Why Gorgeous George won't get down and dirty in the political world
Clooney's new film -- about a filthy presidential campaign -- couldn't be better timed, writes Declan Cashin
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By Declan Cashin
Wednesday Oct 26 2011
He may have been a tad too expensive for their heavily scrutinised campaign budgets, but the seven candidates looking to be elected president tomorrow could have hired Hollywood star George Clooney as a political consultant.
Gorgeous George was in London last week to talk politics as part of the London Film Festival screening of his new movie The Ides of March, a deeply cynical story exploring the behind-the-scenes backstabbing, double-dealing and selling out involved in an insurgent campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.
After what has been the nastiest presidential election this country has ever seen, the timing of Clooney's new movie couldn't be more perfect.
In the course of a press conference in London last week, the actor, writer and director was made aware of the forthcoming presidential vote in Ireland, and asked if he had any advice for Gallagher, Higgins, Davis et al.
Though reluctant to engage in any other country's domestic politics -- he dodged a question about British current affairs too -- Clooney did have this to say: "Always wear blue ties."
Would he recommend that the battle-weary candidates watch his new movie as a cautionary tale?
"I think if they've gotten to the position where they are able to run to be president of a country, then they know all the pitfalls," he replied, diplomatically.
"The question is whether or not they avoid those pitfalls. There's not much that we can tell them to do. They know what's right, what works, and how you can get in trouble."
Clooney seemed in relaxed form during his press engagements. Having just turned 50, the star is settling more and more into his good looks. He's in tremendous shape, and was sporting a deep-set tan presumably acquired from a long summer in his Italian villa (though his colouring did prompt one female wag next to me to comment that he looked "tangoed").
To the further disappointment of more than one admirer in the room, Clooney also turned up not in one of his trademark dark suits, but rather jeans, T-shirt and leather jacket.
In The Ides of March, which he also directed and co-wrote, Clooney plays the presidential candidate Mike Morris, alongside the year's hottest young actor, Ryan Gosling, who takes the role of his press adviser. Suffice it to say that this movie is the closest that Clooney will ever get to running for public office.
"I have a very good life and a very comfortable existence," he said. "I'm able, if I want to, to dip my toe into issues involved in politics, like Sudan or Darfur, and I'm happy to do that. I don't have to compromise like a politician would. It's much nicer where I am."
Is it the case that there are simply too many skeletons in his closet for him ever to be elected? Clooney's revolving-door love life down through the years has certainly kept the press entertained. Just this summer, he broke up with stunning Italian actress Elisabetta Canalis (33), and last week was pictured with his new girlfriend, model and wrestler Stacy Keibler (32).
"As far as skeletons go, I think we're going to have to get to the point where every candidate will have to start off by saying, 'Yeah, I did it -- now let's talk about the issues'," Clooney said.
"It's going to be very hard to find people who haven't smoked a joint or drank some bong water along the way. We're going to have to get to the point where scandal doesn't keep you out of politics. Otherwise we're not going to be able to get any politicians."
As for the relentless focus on his love life, Clooney remarked: "I know what those questions are, and I know when they come and how they come. I can handle it, I'm a grown-up, but I would rather talk about the films."
Clooney added that, although one might expect an actor to understand the narcissism and ego that must be required to put yourself forward for office, he still struggled to grasp the mindset of his character Morris.
'It was tricky, because you'd think actors have gigantic egos, and they do," he explained, "but [imagine] the ego it takes to be able to take all those shots with their chin held high?
"It's very hard when the product you're selling to the entire country is yourself, and you're selling the hell out of it every day. Politicians have to think: 'I'm better than every person in the room'."
Clooney does have some first-hand experience of campaigning, aside from his own activist work. Nick Clooney, the actor's journalist father, ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the US Congress in 2004 (Clooney's great-grandfather was also a mayor in Kentucky).
Did his father's experiences colour the writing of The Ides of March? "There were certainly elements of it," he said.
"There's at least one scene in the movie between my character and his wife [Jennifer Ehle] that comes almost directly from a conversation I had with my father about how there are hands you have to shake that you wouldn't normally shake in order to get ahead."
But surely navigating the Hollywood obstacle course, as Clooney has done for over 30 years now, would be a good training for politics? Just how Machiavellian is Tinseltown?
"Well, when I die I go to hell, I know that," he laughed. "Actors aren't like that, but the business can be that way. There's a certain cut-throat element, but I'd argue that most actors are pretty kind to one another.
"You're so lucky and privileged to get to the position of being in a film, and you understand that it's not just your brilliance that got you there, but that you're standing on the shoulders of a lot of happy accidents along the way.
"You recognise that in one another. So I think I recognise a certain generosity amongst actors that I certainly don't see in politics."
The Ides of March is released on Friday.
- Declan Cashin
Irish Independent
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