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George Clooney Arrested In Washington D.C. During Protest

Travis Woods — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:45:47 +0000

A lot of actors and actresses find pet causes to champion. Very few, however, reach a level of hardcore activism that gets them arrested. You can now place George Clooney in that latter camp, as the Academy Award winning actor, director and activist was arrested on Friday during a protest outside of the Sudanese Embassy in Washington.

Clooney has been a staunch critic of the Sudanese government of late, specifically calling out President Omar al-Bashir, government official Ahmad Harun and Defense Minister Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein, men who Clooney accuses of orchestrating “a campaign of murder” against the people of Sudan.

“What you see is a constant drip of fear,” the actor stated after returning from a trip to the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan area, one of “the most devastated areas” in the region. “We found children filled with shrapnel, including a 9-year-old boy who had both of his hands blown off,” Clooney testified to Congress on Wednesday.

Clooney has yet to release a statement about his detainment by Washington D.C. police. Also arrested was his father, journalist Nick Clooney, 78, as well as Martin Luther King III, NAACP President Ben Jealous, Rep. Jim McGovern and Rep. Jim Moran and former Rep. Tom Andrews.

What do you think of Clooney’s arrest?

Source: KTLA

The Artist, The Descendents and The Help Lead The Golden Globe Nominations for 2012

Damon Houx — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:59:06 +0000

The 69th annual Golden Globes nominees have been announced, and this year they’re big on definite articles. The Help, The Artist and The Descendents lead the pack of nominees. Which is interesting because – if the Globes have a weakness – it’s that they chase the famous names, and these noms aren’t that celeb-heavy. Then again, George Clooney has received three nominations directly (for actor, writing and directing) between The Ides of March and Descendents, and surely a fourth for producing March. Check out the full list…

If the Golden Globes’ status has fallen any in the last couple years, it’s only because Oscar prognostication has shown that the Globes have little effect on the big award of the season. Still, everyone knows it’s going to be more fun because it’s drunker, looser, and not taken as seriously. Ricky Gervais will be hosting, so it’s going to be worth watching for that at least.

If this says anything about award season, it’s that The Artist and The Descendents are pretty much locks for best picture Oscar nominations. And probably also The Help. But for those looking to get a jump on their Oscar pools, always follow the SAG awards. Why? Because they have the largest voting block, and as goes the actors, so goes the majority of the awards. Of course their list came out yesterday and because they went early it’s possible many voters didn’t get a chance to see as much as they have now. But there are only so many contenders now.

MOTION PICTURE

Motion Picture, Drama
The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse

Best Performance By An Actress In A Motion Picture – Drama
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need To Talk About Kevin

Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture – Drama
George Clooney, The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar
Michael Fassbender, Shame
Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Best Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical
50/50
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
My Week With Marilyn

Best Performance By An Actress in A Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical
Jodie Foster, Carnage
Charlize Theron, Young Adult
Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Kate Winselt, Carnage

Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical
Jean DuJardin, The Artist
Brendan Gleeson, The Guard
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50
Ryan Gosling, Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris

Best Animated Feature Film
The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Cars 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

Best Foreign Language Film
The Flowers of War (China)
In the Land of Blood and Honey (USA)
The Kid With A Bike (Belgium)
A Separation (Iran)
The Skin I Live In (Spain)

Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role In A Motion Picture
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role In A Motion Picture
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks, Drive
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method
Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Best Director – Motion Picture
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
George Clooney, The Ides of March
Michel Hazanvicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, The Descendants
Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, Moneyball

Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Abel Korzeniowski, W.E.
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Howard Shore, Hugo
John Williams, War Horse

Best Original Song – Motion Picture
“Hello Hello” — Gnomeo & Juliet
Music by: Elton John
Lyrics by: Bernie Taupin
“The Keeper” — Machine Gun Preacher
Music & Lyrics by: Chris Cornell
“Lay Your Head Down” — Albert Nobbs
Music by: Brian Byrne
Lyrics by: Glenn Close
“The Living Proof” — The Help
Music by: Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Harvey Mason, Jr.
Lyrics by: Mary J. Blige, Harvey Mason, Jr., Damon Thomas
“Masterpiece” — W.E.
Music & Lyrics by: Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry

TELEVISION

Best Television Series – Drama
American Horror Story, FX
Boardwalk Empire, HBO
Boss, STARZ
Game of Thrones, HBO
Homeland, Showtime

Best Performance By An Actress In A Television Series – Drama
Claire Danes, Homeland
Mireille Enos, The Killing
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Madeleine Stowe, Revenge
Callie Thorne, Necessary Roughness

Best Performance By An Actor In A Television Series – Drama
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Kelsey Grammer, Boss
Jeremy Irons, The Borgias
Damian Lewis, Homeland

Best Television Series – Comedy Or Musical
Enlightened, HBO
Episodes, Showtime
Glee, FOX
Modern Family, ABC
New Girl, FOX

Best Performance By An Actress In A Television Series – Comedy Or Musical

Laura Dern, Enlightened
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Laura Linney, The Big C
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

Best Performance By An Actor In A Television Series – Comedy Or Musical
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
David Duchovny, Californication
Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory
Thomas Jane, Hung
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes

Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television
Cinema Verite, HBO
Downton Abbey, PBS (Masterpiece)
The Hour, BBC America
Mildred Pierce, HBO
Too Big to Fail, HBO

Best Performance By An Actress In A Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television
Romola Garai, The Hour
Diane Lane, Cinema Verite
Elizabeth McGovern, Downton Abbey
Emily Watson, Appropriate Adult
Kate Winslet, Mildred Pierce

Best Performance By An Actor In A Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television
Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey
Idris Elba, Luther
William Hurt, To Big to Fail
Bill Nighy, Page Eight
Dominic West, The Hour

Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role In A Series, Mini-Series, Or Motion Picture Made for Television
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story
Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Evan Rachel Wood, Mildred Pierce

Best Performance By An Actor in A Supporting Role in A Series, Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Paul Giamatti, Too Big to Fail
Guy Pearce, Mildred Pierce
Tim Robbins, Cinema Verite
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

Who do you want to win? Who do you think got snubbed?

