George Clooney is no stranger to Oscar nominations.
LIST: The Oscar Nominations 2012 Movie Cheat Sheet!
Although many people believe that when it comes to Oscars there’s a strong competitiveness over who is going to take home the main award, George gives us the inside scoop, proving there is actually nice camaraderie and respect among all the nominees.
DETAILS: Pharrell Williams Says Producing Jay-Z’s “Glory” Was A “Covert Operation”
Check out the exclusive interview below!
Does it get easier each year, or is the trepidation and the anxiety always the same?
George Clooney: You’re talking about, does it get old basically, or do you get nervous. It’s always nice when people are kind to you and people like the products that you are making. That’s a fun time, because that doesn’t happen all that often, as you know.
Its also fun because I get to spend time with people that … I think a lot of people at home think that we all just hang out together, that we are always at the Hilton drinking champagne. And the truth is, I hadn’t seen Brad [Pitt] in about a year. So it’s fun to catch up and its’ fun to see people that I like and that I haven’t seen in a while and get to meet people. I got to spend some time with Gary Oldman who I really have enjoyed spending time with.
All of the older part of it, the sort of competition part of it that seems to be a favorite topic of people … they love to pit Brad and I against each other, to coin a phrase, but the truth of the matter is that we’re buddies.
I just really enjoy being around them and seeing them and being around all my other friends. Viola (Davis) and I, Viola had her honeymoon at my house in Italy. There’s no trepidation really.
How do we get on the Viola list to get our honeymoon there?
Viola and I have worked together. First time we worked together, even though not in the scene together, was in Out of Sight, so we go back a-ways. We did Solaris and Syriana and we’ve worked together a long time and been good friends, so we’d have to work together a lot!
Have you had a chance to see A Better Life and what did you think?
I did and you know it’s funny, this is sort of the perfect example of where the Academy can make a huge difference on something like this.
A film like A Better Life wouldn’t have been seen if it were not for the SAG nomination and then the Academy nomination. It’s a really wonderful film and he’s [Demian Bichir] really wonderful in it. I think of all of the actors that are nominated both in supporting and in lead, his is one of the great stories because this is a career changer for him.
The nomination alone, and if he wins it’s even more so, so there’s a great story there too and what’s fun about what the Academy can do for films like that is make a huge difference. People wouldn’t have seen it and I think they will now and that’s exciting, it’s nice to do.
