Various Magazine Pictures (thank you Claire, Barb, Catherine, Kate, Patricia, Joanne, Nathalie and Mandy!)

People, May 8. 2000

The 50 most beautiful people in the world 2000

HIS PROGNOSIS IS EXCELLENT AT 39, ER'S FORMER REBEL pediatrician has the kind of nonchalant machismo that transports mature women back to the giggly thrill of prom night. When he takes to the high seas in June as an imperiled fishing-boat captain in The Perfect Storm, "they'll say, 'Geez, he looks awful. He's old and gray and bearded,"' offers Clooney with a laugh. Hardly, counters Storm director Wolfgang Petersen. "He looks terrific but more edgy, weather- beaten. George definitely wanted to get away from his clean-cut, perfect-guy image." But face it, how far can he go? Even deglamorized for last month's live TV production of Fail Safe (which he also produced) and in last year's Gulf War drama Three Kings, he's "a bona fide dreamboat," says Nora Dunn, who appeared with Clooney in Kings. His former ER girlfriend Julianna Margulies extols his eye lashes -- so long "they're like fans" -- and his "big, pretty brown eyes that stun people when they meet him." The 5'1 1 " Clooney tries his best to keep what he calls his "advancing hairline" from blocking the view. "I always make fun of my hair because I have so much of it," he says. "I'm going to wake up one day and literally my face will be completely engulfed in hair." But he's not complaining. "As long as it sticks around, I'll be happy. Bring on the gray, I can take it," he says. And so can those watching. ER story editor Linda Gase finds Clooney's salt-and-pepper spice to be quite nice. "it suits his rugged features and solid jaw," she says, "and it gives the sense that this is a man with life experience." Clooney, who has had no steady girlfriend since ending his three-year relationship with French model Celine Balitran, 25, last summer, has been working nonstop (O Brother, Where Art Thou? is due in the fall) and cutting up at the same pace. "He's damned funny," says Margulies. "A handsome man with a sense of humor. It doesn't get better than that!" 

TV Guide Tele Loisirs (French)

Soap Opera Update, April 11

Now (UK) - March, 2000

ER is much better without me
by Anwar Brett

The success of his latest film Three Kings, after several box-office damp squids, has vindicated George Clooney's decision to leave ER. And  anyway, he thinks his departure wasn't only good for him, it was good for the show.

George Clooney might no longer be ER's resident heart-throb Dr Doug  Ross, but he still loves watching the show. What's more, he approves of new hunk Goran Visnjic, who's been drafted in to replace him.  'I've met Goran a couple of times,' George says, 'and he seems a really nice guy. Since I'm not on the show any more, it doesn't worry me if viewers now like him more than they used to like me. 'I'm not competitive about it. I've never felt as if I was in competition with any of the people on the programme. They're all my friends. 'Measuring yourself against other people on screen is always a dumb thing to do anyway, because you come off looking like a jerk. 'And there's no real reason for it. Either people like what you do or they don't. 'I think it's great that they've brought in a whole new influx of people on ER, and I think the show's much better than it was at the end of the last season I was on. 'At the end of my period there, I thought they were running out of storylines. 'I was lucky that I got out when I did for my own career. And I think it's good that ER has grown from there, too. I watched an episode the other day with Alan Alda and it's still a really smart, great show.'

For George, during the end of his stint on the programme, there was the added pressure of trying to build a film career while keeping up his TV commitments. His current movie, Three Kings, was made while he was finishing off playing Dr Ross. Its success, combined with the box-office and critical acclaim for the thriller Out Of Sight, has allowed him, at last, to feel confident enough to make the move away from the show to concentrate on film work. 'It was tough filming ER as well as Three Kings,' he says, 'because we were doing them in different parts of the country. 'I'd take a jet about four times a week to fly in and out. It was hard on everyone, but I'd done that on about five or six films and I was used to working seven days a week.  'You just pace yourself and understand that, if you want to work on other projects while you're still in a TV show, that's the price you have to pay. 'But it's tough on the other cast members too because you're not there for everything that's going on and they have to shoot around you. It makes it difficult for everybody, so now it's nice to be able to focus on one  job at a time.' George's Gulf War movie Three Kings is far removed from ER and has shocked some of his long-term fans with the graphic nature of some of  its violent scenes.  'The aim was to re-sensitise people to violence on screen. There are some things in the film - like a scene where a woman is killed in front of her daughter - which seem so callous on screen, and they're meant to.  'But when you film it, there's just a lady with a special effect to simulate a gunshot wound on the side of her head and a little girl who's running and laughing until they yell "Action!"  'Then she gets shot, and the little girl cries, and after they say "Cut", she's laughing again.  'You lose track of how dark the film is when you're making it. Then you watch the finished movie and say: "Oh, Jesus!" But that was the idea and we're proud of it.'