George Clooney in The Descendants Trailer

Damon Houx — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 18:59:33 +0000

When you’re George Clooney and you are in two Oscar-bait pictures of the year, you have to make some sort of decision on which is your horse. And it looks like if Clooney’s going for gold this year, it will be for his performance in The Descendants, the latest Alexander Payne film. They’ve just cut a new “glowing reviews” trailer. Check it out.

Word is relatively good (there was a reflexive “soft” and ” BS awards-bait” talk after the film did the festival circuit). But after getting mostly positive reviews, you can see how they’re now selling this: Clooney, Clooney, Clooney. He’s doing both funny business and moody business – and the quotes they took for the ad suggest that it’s a heart-tugger.

There’s little sense of anyone else in the picture (the trailer offers a glimpse at Robert Forster), and there seems to be as much pathos here as there is comedy. I couldn’t spot third-billed (on the IMDb) Matthew Lilllard in what could be termed his comeback role. Whether it goes into front-runner status is unknown, but it looks like Clooney’s The Ides of March has not been getting similar traction. I say this because with a film like this you need academy heat to do better at the box office.the Descendants opens November 18 in limited release.

Can you tell what the plot is from this trailer?

Box Office Predictions: Real Steel to Win in the End

Damon Houx — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:57:26 +0000

And that’s not a spoiler (or is it?) After a couple of weekends of older pictures, either in days (Dolphin Tale took the #1 slot a week after release) or years (the reissue of The Lion King), the first week of October promises to deliver new movies can top the box office. Shawn Levy‘s Real Steel is a genuine crowd pleaser, while George Clooney‘s The Ides of March is a smart political thriller. Both use star power (Hugh Jackman, Ryan Gosling) to their advantage. But both also have strikes against them.

I wrote the review of Real Steel, and I think there are people who are going to embrace the movie, but I think it’s hard for the critical community to give a film like this a pass. It’s derivative, it’s directed by someone who’s made a career of crappy (and successfully crappy) films. It’s an easy film to dismiss, partly because with a concept as out there as they have with the fil, they didn’t want to put it in the summer or winter big money seasons. And yet that may have hurt perceptions on the film. Timing is everything.

I once got into an argument with Drew McWeeny about the placement of movies and how people received Thor versus The Green Lantern. As they are basically similar origin tales, with similar problems (unnecessary love interest, interesting supporting characters with little to do) and strengths (the villian, the special effects), I felt if they had switched release dates, The Green Lantern might not have gotten such a thumping critically, because Thor had the first “official” weekend of summer (the first week of May), while The Green Lantern came out in June after a number of loud and not that great genre efforts. I mention this not because I think I’m right or wrong, but to a certain extent the number of movies made in a certain genre or lack thereof can really be beneficial to it’s relative “goodness.”

I don’t know if Ridley Scott‘s Gladiator is one of the best of the sword and sandals films (it probably is, the genre’s not that great to begin with), but when it was released it was the only one made with a decent budget since the 1960′s. Just as 30 Minutes or Less came in the unfortunate position of being the last R-rated “raunchy” comedy in a summer with Bridesmaids, Horrible Bosses, and Bad Teacher - all of which passed the hundred million dollar mark. That’s not to say that people didn’t respond to the movies themselves, but you may not want to have a pizza every night you go out to eat.

What may drive Real Steel is that there hasn’t been a good underdog story in cinema since the last Rocky movie. The problem that DreamWorks and Disneyare going to run into with the film is that they need a respectable opening weekend, and that’s $30 Million-ish. That means they will make it to $100 million, and possibly $150. Word of mouth could play with this film, and tracking shows it a little above $20 for the weekend- so the big question is “how are the ads playing to kids?” That could drive this film more than adults, and it works as a family picture in a way we haven’t seen in a while. Though perhaps the key to this film is international. Jackman established himself with the X-men franchise, but outside of that his biggest film is the disaster Van Helsing (which did $120 domestic). Which then makes this film itself an underdog.

The Ides of March runs into that pizza problem by being the third movie in as many months to top-line Ryan Gosling. And though he’s a well respected actor, he’s never driven the box office. Drive is nearing a $30 Million dollar total, after being critically respected and winning big at Cannes. Gosling is working, but there’s no sense that he’s made an indelible impression on audiences outside of The Notebook, where he was one of the leads. The only films of his that have outperformed it are Remember the Titans and Crazy, Stupid, Love. The latter reecently passed those numbers, though it could also be called Steve Carrell’s picture. That doesn’t change the fact that Gosling has been giving interviews and has been on magazine covers, etc. for three months straight.

