Why does George Clooney want to quit acting? Because he loves directing, as he’s told me several times. And because he doesn’t want to look old on camera.
Clooney made headlines this week when media outlets picked up his Tuesday interview promoting “Hail Caesar!” at the BBC in London.
“It a very unforgiving thing with cameras, so aging is something you try to do less and less of on the screen. You try to pick the films that work best for you as you age,” said Clooney, who turns 55 on May 6.
“As you age on screen, you get to that point where you understand that you can't stand in front of the camera your whole life"
Clooney, a 1979 graduate of Augusta Independent High School, has told me about his love for directing before the openings of “The Ides of March” (2011) and “Leatherheads” (2008), which he directed. Former “Seinfeld” star Jason Alexander, who appears with the Cincinnati Pops this weekend, also told me he gets more satisfaction from directing than acting these days.
Clooney also directed “The Monuments Men” (2014), “Good Night, and Good Luck” (2005) and “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” (2002). He was nominated for a best directing Academy Award for “Good Night, and Good Luck” in 2006, the year he won his first Oscar, as best supporting actor in “Syriana.” He won a second Oscar for best picture in 2013 for “Argo,” which he produced with his longtime business partner Grant Heslov and actor Ben Affleck.
Directing “is my great love, and I do enjoy it a lot, and I've had really great success... and I've had some not so successful films,” Clooney told the BCC. “It’s much more fun, and infinitely more creative to direct.”
Clooney returns to theaters on May 13 starring in “Money Monster” as a Jim Cramer-style bombastic TV financial guru taken hostage live on TV with his producer (Julia Roberts) by an irate investor (Jack O’Connell). Jodie Foster directs the thriller.
