Mae Whitman Reflects on 25th Anniversary of One Fine Day and Her Friendship With George Clooney

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

[size=48]Mae Whitman Reflects on 25th Anniversary of One Fine Day and Her Enduring Friendship with George Clooney

"One Fine Day was such a cornerstone for me, of who I am," Mae Whitman tells PEOPLE in this week's issue
By Christina Dugan 
March 03, 2021 02:52 PM[/size]





FB[url=https://www.twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Mae Whitman Reflects on 25th Anniversary of "One Fine Day" and he...https://people.com/movies/mae-whitman-reflects-on-25th-anniversary-of-one-fine-day-and-her-enduring-friendship-with-george-clooney/%3futm_source=twitter.com%26utm_medium=social%26utm_campaign=social-share-article]Tweet[/url]
[size=14]More[/size]

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]





[size=12]00:38
03:56





Share: Mae Whitman Reflects on 25th Anniversary of One Fine Day and Friendship with George Clooney: 'He Took Me Under His Wing'
[/size][size]
[url=https://twitter.com/home?status=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fmovies%2Fmae-whitman-reflects-on-25th-anniversary-of-one-fine-day-and-her-enduring-friendship-with-george-clooney%2F Mae Whitman Reflects on 25th Anniversary of One Fine Day and Friendship with George Clooney%3A %27He Took Me Under His Wing%27][/url][url=https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fmovies%2Fmae-whitman-reflects-on-25th-anniversary-of-one-fine-day-and-her-enduring-friendship-with-george-clooney%2F&media=https%3A%2F%2Fcf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net%2Fv1%2Fstatic%2F416418724%2Fad970f1d-2114-4f46-85de-10bacfe3d4df%2Fd00591b6-2638-4b03-b91f-e19cff9dd5b1%2F160x90%2Fmatch%2Fimage.jpg&description=Mae Whitman Reflects on 25th Anniversary of One Fine Day and Friendship with George Clooney%3A %27He Took Me Under His Wing%27][/url]Direct Link[/size]
Mae Whitman is opening up about some of her most memorable roles — and the special friendships she gained from them.
In this week's issue of PEOPLE, the Good Girls actress, 32, reflects on the 25th anniversary of One Fine Day — the 1996 romantic comedy in which she starred alongside George Clooney when she was just 8 years old — and the strong connection she's shared with the actor over the years.
"One Fine Day was such a cornerstone for me, of who I am," Whitman, who played Clooney and Michelle Pfeiffer's characters' daughter in the film, says. "Especially working with George, we became so genuinely close, in a way that is funny. He's just somebody that my soul really connected with."
[size]
"I think we just had something that just felt natural and normal, and we had the same sense of humor," adds Whitman. "And he really took me under his wing, and he took me everywhere, all around New York. And for many, many years after I would go to his house and I would get chased by his pig Max across the yard!"

While Whitman kickstarted her career at just two years old, the Los Angeles native was able to maintain a semi-normal childhood ... and even had Clooney's help when it came to school projects.
"Remember when they used to sell wrapping paper in school, and you'd try to sell the most wrapping paper? I remember George would always wait until the very last day, like the deadline," she says. "And then he'd be like, 'Okay, what's the highest kid have?' And then he would quadruple it. So I would walk into class and go, 'George Clooney, he wants 10,000 wrapping papers.' Those are the memories I have. I felt so supported and I felt loved."
RELATED: George Clooney Opens Up About Family, Giving Back and His Faith in America's Future: 'You Can't Give Up'
[/size]

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.][url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fmovies%2Fmae-whitman-reflects-on-25th-anniversary-of-one-fine-day-and-her-enduring-friendship-with-george-clooney%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20210303%26utm_term%3Dundefined&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimagesvc.meredithcorp.io%2Fv3%2Fmm%2Fimage%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fstatic.onecms.io%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F20%2F2021%2F03%2F02%2Fmae-whitman-george-clooney.jpg&description=Mae Whitman Reflects on 25th Anniversary of One Fine Day<%2Fem> and Her Enduring Friendship with George Clooney][/url]

CREDIT: JAMIE MCCARTHY/GETTY; RODIN ECKEROTH/GETTY

[size]
Though Whitman has shared the screen with iconic actors such as Sandra Bullock, Will Smith and more, she's had the strongest connection with Clooney.

"These are people who are experts at their craft, guiding me and showing me the way, and being on set with me, and helping me in moments of vulnerability," the Parenthood actress says. "I just feel really grateful that I was able to have these experiences with these people I really respect, that are cornerstones of who I am now."
"[George] and I stayed close for many, many years," she adds. "I think one of the last times I saw him I was with an ex-boyfriend at a movie theater. I hadn't seen him in a while, and I went up and I was like, 'George, oh my God!' And he immediately bee-lined past me and grabbed the guy I was dating at the time, and was like, 'If you ever hurt her, I will hunt you down.' I feel like we will always have that connection."
Now, Whitman is gearing up for her fourth season as mom Annie Marks of NBC's Good Girls alongside Christina Hendrick and Retta.
"Like I truly don't even remember what my life was like before I knew them," Whitman says of her costars. "The thing I love about Good Girls is that everybody on the crew really cares so much. We really are like a big family, we really are so positive."
The latest season of Good Girls premieres March 7 on NBC.[/size]

`

Wow.  That's a really great relationship.  I love the idea of George going to the cinema like a normal person and running into her there!  Wonder what he did with all that wrapping paper?

I'm guessing it's a long time since he's been able to go to the movies like "a normal person". It's probably all private screening rooms for him now.

I love the wrapping paper story.  Knowing how versatile George is I bet he personally wrapped his own gifts.

Stories like this about George are such a breath a fresh air in an industry that seems to be bursting with absolute creeps. Articles about actresses and the older men they worked with when they were younger don't tend to have happy endings. It's so interesting to me that for a guy who had a history of dating lots of women, there are literally zero stories of him ever treating one badly. Maybe he could run a class for his peers on how to be a decent guy; some of them seem to desperately need tips.

Sounds like a great idea, Missa.