What’s going to help the picture is the presence of George Clooney, but as a director he’s made some very respected films that haven’t managed to do much more than $30 Million at the box office. Another problem is that it looks like a failed Oscar-bait picture – no one’s saying that the picture has much of a shot at anything, so there’s no building interest in that side of the critical community. This looks to be his strongest performer, but that’s not saying much.

So let’s do the numbers:

Real Steel - $29.5 Million

The Ides of March - $13.7 Million

Dolphin Tale – $9.9 Million

Moneyball – $8 Million

Courageous – $6 Million

We could see 50/50 or The Lion King sneak into the top five. I may be going high on Real Steel, but it’s tracking the best to have the top slot and I think it plays. Everything else seems about right.

The Ides of March: Review

Damon Houx — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 23:00:32 +0000

George Clooney is some kind of machine. He’s in two movies this year, including The Ides of March, which he also co-wrote, directed and produced. And like everything he’s directed it’s good, but falls short of greatness. Ryan Gosling stars as Stephens Myers, a wunderkind political analyst who’s one of the most important men behind Governor Morris (Clooney), but as the campaign comes it’s most contested primary, political and personal drama shows what these men are made of.

The Players:

Director: George Clooney
Written by: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, George Clooney, Jeffery Wright
Original Music by: Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography by: Phedon Papamichael

The Plot:

Stephen Myers (Gosling) is the man behind the man behind the throne, working on Governor Morris’s campaign to be president. Paul Zara (Hoffman) is in charge of the campaign, but everyone sees Myers as the rising star, even the interns, including Molly Stearns (Wood), who is indelicate in her advances. Myers gets a call from Tom Duffy (Giamatti), who’s running the opposition’s campaign, and delivers a blow – he says they have Senator Thompson (Wright) and his votes in their pocket, and without Thompson’s support, their candidate may be dead in the water. But then it’s revealed that Myers isn’t the only one who’s slept with Molly.

The Good:

This cast: Seriously, every single major actor in the film is great, and they all get a scene or two to shine (and/or yell). And when you’ve got titans of acting like Hoffman and Giamatti, you want them to have some good red meat scenes to eat. They do, and they deliver.
Not Preachy: Though Morris is a true-blue democrat, that’s the setting, the machinations of the plot aren’t really about that, and politics never drive the story so much as the machinations and backstabbing that come from a heated political campaign.
Pacing: For a film about the behind the scenes, Clooney and company were smart to keep this thing moving, and it’s a brisk 101 minutes that never dawdles.
The Machinations: In the film there are schemes and plans within plans that work either for or against the characters. From dropping information to a reporter (Tomei), to who people talk to, there’s some good plotting in the film.

The Bad

In summation: This movie is trying to call a shot, it’s trying to show the corruption of a character, but the pieces don’t add up. The idea of a character like Gosling’s losing his innocence while in the midst of a huge political campaign suggests he wasn’t wet enough behind the ears, or that the moment itself doesn’t matter. You wonder why someone would sleep with two characters in the order they do and few things seem like isolated incidents. I left the film with a lot of questions about what happened, and not in a good way.
Myers/Gosling: Fine in the part, Gosling doesn’t have a great facility to show the wheels turning in his head, though that works (in some ways) for the character. But when the film moves into its final machinations, his moves to regain control aren’t based on his political skill. And for a film that spends a lot of time suggesting he’s one of the great minds of his generation, and a born political animal, it would have been good to see him use those skills – at least once. That’s partly why the end doesn’t hit as hard as it’s trying to.

Overall:

There’s enough here to enjoy what’s going on, but it’s reach exceeds its grasp.The Ides of March is an intelligent, thoughtful thriller, but it’s missing profundity. That would be an unfair complaint if it didn’t think it was saying something deeper than it does.

Rating: 7/10

Stills:

Interview: Writer/Producer Grant Heslov on Ides of March

Damon Houx — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 22:00:18 +0000

Grant Heslov met George Clooney in the early eights and a friendship was born. Both were struggling actors, and while Heslov had a number of key supporting roles throughout the 1990′s (including True Lies and Dante’s Peak), his friend George’s career grew to superstardom. Their friendship stuck, and the two have been writing and producing partners for nearly a decade. The two reworked the play Ides of March for the big screen, and Heslov talked about their working process and the film.

Obviously there’s going to be some kind of reference to Dean’s campaigns, but where were you pulling from to create the Morris Character?

When we optioned this play, someone came up to us and said “you’re doing the Howard Dean play, right?” And I said “Huh? I didn’t know that.” So I talked to the playwright and the producers of the play and they said no. Beau (Willimon) worked on the Dean campaign and that’s true, and it’s where he learned about this world, but for George and I, quite honestly that’s not an interesting campaign to write about. This is a made up campaign. George and I – along with Steven Soderbergh – did this show called K-Street, and we lived in D.C. for fourteen weeks immersed in politics – all we did was talk to politicians, and talk politics for this faux show, and that was really our research, this is where we did our research that’s mostly what we drew from to take the play and open it up.

Knowing what you know from having written it, would you still vote for a Morris?

You mean if knew he (Spoiler excerpted) and did that whole thing? I think I would vote for him, but not if I had seen the scene in the kitchen. If I knew that scene I wouldn’t.

But whomever you talk about – be it Kennedy, Obama, George W. Bush – there are moments like that.

