George Clooney used to suffer from insomnia, but these days, he couldn’t be happier about his lack of sleep.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Hollywood Reporter, the “Suburbicon” director talks candidly about his new life as a dad (he’s great at changing diapers), why audiences haven’t seen him act in a while, and what he thinks awaits him in his “third act.”
Here are five things we learned about Clooney:
He used to struggle with loneliness and couldn’t be happier those days are behind him
Journalist Stephen Galloway interviewed Clooney at his home at Lake Como, Italy, for the piece, published Wednesday. He paints a very different picture of the actor he last spoke with at length five years ago.
Galloway recalled Clooney being plagued with insomnia and, at times, lonely. Now, Clooney described his house as “filled with the warm sounds of babies crying.”
“I’m a very good diaper guy, which I didn’t know I would be,” Clooney said in the interview.
Wife and human rights lawyer Amal Clooney revealed she doesn’t anticipate the couple having more children.
He has an ongoing text exchange with former President Barack Obama
Obama stayed the night at Clooney’s home in Sonning, England back in June, according to Clooney. And when they’re not having five-hour meals and playing basketball, Clooney and Obama have an ongoing exchange via text that sometimes gets “a little bit” colorful.
But, Clooney added, “Not Scaramucci-racy.”
He’s thinking about his ‘third act’
With “Suburbicon,” a drama that touches on racial tensions in the 1950s, earning awards buzz, Clooney is already working on two more projects, according to the article.
Neither of them, however, are in front of the camera. Clooney, who hasn’t acted in two years, said, “As you get older, the parts aren’t as interesting. I’m not a leading man anymore. Nobody wants to see me kiss the girl.”
Meanwhile, he sees directing as something that still “excites me.”
“But at some point — which happens with everyone — they take the toys away, put them in the box and take it away. And I know it will go away,” he said. “I know how this works. I know how it ends. And when [it does], I will have another act.”
Possibilities for that next act include putting more time into his nonprofit, the Clooney Foundation for Justice.
Speaking of philanthropy, he’s investing $20 million in nonprofit work
On the heels of donating $1 million toward fighting hate groups, Clooney said he and Amal have put $20 million toward their foundation for various causes.
They have also “quietly” taken in a Yazidi refugee from Iraq, who is enrolled at the University of Chicago, according to THR.
He has continued his relief efforts in Darfur and South Sudan.
Donald Trump once tried to give him a doctor recommendation
Clooney has only met Trump once. It happened years ago at a restaurant. Clooney was recovering from neck surgery, and Trump offered to give him a recommendation for a doctor.
“He wrote me a couple of times with the name,” the actor said. “Then he went on Larry King Live and told him I was very short. I’m 5 foot 11 — I’m not the tallest actor in the world, but I’m not short. That made me laugh.”
Politics is largely no laughing matter for Clooney, however.
An outspoken opponent of Trump, Clooney told the magazine: “It would be best for the country if some of these Republicans — and some of them I’m very good friends with, actually — stood up [to him].”
