Clooney Born to Ride, Not Run
George Clooney isn't going to let a few hard knocks keep him off his beloved motorcycle. But he won't be riding to the White House anytime soon.
Answering reader-submitted questions to Time magazine, the 46-year-old Oscar winner touched on, among other things, his recent bike accident and politics, both of which he prefers to engage in on the civilian level.
The star of the legal thriller Michael Clayton, which opens Friday, suffered a hairline rib fracture two weeks ago, when he and girlfriend Sarah Larson were hit by a car in Weehawken, New Jersey. Clooney was able to drive his Harley-Davidson to the hospital, but Larson broke her foot and had to be moved by ambulance.
"I ride a motorcycle when I'm home in Los Angeles," Clooney said. "It's my main mode of transportation. I've been riding for 30 years, and I've had three accidents, which isn't bad odds. I'll keep riding."
Inspired by the actor-activist's recent work on behalf of the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan, as well as his penchant for politically tinged subject matter—such as Good Night, and Good Luck, which scored him an Oscar nod for directing, and Syriana, for which he won the Supporting Actor trophy—his friends have been wondering whether Clooney might like to emulate Arnold and run for office.
"No," he said, echoing every other instance in which he's been asked if he's considering a career in politics. "As an advocate, I can take a side and stand by it and not have to worry about ticking off some constituents who helped get me elected. I don't want all those kinds of strings attached."
For the record, Clooney has thrown his support behind presidential candidate and friend Barack Obama for 2008.
On a similar note, Clooney also said celebrity activists have to be careful because they can end up hurting a cause as much as helping it.
"I've been asked to help represent environmental groups. I'm a big proponent of cleaning up the environment. I have two electric cars. But I also have a big weak spot, because I've flown on private jets," he said.
"However, I welcome any of these dumb pundits who make celebrities out to be bad guys to a discussion about Darfur. Because I've been there, and I've met all the players, and I guarantee you the pundits haven't."
Clooney has also raised more than $10 million for Darfur, meaning his credibility probably won't be questioned anytime soon.
And the acting-filmmaking thing is still going strong, too. Before heading to New York recently to shoot the Coen brothers' next film, Burn After Reading, he was behind the camera again directing himself, Renée Zellweger and John Krasinski in the long-gestating period romantic comedy Leatherheads.
The story about the early days of the NFL, fashioned into a screenplay in 1992 by Sports Illustrated journalists Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly, reportedly attracted Clooney almost a decade ago and became a real labor of love for him.
Clooney himself did an uncredited rewrite and finally got to put it on celluloid earlier this year. Leatherheads was originally slated for a December release but instead was bumped to Apr. 4 to allow the man with many plans a little more time in the editing room.
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