HOLLYWOOD’S most prolific bromance almost never came to be — after George Clooney was devastated to lose out on a film role to Brad Pitt.
George, 63, has revealed he could not bring himself to watch Ridley Scott’s after Brad was cast as conman hitchhiker JD in 1991.
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The Oscar-winning drama, starring Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon, was a critical and commercial success, and helped to launch his career.
George said: “I was one of the last people in the running for Thelma & Louise. And then when he got it – I knew it was going to be a big film, but I didn’t know it was going to be like that.
I wouldn’t watch Thelma & Louise for a couple of years.
George Clooney
“And his career was like this [George raises his arm] and I’m still doing some bad TV show or something.
“I wouldn’t watch Thelma & Louise for a couple of years.”
READ MORE ON GEORGE & BRAD
At the time George was a struggling actor and did not land his big break as Dr Doug Ross in award-winning medical drama, ER, for another three years.
‘Inspired to push on’
Over the last three decades the heart-throbs have starred together in several movies and both confess there is still plenty of healthy competition between them.
Even in their new action comedy, Wolfs, they play rival fixers hired for the same job.
Brad, 60, told men’s mag GQ: “I’m just saying we have a competitive nature. Like the competitiveness that an athlete would have. And I see that in most of the guys that are around.
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“You take pride in what you do, you want it to really, really work.
Thelma Meets JD, played by Brad Pitt, in Thelma and Louise
“But at the same time, if I didn’t have a George Clooney in my life, I don’t know that I would’ve reached certain levels. Because it inspires you to push on.”
George concedes: “I want to beat you at any job. But if I don’t get it, I would like you to get it.”
Their friendship goes much deeper than gentle ribbing, though.
Brad has been navigating an eight-year divorce from actress Angelina Jolie, 49, whom he has six children with — Maddox, 23, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 18, and 16-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.
He revealed in 2022 that he had attended meetings at Alcoholics Anonymous in Los Angeles following the breakdown of his two-year marriage.
But during GQ’s joint interview with Brad and George, the Flight Club actor told how he had been reprimanded for discussing the organisation, saying: “You know they came down on me for that? AA did. They were like, ‘It’s anonymous.’
“I was like, ‘Well yeah, but if I want to’.”
Things get complicated in life and you always have to make sure everybody’s OK.
George on relationship with Brad
Last month it was reported that Brad was “aware and upset” to learn Shiloh had filed to legally remove “Pitt” from her surname.
On being a support to Brad, George said: “We’re friends. We’ve been friends for a long time. And it’s fun because we also check in on each other every once in a while, which is an important part of this.
“Things get complicated in life and you always have to make sure everybody’s OK.”
Brad often turns to George for advice as he says his pal has experienced the same level of fame that few others could “understand”.
He explained: “George is probably the best at seeing the chessboard and the potential moves.
“I’ll call George on numerous occasions when things get bumpy.
“George is going to understand something that no one else is going to understand, that we don’t even have to speak about. There’s a comfort in that.
“There’s another smaller tribe that erupts from that because of the pressures and the struggles that one will have in their own life. I’ve known this guy since the Nineties and been through so much life at this point and so many twists and curves and turns.”
George revealed he has worked hard to keep his seven-year-old twins Alexander and Ella with wife Amal, 46, a lawyer and human rights activist, out of the public eye.
He said: “I have a goal of trying to protect, I don’t want pictures of my kids. We deal in very serious subject matters, with very serious bad guys, and we don’t want to have photos of our kids out there.
“So we have to work hard at trying to stay private, and it’s tricky, as you can imagine.”
In a more light-hearted moment, Brad and George teased each other about once having mullet hairstyles, and being so instantly recognisable that they try to avoid doing anything that could be turned into a headline.
‘Gas in the tank’
George said: “There’s times you will avoid going to hospital with something that you would normally go to hospital for.”
Brad joked: “Compound fracture, stick it back in.”
The duo first bonded on the set of Ocean’s Eleven in 2001, teamed up again for its sequels Ocean’s Twelve in 2004 and Ocean’s Thirteen in 2007, and, a year later, comedy Burn After Reading. After a long career on the big screen that saw the actors win two Academy Awards each, they admit they have been contemplating their mortality.
George is determined to stay healthy for his children’s sake, saying: “I can still play basketball with the boys. I can still hang, do a lot of s***.
“Physically, I’m in pretty good shape still.
“But it doesn’t matter how many granola bars I eat. In 20 years, I’m 80. And that’s a different number.
“That’s a real number where your bones are brittle and your muscle mass is gone.
“So these next 20 years we have to really focus not just on work, although you’ve got to continue to work. We also have to focus on life.
“I also do feel like there’s still some gas in the tank.” Brad, who is in a relationship with Ines de Ramon, 34, vice president at the LA-based jewellery brand Anita Ko, is also concerned about becoming frail. He said: “You start to understand this idea of mortality and that it is something we all have to deal with. It’s what are these last years going to be?
You take less credit for the good, and you take less credit for the bad.
George on getting older as an actor
“I see just what George was explaining. In your 80s, the body becomes more frail.”
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George has no plans to retire, but is swapping Hollywood for Broadway. He will soon make his debut in Good Night, and Good Luck, in order to spend more time with his family. He said: “I’m going to give myself time with my kids. I really enjoy driving them to school, and my wife and I are having a wonderful time.”
Reflecting on his success, he said: “If you get a ten-year career, playing at that level, it’s an absolute jackpot. Nobody sustains it much longer than that. So yeah, I’m surprised that I still have the work.
“We’re in a profession that doesn’t force you into retirement. And the older you get, the more you’re able to look at it and go, ‘Well, it’s not my brilliance that made this thing a hit and it’s not my stupidity that made this one flop’.
“You take less credit for the good, and you take less credit for the bad.”
- Read the full interview in the September issue of British GQ, available on newsstands and via digital download from Tuesday August 27
GEORGE CLOONEY
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Age: 63
Exes: Talia Balsam, Lisa Snowdon, Cameron Diaz.
Married to: Amal Alamuddin
Kids: Ella and Alexander
Homes: LA, Lake Como in Italy, Los Cabos in Mexico, New York, Berkshire, France
Oscars: Syriana (2005) and Argo (2012)
Worth: £570m
Big break: ER
Number of films: 51
Earns per movie: £17m
BRAD PITT
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Age: 60
Exes: Jennifer Aniston, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sienna Miller
Dating: Ines de Ramon
Kids: Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne
Homes: France, Mallorca, New York, LA, New Orleans
Oscars: 12 Years A Slave (2014), Once Upon A Time in Hollywood (2020)
Worth: £380m
Big break: Thelma & Louise
Number of films: 108
Earns per movie: £18m
