Vanity Fair Top 40 Moneymakers

George made Vanity Fair Top 40 moneymakers for 2009 Coming in at 29 with an estimated earning of 22 million

29 George Clooney (CAA)

• Estimated 2009 earnings: $22 million
  • $10 million: Up in the Air (fee for starring)
  • $5 million: Fees for appearing in foreign commercials, royalties from older films, other revenue
  • $4.5 million: The Men Who Stare at Goats (back end, based on worldwide gross of $44 million; Clooney took no up-front fee, but got a now-rare first-dollar gross deal)
  • $2.5 million: The American (fee for starring in and producing upcoming spy thriller)

New Interview from France-Soir

France-Soir has published this exclusive interview with George that reads more like a quick red-carpet interview. Translation by Google

Casual and full of humor, George Clooney, the most popular actor of the moment could be nominated for Oscars.

Beverly Hills, in a lounge of the Beverly Hills Hotel, George Clooney arrives in the rain to our rendezvous a few minutes before the ceremony the Golden Globe Awards.  Smoking rigor, who was nominated this year among the best performers, thanks to his performance in In the Air, has not failed to bring with him his beautiful Italian Elisabetta Canalis.  “Frankly, it is not beautiful?” He said, stroking with a gesture of complicity in the nose of his girlfriend.  Since he fell under the spell of this lovely brunette, Mr. Clooney is smiling again. Exclusive, he confides in France-Soir.

FRANCE-SOIR.  In your new film, In the Air, you play the role of a man who spends his time in airplanes and hotel rooms. The fiction joined this time for you, just the reality, right?

GEORGE CLOONEY. Yes, I must admit that that I embody the character in In the air touched me personally because there are undoubtedly some similarities between this role and my privacy.  What touched me in this film, it does embody a man who, through selfishness, has totally lost touch with reality. Finally, his taste for independence will play tricks on him and he will start to open their eyes to the real world.

Your character is completely disconnected from his family.  Are you close to yours?
It’s very strange because the more I’m getting older, the closer I get to my parents and my family in general. I feel more and more need to be at their sides. My father has become my best friend and chief confidant.

From simple B-series player, you have changed the status of Hollywood legend.  Today, in show business, everybody listens to you.  How do you explain this phenomenon?

It’s simple. Everything changed the day I bought the villa in Lake Como.Since I have this house in Italy, coincidentally, all the Hollywood stars want to be friends with me.  Brad Pitt refused to speak to me and now bows when I approached him! Matt Damon is almost ready to sell her body just to set foot in my house. I really have no merit. They are friends with me just by pure interest.

Speaking of Italy, you seem really happy today with your Italian girlfriend, Elisabetta Canalis …

Yes, right now, it’s la dolce vita. I see only by Italy and I can now travel on Air Italia (laughter).  I am extremely happy and I just try to enjoy the moment.

There is talk of a possible marriage.  Is this the case?

Why, when I’m with someone, people want to join immediately on two things: a wedding and a baby. For now, Elisabetta and I take great pleasure in being together. This is an extremely intelligent person who has the most down to earth.

What is the secret to his successful Hollywood life as a couple?

I think it is very difficult for an actor to get his love life, not because of external temptations but because of time requested for himself. To succeed in Hollywood, he must above all be damned selfish. Now that I have reached a certain level in my career, I want to take care of others. It is time that I quit to concentrate on my own little person, but to invest myself to others.

Under your jovial, they say you are an incredible anguish.

Absolutely.  That’s probably why I have to follow a lifelong treatment to cure my stomach ulcers. Besides, it reminds me that I must take my medicine. Bye.

George Clooney ‘driven’ by work

(UKPA) – George Clooney has said he won’t sit back and retire anytime soon, because he is driven by his work. The actor, who stars with Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick in Up In The Air, said work makes him value his life. “I suppose I could relax, ride my motorcycle, sit in cafes and enjoy the good life in Italy, but my work is what drives me,” he told the Daily Mirror.

“I come from a family that prided itself on accomplishing things and that kind of feeling resonates inside me. I have a very good life, but it wouldn’t mean anything to me unless I felt that I was able to do some serious work and makes some sort of contribution.”  He added: “I hate wasting time, so I need to keep pushing myself.”

But George, who has a villa in Lake Como, Italy, loves his downtime.  “It takes you out of the spotlight for several months at a time,” he said. “My life over there takes me away from the circus aspects of being a celebrity and that’s a pleasant change for me. It’s much easier for me to hang out with friends in Laglio or a lot of the other small villages without 50 photographers showing up in half an hour.”

But he joked: “Whenever I want, I can always stage a diversion and invite Brad, Angie and their 15 children to come and visit,” he quipped.

Can There Be an Awards Show Without Clooney?

By MELENA RYZIK

A rare ‘Air’ for Jason Reitman and George Clooney

The director and star of ‘Up in the Air’ discovered kindred spirits as they put together their critically acclaimed film.

By John Horn

January 13, 2010

What were your first conversations about how to play Bingham?

Jason Reitman: Our first conversation wasn’t about what the script meant — there was an understanding of what we were making the movie about. Our first conversation was really, “When do you want to start? When do you want to stop? How many takes do you like doing?” It was just kind of a quick understanding of how do you actually like to make movies — the process.

Not about the film’s tone?

George Clooney: When you start out as an actor, you read a script thinking of it at its best. But that’s not usually the case in general, and usually what you have to do is you have to read a script and think of it at its worst. You read it going, “OK, how bad could this be?” first and foremost. You cannot make a good film out of a bad script. You can make a bad film out of a good script, but you can’t make a good film out of a bad script. But I read this script and said, “Well, honestly, it’s so well-written, it’s hard to screw it up.”

