George Clooney reveals why he wouldn't work with David O Russell again after iconic movie 'Three Kings'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: George Clooney recently criticized director David O Russell, calling him a "miserable" presence who made "my life hell." The duo worked together on the 1999 film 'Three Kings', a war heist comedy.
In a new interview with British GQ, the 63-year-old actor discussed how his perspective on work has evolved with age, emphasizing his desire to collaborate only with individuals who are passionate about their craft.
George Clooney bares his thoughts on David O Russell
George Clooney shared, "The older you get, the time allotment is very different. Five months out of your life is a lot. And so it’s not just like, 'Oh, I’m going to go do a really good film, like 'Three Kings', and I’m going to have a miserable f**k like David O Russell making my life hell. Making every person in the crew’s life hell.'"
He added, "It’s not worth it. Not at this point in my life. Just to have a good product."
The tension between Clooney and Russell on the set of 'Three Kings' has been widely reported. In The Independent feature, "22 actors who didn’t get along with their directors," Adam White claimed the actor confronted the filmmaker after he allegedly "went nuts on an extra."
In a 2003 interview, Clooney expressed his disapproval of Russell’s behavior, saying, "I would not stand for him humiliating and yelling and screaming at crew members, who weren’t allowed to defend themselves. I don’t believe in it, and it makes me crazy. So my job was then to humiliate the people who were doing the humiliating."
He described working on the film as "the worst experience of [his] life."
George Clooney responds to Quentin Tarantino's 'not a movie star' comment
In his GQ interview, George Clooney revealed his frustration with Quentin Tarantino, who recently made disparaging remarks about him.
The actor, who worked with Tarantino in Robert Rodriguez's 1996 film 'From Dusk Till Dawn', noted that the filmmaker questioned the success of his career and downplayed his status as a movie star. "Quentin said some s**t about me recently, so I’m a little irritated by him," remarked Clooney.
The actor continued, "He did some interview where he was naming movie stars, and he was talking about [Brad Pitt], and somebody else, and then this guy goes, 'Well, what about George?' He goes, 'He’s not a movie star.' And then he literally said something like, 'Name me a movie since the millennium.'"
"I was like, 'Since the millennium? That’s kind of my whole f***ing career.' So now I’m like, all right, dude, f**k off. I don’t mind giving him s**t. He gave me s**t," added the 'Ocean's Eleven' star.
George Clooney and Brad Pitt gear up for the release of 'Wolfs'
George Clooney made these remarks during his joint British GQ interview with co-star Brad Pitt as they promoted their latest project 'Wolfs'.
The Jon Watts action comedy will have a limited theatrical release starting September 20 before debuting on Apple TV+. The film, which also features Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams, and Poorna Jagannathan, revolves around two stubborn professional fixers who are forced to collaborate on a shared job.
The full interview of Clooney and Pitt will be available in the September issue of British GQ, starting August 27.
