While he may still be one of America’s most recognizable actors, there has been a marked decrease in the number of times George Clooney’s appeared on screen recently. Between 2007 and 2009 alone, he appeared in Michael Clayton, Ocean’s Thirteen, Leatherheads, Burn After Reading, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Men Who Stare at Goats, and Up in the Air, as well as being involved in the documentaries Darfur Now and Sand and Sorrow. By contrast, at this point, he hasn't been seen on screen since 2016’s Money Monster. His next scheduled film release, The Midnight Sky, which he has directed and stars in, is due out at the end of 2020. But the reason Clooney's been M.I.A. isn’t a scarcity of offers or a falling out of fashion—it's a choice. Read on to see what George Clooney told GQ about how he feels about acting, and for more on stars leaving the spotlight, check out Cameron Diaz Reveals Whether or Not She'll Act Again.
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He doesn't feel like he has anything left to prove.
DFree/Shutterstock“I feel like over the last, you know, 10 or 15 years or so, I got to the point where I was like, ‘I can't sit around and try to prove to people what I can do as an actor,’” he told GQ'sZach Baron. “I'm much more comfortable in my own skin. When you struggled for 12 or so years as an actor, when you get in, all you want to do is prove you can act and all the stuff you can do and show off all your tricks. And then as you ease into it, you kind of go, ‘Well, I don't feel like I have to prove anything anymore.’” And for more stars who've left Hollywood behind, check out 15 Stars Who Quit Acting After Hitting It Big.
Clooney thinks solely acting is "boring."
ShutterstockClooney also said "it’s boring to just be an actor,” and explained how finding films that are truly great is a struggle. “It's hard to find 10 films that you go, ‘Wow, I get it, man. This is great.’ There are moments in films, lots of 'em, but a full film that you just go, ‘Wow, this is great’? It's not like there are that many out there. It's not like Michael Clayton comes around every day or O Brother, Where Art Thou? Out of Sight. You know, Up in the Air or The Descendants. There aren't that many. That's one every couple of years.” And for the cream of the crop, check out The Single Best Movie of the 21st Century, According to Critics.
He wants to spend time with his wife and kids.
magicinfoto/ShutterstockAccording to Baron, Clooney "would generally rather spend time with [his wife] than do anything else." The actor and his high-powered human rights attorney wife, Amal Clooney, wed in 2014 and they now have three-year-old twins together.
“I was like, ‘I'm never getting married. I'm not gonna have kids,’” Clooney told GQ of life before Amal. “'I'm gonna work, I've got great friends, my life is full, I'm doing well.' And I didn't know how un-full it was until I met Amal. And then everything changed. And I was like, ‘Oh, actually, this has been a huge empty space.’”
He added: “I'd never been in the position where someone else's life was infinitely more important to me than my own. You know? And then tack on two more individuals, who are small and have to be fed.” And for more famous parents and their adorable kids, check out Matthew McConaughey's Son Looks Just Like Him in Rare Instagram Photo.
Clooney wants to be in control of his own career as a director.
ShutterstockIn the interview, Clooney described feeling like he was "getting to the point of saturation, of like, ‘Well, I've played it like this, I've played it like that, I've done this, I've done that, I've tried this, I've tried that.’"
He added, "As time goes on, you're starting to look around, going, ‘Well, how else am I gonna be involved in this business that I really love?’ I love this business. And I also don't want to be 60 and worry about what some casting director or some young producer or studio executive thinks about me anymore. I wanted to be involved."
And that's why he's shifted his attention to directing. “Directing is the painter,” Clooney concluded. “Acting, writing, you know, those are the paints.” And for more stars who've stepped behind the camera, check out 17 Movies You Didn't Know Were Directed By A-List Actors.
