In a large-scale training session for the Venice Film Festival, George Clooney revealed the rule he tries to follow, his ideas on how to achieve success in acting and what he will film next.
Clooney was asked about his path to work and the beginning of his career. The star described to the adoring Lido audience how he initially worked on a tobacco farm and sold insurance before taking up acting – encouraged by his cousin Miguel Ferrer – and how he found success relatively late, something he said he believes ultimately benefited his career.
“I achieved success when I was 33, not 23. I don’t think it’s very helpful to be very young and very successful; I don’t think you get a chance to make mistakes. And when you make mistakes, I don’t think you get a chance to make mistakes in private. And those mistakes you learn from. So I was very fortunate in that I became more successful later in life.”
Clooney said that not having a blockbuster film at the beginning of his career allowed him to work in different genres so as not to be confined to one type of film.
the Oceans 11 and attractiveness The star was asked multiple questions by aspiring actors on how he made it. He called on the audience to chase their dreams.
“If you’re chasing your dreams, chase them,” he said. “You don’t want to wake up at my age, 65, and say you never tried. That’s it. You have to try. Now, it might not work out. You know, it takes a lot of luck, a lot of things that have nothing to do with your talent or your skill. However, you’re going to get really mad at yourself late in life if you don’t try. Now, if it doesn’t work out, you’ll find something else to do. But if you chase your dreams, chase your dreams, man.”
He added that luck and perseverance can play a major role in achieving success, pointing out that er It was one of two television projects submitted at the time, and he happened to make the right decision in casting the movie, which was a huge hit for NBC.
“Luck plays a huge role. It really plays a role. The best actors in early acting classes are not big stars. They’re not big stars. They were good looking. They were talented. You have to end up being the right person, in the right place, at the right time. That’s just the way it works. Having said that, you can create a lot of that luck, making yourself available, chasing things, pursuing things. You know, Jack Nicklaus, the famous golfer, hit a 60-foot putt, and someone said to him “Lucky shot,” he said. “It’s funny the more you practice, the luckier you can create some luck.”
The actor, producer and director spoke about the key projects in his career such as Good night, and good luckwhich he successfully transferred to the stage with his producing partner Grant Heslov, and key collaborations such as his partnerships with Steven Soderbergh and the Coen Brothers. He also spoke about the impact friendships with actors he described as “real movie stars” such as Gregory Peck and Paul Newman had on him.
He also spoke about the humanitarian work he and his wife, humanitarian lawyer Amal (whom Clooney described as “evil”) do through their foundation, including helping to release dozens of detained journalists from prisons in authoritarian countries, and the rule his father imposed that he tries to live by: “My father used to say to me, ‘I don’t care what you do in life. I don’t care. You have one responsibility, which is to challenge people who have more power than you, and to stand up for people who have more power than you. That’s it, if you do nothing else, you’re successful. Now I try to do that a lot, but I try to do it part of my life, and so my wife and I spend a big part of our lives trying to follow the same rules, which is, you know, by birth, by luck, by all the things that got us here in this room. There’s an awful lot of people who haven’t had the same lucky moments, whether you were born in a war zone, or you were born in a place with Hunger, or being born in a place where women are treated terribly, or journalists being imprisoned… these people need a little luck, and so it’s our job to be part of that solution, and we’re trying our best, and failing as everyone does so often.
The Hollywood icon assured the public that he will begin filming his next movie within weeks, which is an adaptation of Amy Bloom’s memoirs. He loves From director Paul Weitz. You can read more about the project in last year’s break.
In a poignant epilogue, spoken with palpable emotion, the actor finally recalled his sister’s death from cancer last year and his being with her in her final moments: “She died so quickly, and I was with her when she died. And there was this feeling, when I was with her and holding her hand when she died, and I realize how short it all was. Minutes ago she and I were little kids together, and minutes ago we were holding hands like little kids.”
“Time flies,” he told the enthusiastic crowd. “All of this. So we have to find nothing but joy.”