George is happy to be able to make movies he can take pride in at last. He recognises that he's made mistakes in his past film career.  In particular, he knows that agreeing to star in Batman And Robin did him no favours.  'I've done a bit of everything in my movies,' he says. And I've done some things badly once - I know I did a pretty bad job of a certain rubber suit film, but that's part of my learning process, too. I learned that I don't have to do those films any more.  'Now I get to work on something like Three Kings or with Jennifer Lopez on Out Of Sight and I couldn't be happier.'

The Sun (UK) - 3/21/00

Clooning around

Hunk George Clooney makes sure blondes have more fun - by cracking a 
string of jokes that gave this mystery stunner a fit of giggles. Clooney, 39, voted the world's most handsome fella, raised a laugh after taking the girl out for breakfast in Los Angeles. That's a date guaranteed to make her toast of the city.

Hollywood's Hottest Lovers - 2/29/00

Heat (UK)

"Genres - comedy, action hero"
Attributes - gorgeous, male role model, bums on seat factor.
Age - 38
In a nutshell: Bounced straight from ER into leading man movie roles, showing NYPD Blue's David Caruso and the X Files David Duchovny exactly how it should be done. The jury was out on romantic comedy One Fine Day, superhero candyfloss Batman and Robin and brainless actioner Peacemaker, but Out of Sight silenced any doubters.
Why He's A Heavy Hitter: Sexy charm and manly charisma make him New Hollywood's most versatile actor, romancer of lay-deez and leader of men in films like Out Of Sight and new Gulf War flick Three Kings. His plausibility in action roles will keep the big cheques coming - next up, fighting the wind and waves in The Perfect Storm - but his rugged good looks don't hurt either. Keeps one eye on credibility, hooking up with cool directors Steven Soderbergh (OOS and the upcoming Rat Pack remake movie Ocean's 11), David O Russell (3 Ks) and the Coen brothers (the upcoming OBWAT).
Last Pay Packet: $5 million for OOS
Next Pay Packet: $10 million for The Perfect Storm.
FYI: Clooney has a pet pig called Max."

Telejours (French); 3/00

Sunday; 2/27,00 (UK)

George Clooney is well known as one of Hollywood's biggest pranksters, playing practical jokes on every movie set. So it's no surprise when he says: "I'd go back to ER if there was something fun to do."

Women on both sides of the Atlantic were left Clooney-less after pediatrician Doug Ross quit. Now Julianna Margulies, who plays his dumped lover, Nurse Carol Hathaway, is also set to leave the hit show.

George says: "I'm a close friend of Julianna and I told her I wouldn't mind coming back for her final episode. Maybe I'd just ride in on a white horse and sweep her off her feet when she's stark naked! Or something like that. That would be fun. But nothing has been decided yet."

He says producers suggested coming back for one episode when Nurse Hathaway gives birth to twins. But he says: "I thought if I go back for her birth and then I leave again, I'm a bigger schmuck than I was for having not been there while she was pregnant. You have to be careful what you do when you go back. I can't just show up. Then you're doing damage to both characters." He adds straight-faced: "I'd return to ER for $2 million an episode." Then he says: "They're all nice friends of mine on that show, and I definitely don't want to detract from what it is they do."

He still sees his old pals, including Noah Wyle who plays John Carter, and he watches the show on the rare occasions when he's home. "Mostly I don't have the time," he says. "But my office is close to where they are and I still shoot baskets with the guys. But I don't have any regrets about leaving. After five years on the show, I was kind of running out of stuff and I'm limited as an actor anyway. So it's probably best that I got out when I did before I started doing head stands and other silly stuff."

Millions of women would disagree but he insists he is barely missed.  "My leaving was no big blow," he claims modestly. "But Julianna leaving is huge. She's the head nurse and the soul of the show. She's been at the heart of the series since the very first show - the pilot when she originally died. That was the reason they brought her back to life.  She's so important."

Still, it's difficult to see how George could find the time in his busy career to squeeze in even a tiny guest spot on ER. George will next hit UK movie screens in a Gulf War black comedy, Three Kings, with Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube.

He is returning to the small screen in an unusual fashion, when he stars in a remake of the classic Sixties' thriller Fail Safe. In the film, set in the middle of the Cold War, he plays a pilot who is mistakenly sent out to drop a nuclear bomb on Moscow.

He's also set to star in the Coen Brothers' latest feature, O Brother Where An Thou, based on Homer's epic poem, Odyssey. "Three of us are chain ganged to each other during the Depression and we escape and go on the run.  It's very funny," he says.

Then there's The Perfect Storm, about six fisherman who go out looking for swordfish but find themselves caught in the worst storm in history.

If all that isn't grueling enough, he's also set to star in a remake of Ocean's 11, originally starring Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack about a plan to rob a Las Vegas casino.

But despite his busy movie star status, Clooney admits he believes the ER experience was vital to his career. He says: "It was the best time of my life and the best thing in the world for my career. I'm proud to have been a part of the whole thing."

Echo (UK)

TV Guide Covers (German)

OK (UK magazine) 

French Canadian magazine

These last months, I spent most clearly my time on plane or hotels . My relation with Céline could not continue like that. In any event, you know, for a long time that my professional life passes before my personal life

I'm not made to live in couple. Besides many of my friends says to me that, if I continue like that, I will certainly finish along.