I’m sure there are, I just didn’t write them. It is a double standard of sorts, but personally I don’t care what a candidate’s extra-circular activities are if they’re the right candidate. It’s interesting because the first scene we wrote was the kitchen scene because we knew that’s where we wanted those two characters to confront each other. And then we went back to the beginning to figure out how to get there.

And that broke the story for you?

Yeah. We had the source material, and we knew who some of the characters were, and we knew we were going to set it in this campaign, and we wanted it to be a short amount of time, just jammed in in the middle of things.

When putting the film together, how important was it to divest your personal feelings from the storytelling? Or did you?

I don’t think we did. The Morris character he’s the kind of guy I’d want to vote for. And it’s not everything he believes is what I believe, it’s that he’s willing to stand by his convictions, he doesn’t want to deal or compromise. There’s nothing wrong with compromise – he doesn’t want to compromise on certain things. But slowly but surely he gets hammered down. That was more interesting to us – how that comes about. How it’s virtually impossible to get through a campaign without F-cking yourself.

This theme is a loss of innocence, it seems like the loss of innocence is the scandal, but there’s a bigger compromise that’s mostly off-screen. Where do you see the loss?

Thematically it’s interesting to me to hear you say that, because to me the film’s less about loss of innocence and more about betrayal – let me take a step backwards. George and I had been talking for a long time about taking a character and run him through the ringer – a morality tale, a big old fashioned morality tale. One of the things we keyed off is the Michael Coreleone in The Godfather. He’s the innocent in the story, but he’s not that innocent to start with. And just like our character, he’s not innocent, you can’t be at that level and be that way, but at the end we wanted the character to go through an earthquake kind of change and make those huge decisions. So when I read the play I thought “here’s a great world to set our idea in.” And so that’s what we did. To me it’s more about betrayal. Stephen is betrayed, he certainly does betray, and pretty much everyone in the story is compromised.

You mentioned The Godfather, The War Room’s come up, The Lee Atwater documentary, what were your reference points?

All the President’s Men. The thing about that film is that you know what’s going to happen in the end but it’s still a thriller. That’s what we wanted to do. We wanted to keep twisting and turning it, and have people if not on the edge of their sit a little forward.

Giving the shift that happens at the end, where do you see the characters going? How much did you think outside of the 100-115 pages of the script?

I don’t think we do think, I don’t think we ever had a discussion about the next day, but I would imagine all this stuff is forgotten, and it goes away. I mean we do think the right man is elected. We think he’s the right guy, but at what cost, that was the question to us. The price is both of their souls, and that what was interesting to us on a grander scale.

In 1982, you loaned George money, and since then you’ve been friends, but he’s become a superstar. What’s changed?

He never paid me back the money, I always have that over him. The truth is we were friends before we worked together, and we’d be friends after, so friendship overrides everything. It’s a very easy working relationship. We don’t fight much; we have a lot of fun. It hasn’t changed – we just spend more time together.

What is the writing process like between you two?

I’m at the keyboard, George writes on pads, and we just go back and forth. Sometimes we use cards, but not always. With this one we didn’t it was pretty straightforward to us.

As two actors working together are you bouncing off each other as actors when you’re writing?

Not so much in the writing it, once we have a draft we do a read through, and read all the parts, and see if something sounds stupid coming out of our mouths, and then maybe we’ll call people in from the office and read it for them, get a little feedback.

Do you think, as an actor working on a script, “this is some good red meat.”

Yes, you know when a scene feels right.

I was picturing you affecting a Foghorn Leghorn accent while you read the script.

We do, we’ll do all kinds of silly stuff while reading the script. It’s interesting, you really have to get out of an actor’s head when you have to write because actors only care about their part, and it revolves around their part. As a writer you know what the purpose of scene so you have to get out of that space. Because acting is a micro-focus. You’re focused on your arc, but that’s a tiny piece of the puzzle. It took a while to get out of that.

Did you look at Primary Colors, because it’s about a similar terrain?

Not really, I saw it when it came out. Not because I didn’t like the film, but because it’s a different kind of film than that. This film I hope feels slightly thriller-istic, you get taken on this kind of ride, that was more of a comedy.

When did you know Mr. Clooney would be playing Morris? And did that change the role?

We knew it when we were writing it. It didn’t change it, it just – we knew that he would be saying those words, so we mostly wrote them, but he wrote most of those speeches for himself, so the words were something he would say as a candidate.

When did Ryan Gosling come in?

We always were interested in Ryan, we got pretty much everyone we wanted for their parts.

Was there a role that got you interested in Ryan?

I’d been a fan since The Believer. We wanted him to do Leatherheads with us, but he couldn’t because he was doing something, so we’ve always wanted to work with him, but this was the best one.

Ryan mentioned that George playing this character could rub off on his political activism and interests, did George ever think about that?

People are going to think he’s more liberal than he is? He’s not a politician, and he has no aspirations. If you were George would you want to go into politics? He’s got the greatest life in the world.

There’s a certain cynicism to fuel the story, but he’s also out there working for causes and believing in them. How do you get in the headspace for the writing?

I don’t think we’re that sophisticated. We want to tell a specific story, so there’s no dipping your foot halfway, you have to tell it. We’re both cynical and both hopeful – I can’t totally speak for him – we’re all seeing what’s happening right now with politics and big business and sports. Sometimes I’m cynical. But I’m also hopeful – it’s harder to be hopeful, but you can’t avoid hard work, at least that’s what I tell my kids.

Ides of March opens October 7. Check it out.

