George Clooney claims David O. Russell made his “life hell”
Ahead of co-starring in the new film, Wolfs, with Brad Pitt, George Clooney has offered his opinion about working alongside the movie director David O, Russell, noting how he has changed the way that he takes on new projects.
For Clooney’s new project, he has teamed up with director Jon Watts, best known for his work within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film arrives in cinemas on September 20th, 2024, for a limited release before launching on Apple TV+ a week later, and the actor is now firmly on the promotional trail.
Speaking with GQ, Clooney explained that he considers the amount of time that a film takes to make as a big factor in whether or not he accepts a role. Now in his 60s, Clooney explained how he would rather not spend the best part of a year making a film, as he had once done with Russell on Three Kings, released in 1999.
“The older you get, time allotment is very different,” Clooney said. “Five months out of your life is a lot.”
The actor added, So it’s not just like, ‘Oh, I’m going to go do a really good film, like Three Kings, and I’m going to have a miserable fuck like David O Russell making my life hell. Making every person on the crew’s life hell.’ It’s not worth it. Not at this point in my life. Just to have a good product.”
Russell is best known for directing the films Spanking the Monkey, Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees, The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, and though he is well admired critically, it’s clear that Clooney has a distaste for the time they spent making Three Kings.
The black comedy film saw Clooney star alongside Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube and Spike Jonze as a quartet of American soldiers taking part in a gold heist during the Iraqi uprisings against Saddam Hussain in 1991 at the conclusion of the First Gulf War.
The tension on set between Clooney and Russell
These new remarks don’t mark the first time Clooney has shared his experience about working alongside the director. He previously claimed that during his well-documented on-set battle with Russell, the filmmaker would allegedly “yell and scream” at the cast and crew during production.
During an interview with Playboy, Clooney recalled the moment he reached breaking point: “I was trying to make things work, so I went over and put my arm around him. I said, ‘David, it’s a big day. But you can’t shove, push or humiliate people who aren’t allowed to defend themselves,’” he explained. “He turned on me and said, ‘Why don’t you just worry about your fucked-up act? You’re being a dick. You want to hit me? You want to hit me? Come on, pussy, hit me.’”
The one-time Batman continued, revealing Russell wasn’t the only one to lose his temper: “I’m looking at him like he’s out of his mind. Then he started banging me on the head with his head. He goes, ‘Hit me, you pussy. Hit me.’ Then he got me by the throat, and I went nuts. I had him by the throat. I was going to kill him. Kill him. Finally, he apologized, but I walked away.”
Clooney then anointed the production of Three Kings as “truly, without exception, the worst experience of my life.” He also ruled out the possibility of working with Russell again, which his latest comments to GQ re-affirm.
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