George Clooney Opens Up About Romance in Lockdown, His Children’s Names, and the Worst Part of His Motorcycle Accident
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George Clooney Opens Up About Life with His 3-Year-Old Twins, From Diaper Pranks to Peppa Pig: 'They Keep Me Young'
The beloved star on his family, giving back and his faith in a better future in this year's People of the Year issue.
George Clooney is still a romantic—even during the lockdown. In the new issue of AARP the Magazine, The Midnight Sky star, 59, opens up about his love of letter writing—and how he and his human rights lawyer wife Amal, 42, still write each other letters after four years of marriage.
"Even in lockdown, I'll write a letter and slip it on her desk, or she'll write a letter and leave it under the pillow. I'm a big believer in letters," he says. "I have letters from Paul Newman, Walter Cronkite, Gregory Peck. I have them framed. I put them in the house. If it were a text, it would feel different. Maybe that's a generational thing, and maybe it won't be that way 20 years from now, but for me, somebody sat down and wrote it."
Clooney also opens up about why he chose the simple and classic names, Ella and Alexander, for his 3-year-old twins.
Josh Telles
"I didn't want, like, weird-ass names for our kids," he says. "They're already going to have enough trouble. It's hard being the son of somebody famous and successful. Paul Newman's son killed himself. Gregory Peck's son killed himself. Bing Crosby had two sons kill themselves. I have an advantage because I'm so much older that by the time my son would feel competitive, I'll literally be gumming bread."
Clooney also recounts the motorcycle accident that almost killed him in Sardinia, Italy in 2018. His biggest concern about it? That instead of trying to help him, people were trying to snap photos of it.
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"I'm not a cynical guy, but I will always, always remember that moment, because nobody was jumping to go call for help or coming to help," he tells the magazine. "For them the worst moment of my life was entertainment."
He adds, "People are getting killed because they're taking a shot of a car crash coming toward them. We're living in this world where everybody is trying to make themselves fascinating or important or something. When the reality is: Put that phone down!"
