Transcript for GMA interview 05/23/07

‘OCEAN’S THIRTEEN”, CANNES FILM FESTIVAL, GEORGE CLOONEY, DON CHEADLE, JERRY WEINTRAUB, STEPHEN SODERBERGH, STEVEN SPIELBERG, DARFUR, ELLEN BARKIN

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) Speaking of the gang…

ROBIN ROBERTS (ABC NEWS)

(OC) Mm-hmm.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) …some of them dance and some of them talk to us right now. Of course, they are the ‘Ocean’s Thirteen” stars. It’s celebrating its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. It’s going to be out June 8th. And joining us this morning, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, and the man who has to wrangle this whole group, producer Jerry Weintraub. It’s great to talk to all of you this morning. Good morning.

DON CHEADLE (ACTOR)

Good morning.

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

Good morning.

MATT DAMON (ACTOR)

Good morning.

BRAD PITT (ACTOR)

Good morning.

JERRY WEINTRAUB (PRODUCER

Good morning, Diane.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

You do, Steven Soderbergh, the director, said once that it’s half directing a movie, half dealing with a kindergarten class. You all just sounded like a class saying hello there. But, Jerry, I wanna start with you on something serious because I know the publicity for the film, and the number of the fundraisers that have been done have been for Darfur and for the mission that so many of you all have for helping in Darfur. Tell me, you’ve got an announcement this morning? You’ve got some money coming?

JERRY WEINTRAUB (PRODUCER

Oh, yeah, we do. I’m gonna let George talk about that. But we, we had a wonderful fundraiser last night for Not On Our Watch Project that we’re all involved in, and these guys got me involved in it, and it’s going very, very well. We have a tremendous amount of support. But I think George ought to talk about that and everybody else.

GRAPHICS: GOOD MORNING AMERICA EXCLUSIVE

GRAPHICS: THE BOYS ARE BACK!

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

We had a big night last night. We got – we raised a lot of money. Big one, the big surprise for us was Steven Spielberg donated $1 million last night. That really kicked us over the top and got us, what’s the number now?

BRAD PITT (ACTOR)

We’re up to 9.2, I think, is the official number.

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

$9.2 million.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

Whoa.

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

Still climbing.

JERRY WEINTRAUB (PRODUCER

Nine million, two hundred thousand.

BRAD PITT (ACTOR)

We’re very happy.

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

A lot of money. And we’re, and, and it was a really great thing that he did. He’s, he’s been very helpful with all of this. He’s been, you know, he’s working in China right now, and hopefully, he’s gonna be able to help us - have China have some influence on, on - because of the - Beijing Olympics, on the policies in Darfur. But the, but the $9.5 million is for the refugee camps, and we wanna try and immediately effect some, some change and help some people survive through the next few months while we’re there.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(VO) Well, that’s an awesome achievement.

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

That’s our goal.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(VO) That’s fantastic. So much money.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) And as, and I know that it continues, the work that you’ve done, because we’ve seen George Clooney going before the United Nations asking for more peacekeeping forces, Don Cheadle has testified before subcommittees, so the work is just beginning. Let me ask a little bit now about the reason you are there in Cannes, on the beach in Cannes. And I know behind you, there are all sorts of paparazzi. I – all morning long, we’ve been watching them pull up on the beach behind you and, and film from the boat.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(VO) There they are, sitting right behind you on the boat right now as we talk. So let me talk about the movie. As I understand this very complex plot, right? You have to bankrupt a casino in Las Vegas, and you have to do it on opening night in a record amount of time and the bad guy is Pacino himself?

GRAPHICS: PITT, CLOONEY, DAMON & CHEADLE

GRAPHICS: STARS FIGHT TO SAVE MILLIONS

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) Mr. Cheadle?

BRAD PITT (ACTOR)

That’s pretty good.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) Word has reached me all the way here in New York City, Times Square, that you do the, the ultimate - Al Pacino imitation.

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

Oh, no.

DON CHEADLE (ACTOR)

Being that I’ve only studied the - curse words that he does in his movies, the, the infamous blow up scenes, I, I don’t think it’s appropriate for a morning audience.

MATT DAMON (ACTOR)

That is a great, that is a great evasive tactic.

BRAD PITT (ACTOR)

Good dodge.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) Wait a minute.

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

Oh, yeah. That was, that was good.

JERRY WEINTRAUB (PRODUCER

Good duck, Don.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) You, you think I’m a pushover, Don Cheadle. I would, at least, I wanna see the face.

DON CHEADLE (ACTOR)

Never you, Diane. Never you.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) Give me a Pacino face.

DON CHEADLE (ACTOR)

You know, it’s - if I were here - that’s about as far as I can go. I hear he has people in the streets, and I don’t really wanna get beat up by Al’s henchmen. So (inaudible).

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) Okay. Brad, you, some of you were – well, I think you’re all in disguises of various kind. But we have yours to show everyone this morning.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(VO) It’s a little like…

BRAD PITT (ACTOR)

Oh, good.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(VO) …Garth from ‘Saturday Night Live.” Is, is this the inner Brad Pitt? Are we looking at the true Brad Pitt?

