George Clooney Opens Up About Getting Dumped, Cheated On, And Going To Bed At 10pm

Despite all the sophistication and glitz surrounding one of Hollywoods most popular actors, make no mistake – George Clooney is human. In an interview with Stephen Galloway in The Hollywood Reporter, he dispels all the myths about his celebrity life.

George Clooney opens up about his (lost) loves, choices, and vices.

Clooney, despite his success and high profile image as a guy who seems to have it all, describes himself as a sometimes lonely guy who goes to bed at 10 o’clock at night, and must leave the TV on to sleep, otherwise his racing thoughts will keep him up until morning. Even still, he wakes up five or so times every night.

In the compelling interview, he talks about how he bought his house in the less swank part of town for less than a million, (years ago., but still a modest home for a star of his standing) and describes himself as ‘unlucky in love.’ Perhaps most surprising, how he has been cheated on and broken up with. Yes, it happens to Clooney too:

Says Clooney, via THR:

 “I have been infinitely more alone in a bad relationship; there’s nothing more isolating. I have been in places in my life where that has existed.”

 He also has been cheated on and even ditched “and left for someone; all those things. And it was sometimes a surprise, and sometimes you saw it coming. The most painful was when I kept trying to get [one woman] back. But we all make dumb mistakes.”

Clooney, who could easily gone the way of the ‘Hollywood Blockbuster’ actor, reached an epiphany after his showing in Batman – a bad performance in bad movie, which shaped his future career decisions:

…with 1997’s Batman and Robin, Clooney, cast in the lead role opposite Chris O’Donnell, was forced to reassess. The movie was simply terrible, and so was Clooney — and he knew it. This was one of his many “revelations,” to use Heslov’s word. Now he wanted not just to work, but to do work that mattered.

As a result he took on roles in more independent, story and character driven roles, and in doing so, bypassed the high incomes that come with more commercial movies. But the roles, and the reception he has received from them has been invaluable.

He also talks about a debilitating injury he incurred while on the set of Syriana, that had baffled doctors, until Lisa Kudrow of all people referred him to her neurologist brother. The problem? Fluid was leaking from his spine and he had torn his dura, the outermost layer enveloping the spinal cord. It nearly drove him to suicide.

“I thought I was going to die. Talk to any doctor about a CSF — a cerebral/spinal fluid leak — and they’ll tell you it’s way up there on the pain scale. There was this whole coming to terms with [mortality].”

He continues to live with chronic pain, but a nine hour surgery managed to diminish most of the discomfort.

While it certainly is no coincidence that it’s awards voting season and Clooney’s interview gets people talking about him, the interview is a compelling read about a man who is a class act in Hollywood. Respected by his peers, film critics, and the industry as a whole… you should give the full article a read!

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