VENICE - George Clooney turned a scheduled career retrospective into an unexpectedly personal evening Thursday, spending nearly two hours onstage at the Venice Film Festival’s masterclass series with equal parts Hollywood nostalgia, unguarded admiration for his wife Amal, and a few pointed jabs at the current American political landscape.
The actor-director, who has been a fixture at the Lido for decades, appeared relaxed and talkative as he revisited highlights from his filmography - from the early television days that made him a household name to his recent turn behind the camera. But the room’s energy shifted whenever the conversation drifted toward his personal life, particularly when a moderator asked about balancing family and career with his humanitarian work.
“My wife is the most badass person I have ever met,” Clooney said, leaning into the microphone with a grin that suggested he was enjoying the chance to gush. “She does things that would make most world leaders weep - and she does them while being a brilliant lawyer, a devoted mother, and somehow still finding time to tolerate my stories about movies.”
Amal Clooney, the prominent human-rights barrister, was not in the audience for the daytime event, but her presence hovered over much of the discussion. The couple, who married in 2014 and share twins, have long navigated the intersection of celebrity and serious legal advocacy. Clooney used the occasion to push back against any suggestion that his wife’s work is merely symbolic, praising her recent efforts in international courtrooms and her willingness to take on cases that other firms won’t touch.
“She gets death threats on a regular basis and still wakes up at five in the morning to prepare for a hearing,” he told the crowd. “Meanwhile, I’m trying to figure out how to get a coffee without being photographed. The scale is not equal.”
The masterclass, part of the festival’s ongoing series of industry talks, covered Clooney’s evolution as an actor who increasingly prioritizes directorial projects with political or social weight. He spoke at length about his 2023 film The Boys in the Boat, which he said taught him patience, and about the difficulty of financing character-driven stories in a franchise-dominated marketplace. But he never strayed far from the political currents he has never been shy about wading into.
When a questioner referenced the upcoming U.S. presidential election and asked whether artists have a responsibility to speak out, Clooney’s tone morph from easygoing to sharp. He did not mention Donald Trump by name, but the implication was unmistakable.
“You have a guy who’s been convicted of felonies and still polls like he’s the favorite, and you have another guy who’s trying to convince people he’s the only sane one in the room - and that’s a low bar,” Clooney said, drawing a mix of laughter and murmurs from the audience. “It’s not hard to see which direction we should be moving. But somehow it’s a fight.”
He added, with a resigned shake of his head: “I don’t know what more evidence people need. It’s like watching a house burn and arguing about who gets to hold the hose.”
Clooney has been a vocal critic of Trump since the former president’s first campaign, frequently donating to Democratic causes and appearing at fundraisers for Joe Biden before Calls for Biden to step aside earlier this year. His Venice remarks suggest he remains engaged with the race even as he promotes his latest work - though he did not explicitly endorse anyone from the stage.
The actor also reflected on why he keeps returning to Venice, a festival that has premiered several of his most significant pictures, including The Descendants and Suburbicon. He called the Lido a “second home” and joked about the first time he attended in the 1990s, when he was still best known as the handsome doctor from ER and had yet to prove he could carry films.
“I remember walking down the red carpet thinking everybody would figure out I had no idea what I was doing,” he said. “Turns out, that feeling doesn’t fully go away. You just get better at hiding it.”
The masterclass wrapped with an audience Q&A that touched on his friendship with Brad Pitt, the practical jokes that have become legend on his sets, and whether he would ever return to television. Clooney noted that his production company is developing several streaming projects, and that he no longer sees a meaningful distinction between the big screen and the small one - a shift he once resisted.
“The medium changes, but a good story doesn’t,” he concluded. “And right now, the best story is the one we haven’t ruined yet - our democracy. That’s worth more than any box office.”
He stepped offstage to a standing ovation, pausing to shake hands with a line of fans that had formed near the exit. Outside, the Venetian sun was just starting to soften over the lagoon, and a cluster of reporters shouted questions about his politics. Clooney smiled, raised a hand in a half-wave, and disappeared into a waiting car - leaving the festival to wonder what he’ll bring next, onscreen or off.
Source: Hollywood Reporter