2007: What’s in, what’s out

In: Classic bow-tie tuxedo
Out: Suit-tie tuxedo

Dressing up for formal events is in again. Style setters such as Daniel Craig and George Clooney continue to raise the bar for men’s fashion by ditching the relaxed black-business-suit-as-evening-wear look for the timeless appeal of a classic black bow-tie tuxedo. (Look for its appearance on the red carpet at the Academy Awards on Feb. 25.) Return to tradition never looked so good. (Canada.com)

Kidding around with George

ONLY IN HOLLYWOOD
Kidding around with George Clooney, part 2

By Ruben V. Nepales
Inquirer

LOS ANGELES—HOW DO WE PROVE HOW charming George Clooney is in person?

When we ran into George at the premiere party of “Syriana” in New York the other year, he kissed my wife Janet on the right cheek. Since then, Janet has not washed her right cheek. And when we met George again a week later in LA after that New York encounter, he somehow remembered Janet. That did it. As we left the party, Janet told me that, from then on, I could only kiss her on the left cheek.

Advice for every man: If you and your wife or girlfriend ever cross paths with George, grab her and make a quick about face. George Clooney has not been voted twice by People Magazine as the Sexiest Man Alive for nothing.

Outside of movies, what do you really want to do?
I just want to dance (laughter). I want to be a professional dancer, teach jazz.

Join “Dancing With The Stars”?
Oh, dancing with the former stars. I’ve got things I’m working on. The Darfur issue is a big one we really have to keep pushing. Those are the things that are much more satisfying in a lot of ways. So I’ll probably keep pushing those things until something gets fixed.

How about doing a musical film?
They looped my entire singing voice in “O Brother…” (laughter). I don’t think there’s a musical in my future. I messed around with them in theater when I was young. I only lacked skills—other than that, I was really good at it (laughter).

How much do you enjoy writing scripts?
Ever since I was on sitcoms, I was involved as a writer. Lately, writing has become a big passion. The screenplay of the movie I’m doing with Renee was written over 10 years ago. But it needed a drastic rewrite. We tried it a few times and it never came together. So I spent the summer writing in Italy.
I don’t have a computer. I just write things on pieces of paper. I spent all summer trying to figure out how the movie would work. I woke up one morning and it was fairly easy to write.

Are you satisfied with where you are now in your acting career?
I have gotten to a place in my life and career where all those elements that were used to sell me when I was younger are no longer applied. I’m actually happy with the idea that now I’m able to do things that aren’t based on someone’s idea of how I look.

I’m enjoying the sort—of moving into character actor part. There are many more things I will be able to do. I’ve been able to sidestep the idea of what was expected of me earlier. That was hard to do because everybody pushes me in this direction and says, go do romantic comedies. If I do that, I know it will end with me turning 45 and everybody saying, ‘He doesn’t look so young anymore, he’s got a lot of gray hair and maybe we’ll go get somebody else.’ It’s a much better road where you can do it the other way. I’ll fall apart—grow a beard.

Do you still have secrets that you can reveal to us for the first time?
Next question (laughter). I’ve been famous long enough now that I don’t think there are really many secrets. I am out of secrets now except that I’m wearing a toupee and I’m 5’3” (laughter). My teeth are false and I have one glass eye.

You have spoken against some of the policies of President Bush. Do you sometimes worry about your personal safety?
I have a guy that starts my car and eats my food first (laughter). Back in 2003, when it was really bad, people were out in front of the theaters and put things all over the Internet. Am I getting in trouble? That’s my own paranoia and narcissism working (laughter). What I realize is that those conspiracies take a lot more work and they focus on somebody who’s more politically relevant than I am. I don’t worry about any of stuff.

How were you like as a teenager?
People would argue that I am still like I was as a teenager (laughter). I had a great time growing up in a tiny town in Kentucky with 1,500 people because I could play any sport in high school since they didn’t have enough players. We were terrible teams. We lost every game.

