George Clooney snaps at reporter at Berlin Film Fest press conference

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Berlin: George Clooney Snaps at Reporter Over Refugee Activism
7:29 AM PST 2/11/2016  by  Etan Vlessing  
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George Clooney

"I spend a lot of time working on these things, and it's an odd thing to have someone stand up and say, 'What do you do?'" the actor and activist noted at a 'Hail Caesar' press conference.

George Clooney on Thursday lost his cool at a reporter in Berlin when asked to detail what the actor and activist was doing, beyond making movies, to ease Europe's ongoing refugee crisis.

"I spend a lot of time working on these things, and it's an odd thing to have someone stand up and say, 'What do you do?' That's fine, knock yourself out," an annoyed Clooney shot back during a Berlin Film Festival press conference to promote his latest movie, Hail Caesar!. "I have gone to places that are very dangerous and I work a lot on these things."

The actor said he is meeting Friday with German chancellor Angela Merkel and some recently-arrived refugees to highlight the issue. “I’d like to know what you are doing to help the situation?” Clooney at one point asked the Mexican journalist.

The Hollywood actor, who is accompanied in Berlin by wife Amal Clooney, in 2006 sparked global interest in Sudan's Darfur crisis with a visit to that war-torn country. The Coen brothers and the cast of Hail Caesar!, including Channing Tatum, Josh Brolin and Tilda Swinton, are in Berlin to promote their homage to Hollywood's golden age just as Germany is consumed in debate over the country taking around one million refugees from a war-torn Middle East, the most of any European country.

Read More When George Clooney Lost His Cool Over a Bad Review at Berlin
Joel Coen, co-director along with brother Ethan Coen of Hail Caesar!, told the refugee-focused festival that the timely issue wasn't likely to figure in any of their movies any time soon. "You're right — it's a very important issue," Coen said when asked whether he'd ever, as a celebrity director, make a movie about how people become refugees.
"It's something I'd be very interested to see movies address. ... But it's absurd to say that anyone who happens to be in public life or in some creative endeavor, to point a finger at them, and say, 'You should be telling this particular story,'" Coen added, noting that Hollywood didn't just make subject movies because they were politically-important, it needed the right creative vehicle.
"It's a misunderstanding of how stories get written and made. Are those stories important? Yes. Does it make sense to say, you're a public figure, tell these stories, why aren't you telling them? It's a funny question, frankly," he told a reporter.
Clooney also turned aside a request by another reporter to see a sequel to his 2005 thriller Syriana produced. "There's a lot that has gone wrong, and we all know there's a lot of conversations that should be had and continue to be had," he conceded, before insisting the news media was best placed right now to address the European refugee issue.
"The unfortunate thing about the film community is we react to situations much more than we lead the way," Clooney said. News event happen, scripts are written and movies aren't made for a couple of years, he pointed out.
"I've often struggled to make a film about Sudan, about Darfur, a subject that's very close to me. But I haven't been able to find the proper script," he told the press conference.

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When Clooney was asked about Syrian refugees


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George Clooney attends the 'Hail, Caesar!' premiere during the 66th Berlinale International Film Festival Berlin in Berlin on Thursday.

Actor seemingly loses cool at 66th Berlinale where Coen Brothers’s Hail, Caesar! was the opening film.

There were signs in the press conference room that something big, something international was afoot as we waited for the cast and crew of Hail, Caesar!, the Coen Brothers comedy that opened the 66th Berlinale.

“Hail Berlinale! Hail Caesar!”, joked the moderator Anatol Weber, as he introduced Channing Tatum, George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Ethan and Joel Coen, Alden Ehrenreich and Tilda Swinton, who got the loudest applause. The accepted etiquette in these events is that you ask nothing terribly personal or provocative and they, in turn, give the impression of letting you past that velvet rope, into their private circle of celebrities.
And for a while, this script was faithfully followed.

There were a few serious questions too, but nothing too serious. Someone asked if the Coens were nostalgic about the era depicted in the film, which is set in Hollywood of the 1950s. Joel said, “It can’t be nostalgia, for we weren’t there.” He said it was more affection, admiration. “But we’re not sure how we’d have functioned in that environment.”

Then, it was back to Clooney, “Have you ever seen a Russian communist?” He replied, “Am I looking at one right now?” The question had to do with his role in the film, where his character becomes interested in Communist teachings.

By then, everyone was resigned to the fact that this was more or less a Clooney show. The actor was asked if he’d make a sequel to Syriana, the Oscar-winning film on petroleum politics that he produced. He said, “There is a lot wrong with the world, as we all know. [But] as filmmakers, we react to events. We don’t lead the way. The film happens years after the news story breaks. And you need a good story, good characters.”

He spoke of his humanitarian work in Darfur and how he’d like to make a film around the conflict. “But we haven’t found the proper script yet.” He said he was meeting Angela Merkel the next day.

After the bonhomie

Finally, a journalist from Mexico broke through the bonhomie. Referring to the Syria refugee crisis, which she called a “human catastrophe”, she asked what Clooney, as a public figure, intended to do. To everyone’s surprise, he looked at her and said, “What is it specifically that you have done for refugees?” The woman behind me muttered, “Brutal!” But the journalist was unfazed.

She went on to explain that she worked with an organisation that made toys for children and helps refugees learn German. Clooney was in no mood to back down. “Those are the people you are working with. I asked what you specifically were doing?”

He had a smile on, and yet, for a minute, we got a glimpse of a cracked facade. It was left to Joel Coen to cool things down.

