After years of taking what was offered, Clooney took charge of his career. The result has left the former star of TV‘s “ER an Academy Award-winning actor and Oscarnominated filmmaker who uses his stardom to do films he truly cares about, including the new legal drama “Michael Clayton. Clooney, 46, now can look back on a decade of wild success as an actor, writer, director and producer, sometimes handling all four jobs at once. When he had to do the publicity tour for “Batman & RobinŽ in 1997, he hated it. “It was really hard, because I knew it wasn‘t a very good film, and it makes you a liar, sort of, but you have to, because it‘s your job to promote a film,Ž Clooney said.
He then turned to more storydriven productions with such filmmakers as future producing partner Steven Soderbergh and Joel and Ethan Coen. He and Soderbergh have collaborated on the “Ocean‘sŽ romps and many other projects, while Clooney and the Coens reunited for the romance “Intolerable Cruelty and the upcoming comedy “Burn After Reading.Ž
“You start going, OK, well these are films I would go see. I‘m proud of them. I think they‘ll last longer than an opening weekend. I have to focus on the script first and foremost, then I have to focus on directors. If that means working with Steven Soderbergh or Joel and Ethan as often as possible, I‘ll do it. If it means directing them myself, I‘ll do it,Ž Clooney said. “Because at the very least, if I‘m going to bomb, it‘s going to be my call, and I‘m OK with that. If it doesn‘t work, then you go, ‘Hey, it was my decision.’Ž
Though once married and divorced, Clooney is considered one of Hollywood‘s most eligible bachelors. He said getting married again and having a family are not conscious priorities, preferring to leave that to fate. “I don‘t actively pursue any of that stuff, because I think if it turns around and finds you,Ž Clooney said. His focus is on work, and a lot of it. Clooney knows from his own family how fleeting fame can be, so he views his time now as a narrow window of opportunity to make the sort of films he wants.
“I‘m going to force people to make films they don‘t want to make. Believe me, no one‘s encouraging us to make ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’ or ‘Syriana’ or,Solaris.‘ To me, the idea is there‘s a period of time that I have where I‘m able to force-feed films down people‘s throats, and I don‘t know how long that lasts. So I‘ve been sort of on a mad rush to try and slam films down that I‘d like to see made,Ž Clooney said.