Interview: Ryan Gosling on Ides of March

Damon Houx — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 20:00:24 +0000

If it feels like Ryan Gosling has descended on Hollywood, it’s because he has – Gosling has had no less than three leading roles in films over the last three months. Each showed different sides of his talent. In Crazy, Stupid Love he proved his comedic and romantic chops, in Drive he exhibited his action coolness, and now in Ides of March he plays lead in an ensemble stacked with some of the greatest actors working today. We talked about working with George Clooney, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti and more in our interview. Check it out…

You recently described your character in Drive as a guy who’d watched one too many action movies. What do you think your character in this film has watched too much of?

Monster movies. This is kind of like, I thought, a monster movie set in the political world about the Two Faced Man. I feel like I’m always trying to make a movie about the Two Faced Man in some way. Then when I saw this poster I thought that I’d finally done it.

It’s hard to define this character because you never know which way he’s going to go. How was that for you as an actor, to have a character like that and have to make choices to make him real?

I thought that his dilemma was a very strong one to play because I think he’s someone who wants to be effective and make change and change people’s lives, had good intentions. But he can only be effective if he gets into the White House and if his candidate is going to lose then he’s not going to be able to make change. So, he’s faced with this moral dilemma of whether he should jump ship or dance with the one that brung him.

How political are you or were you before you did this film? George Clooney is obviously a very politically minded person. Did he influence you in that respect at all?

Well, I was not as informed as I would liked to have been and part of the reason for doing the film is that it would force me to do the research and become informed. I’m Canadian and so American politics aren’t really in my wheelhouse. But at the end of the day it’s not a political film and it doesn’t have any kind of message. It’s meant to be a good time at the movies. It happens to be set in a political forum, but I guess it could be set on Wall Street or in Hollywood.

How similar are the worlds of show business and politics, from your experience?

I don’t know enough about either one to comment, but I do think that there’s a similarity in my character’s job and my own in that it’s very difficult to be honest. You’d like to be, but it’s very hard to tell the truth because everything you say gets taken out of context and chopped up for news in parts. So you have to be very careful.

During your research what took you by surprise?

Well, there’s so much that I don’t know. I feel like one of the things that I watched that I felt was really helpful, in some way, but more than anything is worth mentioning was this film Boogie Man. It’s a documentary about Lee Atwater. I recommend it.

When you looked at Morris (George Clooney’s character) did you associate him to a particular president, a reference point in terms of a presidential candidate that you were thinking of?

There’s not really anyone like George, and so he is in some ways he seems like America’s dream for president, in some way. A dreamboat president. I thought that it was very courageous of him to take that role because he’s shattering that dream and kind of shattering people’s ideas of him. So, I thought that was a pretty interesting choice for him to take considering that he’s so involved in the political world. People often confuse you for your characters and so there could’ve been some risk involved there, but he took it.

How hard is it to keep in shape?

Muscles. We’re talking about muscles? They’re like pets, basically and they’re not worth it. They’re just not worth it. You have to feed them all the time and take care of them and if you don’t they just go away. They run away. I don’t know how to answer the question.

Evan Rachel Wood told us earlier that Clooney sprayed your crotch with water. Was there anything else that he did to you on set?

Well, he doesn’t want me to tell them. He said, “Could you cut it out with telling my practical jokes,” because he thinks that people are going to be looking for them now and he won’t be able to use them.

You’re in virtually every frame of this film and spend a lot of time working with Paul Giamatti and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Can you compare working with the two of them?

They’re two of my heroes, so it was terrifying just on a base level. They have very different styles. I wouldn’t want to comment on them because I don’t want to cheapen it with my opinion of it. They’re incredible to watch and I learned a lot from working with them.

There’s a theory that if you run against someone faster than you then you run faster, working with those guys has to up your game, I’d imagine.

I don’t know about that, but I know that watching Phil work was something that I needed to see. I feel like I didn’t realize that I was getting as lazy as I was getting until I watched Phil work because he puts it all on the line every single take. There’s not a take that he lets slide. I needed to see that.

Is your own perceived laziness then a part of having made several movies and having stardom invading on all the prep that you might’ve done as a hungrier actor?

A lot of people say about Phil that he’s good in everything, in every movie. But I don’t think that people realize how much an actor has to fight to create enough space for themselves in order to do that kind of work. That can be perceived as difficult, but it’s the reason why they’re able to be so effective every time, because they know the conditions that they need to work in order to be at their best. So, I think as an actor there’s a struggle between how much…you heard things about Val Kilmer, for instance, who’s like one of the best actors around, but then I heard that he was difficult. Now, as I work more I realize that “difficult” is just a word that people with money give you, a label that to tell other people with money that you won’t just do what you’re told.

What did you take from working with Clooney and how he dealt with being in front of and behind the camera and how he directs himself?

He’s a mystery to me. He’s so busy all the time. He’s doing so much that it’s hard to understand how he’s doing it, but he’s doing it pretty effortlessly. He’s directing, producing, writing, starring in. He’s got the satellites of Darfur project. He’s got all these practical jokes. I don’t know how he does it. I have no idea.

Did he inspire you to generate your own projects either as a writer or producer?

Yeah, that’s something that I’ve been wanting to do for a while, and part of the reason that I wanted to work with him was just to see exactly how that works up close.

How hands on was he with your performance?

He’s very hands on. This was something that I just kind of allowed myself to be directed in because he knew this movie like it was a song in his head that he was trying to explain to you. This whole world is in his wheelhouse and I just really followed his lead.

