Over the course of a 24-hour period that saw him getting gloriously drunk with Mariella Frostrup, meeting up with PM Gordon Brown and surrounded by a group of Nancies (from the Oliver! reality show I’ll Do Anything – and it seemed they really would), George Clooney can never be accused of not having stamina. How does he keep it up?
“If you continue drinking, you don’t have a hangover. That’s what I learned - my parents taught me that.”
Starring at the European Premiere of his new directorial effort, Leatherheads, Gorgeous George certainly earned his nickname as he worked the crowd and charmed the press. Appearing with co-star Renée Zellweger - who plays a love triangle-embroiled reporter in Clooney’s homage to Hollywood golden age screwball romances - George jokingly admitted that his leading lady wasn’t the most reliable person on set.
“She’s got a real bad drinking problem, you’ve probably seen it, she falls down a lot,” he said. “No really, she’s a great friend and she works hard a lot. She’s easy to work with. She’s the kind of actress who can do period pieces and not seem contemporary, so that’s part of the trick.”
Leatherheads (in which Clooney also stars) is a 20s-set tale about an aging American football coach who drafts a strait-laced college star to pep up his ailing squad, only to find himself fighting the squeaky-clean youth for Renée’s affections. It’s George’s third time wielding the megaphone, is it an experience he enjoys?
“Oh sure, it’s great fun and I did really like getting the chance to play lots of football.”
So will he be donning his director’s hat anytime again soon and will it, as mooted, be working from the Coen brothers’ Suburbicon script?
“I will be directing again at the beginning of next year, I’m going to be making a film about candidacies so that should be fun,” he said.
There's no word on a title for that film yet, but what about Suburbicon? “No, they (the Coens) will be doing that themselves and there’s a part for me in that and I want to be in it. If I’m not going to direct it, I want them to direct it.”
Not much is known of the script, but Clooney has said it's "a really interesting, really funny and very dark comedy”, so watch this space for all the latest developments.
Leatherheads goes on general release from Friday.