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NEW YORK, NY, USA - Veteran superstar actor George Clooney likes to put on the press as much as he likes to have an attitude with the characters he plays -- including his most recent character, Danny Ocean. When he and the rest of guys -- cast members Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Don Cheadle -- got together to talk about "Ocean's 12," they did so with their tongues-in-cheek about as much as they were when they worked on the sequel to "Ocean's 11" (the remake of the '60s film [that starred] Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack).
But just as director Steven Soderbergh managed to give form to this sprawling caper flick, the 40-something Clooney made sense out of repartee between he and the other cast members as they discussed making the film and becoming this generation's Rat Pack.
G21: Did you guys develop your friendships on the set?
George Clooney: Did I say that? Did anybody get along in this? This one was actually a job -- oh.
I don't really remember. I guess I like Carl [Reiner] because he's older. He can't fight as well. There was no camaraderie at all on the set on this one. Quite honestly, nobody -- Brad [Pitt] set the tone, and he's such a movie star that it was very hard to -- Oh.
It was fun, we had a great time. Always, fun people, except for Julia [Roberts]. We don't like her, or her twins. [Laughs].
G21: Was it cooler in Europe than it in Las Vegas where the first film was set?
CLOONEY: Let's go to the coolest [place]. Steve set the tone and I loved this film. He could've been really safe and tried to do the same thing over again but this film was a complete departure and a lot more fun, I think. [Working in Europe] opene d it up and it's a testament that he can do that and Jerry [Weintraub, the producer] too. Jerry getting everybody together made a big difference. Those are the two cool elements of this group.The rest of them are kind of dorks.
G21: Did you have any regrets in making this film?
CLOONEY: I have a lot of regrets about them staying in my house -- although Matt [Damon] is very clean. I have to say that. He cleans up his room.
No, it was really fun and we had a great time. We took a boat to work a lot. What you're saying is that, we had it all together in the first one and we were never really in doubt that we were going to pull it off. Then suddenly we get thrown by this next one and we're bumbling idiots which is natural.
G21: What do you feel about the line about you turning 50 [which you are not].
CLOONEY: I hate everyone in this room right now. That actually happened to me. We put that into the script because I was in Italy last year and some young girl said to me, "George, how old are you?". And I was stupid enough to ask the question that you should never ask, "Well, how old do you think I am?". And she said, "50". I mean, "You think I'm 50 years old?". She said, "If you want". So Steven thought it would be funny to put it in the film.
G21: Did you feel there was any danger in doing a sequel?
CLOONEY: Well there's all these egos involved. That's a problem, as you could imagine. The truth was, we didn't start the first one with the idea of doing a second, so the second one came about organically. Literally, we were in Rome with Steven sitting in a restaurant, who had never been to Italy before, and he looked up and said, "I've got an idea for a sequel." And, the film hadn't opened yet, or maybe it had just opened, I think. We were doing a press thing for it.
So, you know, the truth of the matter is if we wouldn't have shown up if Steven hadn't had an idea, a different way of telling the story. The problem with sequels, as we all agree, is that they are usually just a rehash of the film before it, trying to take the things that worked before [and use them again].
Steven had a way of saying, "Well, let's mix up what just happened in the first one and really throw these guys off."
We thought, "Well that's a really interesting idea and a reason to do a sequel."
There are a lot of pitfalls in it -- one is that we had to work with Jerry again and -- no, the only danger in it is to repeat yourself -- And the only danger in it is to repeat yourself. That just made me laugh.
G21: Is the tough part of this is in developing the plot in a caper movie?
CLOONEY: I think in almost every good caper movie, the caper's the least important part. In "Ocean's 11," caper wasn't the most important part, it was the camaraderie. You want to have a good story, and you want to have a good fun caper but I think the mistake that filmmakers make is when they decide that the caper's the most important thing in the film. It's like everybody failed for so long in making [them right]. Until "Get Shorty," they failed to make [writer] Elmore Leonard's films right because instead of focusing on the characters, they were focusing on the capers and the capers, in all Leonard books, are not particularly good. But his characters are amazing. Then all of a sudden when you see it done well, and I can, you go, "Oh, focus on the characters."
So sure, you're right. The plot can get complicated and too much but that wasn't our main concern.
G21: What does George Clooney like about working in Europe?
CLOONEY: Good food. I've been lucky enough to have a home in Italy and spend some time there; I'm a huge fan of it all. I grew up in Kentucky so I didn't get to travel too much when I was young. We didn't travel a whole lot in Kentucky, as you can well imagine. I've been sort of discovering a lot, so that's pretty much it.
G21: Your father [Cincinnati radio/television personality Nick Clooney] recently ran a congressional race in Kentucky.
CLOONEY: He did? How'd it turn out?
Not great; he lost.
G21: Did your father give you any advice.
CLOONEY: He said, never to mix green and grape, that was it.
No, listen, my Dad and I are very close. He's had a tough time of it, at 70 years old to try a new career. It was an exciting time for him and I think it's very disappointing. But he's doing great. He is and always has been a great inspiration to me and it doesn't mean I want to run for Congress.
He didn't teach me anything like that but, no, he's doing great. It's a strange time for us right now, because the election is fairly fresh so he's taking a little time off now. I'm happy for him to take a break. And I don't really know how to answer the other question. My father's been an inspiration forever and has always said, "Don't wake up at 65 years old and say 'What I should have done was ... ' "
G21: Aren't you co-writing and directing "Good Night and Good Luck?"
CLOONEY: That's a project that we were going to do as a live project for CBS about a year ago then CBS decided not to do it. But it's been a passion of mine for a long time. Growing up around broadcast journalism my whole life sort of dictated whether we were living in a nice house or not, so the ups and downs of broadcast journalism [interest me].
Also, talking about [this government] using fear to attack civil liberties and writ of Habeas Corpus and things like that. To me, it's an interesting time to constantly talk about things like that. But it's not a political film.
Actually we're doing the story of Edward R. Murrow where he took on [Senator Joe] McCarthy and McCarthy did the rebuttal. It's based on that. There's a pretty great speech [Murrow said] about the responsibility of television which is something that just keeps coming back and is now true again. So I'll do it. I'll mess it up. I'll screw it up somehow.
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