Your character’s age isn’t revealed in the film, but is around thirty –

A gym question is coming, isn’t it? So, how at thirty does he keep his abs? That’s what I want to be asked. Call it ‘The Abs of March.’ (laughs)

Out of all the great actors in this film, which one made you the most nervous to work with?

Phil.

Why him?

Have you met Phil Hoffman?

SPOILER TERRITORY

I saw this character with the storyline losing his innocence, his virginity, if you will –

All right, interesting (laughs).

But there are others that argue that these might have been his true colors the whole time. Do you think it was one way or the other way?

I think you can take whatever you want from it. I have my feelings, I think that he made a decision to sever his mind from his heart. I don’t know if that’s something that you can ever reconnect, and whether it was already severed or not, I guess that’s up to the audience.

What is it that’s the most disappointing about the experience of the campaign? On one hand they take the secretary because they want his delegates, but your character seems to be more disappointed about Morris sleeping with the intern.

Well, I think it’s that he has a crush on her. So, it’s personal and not necessarily political. I mean, I think it’s both, but I do think that you can’t eliminate the personal reaction to that.

It’s like finding out your dad slept with your girlfriend –

Ouch. Why even say that? It just makes me mad thinking about that.

Ides of March opens October 7. Check it out.

Interview: Evan Rachel Wood on Ides of March

Damon Houx — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 20:55:03 +0000

Evan Rachel Wood started playing a rebellious young girl in Thirteen, and that role has lingered over her for much of her career. Wood talks about having some “crazy” years, but now she’s in George Clooney’s Ides of March, and she feels like she’s on track again. We talked about her work in the movie, Clooney and Ryan Gosling, her work on True Blood and Justin Bieber. Check it out…

How much back story did you create for this character? You’re obviously the daughter of the Chair of the DNC. Was she sleeping around before with people of power? Do you think that was her thing?

I think, you know, her father’s a politician. I’m sure she’s been raised in this world with a very male dominated arena so I think she’s not phased by it. She’s not intimidated at all. I think that’s what’s cool is she’s throwing all these guys off their game. I’m sure this isn’t anything new. But I don’t think she’s in it to gain anything. I think she’s really just having fun. She’s pretty innocent about it and she’s very honest about it.

Maybe getting back at Daddy a little bit?

I’m sure. She’s got a lot. She was raised Catholic with a political father. I’m sure she’s got a lot of stuff to work out.

Can you talk a little bit about working with George Clooney, director?

He’s wonderful. We had some rehearsal time blocked out beforehand. We used that to – it was mainly him, Ryan and I – just getting to know each other and hanging out more than going over the script. We were very comfortable. And then, on the day, George really let us play and improvise and it made it easier that he’s an actor, I think, because he knows what to say to get what he wants out of you. He just took care of his cast and crew.

Is it easier working with a director who’s done some acting than someone who hasn’t?

It is because sometimes it’s hard to communicate the same way and to speak the same language, so you have to run around trying to figure out what the other person is trying to say. It’s hard with artists. They have such crazy minds and a very certain way of seeing things and then communicating it is something totally different. So it really helps.

You described your character as a little naïve at times. Do you feel like there’s any active manipulation on her part? Do you ever feel like she’s being an idealist or an opportunist?

I don’t think so. I think she’s savvy to the way that world works. I think that’s why, if she was an opportunist, then she would have used her situation to her advantage completely. But, she’s terrified because she knows what that means for everyone involved and I think she really didn’t mean to or expect to be put there. She was naïve because she was just having fun. She was living in the moment and now she’s screwed and she’s scared to death, literally scared to death. It’s sad.

What was it about this character that initially drew you into the project?

Everything. I loved her. I loved her confidence. I loved how subtle she was, how direct she was and I kind of based her on George in a weird way.

How so?

He was explaining the character to me and just his kind of vibe. In a lot of roles that he’s played, he’s always been very subtle and very cool and collected and he doesn’t need a big show to get across his point. He just is so I just based her off of him.

Do you pay a lot of attention to politics or did you do some research on the political system?

George gave us some great documentaries to watch about the behind the scenes and the campaign trails and the press.

The War Room?

Yeah, I’d never seem that side of it. For the most part, I try to stay informed and involved about politics but it’s really hard. I get frustrated and emotionally worked up so I have to disengage. It’s a weird world.

Can you talk a bit more about working with Ryan Gosling because you spend most of your screen time alongside him?

You can’t ask for a better leading man right now. He’s extremely talented but he’s also a cool, interesting guy and he’s fun to hang out with. It makes your job easier when you’re doing those scenes and when you have to play opposite somebody like that. There’s just a comfortability there that really helps. I think we both knew that we could go toe to toe with each other and try to intimidate one another and see who was going to crack first.

Were you guys trying to make each other laugh on set?

All the time. I think that’s how that whole tie thing came about. It was improvised. I was just trying to screw with Ryan and make his tie look as bad as possible.

With this film you have a powerhouse cast but it seems like you almost entirely worked with Ryan.

I know. I just now got to know Paul (Giamatti) and Phillip (Seymour Hoffman).

It’s a shame you weren’t around for them.

It could be worse. It was not a bad day at work.

So they shot you for two weeks and then…?

It was a couple of months actually. It was pretty spread out. When we filmed in Cincinnati and Detroit in winter, we still had a great time so that’s saying a lot.

