George Clooney by Kate Randall for BANG Showbiz

George Clooney is Hollywood’s ultimate bachelor. As his friends and co-stars settle down with marriage and babies, the 48-year-old shows no signs of following suit.
Although he has recently found love with Italian model Elisabetta Canalis – who is 17 years his junior – George is happy with the life he’s got and is unwilling to adapt it to become a father.
Here George speaks about his reluctance to settle down, his humorous plans to adopt Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s children, his famous good looks and how he enjoyed his animal-based movies.

YOU’RE ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS BACHELORS, DO YOU FEEL AT 48, MAYBE THE TIME IS RIGHT TO SETTLE DOWN?

That’s a question I’ve never been asked before! I just take each day as it comes. I've had some absolutely great relationships and some not so great relationships.
I've been in some relationships where I've felt terribly alone. Just because you're with someone it doesn't mean you're incredibly happy and complete.

YOUR GOOD FRIEND BRAD PITT HAS SIX CHILDREN WITH ANGELINA JOLIE – DOES SEEING HIM WITH THEM MAKE YOU BROODY?

I am planning to adopt. I am going to adopt some of Brad Pitt's kids. I owe him!
Even one kid running around my villa makes me nervous, so I'm definitely not a candidate for father of the year. If I need to surround myself with children and feel like I have this big extended family, I can always call Brad and Angelina and ask them to stay with me, just to remind myself why I'm so happy!

YOU SEEM VERY HAPPY AT THE MOMENT WITH YOUR CURRENT GIRLFRIEND, BUT HAVE YOU HAD ANY BAD BREAK-UPS IN THE PAST?

I've had some easy and natural, made-sense break-ups as well as some rough ones. I deal with them the same way we all do: I'm successful with some and not so successful with others.
I don't think my experiences are any different than anybody else's. They've just been amplified a little more.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT GETTING OLDER – DO YOU WORRY ABOUT LOSING YOU LOOKS?

I'm old. I'm kind of comfortable with getting older because it's better than the other option, which is being dead. So I'll take getting older.
It's an interesting thing to be able to watch yourself grow older on screen. I was watching 'Up in the Air' and I thought, 'Jesus, who's the old, grey-haired guy?' And it was me.
I never wear make-up for movies and now it's starting to show.

YOUR YOUNGER ‘OCEAN’S 11’ CO-STAR MATT DAMON IS HOT ON YOUR HEELS TO OVERTAKE YOU AS HOLLYWOOD’S ULTIMATE HEARTTHROB – HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF HE JOINED YOU AND BRAD AS TWO-TIME WINNER OF SEXIEST MAN ALIVE?

Matt Damon is very competitive with both Brad Pitt and myself. Brad and me are both two-time Sexiest Men Alive. Matt’s only won it that one time and I sort of consider that a bit of a fluke! Having seen him recently he’s got a lot of work to do if he wants to get it back. I’m going to work with him because he’s going to run a strong campaign this year. He was pretty upset with the whole Hugh Jackman thing. But I’m going to train him. We’re going to spend a little time and talk it through.

IN ONE OF YOUR MOVIES, ‘THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS’, YOU OBVISOULY WORKED WITH GOATS – HOW WAS THAT?

I’m now working with goats, we spent a lot of time together. The goat I had to stare out was a great actor – if you told him to do something he would. Now if I only I had got Ewan (McGregor) to take lessons from him and we’d be onto a winner!
But although they were good, I don’t think I want to be working with animals again in the near future!

YOU MENTION EWAN MCGREGOR, DID YOU ENJOY WORKING WITH HIM?

I was shocked at how fun and normal Ewan is. We would talk about his motorcycle trips he takes across the world – he’s a really interesting guy. He’s good to work with as he puts his work first and when that’s done you know you can have some fun. He’s just a great guy. I’m a big fan of his.

IN THE FILM THERE IS QUITE A BIT OF DANCING – DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF A GOOD MOVER?

I’m not sure what you would consider a great dancer. I pop-lock like a mother, but this other kind of roll and roll stuff – I have no spine. It just worked out that way. I think that Jeff Bridges is a very good dancer. I haven’t seen Ewan dance, but I think he could be a good dancer.

THIS MOVIE DEALS WITH THE PARANORMAL, IS THAT SOMETHING YOU BELIEVE IN?

No, I just don’t get it. I don’t believe in it, I haven’t had anything weird happen to me. I just don’t buy it. Everybody goes through déjà vu but that’s where it stops for me.

ALTHOUGH IT’S A COMEDY, THE MOVIE IS SET IN THE IRAQ WAR, IS IT GETTING EASIER TO BASE FILMS ON THIS CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECT?

There’s obviously a couple of issues about the war but any topical subject that is going to picked up by Hollywood two years later will not be cutting edge because of the time it takes to write, direct, produce etc. It’s hard to make films that directly deal with that subject matter seeing as we’re still in the middle of it.
We didn’t think of this as an Iraq war film – it’s a very different story completely. I did an Iraq war film with ‘Three Kings’, which seems to hold up and continually be relevant. But I think this one just happens to be set there. I never felt it was dealing with the idea of war.

YOU WORKED CLOSLEY WITH DIRECTOR GRANT HESLOV AND WRITER PETER STRAUGHN, WHAT APPEALED TO YOU ABOUT THE MOVIE?

First of all there was book, and there was a documentary done as well which was very funny. The film had such a unique tone and I thought Peter just nailed the script. This is a script that’s been around a long time so I’ve been aware of it and it’s been named as one of the best unmade screenplays. So we were all anxious to get our hands on it and Grant had the right ideas.

BECAUSE IT WAS A SUCCESSFUL BOOK AND DOCUMENTARY, DID YOU FEEL UNDER EXTRA PRESSURE?

Screenplays when they’ve been around for a while, even good ones, get things attached to them and they’re harder and harder to get made. You’ll have like 30 producers and it just gets a lot of baggage, other people brought on. It requires everyone to come in – Kevin, Jeff, Ewan – and all be willing to play ball and have fun. On the film there isn’t necessarily a slam dunk – it’s not ‘Transformers’.

DID YOU PRACTICE THE TECHNIQUES USED IN THE FILM?

Things that are made up on this screenplay but the wackiest ones are the real ones. So when you read the book and see the movie and see them trying to run through walls – they literally did try to run through walls because they believed they had the power to do it. The predator scene I did with Ewan really hurt.

IN YOUR OTHER FILM, YOU PROVIDE THE VOICE OF MR. FOX IN THE ANIMATION ‘THE FANTASTIC MR FOX’, DID YOU ENJOY THAT?

Mr Fox was such an optimist and I really thought it was a fun character to play. I remember reading the script and saying to Wes, 'Listen, I love it. I'm thrilled and excited to do it. I don't know who'll see it because it's sort of made for grown-ups and it's sort of made for kids.’ You never know how that plays. He said, 'Don't worry about it, let's just go make a movie and have some fun'. I thought that was a great way to approach making a film.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE FILMING THE MOVIE?

It was like going to camp. We were out in the middle of nowhere on people’s farms, doing sound effects and rolling around in the fields.

HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH FAME AND THE ATTENTION IT BRINGS?

I understand the issues of being famous and the pressures newspapers and magazines are under to get stories. My dad was a journalist so I know all about it. But there’s so little reporting done, one story can appear and then it’s put out in 1800 different outlets. I know it happens but I still have an issue with false stories.