At 14, on first year of high school, I had Bell’s Palsy where half of my face was paralyzed. I fell into that part of high school where I was the kid who made the jokes and it stuck with me. My growing up years were about finding ways to keep things light or have fun with them.

My family is really funny. I grew up in a household of people telling jokes. My mom made all our clothes. My mom made me—I just saw a picture of it, that’s why I bring it up—a leisure suit of Naugahyde, out of fake leather (laughter) with fringe on it. The fake leather rolled off eventually. I had these blousy shirts. I had giant bell-bottom pants and big-heeled shoes. I was 13 years old. I saw that picture and I thought, I can’t believe I have a career (laughter).

We know so much about your father but nothing about your mother.
My father is a public figure—he is a newsman. My mother is a private figure. She’s pretty shy although she writes some things for the newspaper every week. I try not to bring her into the fray whenever I can help it.

Were you raised a Catholic?
Yes. I was an altar boy. I could do Latin Mass. Once a week, I had to go to confession. When I was in second grade, I really didn’t have a whole lot to confess every week. But I had to show up. At one point I realized the priest knew who I was because there were only 10 kids. I decided I would only confess the things I thought were okay for him to hear (laughter). I read about this saint who put a pebble in her shoe and walked around for penance. So I would just confess what I wanted to confess and then I would fill my shoes with gravel. And I’d jump off the top of my bunk bed when I got home and I was completely cleansed of all sin.

Cate’s character in this movie evokes Marlene Dietrich. Do you like Dietrich?
Yes. She was a very close friend of my Aunt Rosemary’s. They were really good friends.

Cate did a movie with your friend Brad Pitt. You also made one with her and now she went home to Australia to become artistic co-director of the Sydney Theatre Company. What did you guys do to her?
I don’t care for that woman—I’ll tell you that right off the bat. She’s got no talent, first of all (laughter). I am really excited about it. I think she’s going to direct a play as well. She and her husband are very involved in the theater. We corrupted her. We made her sick of films just enough (laughter).

Cate is one of those actors—like Meryl Streep—where she could just be having a conversation with me and then Steven (Soderbergh) would go, “Okay, ready and action.” And she’ll turn it on immediately. She doesn’t wear me out on the set, like, “I’m Ingrid Bergman, don’t talk to me for the next week.”

Are you comfortable around strong women and who are the women that you admire?
First of all, I don’t like strong women (laughter). I’ve always felt really comfortable around them because I have grown up around them. My aunt (Rosemary Clooney) was a very strong individual who ran our family. My mother and sister are very strong, too. I’ve spent time with Senator (Hillary) Clinton and other women of power like Oprah (Winfrey). My aunt and I could have had an argument and I’d be mad at her. Then she’d get up stage and sing and I couldn’t remember what I was mad about.

When we were in Chad, just south of Darfur, there were people from the International Rescue Committee whom we were working with. They were 23-year-old girls in the middle of nothing. One of the girls was held hostage about a week we left. My dad and I were there for 10 days and it was all I could take. These girls are there for a year.To me, that was the greatest show of strength and power I’ve ever seen.

Your aunt (Rosemary) gave you an advice—not to get to 70 without…
Having done all the things you wanted to do.

So are you happy with what you have done so far?
If I got hit by a bus tomorrow, I had a pretty good run

