SPIN's Irish exclusive with George Clooney
Sarina Bellissimo caught up with George Clooney for an Irish exclusive interview recently.
They spoke about his new movie The Midnight Sky, his Irish relatives, his good pal Matt Damon and more.
George spoke to Sarina about his trip to Ireland last Easter.
He said, "It was unusually warm and nice and it couldn't have been more fun to be there then."
"And I met a bunch of relatives which I never knew I had which is also fun."
Sarin asked him how he's getting on and he admitted he and his family are just, "fine."
"We're like you, we're doing dishes and laundry and changing diapers, you know," he said.
George added that it's been really nice to be home with his family during lockdown.
"If you're looking for a silver lining in a very dark cloud, I would suppose that's it."
He added that he and his wife Amal's parents, "are not young," so he wishes he could visit them.
Referring to the Pfizer Vaccine, he said, "But there's light at the end of the tunnel."
George admitted it is a bit hectic being at home all the time with young children.
He said doing this press junket have been the most peaceful three hours of his life lately.
Sarina spoke to George about his new movie The Midnight Sky.
It's a post-apocalyptic tale about a lonely scientist in the Arctic named Augustine (Clooney).
He races to stop Sully (Felicity Jones) and her fellow astronauts from returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe.
Sarina referenced the following line from the movie: "Mars is the most important star in the sky, if you get lost, it will help you find your way."
How George Clooney navigates life
Sarina asked George how he's been navigating life in lockdown and life in Hollywood.
He replied, "You have to have your north star," which he says could be something, "you were raised with as a child."
George said for him, "it was probably my parents and the way I was raised."
He explained, "These are the things that are actually of value in your life."
The actor said as long as you keep the important things in life as your north star, "It's hard to get caught up in the rest of it."
Later in the interview, George mentioned his Hollywood pal Matt Damon.
Matt Damon
SPIN bagged a global exclusive interview with Matt during his time in lockdown in Ireland.
George told Sarina that the actor gushed over his love for the country to him.
"I talked to Matt while he was there - he absolutely loved being there."
He added, "And you know with Matt, you never know, he could just buy a house there!"
"You know, my experience there was so memorable and seeing family was so much fun."
Watch Sarina's full Irish exclusive interview with George here:
Sarina also caught up with George's co-stars Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, Demian Bichir and Kyle Chandler.
Felicity and David
It turns out Felicity's character in the movie wasn't supposed to be pregnant.
But when Felicity herself learned she was expecting, they wrote it in as part of the storyline.
Sarina asked her how she felt when she had to approach her bosses and tell them she's pregnant.
She responded, "It's a joyous occasion coupled with, oh my God am I going to lose my job?"
"And those two things shouldn't be coming together," the actress insisted.
She said George's reaction to the news was, "an absolute relief."
Felicity said he was, "completely modern with his approach," adding that they just, "embraced what was happening."
Sarina went on to chat about how David's character was supposed to be called Captain Harper, but that changed.
He approached the filmmakers and they agreed to change it to a Nigerian name.
David said it was important to him because the characters were, "representative of earth's last hope."
"As a very proud African [himself]," David wanted to see part of his heritage reflected in the movie.
Kyle and Demian
Sarina asked Kyle why this was a movie he really wanted to be a part of.
"Once I read that script, and you know that it's with George, and the people he's gonna have... you jump with joy and say, 'I would love to be part of this!'"
Sarina asked the actors what the benefits of ageing the characters were.
Their characters in the film were supposed to be younger, but they decided to make them older.
Demian explained, "These guys represent the wisdom you only get with age."
"And the experience that you need especially when everyone depends on each other up there floating, literally in the middle of space, the universe."
"I think it's great and it works very, very nicely and it also tells you that there's life after 70," he laughed.
The Midnight Sky drops on Netflix December 23rd.