“It’s absurd to say that anyone in public life or the creative world should be telling this particular story.” A question about Donald Trump brought the script back on track. “He’s a strange phenomenon,” Joel said. “It’s surreal.” Everyone laughed.

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George Clooney, Coens Grilled On Political Issues At Heated ‘Hail, Caesar!’ Panel – Berlin
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by Nancy Tartaglione  February 11, 2016 11:47am

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The Coen brothers, George Clooney and much of the Hail, Caesar! crew hit town today ahead of the film’s opening duties which officially kick off the Berlin Film Festival tonight. Clooney was here a few years ago with another ensemble piece, Monuments Men, and can be relied upon as a cut-up during these press events. Today was no different, although the proceedings also took a very serious turn.

Clooney, who is known for his humanitarian work in Darfur — and is married to a human rights attorney — was confusingly grilled by a member of the press corps who wanted to know what “concrete” things he was doing to help with the current refugee crisis.

The actor had already noted he has a sit-down with German Chancellor Angela Merkel tomorrow to “ask what we can help with.” But he visibly bristled when the journalist insisted. He countered, “I spend a lot of time working on these things, so it’s odd to have someone stand up and say, ‘So, what do you do?’” He asked the woman, “What is it specifically that you have done for the refugees?”

The Coens were similarly questioned with Joel saying, “It’s a very important issue that I would be very interested to see movies address.” Both Coens were co-Presidents of the Cannes Film Festival jury last May and Joel noted, “The film that got the Palme d’Or was about refugees (Jacques Audiard’s Dheepan) that we liked a lot. It had a lot to contribute to that discussion. But it’s absurd to say, if I may say so, that anyone who happens to be in public life, to point to a figure and say, ‘You should be telling this particular story.’ It’s a misunderstanding of how stories get written and made.”
Another journalist, who came with a heartfelt plea and a Picasso poster dedicated to the actor, wondered if Clooney would ever make Syriana 2 “because we have so much war.”

Clooney replied, “It would be tricky” to do a sequel, but “there is a lot that has gone wrong as we all know and a lot of conversations being had and that should continue to be had, not just in the film community. Unfortunately, the thing in the film community is that we react to situations rather than lead the way. News stories happen and it’s a couple of years before you make a story about it. I’ve often struggled with the idea of trying to find ways to make a film about Sudan and Darfur, but I haven’t been able to find the proper script. I think those stories are best told now in the news media. They’re not told enough, certainly in our country. It’s a political period in our country so we’re not talking enough about things that are going on around the world.”
He told the man who asked about Syriana, “It’s hard to find a good script for anything and you don’t want to do it badly because you only get one chance. I appreciate the request and it certainly doesn’t fall on deaf ears.”

There was also some time for fun, however. Clooney said, “I’ve done four films (with the Coens) and every time they send me a script, I’m always a knucklehead.” Of his part in Burn After Reading, he said, the role was “the biggest jackass in the world with a sex toy in the basement.” The Coens, he recounted, told him they wrote the part with him in mind. “I have greatly enjoyed how much they make fun of me.” But, he said, conspiratorially, “They’re not really brothers. It’s all bulls***. They’re first cousins.”

Katiedot wrote:Yeah, he does get pissy at her and I really don't know why.  Maybe he didn't understand her properly?

It seems that this video is edited, but I read elsewhere that George looks at Channing Tatum and mouthes the word 'bitch' at him.  Is that true??

party animal - not! wrote:Mm, I read that in an online comment, because she's answered his question back and persisted by listing all the ways she was helping.

party animal - not! wrote:

Personally I don't get the impression she had a clue what he actually does day to day for charity. Surprising. Which outlet is she from?

party animal - not! wrote:To be perfectly honest, I think something was lost in translation here, because to ask the question 'What do you do?' 
......

It was just unfortunate phrasing. If she had asked 'What would you do in this situation?' it would be a whole other ball game.........

party animal - not! wrote: also implies she knows nothing about the people she's interviewing, and if anyone there has a huge profile over a long period of time for his international charity work and bringing a light to difficult situations it's His Nibs. 

Katiedot wrote:Yeah, he does get pissy at herand I really don't know why.  Maybe he didn't understand her properly?

Nicky80 wrote:

Katiedot wrote:Yeah, he does get pissy at her and I really don't know why.  Maybe he didn't understand her properly?

It seems that this video is edited, but I read elsewhere that George looks at Channing Tatum and mouthes the word 'bitch' at him.  Is that true??

Oh I don't know that. I didn't hear or read it. It's new to me.

Katiedot wrote:Can anyone find that video?  I'd love to see it for myself before getting annoyed at George for his behaviour.

Katiedot wrote:Thanks for finding the video, Melbert.  It does look like he said 'what a bitch' although whether he was referring to the reporter or to the press conference as a whole, I don't know.

I still don't think there was any need for him to get so upset by the reporter.  It's not her job to know the minutiae about every person she meets and who knows whether she had even been in the press conference from the beginnig.

A better response would have been something like "Oh.  Well, I did just explain a few minutes ago about all the things I do and I'm meeting Angela Merkel tomorrow to find out what more I can do."

carolhathaway wrote:

I also understood the question as an affront addressed to George, and when you do this, you have to prepare yourself before attacking somebody. But maybe it wasn't meant as one. 

party animal - not! wrote:

So when the reporter concerned said that they were teaching families to speak German in her town  and helping them at a local level she didn't necessarily appreciate that George (and many other actors) doing so much at a global level so that they can use the leverage that they all have for good.