Everyone makes moral choices that better themselves and hurt someone else along the way – and whether or not the means justify the ends. And that, to me, is universal.
You have to remember that in the microcosm of Cincinnati, Ohio, through northern Kentucky, my father was a big star, still is. So that made my sister and me really visible. Everybody knew us, talked about us.
The last real movie stars were probably Redford and Newman. And things were different then. There wasn’t this amazing amount of magazines and information about them.
In the time that we’re here today, more women and children will die violently in the Darfur region than in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Israel or Lebanon. So, after September 30, you won’t need the UN – you will simply need men with shovels and bleached white linen and headstones.
I’ve been working with Pat Robertson on Africa debt-relief, and we disagree on virtually everything except certain very specific, inalienable rights, and the truth is that morality and patriotism come in all shapes and sizes.
In the ’60s, when I was growing up, one of the great elements of American culture was the protest song. There were songs about the civil rights movement, the women’s rights movement, the antiwar movement. It wasn’t just Bob Dylan, it was everybody at the time.
It’s not that I lead this oblivious life where I think I’ve got such a great personality that people want to spend time with me. If someone has a poster of you or asks for your autograph, clearly you can’t take them out on a date. It’s not that interesting if someone is just interested in you.
The idea that every time you do a film you’re supposed to be tortured confuses me. I mean, guys who say, ‘Oh, it’s really tough, my character is really suffering’ -come on. For us, even in the rotten ones we’ve had a good time. I don’t think you have to suffer.
The government itself is running exactly like the Sopranos and they sit back and they make deals. And they say okay, ‘I’m going do this: France, you’re getting the pipelines.’
The rehearsal process in general is about trusting one another.
The first thing that I learned – and I understood it at a really young age – was that I could get a laugh. Really early. Because my mother and father are funny.
On an awards-show day, I can play basketball, go in, take a shower and put on a tux – it takes me three minutes to put on a tux – and be out the door in 15 minutes.
The loneliest you will get is in the most public of arenas: You will go to a place and end up in the smallest compartment possible, because it’s a distraction to everybody, and you end up not getting to enjoy it like everyone else.
I’m not completely against khakis. It’s just the level that you have to wear them. The higher you pull them, then more excruciating it is.
The people I’ve respected most in the industry over the years – Paul Newman, for instance. I just loved the way he handled growing old on-screen. It’s understanding that you’re now basically a character actor. Which is fine, but you have to pay attention to it.
My parents were disappointed I didn’t finish college, and they were really upset when I went to Hollywood to become an actor. I was a big disappointment to them.
My grandparents back in Kentucky owned a tobacco farm. So, to make money in the summer, we could cut and chop and top and house and strip the tobacco.
Most of the time, I’m working in places I’m not familiar with. Sometimes it’s Slovakia, and sometimes it’s Hawaii. Not to bash on Slovakia, but I really did enjoy Hawaii.
If we turn our heads and look away and hope that it will all disappear then they will – all of them, an entire generation of people. And we will have only history left to judge us.
George Clooney likes to talk about himself in the third person mostly. He’s always enjoyed it. Listen, I don’t like to think in those terms, where you just have to completely separate yourself one from the other.