George Clooney is officially saying goodnight — and goodbye — to onscreen kisses.
The legendary actor revealed that he’s taking a page from Hollywood legend Paul Newman’s playbook as he enters the next phase of his career, following a heart-to-heart with his wife Amal Clooney.
“I’ve been trying to go the route Paul Newman did: ‘OK, well, I’m not kissing a girl any more,’” George told The Daily Mail in an interview published Dec. 12, referencing Newman’s vow not to film romantic scenes with anyone other than his wife Joanne Woodward. “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,” the 64-year-old added. “But in 25 years, I’m 85 years old. It doesn’t matter how many granola bars you eat, that’s a real number.”
While he’s stepping back from onscreen romance, Clooney has no plans to retire from acting.
George credits his father, Nick Clooney, for teaching him the importance of staying active creatively. “My dad’s [almost] 92 and he still writes. It’s important to stay active,” he said. “I mean, you’re a writer. I can’t imagine you saying, ‘Well, now that I’m 70, maybe I shouldn’t write anymore.’ I do feel like because it’s creative, you can stay involved and do what you want to do.”
Clooney also emphasized the importance of family time. “We also have to make sure we are spending time doing things with our family, with the people we love more,” he shared. “Because Amal and I both tend to focus on trying to accomplish things. We’ve gotten much better at spending time with our kids. Listen, nobody gets it right. I don’t get it right. You probably don’t get it right. But we do the best we can.”
The actor and his family recently traded the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles for a quieter life on a farm in France. Clooney told Esquire, “I was worried about raising our kids in LA, in the culture of Hollywood. I felt like they were never going to get a fair shake at life.”
He praised the French approach to fame, noting, “They don’t give a s*** about fame. I don’t want them being compared to somebody else’s famous kids.”
George and Amal, parents to 8-year-old twins Ella and Alexander, seem determined to strike a balance between Hollywood life, creative work, and family priorities — with Clooney’s onscreen kisses officially retired.
