‘Lot more fun to play president in films’: Clooney says no plans to enter politics

George Clooney may have played a presidential candidate in his 2011 movie ‘The Ides of March’, but in real-life, the Hollywood star says, he has no plans to enter politics.

During a session at HT Leadership Summit 2022, the 61-year-old star said he is not qualified enough to “make decisions that affect the lives of people.”

“I think it is a lot more fun to play that (US president) in films… I believe there are some really smart people who should be the president of the US. (One) Who has put the time and effort to be able to make the decisions that I believe I should not be making,” Clooney said.

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“I don’t want to make decisions that affect the lives of people. There are some very important decisions to be made along the way. And I think these decisions should be made by people who have vast experience,” he added.

The two-time Oscar winner was in conversation with Indian film veteran Anil Kapoor.

Turning down $35 m

Last year, the actor had revealed that he had turned down an offer of $35 million for a day’s work for an airline commercial. Kapoor quizzed him about the reason behind his decision, to which Clooney said the deal was more of an image correction for some people in prison.

“There is a reason why people want to pay a lot of money and usually it is to sort of whitewash. There were some amazing people, who were put in jail for tweeting something about the women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. And these guys were taking money from these same people, taking hundreds of millions of dollars to whitewash it. And I find that to be hard to do,” he said.

‘Reputation important’

The actor added that he doesn’t want to sell his reputation and position for money. “When your employer is the person, who is also ruining the civil and human rights of the people, I find it hard to take that money and use my reputation to try and clean their own. I feel like my reputation is worth more than that.”

Clooney said he also had a conversation with his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, before making the decision to reject the offer. “My wife (Amal Clooney) and I had a long conversation about taking the money and putting it into a foundation just to do some good… But there’s a price and for me that price isn’t my reputation. What I believe in and what my parents taught me to be really wasn’t for sale,” he said.

No social media

Clooney is one of the few Hollywood stars to stay away from social media. The ‘Gravity’ star said maintaining a distance from the internet helps him “sleep well at night”.

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“I’m not on any social media (platforms) and it helps me sleep well at night… I don’t like looking at my phone all the time, texting jokes to people. I don’t need that kind of life.”

(With Agency inputs)