Clooney fine at 50

GEORGE Clooney meets the press in Cancun. Photo by Ruben Nepales

CANCUN, Mexico – George Clooney in any location – LA, New York, London or this renowned seaside destination – is the same joking, friendly guy.

Earlier in the day, after a photo call, the actor approached the assembled press, said hello and shook their hands.

George began our interview this way: “By the way, I just have to have this out. I was just in the bathroom and there was a Smurf staring at me. I have a problem with that. It’s intimidating.”

Wondering what a Smurf was doing in the men’s room? Sony Pictures was actually touting the movie, “The Smurfs,” to journalists gathered here, so there were images, statues and even a giant balloon replica of the popular blue creatures everywhere, including the toilets.

But George had come to town to talk about “The Ides of March,” his fourth directorial venture which he also stars in. Based on “Farragut North,” Beau Willimon’s play that was inspired by events in the 2004 Democratic primary campaign of Howard Dean, “The Ides …” costars Ryan Gosling, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei, Paul Giamatti and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Of course, the conversation veered toward politics, particularly with social networking as the emerging tool to make or break political careers. “We have the advent of so much media – Facebook and Twitter and all those things,” said George, who kept cool in Cancun’s humid climate in a white cotton polo shirt and jeans. The actor’s salt-and-pepper hair becomes him. “We’re learning much more than we ever knew [through the social media]. Kennedy would never have been president, obviously.”

You can no longer hide as much, George stressed. “You can’t take pictures of your genitalia and tweet it,” he said as he shook his head and grinned, referring to the “sexting” scandal involving ex-US congressman Anthony Weiner. “It’s just insane. You just go, ‘What were you thinking?’ So I think people would have to retrain themselves to the idea that everything you write is public knowledge and if you think anything’s secret, it will be hacked, or someone will find out.

“We’re just going to have to readdress how we think about it. Scandal is going to become less. People are going to care less and less about scandal because they’re going to be saturated with it.”

Asked about being back in the director’s seat, George joked: “Mostly, I compliment myself – ‘Oh, George you’re great.’ And I’m like, ‘Thank you.’”
Very few takes

No 60 or 90 takes for this director. “If I can do it in one take, I do it in one take. Sometimes I’ve done as many as 10. But usually, very few takes. Actors are usually very prepared so I don’t worry about that. We laugh a lot. It’s a lot of joking around. I shoot eight-hour days.”

With George, his fellow actors and behind-the-camera talents agreeing to do the film for less pay, “The Ides …” was made for $12 million, a tiny sum by Hollywood standards. “We came in a million dollars under budget and finished filming three days early,” proudly offered George, who also wrote the screenplay with his friend and frequent collaborator, Grant Heslov and Willimon.

“Part of your job is to be competent,” George said. “And to know what you’re doing. To me, the idea is to be really prepared. I’m very comfortable on the set. I like actors. I trust them. I hire the right ones to do it and then let them do their thing. If they’re off, I tell them to try something else.”

George, a bachelor again after his recent split with Elisabetta Canalis, said of his milestone this year: “My life is much easier, thank you, now that I’m 50. And I can say that without stuttering.”

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