George Clooney: 'I've always known fatherhood wasn't for me.

G had an interview in one of the Sunday papers for The Descendants release in January so maybe they are assuming he was there to do the interview. Article below.

'Being a father isn't for me'
by: Paul Sheehan From: National Features
December 03, 201110:00PM

George Clooney: 'I've always known fatherhood wasn't for me.'

HE may be convincing as a dad on the big screen, but George Clooney doesn’t have any plans to settle down... ever. Few celebrities of any age can handle the intense public scrutiny that comes with the territory as well as George Timothy Clooney - let alone one who recently clocked a half-century. It helps that the Oscar-winning actor, director, producer and screenwriter has a talent for self-deprecation and is ageing as well as a Hunter Valley semillon. In spite of being born before The Beatles had a hit record and while Marilyn Monroe was still alive, Clooney’s matinee-idol looks show no signs of fading, even as his hair becomes more salt than pepper.

“I hear all this talk about how grey I’m becoming, but I can’t imagine ever dyeing my hair,” he says. “My dad has a full head of white hair and I think it looks pretty good.”

Although his relationship with his dad is strong, the actor insists he has no desire to become one himself, despite setting tongues wagging by playing a father in his latest film, The Descendants. Directed by Alexander Payne (Sideways, About Schmidt), it’s a tragicomic tale of one man’s attempt to connect with his two young daughters after a water-skiing accident leaves his wife in a coma. Matters are further complicated when it’s revealed she was cheating on him and doctors report she’ll never wake up.

Critics are calling it the performance of Clooney’s career and he’s widely expected to earn an Oscar nomination for his efforts. But, of course, playing a father well doesn’t mean you have to be one, want to be one or even possess the capabilities required to be one. Eleven-year-old Amara Miller, who plays his daughter in the film, reveals Clooney’s talents lie elsewhere. “He wouldn’t be good as a father,” she says. “George has fun being an adult and I don’t think he’d like having kids.”

On this, her co-star wholeheartedly concurs. “I’ve always known fatherhood wasn’t for me,” he says. “Raising kids is a huge commitment and has to be your top priority. For me, that [priority] is my work. That’s why I’ll never get married again.” Current beau, former WWE wrestler Stacy Keibler, is the latest in a string of gorgeous young women who have dated Clooney in the hopes of taming the Hollywood bachelor - others include Krista Allen and Elisabetta Canalis - but he remains famously allergic to commitment. Having been married once, to actor Talia Balsam (they split in 1993, after four years), he hasn’t been lured back to the altar since. Although marriage and fatherhood may not be for him, Clooney is full of praise for The Descendants, which is based on Kaui Hart Hemmings’ novel of the same name.

“The script is one of the best I’ve ever read,” he says. “We like to think we really know the people in our lives, but we don’t.”

Put it to Clooney that this film could be the performance of his career and his signature modesty steps in. “That could be because I set the bar so low for myself,” he jokes. “Hollywood wants to slot people into certain categories. For a long time, I was the guy from TV who killed the Batman franchise. I was lucky great directors such as Robert Rodriguez and Steven Soderbergh took a chance on me.”

Now a guaranteed people-puller, Clooney is currently on the big screen in The Ides of March. As well as directing, co-writing and co-producing the film, he plays the presidential hopeful at the centre of the campaign trail plot, although Ryan Gosling, as his young and ambitious press secretary, is the story’s real protagonist. No doubt Clooney drew on his father’s experience in the lion’s den of American politics (Nick Clooney is a respected journalist and anchorman who ran for Congress as a Democrat in the 2004 election).

“Playing a politician is a lot easier than being one,” muses the actor, when asked if he’s ever considered running for public office. All these people have to answer to someone. Politicians have to earn people’s votes to be re-elected, [political] consultants have to get results for their clients. As a private citizen, I’m only responsible for myself.”

As well as starring in Soderbergh’s box-office hits Out of Sight and the Ocean’s series, and Rodriguez’s cult classic From Dusk Till Dawn, Clooney has worked with esteemed directors Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line), David O Russell (Three Kings), the Coen brothers (three films, including O Brother, Where Art Thou?) and Wes Anderson (Fantastic Mr Fox). In 2006 he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a CIA agent in Syriana. It was an especially sweet victory given that Clooney was knocked from a chair during filming and sustained a brain injury that led to severe headaches and memory loss. Although he eventually underwent surgery to fix the problem, he’s admitted that, at the time, he wondered how he might make it through each day, such was the pain.

Just as the 50-year-old finds himself drawn to films that “educate people while entertaining them”, he’s also attracted to humanitarian causes that speak to his conscience. While it’s easy to be cynical about celebrity philanthropy these days, the general consensus is that Clooney isn’t doing it to shine his public profile. An outspoken opponent of the War on Terror and a tireless campaigner for Darfur’s refugees, the self-described Democrat and “big old liberal” is unapologetic about the issues he chooses to take a stand on.

“It doesn’t matter what people I don’t know have to say about me. What matters is what my friends and family think of me – and so far, they’re all still returning my calls.”

One can assume these callers include old buddies Matt Damon and Brad Pitt, both of whom are also being talked about as likely Oscar nominees in the race to the Kodak Theatre in February. But if you thought macho competitiveness might get the better of Clooney, you’d be wrong. The man’s a lover, not a fighter.

“We just focus on the race that really matters - People magazine’s ‘Sexiest Man Alive’,” he jokes. “Both Brad and I have won that twice, while Matt has taken the title just once. Matt is certainly competitive, so he could take it again.”

The Descendants is in cinemas January 12.

Additional Reporting: Tony Magnusson

Nice article! I've just moved this here to its own topic because I prefer all the good interviews to be in their own thread.

One can assume these callers include old buddies Matt Damon and Brad Pitt, both of whom are also being talked about as likely Oscar nominees in the race to the Kodak Theatre in February. But if you thought macho competitiveness might get the better of Clooney, you’d be wrong. The man’s a lover, not a fighter.

George may be a lover, but he is a kick-butt fighter when he needs to be. He is a survivor.

Great article. Just stick to your guns George! Don't let anyone talk you in to marriage or fatherhood if you don't want to go there!

he would never
without his will