He's funny, charming, has a house on Lake Como, and rides a motorcycle. George Clooney chats to handbag.com about all the important things in life: babes, bikes and beer. By Joanne Nathan

Many people call you a playboy. Does that upset you?
What do you do? I mean, it's not nice and it's not really accurate either, but there's nothing you can do... especially if you're 41 and single and you've gone out with anyone in your life...

What do you look for in a woman?
I don't know. And since I haven't been all that successful lately I don't think I should be looking for anything right now.

You mean you can't get a date?
No, I just mean I've been so busy working that I'm not really seeing anyone. I haven't actually been in a relationship for the past three or four years.

Isn't that strange?
It's strange for me now. Before, I was always in relationships, so it's a little awkward. But quite honestly I've just been working every day for a year and a half, so it's a little tricky.

Is it true you are currently going out with Jennifer Siebel?
Jen's a good friend. But I'm not dating anyone right now.

What are the advantages of dating a woman who is both beautiful and intelligent?
(Laughs) Well, they're beautiful and smart. That's a great combination.

You are currently filming with Catherine Zeta Jones (Intolerable Cruelty). How has it been working with her?
I had the greatest time working with her. I adore her and we just got along like crazy. I love her.

Of course there were the inevitable rumours...
Oh yeah! There was some story about us being madly in love... 'George is breaking up another marriage'! I actually said to Catherine, 'There had better not be anything wrong with your marriage to Michael because - godammit - I'll take the heat for it.' I've taken the heat for everyone's breakups for the last year!

Are you still a fan of strip joints?
Sure - I go every once in a while if they're fun... sure.

You flash your butt in your new film, Solaris. Are you proud of your body?
(Laughs hard) I don't know. I'm never proud of anything.

Is there a line you draw when it comes to your own nudity?
No, though I think it'd depend completely on what I was doing.

Could you ever do a scene like Oliver Reed and Alan Bates did in The Lovers where they wrestled totally naked?
Yes, for that movie, sure. I just directed Sam Rockwell in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and up until the very last cut we had a full-frontal nude shot of him because it was the right moment at the right time and place. I don't think that's a problem if it's for the right reasons. It's fine.

As a leading actor does getting older concern you?
You can't do much about it and it's better than the alternative which is to be dead. No, I don't really worry too much. I'm enjoying where I'm at right now in life and I'm having fun getting the films made that I want to get made. Do I wish I was 10 years younger and that my knees felt a little better and I could jump a little higher and play a little better basketball? Sure, but otherwise I'm fine.

Would you consider plastic surgery?
No, never. So many guys do it in Hollywood and it's dumb. Here's our advantage. We're guys and we get fat and bald and what hair we have turns white and we get wrinkles, but nobody busts us for it. Nobody cares! I just don't understand guys who do it (surgery). It comes out of insecurity or fear of not being able to play a leading man again. The funniest thing is, I just think it makes you look older. Even on women it never looks good. You want to do the Audrey Hepburn thing of being 65 years old and looking 65, but looking like a great 65, as opposed to trying to look like you're 35 or 25. It never works.

You were recently the subject of a hoax by a female fan who said her daughter was dying. What happened?
That was awful. Literally every day for three months I talked to this young girl, and she would tell me she'd just had her pancreas taken out, she'd be crying, she'd been raped in the hospital and she was dying of bone cancer... and of course it was this 40-year-old woman pretending to be a 15-year-old.

So she was a good actress?
Actually, when you hear the tape she's not even a good actress. That's what really gets to you. You just feel like a jerk.

Has it made you more wary of the pranks you play?
No, are you kidding? In some sense you have to salute her for it, except it wasn't a prank, just really sad. I did get her pretty good at the end, because I called the hospital and they had no record of the girl. I began calling the doctors and they didn't exist, and then I realised what was happening. I'd never heard the two of them, the mother and daughter, at the same time, and it dawned on me that this lady was playing these characters. So then after she'd said her daughter was in the hospital for some bone marrow treatment I called her and told her, 'Listen, don't tell your mom but I'm flying out tomorrow. I'm bringing oncologists - top experts - we'll all be there tomorrow.' And about an hour later, my assistant Amy drove up and she said, 'Guess who just died?' And I said 'You're kidding! We finally killed her!' That was amazing, but embarrassing.

You have a place in Italy on Lake Como. Have you had much chance to spend time there?
I've only had it two months, so not really. I'm going to go in May and just sleep for the first week. It's great there. I've got a boat and you just ride up to one of the great restaurants on the lake and just get out and start eating.

Do you have a bike there?
I'm buying six bikes because all the boys ride.

Which bike is better - Harley or Indian?
Harley by far. Indians are trash.

Who are your showbiz buddies? Do you have many?
Not really. My buddy Richard Kind is, and he's about to do the lead in the new Steven Sondheim musical on Broadway. I was best man at his wedding. There are eight of us who've been best friends for 20 years, and only some are in showbiz.

What's your idea of a good night out?
Nice Italian joint with the boys, and these days you have to get a driver so you can have a few drinks... Then go over to my buddy Randy's bar and have some more drinks. That'd be fun. A great night out? That's hard, they're so intangible. We've had the greatest nights when it's just a bunch of us together for a movie night. We all just watched Jackass the other night and it's not really a movie, let's face it. It's just skits. But there was 20 of us in the room, and this movie is horribly gross and unbelievably stupid. But having said all that, it was an hour and ten minutes of the hardest I've ever laughed in my whole life. I was sore from laughing. God, what the premiere of that must have been like!

Do you still have Max the pig?
He's good and healthy. He got hit by a car and had a bad turn for a while, but he's doing fine now. I scratched his head on the way out this morning.

Is it true he trashed your model train set?
Completely untrue. I've never had a train set in my life.

You have made a lot of money - what's the biggest thrill it gives you these days?
Making money is still a thrill... but I wish they'd give it to you in a wheelbarrow so that you actually get to put your hands in it, because it really just comes as a piece of paper.

LA is a money town - do you think that will ever change?
Probably not, but I have the greatest friends there so I don't knock it. It's a business town, but it'd be great if they stopped charting opening weekends on the news and we could get back to just making films.

What's the best and worst thing about London?
It's one of the great cities of the world and I love the people and the night life. Great restaurants and clubs. It's a fun town and everyone walks and it's really alive. The worst thing? Probably the weather (laughs) And it's tricky to get around because you get hammered pretty hard by the photographers. They make an effort to make it tough.

What do you think of the women?
Oh, they're very pretty and well-dressed too. Lots of interesting fashion looks.

Are all the tabloid intrusions worth it?
It is worth it, so you don't complain. I have a great life. But there are things that happen that suck. Like I'm walking through an airport and some guy will try and pick a fight or say something rude. You learn to dismiss it and ignore it. You have to.