George Clooney, the beautiful

George gives confession

George Clooney, actor, political activist, and, according to a recent issue of the American celebrity magazine People, the official “sexiest man alive”, is proudly demonstrating one of his lesser-known skills – that of serving the Latin Mass. “In nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti …” he chants tunefully, sketching a cross in the air. “I could do the whole of it – sung, too. I was brought up with the whole bit, Catholic school, confession every week, everything. “Confession was funny because I grew up in this tiny, tiny, tiny town in Kentucky, 1, 500 people in the whole town and only about 10 kids who were Catholic. “Now, when you’re seven years old, you don’t really have a lot to confess, but you had to show up anyway, and I remember figuring out at one point that because there were so few of us, the priest would know who we all were. So I decided that I would only confess the things that I thought were OK for him to hear.” He stops and shakes his head, laughing. There are a handful of us hanging out with George in the fancy Beverly Hills hotel and it is not difficult to spot which of us were brought up Catholic. The clue is that all the Catholics are laughing with him, and all the others are looking faintly puzzled. Not that George notices. He is on a roll. “But what to do about the other sins, right? I’d read somewhere about a saint who would put a pebble in her shoe and walk around on it for penance. So what I’d do is, I’d go to confession and just confess what I wanted to confess. And then when I got home, I’d fill both of my shoes with gravel, and I’d jump right off the top of my bunk bed straight on to them. That way, I was completely cleansed of all the sins, and I’d still avoided telling stuff to the priest!” By now, the non-Catholics are exchanging glances and edging surreptitiously towards the door. But George has not yet started on his schooldays. “Did you ever get paddled?” he demands, cheerfully. (The Catholic Herald)

George expresses concern

Paranoid George Clooney Thought Fans Turned On Him
George Clooney felt paranoid he was the target of a hate campaign when he spoke out against the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Staunch Democrat Clooney was dismayed when supporters of President George W. Bush picketed cinemas showing his films and branded him a traitor. But fears his career could be ruined by the controversy proved unfounded. He says, “There was a time back in 2003 when some feeling against me was really bad - people were out in front of theatres protesting about my films. They put stuff over the internet calling me a traitor, there was that moment where paranoia creeps in and you start to think, ‘Am I getting myself into trouble here?’ “But that’s your own paranoia and your own narcissism, and if you think about it for a bit, you realize that conspiracies against one person take a lot of work.” (Starpulse)

Lili Day: Isn’t he lovely

Here’s a lovely little blog that’s just started out maintained by bookbabie (author, artist, photographer and website designer!). Be sure to check out both her blog and website which has a great Clooney Essay you can’t miss. Side Note: Lilli, what was Bobby’s wish?

A choosier Clooney forges his career strategy

A choosier Clooney forges his career strategy
By Susan Wloszczyna, USA TODAY

NEW YORK — With his hard-won acting Oscar for last year’s Syriana in hand, onetime ER doc George Clooney is choosing projects with surgical precision while allowing room for artistic risks.
That includes the retro Cold War thriller The Good German, a black-and-white takeoff on oldies such as Casablanca directed by Steven Soderbergh and opening Friday.

Since 1997’s superhero stinker Batman & Robin, he says, “I’ve been trying to do projects that were a lot better. I worked on trying to get the focus away from one perception people have of you, so you can sort of have the other. I think I’ve succeeded.”

George Mention: Ny Post

G. Clooney on getting something for his mom: “The scary thing is she’s Miss Construction Woman. Mom built a bar in our house. She actually wanted a table saw a few years ago. Shopping for her, I go into Sears. It has the greatest stuff for my mother.” (NY Post)

Clooney: It’s not as glamorous as it first seems

CLOONEY BEMOANS PRICE OF FAME

Screen heart-throb GEORGE CLOONEY warns aspiring movie stars to think carefully before eyeing a Hollywood career, because the industry isn’t as glamorous as it first seems. The SYRIANA star recalls he was desperate to make it big in movies and his ambition knew no bounds. But he admits success has changed his perspective on movie stardom, making him far more aware of the price he pays for fame. Clooney tells the New York Daily News, “I think when you’re young and getting started, fame is like a bug light - you’re driven toward success so intensely as an actor because you’re pointed that way. And when you get it, you realise most of the things that you thought would be great are not. “And that’s not whining, or saying ‘Woe is me.’ The greatest thing about being in the position I’m in is, I can walk into a movie studio and say, ‘I want to make a black-and-white film noir,’ and they’ll make it because they don’t want me to go someplace else. And that’s great. “(But) there are other parts that aren’t so fun.” 11/12/2006 17:35  (Contact Music)

The leading man

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