George Clooney is officially taking a step back from playing romantic leads.
In an interview with The Daily Mail published Monday, December 15, Clooney, 64, revealed the decision was part of a conversation he had with his wife, Amal Clooney.
“I’ve been trying to go the route Paul Newman did: ‘OK, well, I’m not kissing a girl anymore,” he explained. “When I turned 60, I had a conversation with my wife. I said, ‘Look, I can still play basketball with the boys. I play with 25-year-old guys… I can still hang, I’m in shape. But in 25 years, I’m 85 years old. It doesn’t matter how many granola bars you eat, that’s a real number.’”
This isn’t the first time George has been frank about aging and how it impacts the roles he hopes to take in the future. “Look, I’m 63 years old. I’m not trying to compete with 25-year-old leading men,” he said on 60 Minutes in March. “That’s not my job. I’m not doing romantic films anymore.”
George and Amal have been married since 2014 and share twins Alexander and Ella, who were born in 2017.
During a December 2025 appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast, George insisted he and Amal have never had a fight. “No, I’m not lying,” the actor insisted after the Kelce brothers appeared to balk, “Travis, shall we ask you the same question?”
Travis laughed and then answered, “Well, it’s only been two and a half years, and you’re right, I haven’t gotten in an argument. Never once.”
George elaborated, “You know, neither of us are going to win the argument, so why get in it? … I’m 64 years old, what am I going to argue about at this point? I met this incredible woman, you know, she’s beautiful and smart and she stands for all the most important things that I believe in in the world. And I can’t believe how lucky I am, so what am I gonna fight about?”
As for roles the actor does wish he could have landed, he told The Times of London in November that there is one romantic role he will always wish he had played: Brad Pitt’s part as J.D. in Thelma & Louise.
“So, I was in TV. I was making a good living, but back then actors would say, ‘Well, I’m a film actor — I just happen to be doing TV,’” George told the outlet. “I got to the final test for a role in Thelma & Louise. And, mother****er, Brad got it.”
He continued, “I didn’t watch Thelma & Louise for years because I was annoyed. The part launched his career in film. He was doing sitcoms and crap before, so when it was the thing that could’ve launched me? F***!”
The pair are good friends, but it doesn’t sound like the E.R. alum has forgiven Pitt for taking the part — and that he even makes fun of George for missing out.
“Oh yeah, he gives me s***,” Clooney said of Pitt. “But, of course, when I saw it, I was, like, well it had to be that guy.”
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