great script is the only reason to do any movie these days. It didn't hurt that we got the best director in town to do it.

Q. Which brings us to Steven. What was your impression of the original film?

Soderbergh. Well, I loved the title. I think it's a movie that's probably remembered more for who was in it. The obvious camaraderie shared by the principal members of the cast was something we wanted to emulate. We wanted to extend it. In that movie, it's really the five original members of the Rat Pack playing to their images. We wanted to be a bit more democratic about it and make sure everyone was distinctive and playing a character.

Q. This cast is obviously expensive. Did you think that no studio would be able to afford this movie?

Soderbergh. Luckily, everyone cut their price to be a part of it. To pay anyone what they get normally was out of the question and everyone understood that. When I watch the movie, I see what I hope is a sense of joy. Everybody showed up to be in the movie. They weren't showing up to get paid. They showed up because they wanted to be there. I think that comes across. I don't think you can fake that. Well, you can fake it, but they did not.

Q. OK, we better get back to the film. Tell us a little bit more about how ''Ocean's 11'' came together.

Clooney. It was pretty easy. Jerry Weintraub, our producer, sent Steven Soderbergh and I the script on a Friday night. Steven and I had just formed a production company together and we were looking for something to do. Steven calls me. Now, he's a film snob. He doesn't like too many things. But he calls me up and says, "Did you read it?" "Yeah." Then he said, "I love it and I know how to do it." That's a really good thing.

Q. Didn't George send Julia $20 and ask her to be in the film?

Clooney. I sent her a script with a $20 bill and put in a note saying, "I hear you get 20 a picture. Would you like to do the film?" A day or two later, she was in.

Roberts. Can I give my version of events? George is taking all the credit. That money was from George and Steven, so obviously George only put in 10 bucks.

Q. Did anyone say no?

Clooney. There weren't people who said no. For instance, Alan Arkin was going to play the part Carl Reiner ended up playing, but Alan got sick and went into the hospital before the shoot. Carl stepped in which was just an incredible experience for us. There are no stars in this movie except for Carl Reiner when you were on that set. Carl would stand in the middle of all of us. Julia, Andy, Matt, Brad and me would stand there and Carl would tell stories. He is a star. We couldn't wait to be around him. So in other words, it came together so quickly.

Q. What did you like about the original ''Ocean's 11?''

Clooney. I loved the original. I'm a huge fan of the Rat Pack. I have old LPs of them performing in St. Louis and at the Sands. I really idolized them, especially when I was younger. As for "Ocean's 11," I had seen the film quite a few times over the years. I also thought "Robin and the Seven Hoods" was a fantastic film. I love when they sang, "Chicago, My Kind of Town." But I never thought of any of those films as classics. I knew we could make a better film with a better script and a better director.

Q. When the original movie came out the New York Times complained that it was a movie that rooted for the crooks. Agree or disagree?

Cheadle. Hey it doesn't bother me when I vote. It doesn't bother me when I make a movie.

Pitt (to the group). The defense rests. We can't top that one.

Copyright © The Sun-Times Company, by Cindy Pearlman, Distributed by Big Picture News, Inc.