Actor George Clooney draws on personal experience to play film star in Jay Kelly
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George Clooney plays the titular character in Jay Kelly, a film about an ageing global superstar.
PHOTO: NETFLIX
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LONDON – Two-time Oscar winner George Clooney drew from his own life to play a Hollywood legend in his new movie Jay Kelly.
Premiering on Netflix on Dec 5, the comedy-drama stars the American actor as ageing global superstar Jay Kelly, and combines humour with contemplation on the cost of celebrity and fame.
It features a starry supporting cast including Billy Crudup, Riley Keough, Louis Partridge, Isla Fisher, Jim Broadbent, Patrick Wilson and Greta Gerwig.
“There are certainly elements about the experience that I’ve had, but not so many regrets, which I think is ‘thank God’,” Clooney, 64, said at the movie’s London Film Festival premiere on Oct 10.
“It’s personal, but I’m not as unhappy as that guy. I have a family whom I love and kids who I think still love me. They’re eight, there’s time to screw it up. And I have friends that I don’t pay.”
Clooney has eight-year-old twins with his wife Amal Clooney, a 47-year-old British international human rights lawyer.
Directed by American film-maker Noah Baumbach, who co-wrote the screenplay with British actress Emily Mortimer, Jay Kelly sees the titular character reflect on his past and present as he travels to Europe with his large entourage.
As the group, including his publicist Liz (Laura Dern) and hair and make-up artist Candy (Mortimer), slowly disintegrates along the journey, Kelly’s loyal manager Ron (Adam Sandler) stays by his side and takes stock of his own life.
“You see somebody who, when they make a movie, it takes a lot of time away from your family. I’ve always tried to bring family around as much as possible,” said American actor Sandler, 59, who has two daughters aged 19 and 16.
“And like anyone who works for a living, you’re away from some stuff you wish you weren’t missing. It’s dealing with that pain and finding the best balance.”
(From left) Actor George Clooney, director Noah Baumbach and actor Adam Sandler at the Jay Kelly gala screening during the BFI London Film Festival on Oct 10.
PHOTO: EPA
Baumbach, whose previous films include Marriage Story (2019) and White Noise (2022), and who co-wrote the hit 2023 movie Barbie with his American director-wife Gerwig, said he set out to make a movie about an actor in crisis.
“I think it was a way to tell a story about all of us in some way,” said Baumbach, 56.
“An actor was a kind of stand-in for all of us who are trying to figure out the gap between how we present ourselves to the world and who we may actually be – and as we get older, also how we contend with that.” REUTERS
