The Genius of Curious George
Jun 20th, 2008 | By admin | Category: General Articles, magazines
Really, it’s mostly luck, the offbeat, politically engaged star says.
George Clooney is handsome, witty, rich and talented, and, what’s more, he knows he’s these things and so he’s self-deprecating about it. Not too long ago, when someone noted his resemblance to screen legend Clark Gable, he said: “I think Clark Gable just literally, just now, turned over in this grave.” It’s part of both his aura — the celebrity who is also a commentary on celebrity– and his quickness: Last year at the Cannes film festival press conference where co-star Matt Damon said he was making two No. 3’s in the same year (Oceans Thirteen and The Bourne Ultimatum), Clooney cracked: “That’s better than making three number two’s in the same year,” with barely a pause.
He’s also thoughtful. He told a reporter for The New Yorker how he approaches autograph-seekers or fans who get woozy in his presence.
“Your job is to find the best way for those people to hold on to their dignity.” He knows he’s at the center of things, and he takes responsibility for it. Said Tilda Swinton his co-star in Michael Clayton, “He does tend to decide the mood of the room, which, frankly, must feel like a bit of a strain for him.”
Swinton is just one fan: Everybody seems to love him (this article is going to get a little sticky, so hold on.) “He uses his powers for good rather than evil,” says Cate Blanchett, a bit of wit herself, talking about Clooney’s devotion to causes like the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, for which he is a spokesman. “Steven Soderbergh, his frequent collaborator, says, “I knew he was a movie star from the first time I saw him on ER.”
ER was his breakthrough, but he seemed destined for big things from the start.
He was born 47 years ago in Lexington, KY., the son of a TV newscaster named Nick who had acting ambitions himself but couldn’t compete with his sister, Rosemary Clooney. (”I spent the first part of my life being referred to as Rosemary Clooney’s brother, and now I am spending the last part of my life being referred to as George Clooney’s dad,” Nick has said.)
Young George was an athlete- he tried out for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team — who moved to Los Angeles and got into acting with the help of his famous aunt and her husband, Jose Ferrer.
He got a few TV jobs, most famously a semi-regular role on Roseanne, and movies, most famously the horror parody Return of the Keiller Tomatoes. His breakthrough came as Dr. Dough Ross on ER, cementing his persona as the responsible, sexy regular guy. He also began to dabble in movie stardom: A forgettable Batman followed by an engaging hood in Out of Sight, directed by Soderbergh. Soon he was also directing movies, showing a taste for the offbeat, the edgy, the politically engaged: Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, the story of the talk show host Chuck Barris, or Good Night, and Good Luck, the story of the Edward Murrow expose of Joseph McCarthy. This years romantic comedy Leatherheads was a departure, and a critical failure.
And he began to get noticed as something more than a pretty face. He got an Oscar nomination for co-writing and directing for Good Night, and Good Luck, and won one for his supporting role in Syriana (a scene in that film, where his character is tortured, was so realistic that he hurt his back and was forced to wear a brace). He got another Academy Award nomination for his turn as the conflicted lawyer in last year’s legal drama Michael Clayton.
At the same time, he didn’t give up his other career, the one as the amiable sex god. His Oceans series of films were like home movies of George the Guy, fooling around with buddies like Damon and Brad Pitt. He took them seriously and he didn’t — “This film is basically a cry for peace,” he told the Cannes press conference with maximum irony — and alternated with the “Issue” movies that are also part of his life. He’s the charming movie con man who, in his time off, visits Darfur and makes impassioned speeches to the United Nations. He’s doing a voice for the animated children’s film Fantastic Mr. Fox and contemplating starring as Ken Taylor in a film about the 1980 Iran hostage crisis.
And he somehow manages to keep it in perspective. “Had I not got the Thursday night 10 o’clock slot at ER, if they had put us on Friday night, the I wouldn’t have a film career,” he says. “That’s luck, not my own genius, though I like to think it was.”
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Like a moth to a flame…Anyway what is George curious about and how much?