Actor and filmmaker George Clooney was offered $35 million for a single day of work in an airline commercial, but he turned it down because of the airline’s association with a particular country.
Clooney confided the fact in an interview with The Guardian, when he was asked whether he ever thinks he has enough money. “Well, yeah,” Clooney replied. “I was offered $35 million for one day’s work for an airline commercial, but I talked to Amal [Clooney, the human rights lawyer he married in 2014] about it and we decided it’s not worth it. It was [associated with] a country that, although it’s an ally, is questionable at times, and so I thought: ‘Well, if it takes a minute’s sleep away from me, it’s not worth it.’”
Clooney declined to name the country, but he added elsewhere in the interview that he and his wife Amal have discussed the notion that he doesn’t have to act to make a living. “In general, there just aren’t that many great parts – and, look, I don’t have to act,” Clooney said. “My wife and I had this conversation when I turned 60 this summer. I said: ‘I can still bounce around pretty good, and we both love what we do. But we gotta make sure we don’t book ourselves silly.’ So, part of it is just us making sure we live our lives.”
The “Ocean’s Eleven” actor isn’t opposed to commercial work — he’s been the face of Nespresso for years — but the airline commercial crossed a line in his personal beliefs.
The Oscar-winning performer, producer, writer and director has never been one to shy away from his opinions in public – political or otherwise. He recently called the tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins “infuriating,” adding that he personally inspects every gun he’s handed on a set.
“Every single time I’m handed a gun on the set — every time — they hand me a gun, I look at it, I open it, I show it to the person I’m pointing it too, I show it to the crew,” he said. “Every single take.” Afterwards, “You hand it back to the armor when you’re done.”
Clooney’s latest effort is directorial in nature – “The Tender Bar” stars Ben Affleck and is opening in limited release on Dec. 17 before it’s available to stream on Amazon Prime Video on Jan. 7, 2022.