George Clooney Leatherheads Press Conference
Rolling around in the mud with John Krasinski seems like it would have some very uncomfortable moments…
George Clooney: “It was hot, is what it was. (Laughing) No, listen, Johnny is, first of all, incredibly funny - as you guys know. He’s sharp and funny and really composed for a 27-year-old. I’m sort of shocked by that. But the only thing I can tell you is that it looks like more fun than it is, the idea of rolling around in mud. But if I was going to roll around in mud, John Krasinski is the guy I’d like to do it with. He’s fantastic.”
You mentioned not wanting to give this film too much of a modern slant. Would a team in 1925 be integrated?
George Clooney: “They were all integrated then. That was the interesting thing. It was like 1940. There was a lot to do with that, actually. There were quite a lot of black players in football in the ‘20s and then when the rules came in and when money became an issue, then they got rid of them all and they weren’t back until much, much later. That was one of the really interesting things we found out. There was a lot of interesting things. We couldn’t use actual teams, NFL teams, because we had the kids smoking and drinking and they were like, ‘That never happened.’ And you’re like, ‘Okay.’ (Laughing) So, it’s not the Duluth Eskimos, it’s the Duluth Bulldogs.”
What kind of idiot are you playing in the next Coen Brothers film?
George Clooney: “Well, first of all, I’m playing this character Harry Pfarrer in Burn After Reading and I am now over, I have leaped heads and shoulders over the other idiots I have played. This is my trilogy of idiots with the Coen Brothers. That one is going to be fun. I actually had to go and do an extra shot yesterday. I grew a beard back for half a day’s work. And I went in there and they showed me little bits of it and I was like, ‘Turn it off. I don’t want to see it. It’s so big.’ It will be fun though, I think. The only thing that makes me feel good is that I think Brad [Pitt] is even bigger, a bigger idiot than I am in it, so it makes me feel safe.”
Do you know what you might direct next?
George Clooney: “I think so. There is a play that is about to get made in New York that we are working on, a screenplay of called Farragut North. It’s really interesting. It may be the next one, but it would be next year.”
Would you act in that as well?
George Clooney: “Don’t think so. I think there are a lot better actors for that than me. It’s actually interesting though. It’s about running for president. This was a play that was coming out long before people were talking about the election. It’s not the same thing. It’s not about Barack and Hillary and all that or Elliot Spitzer.”
They’re talking about bringing the original characters back to E.R for the final season. Have you been approached?
George Clooney: “I've never heard… All this stuff came up on the Internet, I got calls yesterday saying, ‘I heard you are going back to E.R.’ I'm like, ‘I never heard of that.’"
Would you if they ask you?
George Clooney: “I don't know. It would depend who asked me. If it was John, John Wells is a good friend. I have a funny feeling it’s not really fair to the other actors on the show necessarily, but who knows? It’s not something I’m against. Literally, my office is, I saw them yesterday, my office is 50 feet from the E.R. stage. So they are still family there. It’s not like I’ve gone away.”