Was it a challenge to play a character with smaller parts spread out that way?

No, it was great actually. It was nice to not have the movie rest on me. Poor Ryan, he was in every single scene.

Did you give him hell for that?

Of course, I’m always giving Ryan hell.

George Clooney is known as a prankster on set, did he pull anything on you?

I don’t know. I feel like he’s always pulling something. That’s the thing. I think one of the greatest pranks of all time is just establishing that you’re a prankster so every day on set you’re looking over your shoulder. Everyone was on their toes just waiting for something to happen. I think the only thing he did to me was catch me and Max (Minghella) dancing and singing and he rolled the camera, but that was about it. I think Ryan was the one that got water squirt bottles in his crotch and things like that but I was spared.

What were you guys dancing to?

Justin Bieber…which is why he knew it would be embarrassing.

Yes, that is embarrassing.

But I am a firm Belieber and I’ve embraced it. I used to be a closeted one who was really embarrassed about it but there’s nothing I can do so it’s best to be honest.

Have you met him?

I haven’t. Before I was a fan, I was in the same room. Now I’m like “Gahhhhh!” No, I haven’t met him.

Do you admire him from afar?

At this point, with everything that’s been in the press, now I’m sure he’s like “I don’t want to meet that person. She’s nuts. She’s going to attack me.” But it’s not a crush. That’s the weird thing. I don’t have a crush on the guy, and that’s the thing. God, I hope he knows that. I was a kid performer. Anytime someone that young is born with that incredible of a talent and has gone as far so quickly, I mean, that’s amazing. I can’t imagine what that does to a person so the journey ahead for him must be crazy.

When you were a child actor was there a point where you thought “Maybe I’ll stop”?

I’ve had those moments. Because when you’ve been doing something your whole life, you really want to make sure that it’s what you want to do and not just what you’re used to or good at. I think the only other thing that I would do is be a psychologist because that’s what I do in a weird way. I analyze people and characters and motives and I’m picking apart human beings constantly. It’s just something I’m passionate about. But, I took a step back and looked and now I really know that this is what I am extremely passionate about and what I want to do. It’s just an amazing platform to reach people and I think that’s one of the most rewarding parts about it.

You were talking about analyzing people and picking out a part, are you writing anything?

I write a lot. I’ve always written actually. I feel like one day I need to write an autobiography though because – Jesus – it’s been so crazy. I’d love to do that one of these days. Julie Taymor wants me to make a movie about the years between 18 and 24. She said “This whole time you just need to put on film immediately.” I don’t know. I would love to keep writing though and maybe direct one of these days. That’s what everyone keeps telling me I need to be doing but I don’t know if I’m there yet.

You talk about the craziness of those particular years. Did they feel crazy when they were happening?

I think the point of having those years was to be as crazy as possible because I didn’t really have a childhood or an adolescence. I didn’t have that time so it was like “alright, I’ve got to do this. I’ve got to get to know myself and know what’s out there and have my fun so that I can really focus and commit to this life and this career and get serious.” But I knew before I was going to do that that I was going to be very unserious.

Are the scales balanced now or should we expect more? I mean, between 18 and 24, you’ve probably got a few more years left.

I think things have definitely calmed down a lot for the better but I’m really glad I had that time because it just teaches you so much about yourself. I feel like you can’t be an actor without life experience and without things to draw from. It was all an amazing learning experience. I gained many tools.

Can you talk about what you learned from the True Blood experience, the fans, and working on the TV show for such a long time?

What did I learn? It was cool because I was such a huge fan of the show that getting a chance to be on it and in that world and be a part of it was pretty amazing. I was so nervous though. The first episode that I did was terrifying because I had seen every episode and all of a sudden I was there and the characters were there and I was just like “Oh!” And Stephen Moyer comes over to me and he’s teaching me how to pop the fangs out and I’m like “This is happening!” I think Alan Ball is amazing and I thought the character was hilarious and over the top, so I miss it.

Do you still watch every episode?

I haven’t seen the new season yet – I haven’t had time. I didn’t want to get into it and then miss it so don’t tell me anything because I’m behind. But yeah, I’m still definitely into the show. People have already done it and I’m like “Gah! Why?!”

Was there something about just that show or was it that genre? Do you read or watch other things in that sort of territory?

I’ve always wanted to play a vampire. I don’t know an actor that doesn’t want to do that. I do like that genre, but it’s hard to find ones that I really like. I loved the first season and I loved the chemistry between Stephen and Anna (Paquin) which makes perfect sense now. It was dark but it was really funny which is what Alan Ball is so great at.

What’s next for you on the horizon that we should be watching out for?

There’s things in the works but I don’t think I can talk about any of them yet. I just have to wait and see. I really want to do a comedy next. That’s just a side of me that no one’s really got a chance to see.

Do you mean dark comedy?

Light, like a stoner comedy.

Is this your call out to everyone right now? “Hey, I want to do a stoner comedy.”

That’s exactly what I’m doing. Absolutely.

SPOILER TERRITORY

Your character makes this very dramatic choice. Did you guys talk about layering in moments that would lead us to believe that you would head in that direction at a certain point?

What do you mean?

You kill yourself, right? And so….?

I think it’s open to interpretation actually. I think it could have been an accident. It could have not been. It’s like you make that decision, I think. George and I talked about it. We didn’t really think…I mean, we wanted it to be an accident, but you don’t know.

