I’ve got a super busy day today, so I’m turning over the reins to double Oscar-nominee George Clooney, who had a really good interview recently in Esquire. I was able to at least choose the most interesting stuff, so think of it as me cutting your steak for you. You’re welcome. Here's George:Hey, this is Einstein. He’s part cocker spaniel. I found him online, called the shelter and told the woman I really liked him, and she said, “Well, we don’t know if Einstein will like you. We’ll bring him to your house, but if he doesn’t like you, he can’t stay.” When she pulled into my driveway with him, I started to panic that Einstein wasn’t going to like me, so I ran into my kitchen and rubbed turkey meatballs all over my shoes. The second the woman opened the door, Einstein threw himself at my feet and she said, “I’ve never seen him react like that, ever!” and left him with me on the spot. Now he follows me everywhere, thinking of me as the guy with meatball feet.
Here’s the thing: we used to lead the world in making things. But we don’t make anything anymore. I miss that. But Hollywood still makes things. We still export a couple billion dollars’ worth of original, new product overseas – big time with big money.
Somebody asked me, “How can you relate to being a father?” Well, I’m not running for president, but I played that role in The Ides of March. I wasn’t an actual lawyer when I did Michael Clayton, and I don’t fire people for a living like I did in Up in the Air. It’s a job. Acting is playing pretend. There are method actors that are really wonderful. I don’t bash anyone’s way of working because the results are all that matters. But for me, I don’t have to do heroin to play a heroin addict.
I have a real interest in pushing the limits of things that studios don’t want to make, because I can. I won’t be able to at some point in the near future, but right now while I can I want to do it. So when you’re 80 years old and they ask you what you did, you can say, “When I had the keys to the car, I drove it as fast as I could and as hard as I could. I took it to places the owner didn’t really want me to take it.” I understand that at some point they’re going to repossess the car. I don’t mind that. I just want to be able to say we gave it a shot when we had the time.
There are ten of us, and we’ve been best friends for thirty years. I remember when Richard Kind’s dad suddenly died, Richard was very grown up about it, leaving me a message: “My dad died, I’m in Chicago, the funeral’s going to be in New Jersey tomorrow. I’ll talk to you when I get back.” It was 5 o’clock in LA, so I called up the guys and said, “We should be there.” They were all around the country, so I got a jet and we spent the whole night flying to San Diego, Denver… We landed in Trenton, New Jersey. We got to the synagogue, and Richard, who didn’t have any idea we were going to be there, got up to speak and saw his nine best friends sitting in the back row. We all understood there are moments in your life that are passages, like your father dying and making you the man of the family. We knew how important that was at the time.
People forget that I was married. I love that, Will he get married? I don’t talk about it because I don’t think about it. I don’t ever question other peoples’ version of how they live their lives. Everybody has their own version of what they think I am and what they think that is. I’m just living my life and doing the best I can. No matter what I do, I’m somehow upsetting someone in some way or making someone happy. I can only live my life and my version of it.
