It would hardly be an exaggeration to say that George Clooney is living the life of Riley these days. While shooting Ocean's Twelve last summer, 43-year-old Clooney was partying with his co-stars and friends Matt Damon and Brad Pitt.
Clooney and his merry band were seen diving off their rented yacht in Portofino, hobnobbing with the Formula One crowd in Monte Carlo, and relaxing at George's expansive villa on Lake Como in northern Italy. George has even been charming the locals by playing basketball in the village square, carrying shopping for grandmothers, and regularly dashing about on his motorcycle. So, what's his secret?
Judging by all the photos of you and the gang partying in Italy, wouldn't you like to make every film here?
That's not a bad idea. At least in the summer when it's so beautiful here. I love Italy. I love the way people treat you and the atmosphere of being in a small town, so I plan to keep coming here and spending more time here.
Are your fellow Ocean's Twelve co-stars getting hooked on the idea of spending more time in Europe themselves?
Brad and Matt have both been travelling and shooting movies over here, so I think they enjoy the lifestyle. It's a bit easier to get around and you have more privacy. Or at least it used to be that way.
Last summer there were more tourists and activity around your Italian villa than ever before. Is that becoming a problem for you?
There was more attention this time because the word got out that a certain Mr Pitt was in town and that's what set everybody camping near my house. I'm kind of a curiosity figure, but Brad really gets the women stampeding after him. Poor guy!
You're being too modest. You're the real star in Italy, aren't you?
I guess I have my fans. But the people in my town are very respectful and very kind. They treat me like a local and I never have any trouble at all with people following me or things like that. It's people who are vacationing in Italy who are stopping by the town because they've heard I live here who are causing the traffic jams. The roads are just too small, although most of the local merchants and café owners are happy to get the extra business. At least I hope so, because I don't want the local assembly declaring me persona non grata or something to that effect.
It's been reported that the Italian residents in Laglio tend to look at you as one of their own, and they want to protect you as much as possible.
They've been wonderful to me. Even the guy who rents out the boats in the area refuses to let people take out boats if he thinks they're paparazzi or just people who are using the boats to chase me around the lake or try to get a better view of the villa. Same thing with the restaurant owners. They don't like it if they see tourists coming in who want to take photographs or have me sign autographs while I'm eating with friends. So they've been incredibly respectful and I feel very much at home here.
What was it like shooting Ocean's Twelve last summer?
It's been one of the best experiences I've ever had making movies. We have a good script and we've had a chance to develop the camaraderie between the characters from the previous film. And I think having the girls around like Julia (Roberts) and Catherine (Zeta Jones) has added to the mix.
Would you like to see the Ocean's story develop into a long-term film franchise?
As long as we can find good scripts and keep things interesting, we all like the idea of keeping it going. We'll have a better idea once we see how this one does in the theatres, but there's a lot of room to develop the characters and create more kinds of capers. The thing that makes this kind of film interesting is the chemistry between the characters as much as the plot itself. People also seem to have latched onto the fact that there's a level of camaraderie at work and that's what we're aiming for.
You've been spending a lot of time recently with Lisa Snowdon, who you were involved with previously. Is this a surprise to you?
It's a pleasant surprise. We like being together and hope to make things work out better this time as we've probably learnt something from being together before.
Are you more inclined to settling down and starting a family than you were before?
I'm still too wrapped up in my work to think about children. I also think I would need to show myself that I'm able to sustain a good long-term relationship before I could even imagine what being a father would be like.