So then it wasn’t necessarily a choice that you had killed yourself?

Yeah.

Ides of March Opens October 7. Check it out.

Gossip: George Clooney And Stacy Keibler?

Travis Woods — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 18:40:45 +0000

Today, I’d like to start a new campaign called, “Let Me Tell You Why I Hate George Clooney With the Burning Fire of a Thousand Yellow Suns.” OK, cool? Cool. So gang, let me tell you why I hate George Clooney with the burning fire of a thousand yellow suns:

According to those dogged journalists over there at People (a.k.a., the thinking person’s US Weekly), George Clooney may or may not be dating, flirting, or just publicly sharing the same air as Stacy Keibler, the gorgeous Dancing with the Stars dancer.

“It’s so funny,” she told PEOPLE at the time. “George Clooney came up to me, and he was like, ‘You’re so great. You should win.’ And I said, ‘You watch Dancing with the Stars?’ ”

Now, five years later, the leggy blonde, who is also a former WWE star, is the subject of romance rumors swirling around the recently single, seasoned bachelor.

Clooney, 50, who announced his split from Italian TV host Elisabetta Canalis in June, has been clocking in time with Keibler, 31, a source tells PEOPLE.

Tabloids first buzzed about a possible new lady love in the Oscar winner’s life when reports surfaced that the two enjoyed each other’s company at Clooney’s Lake Como villa in early July.

“I’m in heaven,” Keibler Tweeted July 8. The gushing continued: “I am the luckiest girl in the world,” she added the next day.

Isn’t that just soooo cute, gang? Doesn’t it just make you believe in true love? Well, if it does, I’m afraid I’ll have to de-invite you the Let Me Tell You Why I Hate George Clooney With the Burning Fire of a Thousand Yellow Suns club meeting this afternoon, which is going to be held in the treehouse in my parents’ backyard. We’re gonna have lemonade and snack cakes and everything, but now you can’t come and you have to stay outside with George Clooney and his superhot new girlfriend and all that stupid, stupid charisma and charm and good looks of his, ok?

What do you think of Clooney and Keibler? Or Cleibler? Or Keiblooney? That’s it, I’m calling them Keiblooney.

Photos: George Clooney, Ryan Gosling on Ides of March Set

Krystal Clark — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 23:03:32 +0000

Production has finally begun on George Clooney’s upcoming film The Ides of March. Clooney both stars and directs the feature that centers on the hardcore world of politics. Besides himself, the cast also includes Ryan Gosling, who appears in several of the set photos we found on KYpost. Check them out…

The scenes were shot at the Stockyard Bank and Trust in downtown Cincinnati. As you can see Clooney was busy directing the majority of the time with Gosling taking said direction. The Ides of March is based on the play Farragut North, which is set in Des Moines, Iowa, just weeks before the state’s Democratic caucuses officially commence; it follows the exploits of a twenty something presidential campaign spinmeister/wunderkind named Stephen Myers, and the dirty pool he plays to get his candidate the nomination against a rival senator.

As you may have noticed, Gosling stars as the “spinmeister” in question. The role was previously played Chris Pine in the 2009 stage production. Pine was also courted to reprise the part but couldn’t because of scheduling. Other stars of the film include Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood.

What do you think of the first photos from The Ides of March?

Ben Affleck to Direct George Clooney’s Argo

Krystal Clark — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 23:50:46 +0000

Ben Affleck is two for two when it comes to directing high quality dramas, and it looks like he might have found project number three. According to EW, Affleck is in talks to direct Argo, a political thriller that’s set up a Warner Bros through George Clooney and his producing partner Grant Heslov. Affleck loves good material, and this film is right up his ally.

Argo is based on an article that appeared in Wired magazine about “a stranger-than-fiction CIA rescue operation during the occupation of the American embassy in Tehran in 1979, when six U.S. diplomats were held hostage. The CIA hatched a scheme involving disguises and a fake Hollywood film crew on a location-scouting mission to help get the captives out of the country.”

If everything goes according to plan, and Affleck does take on Argo, it will mark the first time that the director has ever worked with Clooney. His brother Casey and close friend Matt Damon have both worked with the actor in the past in the Oceans‘ film series.

What do you think of Affleck and Clooney teaming up? Do you think Argo is a good fit for the director?

George Clooney Joins The Monster of Florence

Krystal Clark — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:52:15 +0000

Fox 2000 has closed a deal with Oscar winner George Clooney. According to Deadline, the actor will appear in the feature adaptation of the best selling crime book The Monster of Florence. The screenplay will be penned by Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander. The book was written by Douglas Preston, who also serves as the protagonist in the story.

In the film Clooney will star as Preston, a thriller writer who meets Mario Spezi, an Italian crime reporter after moving to Italy. Together they set out to solve a 30-year old serial murder case. In 1974 the first of many brutal murders occurred that would last until 1985. All the victims were couples who were sitting in their cars outside of Florence.

“The trail was cold when Preston moved into a nearby farmhouse and began asking questions. By that time, suspects had been let go, and authorities didn’t welcome the curiosity of the writer. They threw Spezi in jail and interrogated Preston. Finally, the sleuths began putting the pieces into place and solved the murder.”

Have we learned nothing from Clooney’s dramatic roles? If there’s a crime that needs to be solved or an injustice that needs to be corrected, he’s on the case!

What do you think of Clooney starring in The Monster of Florence?

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