However, everyone is unanimous to saying that you are the favorite of these ladies...

I do not regard myself at all as a sex-symbol. When I was a teenager, no girl wanted me. It took me many years before managing to conquer the heart of a young lady!

Absolutely! There is no doubt; I will never have children. Unfortunately, nobody believe me. If I continue to make bets of this kind, I will be able to soon stop working, because I will be rich.

I would never have been the success from which I profit today if I had not interpreted Dr. Ross during several years. The ER producers know that I wish to make appearances in the show as a special guest. But, at this time, nothing was signed.

Dutch TV-Guide (Mikro Gids), January 8-14 2000

George Clooney
"ER became like a soap"

George Clooney, who according to People Magazine is one of the most sexiest men on earth, still plays one of the head characters in the top-rated American medical drama ER, till February 4th. Reason for 'Mikro Gids' to talk with him about ER, practical jokes and Clooney-mania.

MG: You enjoy practical jokes. Could you beat up against Mel Gibson at that point?
GC: Mel is very good at it. I've been in an airplane with him once, where we looked at each others notes. He has given me some ideas, which I'm certainly going to use. I gave him some of mine too, which he really liked. He thinks that he does it very professional himself. I've done some jokes which lasted for years, 'cause I can be very patient.

MG: Well, tell us...
GC: OK, I've done some jokes that lasted for a couple of years. When you shoot a movie, it's harder because you're only with each other for about 4 months, but with friends I've done a couple too. Once I found a painting.  Someone cleaned up his garage and threw that thing away. It was really ugly.  I drove by every night and saw that thing. It was an awful, disgusting, ugly portrait of a woman, very bad painted. And I saw that ugly thing, lying in the rain. Eventually, I stopped and took it with me. At home I placed my name underneath it, I put it in a frame and packed it in some nice wrapping-paper. Later, Richard Kind, one of my best friends, asked me to play golf. No, I said, I can't, I have to go to my art class. And I kept saying that for a year. On the way to the country club we stopped by a store with art material and then I'd say: those are number 2 pencils, they have a very soft stroke. "I think it's very good that you're doing this", he said.  A few days later, I went into a gallery and bought a decent painting of a good artist, where I put my name under instead of the artist's. I showed it to Richard en he said: "Wow, that's beautiful!" On his birthday I said:  "I've made a painting where I'm very proud of and I want to give it to you."  He takes of the wrapping-paper and there's that awful portrait of the woman and his face turns pale. He looks at it and I say that it looks perfect above his bench. I'm his best buddy, so he places it above his bench and everyone knows about the joke, except Richard. So everyone who comes to visit him talks about the painting and he'd be like: "Oh, do you really think so?" And he hates the painting, but I'm his best buddy so he leaves it there. This joke last for like 2 years.

MG: I assume you're sick of talking about your departure from ER; Why you stopped with it and that everyone reads these hints about your return now.
GC: Well, they do make a fool of me now that I'm gone. Like: She's pregnant and now that bastard won't come back again. I had a five year contract and I kept myself to that. After the first year I started playing is some movies, but I did what they expected from me. But I never talked about leaving or more money. I was the worst paid actor in the show, where I'm even a bit proud of. And while the show goes on, there isn't that much new to tell.  If you look at the 5th season, you see that the story got stuck.  In the 6th season there is a whole new plan, 7 new characters and they're going back to the basics, with 50 patients. We did 50 patients an episode, there was some speed in it, the story wasn't perfectly arranged. Later on, it became more and more like a soap. It became difficult to come up with new things and you did stuff because you needed to do something. I did what I promised to when I didn't have success with other things. I stayed and left after my contract expired. I am willing to come back if they have some ideas for a return, but I haven't talked about that with anyone. I have talked with the producer of ER, John Wells, about the departure of Julianna (Margulies) at the end of the season. We talked about the possibility of my character picking up hers in one of the last episodes. I said I'd like to do that, but that's the only thing we talked about.

MG: It seems that you don't need to worry that your fans only see you as your Dr. Ross character.
GC: Yeah, that funny. I think that's because I played some other characters in the meanwhile, so I didn't really became a certain figure. I think that I was lucky too, because I never stayed at one thing because I didn't have that much success with most of the things I did before. Then you aren't put in a certain place. I can try everything what I want and then I'll if it works out or not.

MG: Do you understand anything about the Clooney-mania?
GC: In my family, no. You don't understand anything about that because you work in a studio the whole day. It sounds weird, but it's true. For one hour episodes, you work in a studio for days, so you don't really get involved with it. And in LA, everybody's famous. In the supermarket you meet Clint Eastwood and you just say "Hi". Most people don't find it special anymore, so the mania is less in LA. The first time I went in public somewhere else than LA, I was amazed with the attention. That was very strange.

MG: What is your next project?
GC: That depends on when my last ones will be brought out. I just finished two movies: One with the Coen Brothers, they're pure geniuses, 'Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?' and the other one is called 'Perfect Storm'. I think they're both great movies. I'll see what the future brings...

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