In George Clooney's latest film “The Boys in the Boat” he was back in the director's chair and was able to give free rein to his creative side.
“It's fun to do both,” the Oscar winner told “Good Morning America” about acting and directing. “Behind the camera is fun because you’re the boss, you know? It’s more creative.”
In the new film, set at the height of the Great Depression, Clooney tells the underdog story of the University of Washington men's rowing team that stunned the world by winning the gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
George Clooney is seen on the set of The Boys In The Boat.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc.
“These children rowed not because they were an inheritance, but because they wanted to eat. Just to eat,” Clooney said.
“The main theme was: 'We have to do things together. We have to be together,'” he added. “We are all better together.”
The main roles include Joel Edgerton, Callum Turner, Peter Guinness, Sam Strike, Thomas Elms and Jack Mulhern.
Just like the Olympic athletes — Joe Rantz, Herbert Morris, Gordon Adam, John White, James McMillan, George Hunt, Donald Hume, Robert Moch and Charles Day — who led the U.S. to victory in 1936, Clooney said of the actors who portrayed them The team had also never rowed before.
“Rowing is hard,” Clooney said. “People asked me, 'Did you get on the boat?' I ask myself: 'What am I, an idiot? No.'”
George Clooney is seen on the set of The Boys In The Boat.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc.
When he's not in front of the camera or in the director's chair, Clooney is the father of twins Ella and Alexander (6), whom he shares with his wife Amal Clooney.
“Twins tell a lot,” Clooney said. “When you have twins and you raise them at the same time and in the same way and they are completely different people, you realize how little influence you have on who they are.”
“You try to set boundaries for them and give them things that you believe in,” he added. “But they're just different – they have opinions and I mean, it's amazing to see how different my kids' personalities are. And they were raised by the same parents.”
George Clooney and Amal Clooney attend the Amazon MGM Studios Los Angeles Premiere of “The Boys in the Boat” at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater on December 11, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Next year, Clooney and his wife will celebrate 10 years of marriage, but the couple continues to keep their romance alive with handwritten letters. They also want to pass the tradition on to their children by writing letters every year for them to read later.
“We write a letter to our children every summer about where we are in the world,” Clooney said. “We didn’t give it to them. We have stacks of them that we give to them when they are old enough to understand them. I like the idea of writing down a moment and having a time capsule to say, “Wow, this is what we think and this is what our hopes were.” And you can compare it to where you land.”