… Continue Reading

By George – the sky’s the limit

Here’s a great interview by Paul Byrne from Herald.ie. Thanks to SoandSo for the find and for posting it in the CNCU Forum!

George Clooney still makes “small, smart movies” but it doesn’t always pay, he tells Paul Byrne

For most people, George Clooney can do no wrong. The guy’s a sweetie, always there with a smile, a handshake, a comforting wisecrack. And he’s got the sort of looks that can send most women into a tizzy at 1,000 paces. From the screen. There are those nonetheless who feel that George Clooney can do wrong. They’re called investors.

Recent outings, such as Leatherheads, The Good German and The Men Who Stare At Goats may look good on paper (all-star casts, smart scripts, cool directors), but each lost a truckload of money. Even when Clooney gets some Oscar heat for what he likes to call his “small, smart movies”, a box-office bonanza rarely follows. The likes of Syriana and Michael Clayton ended up more admired than adored. And that meant poor box-office.

“These are risky movies to make,” nods Clooney, “but they’re generally worth the risk. We don’t spend hundreds of millions of dollars making the likes of Clayton or Goats, so, they don’t have to hit the No1 spot to make that money back. That said, some of them have done spectacularly bad. And, in quite a few cases, I really should have known better . . .”

… Continue Reading

OK! Issue 707 12 January 2010: George Q&A

Thanks to Sisieq777 for the scans and transcripts!

View Scans

Hollywood Interview – George Clooney

‘I’m looking a bit old now’

The movie hunk admits his looks may be flagging – but as he talks ladies, lucky breaks and life as a singleton he’s still shaping up pretty well to us!

Dashing George Clooney might be called a silver fox by many, but when he looks at himself on film he only sees one thing:  ‘I’m old.  It’s an interesting thing to watch yourself grow older on screen.  I was watching Up In The Air and I thought, Jesus, who’s the old grey-haired guy?  And it was me.  I never wear make-up for movies and now it’s starting to show.’

Although 48-year-old George may be sinking deeper into middle age, his famous obsession with elaborate pranks is somewhat pre-teen.  Poor Matt Damon visited his Ocean’s Eleven costar at his villa on Lake Como last summer and was on a strict exercise and diet regime to lose two stone.  Matt was very disappointed when his trousers felt tighter and tighter every day.  George eventually confessed he’d got his housekeeper to sneak into Matt’s room and take in his waistband by an eighth of an inch every day!

… Continue Reading

Being Clooney: Not as Easy as It Looks

Terrence Rafferty – NY Times-  gives us a great look at George in this article

THERE’S no mystery, none at all, about why George Clooney is a movie star. Guys who are extremely handsome, move well, can project intelligence and humor, appear to enjoy the company of women and possess soft, deep masculine voices have historically done pretty nicely for themselves on the silver screen.

Mr. Clooney, in fact, often seems like a throwback to the leading men of earlier eras: a passing resemblance to Cary Grant, especially when he deploys his wry half-smile; a hint of Paul Newman’s ’60s cool. He’s the kind of actor who could float along forever on his genial presence alone, coast on charm. But he doesn’t. (Or doesn’t always.) That’s the mystery.

… Continue Reading

Anna, George and RPattz!

Anna Kendrick stopped by the Ellen Degeneres Show and she opened up to Ellen about what it was like working simultaneously with George and Robert Pattinson, saying, “George gave me such a hard time about shooting Twilight. Whenever I came back, it was like, ‘Oh sorry, this isn’t the Twilight set. You’re not working with Mr. Handsome.’ He called Rob ‘Mr. Handsome.’” Anna even evidently upped the rivalry between her two leading men by bringing George a signed copy of Rob’s GQ. Robert Pattinson autographed his April GQ cover for George, writing, “To George: Best of Luck. Hang in there. Love, Rob.”   To which Clooney returned the favor by signing his May 2009 Esquire cover to Rob with: “Dear Rob: Thanks for all the inspiration. I’m a huge fan. Love, George (two-time Sexiest Man Alive)”

He’s a dreamboat

Vera and Anna have only praise for George in this red carpet interview.

She [Vera] has only praise for her hunky co-star.

“He’s a dreamboat. He’ll make anybody weak in the knees – male or female,” she says.

“George was exactly the partner I needed because I have never felt as insecure as I did coming into this role. I had just given birth to my first child two weeks before my first costume fitting, I really needed an ally and he was simply wonderful.”

She adds: “His sense of humour is sincerely the most attractive thing about him. It’s just jokes, nothing but laughter and giggles. He’s the consummate gentleman, extremely kind and loving.”

Being in such close proximity to the Hollywood pin-up allowed Farmiga to observe the mania that surrounds him.

“What was most amusing for me was to see the fanaticism that George attracts. That was overwhelming and so odd,” she reveals.

“No one ever knows who I am, they always think I’m a producer on a film. Watching George have to deal with that – he’ll open a door and close it, and get a standing ovation for that – or he’ll get one when he walks. He is so gallant and gracious.”

Not many actresses get the opportunity to banter and tell off an esteemed actor such as Clooney, but Farmiga’s co-star Anna Kendrick does in Up In The Air.

The softly-spoken star who, at 24, is half the age of Clooney, portrays Ryan’s colleague, Natalie, who aims to bring a halt to his jet-setting ways with her cost-cutting measures.

“I’m normally so timid in real life that I get excited by my character getting to tell people off. Telling someone like George off was pretty awesome,” she says, blushing.

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