This story is from April 12, 2008

Clooney’s Hollywood

TNN / Apr 12, 2008, 00:00 IST

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Academy Award winner George Clooney is a certified heart-throb. He speaks about his latest movie Michael Clayton and the heavy price tag that comes with fame.

doweshowbellyad=0; George Clooney (AP Photo) More picsThe very joy of being alive is reflected in George Clooney��s mesmerising eyes as he talks about his latest film Michael Clayton.
A film that deals with the ethics and morality of the legal system, George plays the title character, a former litigator and current ��Fixer�� for a law firm cleaning up legal messes for VIPs and corporations.Of late, films of social relevance have become a passion of Clooney��s.
Could you talk about the positive and negative impacts of being a well known actor who is involved in political and humanitarian causes?
Society goes through periods that propagates commentary on the state of the world. In the 60s, actors were fairly vocal about what was happening. And then there was a great backlash. The problem is that if we have to be vocal now, we have to be better at it than those who want to criticise us. You have to know more about the Darfur region than the right wing commentator who wants to bring on a fight. You have to plan your actions and be very careful and very well-informed if you��re going to protect yourself. You have to be careful because your detractors will try every possible trick in the book to destroy your credibility and pull you down.

You are forty-six years old and seem to have it all �� fame, women and power. But are you satisfied with your life?
I��m very happy with my life �� I have great friends and a great family. If I look at my life I see that any sort of plans I have had have always ended up backfiring. So, I don��t make any elaborate plans anymore. I go with the flow; just trying to go through life figuring what will probably be the best for myself or my friends. I��m pretty Zen about it.

Wouldn��t your mother like to see you get married and have children?
No, she doesn��t. She doesn��t want to be called a grandmother, and she��s too young looking!
Do you have moments when you feel that you haven��t accomplished all that you wanted to?
I really haven��t done anything yet. I��m interested in a lot of other things and I feel as if this is just the beginning. There is a lot that I want to accomplish. For instance, I really enjoy directing and I��ve been writing as well. I��ve had an exceptionally good time and my creative endeavours have been fairly well received. I like it and it��s more creative than acting. There��s a lot of things you want to get involved in as you grow older, you try to move more and more towards figuring out how you look out for other people who can��t look out for themselves. There��s tons of stuff I got to do and I haven��t even begun to scratch the surface.
What would you say is your ultimate purpose in life?
I don��t know. I suppose one��s ultimate purpose is to try and actually do some stuff before one is dead. I think unfortunately, the whole world isn��t as well off as it was when we got here, so it��s a long stretch. I don��t think I��ll have much success at it, but you know, you just want to participate in the human condition in whatever way. I certainly don��t think that making films is trivial. I��ve made some trivial films and some not so trivial ones as well. And talking about children, I don��t have kids but I have films!
And the truth is that children are sort of an extension of your immortality. In a way, they��re your way of living longer or carrying whatever it is that you teach them or whatever part of your life that can last a little bit longer than you. So my ultimate goal is to try and do projects that I am proud of and to leave a decent legacy behind. My dad always said, ��You look out for people who can��t look out for themselves and that��s how you should be judged.��I think that is a fair assessment. n

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