Julianna Margulies on Her George Clooney 'Crush' and Why They Never Dated While Filming ER

by annemarie Wed 26 May 2021, 00:07

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[size=48]Julianna Margulies on Her George Clooney 'Crush' and Why They Never Dated While Filming ER
Julianna Margulies played nurse Carol Hathaway opposite George Clooney's Dr. Doug Ross on the NBC medical drama from 1994 to 2000
By Ally Mauch
May 25, 2021 03:45 PM[/size]

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CREDIT: RANDY HOLMES VIA GETTY IMAGES; JAMIE MCCARTHY/GETTY IMAGES
Despite their on-screen chemistry, Julianna Margulies is grateful she never dated ER costar George Clooney.
The actress, 54, played nurse Carol Hathaway opposite Clooney's Dr. Doug Ross on the NBC medical drama from 1994 until her departure in 2000. During a recent appearance on Dax Shepard's podcast, Armchair Expert, the host joked that Clooney, 60, would have been "great at loving" Margulies "from afar."
Though Margulies said a romance between the two "would have worked," she said she eventually "would have wanted him to show up."
"He and I always joke that thank god nothing ever happened, because now we can remain friends for the rest of our lives," she said.
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CREDIT: PAUL DRINKWATER/NBC/GETTY

RELATED: ER's George Clooney, Julianna Margulies and More Spill On-Set Secrets — 9 Revelations from Reunion
Pointing to other famous costars who got together and then ultimately split while still having to act alongside each other, Margulies said, "Then they hate each other and you're stuck on a show for seven years together. That's agony. Life's too short."
The Good Wife star said that maintaining the "crush" she and Clooney had on each other — but never acting on it — worked for them.

"You just want to have the crush keep going and going. And that's what worked," she said. "And also, he's just a super awesome human being, and I love him."

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Cast of ER

| CREDIT: SVEN ARNSTEIN/NBCU

RELATED: Julianna Margulies Admits She and George Clooney Had a 'Crush on Each Other' During ER
Last month, Margulies opened up about her decision to leave ER, even after a $27 million offer was put on the table to have her continue on for two more seasons.
"I felt very alone, because I had already planned what I was going to do before they had offered me that money. I had my life planned," she told Oprah Winfrey during an interview on her discovery+ series, Super Soul. "I was going back to New York to go and do this play and then all this money came up. Everyone I asked said, 'You'd be crazy [not to]. Take the money, take the money.'"
Margulies said she found the sign to stick with her gut and move on following a visit to the Bodhi Tree Bookstore in Los Angeles.
"I had heard a friend got some spiritual books and I had been studying some Buddhism, so I went [to the bookstore]," she recalled. "And I ran my finger down a shelf and I picked out a book, Awakening the Buddha Within."
"I brought it home and I said nothing. I walked into my bedroom, I opened the book, I closed my eyes and I [pointed to a line in the book]. And I opened my eyes and the line was, 'I knew I wanted to learn more, not earn more,'" she continued.