BRAD PITT (ACTOR)

I was trying to, I was, you know, I’m feeling a little older these days. I was trying to relive the glory days of ‘Legends of the Fall.” I failed miserably.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) Well, feeling a little older, my understanding is that in this movie, it is Matt who has to go out and get the girl? Matt, so Brad is just…

MATT DAMON (ACTOR)

Yes.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) …he’s forfeiting now? He’s out of that, out of that race?

MATT DAMON (ACTOR)

Well, these guys are heading into their golden years. So it was really down to me to – and the - girl in this case is Ellen Barkin, so we’re really lucky to have her. She’s another addition to this one, and she’s just fantastic. So we had a lot of fun working on this one.

CLIP FROM “OCEAN’S THIRTEEN”

MATT DAMON (ACTOR)

I, I’m in disguise here in this scene with this nose. It’s, it’s my, my contribution. I, I, I’d say, on behalf of all of us, we went deeper into our characters on this one than we, than we did on the other two.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) And how…

MATT DAMON (ACTOR)

And it’s, really, we did a lot of soul-searching.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) Yeah. And how deep would that be…

DON CHEADLE (ACTOR)

Good, good answer. Good answer.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) …you know, when you go deep?

DON CHEADLE (ACTOR)

So deep, so deep, it’s, it’s really hard to describe.

MATT DAMON (ACTOR)

I’m - having trouble…

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

Just follow the veneer.

DON CHEADLE (ACTOR)

Yeah.

MATT DAMON (ACTOR)

…coming out of, coming out of character. I actually, in the, in the three films, I think I actually played three different characters. I’m not really sure what I did.

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

We don’t know what he did either.

DON CHEADLE (ACTOR)

It’s somewhere in between those three.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) Yes it’s – well, speaking of your waning years, I want you to know, George Clooney, that we have read non-stop press, I’m not kidding, it’s the headline all over Europe, that you’ve had eye surgery?

BRAD PITT (ACTOR)

You know, I just – let me, let me fix this.

JERRY WEINTRAUB (PRODUCER

Found out.

BRAD PITT (ACTOR)

I just wanna say…

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

Help a brother out, will you?

BRAD PITT (ACTOR)

…that, that it doesn’t show on film.

DON CHEADLE (ACTOR)

I mean this was up close.

BRAD PITT (ACTOR)

You really cannot tell unless you’re…

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

You can be close, so…

DON CHEADLE (ACTOR)

You can be close.

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

You can be close, I think.

BRAD PITT (ACTOR)

…(inaudible) proximity. But it did (inaudible). You know, we should all support him on this.

DON CHEADLE (ACTOR)

And he only had one eye done. (Inaudible). When they said eyes, it’s just one eye.

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

Well, I, I figured I wanted to try it first.

DON CHEADLE (ACTOR)

Yeah. Yeah.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) Yeah.

DON CHEADLE (ACTOR)

Give it a test run. See how that (inaudible).

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) I take that as a denial, and I’ll move right on. Okay. Before I leave you, speaking of…

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

(Inaudible) look good.

DON CHEADLE (ACTOR)

(Inaudible) confirmation.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) Speaking, speaking of Ellen Barkin, who is the girl, a girl, what a girl she is, I just wanna read a quote for all of you so that you can know what she has said.

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

Uh-oh.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) She said she was so happy to be invited into this movie, so happy to be part of your party, and mostly, so happy she hadn’t slept with any of you?

DON CHEADLE (ACTOR)

This is true.

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

That is a lie.

MATT DAMON (ACTOR)

Well, she can’t make that claim anymore.

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

She, she got a little drunk last night in Cannes.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) Well, again, we…

BRAD PITT (ACTOR)

Well, she thinks she slept with us.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) Yeah. I suppose, Jerry Weintraub hasn’t spoken up on this either?

JERRY WEINTRAUB (PRODUCER

No. No, no, no, no, no.

BRAD PITT (ACTOR)

He’s smart.

JERRY WEINTRAUB (PRODUCER

I love her.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) Oh, all right. Well, again, we thank you all for being with us this morning. And before we leave, is, is there a shot of the beach there? Because somebody told me that there were a lot of guys out on the beach in Speedos, and so I assume that you all will be getting the spandex out and heading down to the beach soon?

BRAD PITT (ACTOR)

Heading that way now.

DON CHEADLE (ACTOR)

As soon as this interview is over.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(VO) Yeah.

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

Oh, there’s, wait, there, there’s, there’s Matt now.

MATT DAMON (ACTOR)

There’s Jerry.

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

Oh, no. That’s a, that’s a sea lion.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) Sea lion, all right. I think it’s time for me to make a graceful and not so graceful exit. Thanks again to all of you, all five of you.

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

All right.

JERRY WEINTRAUB (PRODUCER

Thank you, Diane.

GEORGE CLOONEY (ACTOR)

Thanks, Diane.

DON CHEADLE (ACTOR)

Thanks a lot.

JERRY WEINTRAUB (PRODUCER

Thank you.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(OC) Again, thanks so – thanks so much, and congratulations, I guess, that’s the word on the money raised for Darfur. Coming up now, Sam Champion with the weather.