‘ER’ viewers saw Clooney as Dr. Feelgood

January 7, 2009 by admin
Filed under General Articles, videos

The sight of him in his early days at County General was enough to send anyone with a pulse immediately to the real ER.

A brash young actor on what promised to be a major new NBC show, Clooney met the Sun-Times reporter in 1994 for a quick chat before going to the rooftop set at the Chicago Firefighters Academy, where he would do a night shoot complete with helicopters and “patients” covered in bright red corn syrup.

Saving their lives wasn’t the only thing on his mind that day. He just need a clean shirt — and stat.

Walking in wearing just tight jeans and a green suede vest, the future screen idol apologized, insisting, “I know I have a clean shirt somewhere. This never happened to me while shooting ‘Facts of Life.’

“I’m in this new series where I play a doctor,” he confessed, rummaging for clean laundry, scarce because he had been on location for many days. “The hardest part of the job is all the medical jargon. I have to actually sound like someone who could tell you that your pancreas is acting up — and I have to know where that pancreas is located.”

View Gallery

He was working on his surgical techniques. “We’ve been practicing on pieces of raw chicken,” he said. “All I know is that there are some chicken parts around town that can’t even be made into McNuggets anymore.”

Clooney might have messed up a bit when it came to slicing and dicing patients, but his bedside manner as Dr. Doug Ross on “ER” was beyond reproach. In the early days on location in Chicago, he said, “The great part of this series is the people. Noah [Wyle]. Eriq [La Salle]. Sherry [Stringfield]. It’s just such a relaxed atmosphere. And you can take a nap on those gurneys between takes.”

After almost five seasons on “ER,” Clooney left his day job for movies, something he later lamented. “You have such strong bonds with the audience. They’ve invited you into their home for years. I also miss the cast, but we still play basketball,” he said, adding. “Oh, and I miss the deep-dish pizza in Chicago, which I would happily accept freeze-dried at my home in California. You could also send some of those great hot dogs.”

Eventually, the fallout of playing Dr. Doug started to lapse. “I went through a period when people actually asked me for medical advice,” Clooney said, “and I was like, ‘Are you nuts?’ “

As for coming back for the final episodes of “ER,” Clooney was a bit cagey during interviews last year for his film “Leatherheads.”

“All this stuff came up on the Internet,” he said. “I got calls the other day saying, ‘I heard you’re going back to “ER.” ‘ I dunno. It depends who asked me. [Executive producer] John Wells and I are good friends.

“It’s not something I’m against. Literally, my office is 50 feet from the ‘ER’ stage. I see those guys all the time. They are still family there. It’s not like I’ve gone away.”

Source

Here’s a great video of ER Season 4 Bloopers.