George Clooney Broaches Corporate Capers in 'Michael Clayton'
By Brigid Brown, Hollywood.com Staff
| Monday, October 08, 2007
George Clooney |
Wouldn't it be wonderful if someone could swoop into your life and fix all your problems? If you have a huge decision and are fearful of making the wrong choice, then they would take on the burden of any repercussions. Maybe we’d call that person the ‘fixer.'
'Fix-it’ people do exist--but mostly accessible to the utterly affluent and powerful. Whether it be in Hollywood, on Capitol Hill or--in the case of new thriller Michael Clayton--at a corporate law firm, it’s a job you won’t see listed in the classifieds.
Uber-celeb George Clooney appears to lives a charmed life, without the need of a 'fix-it' person. In this office drama, however, he takes on the eponymous role of Michael Clayton, a discontented attorney who’s not quite as lucky, and struggling through a bad divorce as a single parent. Although he's a key player at his high-profile law firm, Clayton is drowning in debt, which keeps him tied to a job he’s grown tired of and can no longer stomach.
Veteran screenwriter Tony Gilroy, whose credits include The Bourne franchise, makes his directorial debut with Michael Clayton. Gilroy sets himself up for success with bold casting choices: Tom Wilkinson as a mentor losing his capacities; Tilda Swinton as Clayton’s legal anchor-turned-nemesis; and Sydney Pollack as the firm’s co-founder and decision maker. With them, Michael Clayton seamlessly tells a complex story of human beings perpetrating inhumane acts while using the corporate machine as an excuse.
The wily Clooney discusses the movie’s heated issues with Hollywood.com.
Hollywood.com: What brought your attention to this film?
George Clooney: The truth of the matter is, it’s really hard to find a good script in Hollywood. You’d think it’d be easy, but it isn’t. This is a great script. You read the script and think, "this movie has to get made." There are great characters and it’s a well-crafted script and it should be made into a movie.
HW: You took quite a bit of a pay cut to do this role. Did you take liberties in being able to tweak your character?
GC: No, I didn’t tweak anything. Tony Gilroy wrote a great part. In the last eight films [I've done], I’ve been paid for [pauses]…two? You do the movies you do because you want to get the movies made. It doesn’t allow me any leeway with Tony. He may be a first-time director, but he’s an adult and there’s no me manipulating him.
George Clooney stars in "Michael Clayton" |
HW: Did you think of Michael Clayton as an “issue-based" film or as a character you couldn’t wait to play?
GC: I think you can take these characters and this story and put them into a medical drama or a government drama. The truth is, this is about flawed individuals, one of whom comes to the realization that he’s looking for redemption and decisions that are made based on his own self interest. You keep moving that line of morality forward. I think that’s always interesting storytelling. We’ve done it for years, these kind of films, and the reason we do them is because we do "suspect" corporate America--and with good reason. And it requires a whistle blower along the way.
HW: What was it like working with first-time director Tony Gilroy, the writer of Michael Clayton?
GC: Like good filmmakers I’ve worked with--the best I’ve worked with: Soderbergh, the Coen brothers--it [the film] was edited in his head and on paper, in many ways, before we started. It wasn’t this indulgent thing either, a first-time director who is collecting a bunch of footage and getting it into an editing room and saying, "Let’s find the movie." This was a movie that was so well-prepared and so well done from the very beginning, it was like working with an old pro.
HW: There seems to be this theme that the value of the dollar is more than the value of human life. What specifics did you learn while playing the attorney?
GC: There were actual law documents/inter-office memos from one department to another saying, "If you recall this [lawsuit], it will cost you $300 million. If you don’t, it will kill 300 people a year and the class action lawsuit will cost $300,000." Those were real documents that were passed around. And those documents, to me, informed how I’d play the part.
HW: What was your role as executive producer?
GC: I think it’s important to point out that the 'executive producer' of the film is not actually producing the film. The producers do the work. They get the money together. They actually, day in and day out, produce the film, which is why--if the film wins an Oscar--the producers get an Oscar. An executive producer’s job is to help knock your way through road blocks. My job was whatever their vision was--the filmmaker’s vision--to make sure it gets realized in whatever way possible, which is not very difficult when you have very smart people. They did that. Not me [smiles].
Tilda Swinton stars in "Michael Clayton" |
HW: What scene in the film touched you the most?
GC: The love scene with Tilda [Swinton] [editor’s note: there is no love scene]. It was so, so-o-o- good. The rehearsals .. she’d knock on my trailer and say, "George, let’s rehearse the love scene again."
Ever the jokester, the poker-faced Clooney straightens up to really answer the question this time...
GC: Listen, first of all, you love watching really good actors at their best. There’s something really beautiful about watching characters who are seemingly in control who really aren’t, while learning about them. I loved watching Tom [Wilkinson] in the scene in the alley because it was so simple and so good. Those are the scenes that really touched me. I’ll tell you something else that people don’t talk about enough: Sydney Pollack is a really good actor. I mean, a really good actor.
HW: This film takes a hard look at the legal profession. Do you expect any legal issues after the release?
GC: There’s about five or six lawyers named 'Michael Clayton' who I’ve gotten letters from and they’re not thrilled.
HW: You had some amazing, biting one-liners. Did you have any input on those?
GC: No. I’d like to take credit for anything written. I believe I didn’t veer from a single word. When a script is really well written it’s actually very easy. The hard part is when it’s not well-written and you have to try and find ways to make it work, or make up things or fill in little bits and pieces. I’ve really tried to say this one as written. I’ve had that experience a few times, where the script is really well-written and you’re trying to serve the material.
HW: What of your own personality did you bring to the role of Michael Clayton? Did this character make you grow as an actor?
GC: Well, we’re the same height. Pretty much the same hair [laughs]. You’re hoping you’re growing every time, but probably not, unfortunately. All it really does is give you something different to play. You’re trying to grow and you never know if you are or not. The funniest thing is, you can be good in films if you have a good script and a good director, but you can be really bad! It’s not necessarily actors. Ultimately if you don’t have a good script or director, there’s nothing you can do--that’s the bottom line.
--Additional Reporting, Jenny Karakaya
Photo(s) by Dave Edwards- © 2007- DailyCeleb.com- All Rights Reserved
Photo(s) © 2007- Warner Bros.- All Rights Reserved