George Clooney on Growing Old

George Clooney and his girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis are the toasts of the London and Rome Film Festivals this weekend as they make the rounds to promote his very busy winter. His film, Fantastic Mr. Fox, opened the London Film Festival, and Clooney provides the titular character’s voice in Wes Anderson’s first foray into animation. He also stars in the Oscar shoo-in Up In the Air, a romantic comedy-drama co-starring Vera Farmiga and directed by Jason Reitman. In it, Clooney plays a corporate downsizing expert who flies around the United States with bad news, but the most surprising part of the role wasn’t his job. “I was watching Up In The Air and I thought, 'Jesus, who’s the old gray-haired guy?’ And it was me,” he told the Telegraph. He’s predictably wry on the subject: “But I’m kind of comfortable with getting older because it’s better than the other option, which is being dead.” He won’t be a stranger to the media this season—Clooney also stars in The Men Who Stare at Goats. “All three films,” he said, “are ones I don’t have to be embarrassed about—and that’s rare.” Clooney’s next gig, the hit man story The American is currently being filmed in Italy, not far from his villa on Lake Como. Not a bad gig for a self-described “old guy.”