Hollywood’s classic leading man George Clooney has revealed that he is no longer interested in doing on-screen kissing scenes or taking on romantic roles.
The 64-year-old actor is known for films such as One Fine Day (1996) with Michelle Pfeiffer, Out of Sight (1998) with Jennifer Lopez, Up in the Air (2009) with Vera Farmiga, and Ticket to Paradise (2022) with Julia Roberts.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Clooney said he is no longer interested in the same type of branding and prefers to make way for younger generations, as inspired by late American actor Paul Newman.
“When I turned 60, I had a conversation with my wife. I said, ‘Look, I can still play basketball with the boys. I play with 25-year-old guys. I can still hang. I’m in shape. But in 25 years, I’m 85 years old. It doesn’t matter how many granola bars you eat—that’s a real number,’” he said.
Clooney also recalled a moment early in his career when a director criticized one of his kissing scenes.
“I remember early on in my career, I had to do a kissing scene with this girl and the director goes, ‘Not like that.’ And I was like, ‘Dude, that’s my move! That’s what I do in real life!’” he told The New York Times.
He also shared a story from 2022 while promoting his film with then 58-year-old Roberts.
“Yeah, I told my wife, ‘It took 80 takes,’” Clooney said. “She was like, ‘What the hell?’”
“It took 79 takes of us laughing and then the one take of us kissing,” Roberts added, to which Clooney jokingly responded, “Well, we had to get it right.”
Clooney and his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, 47, have twins named Ella and Alexander.