Actor George Clooney 'not doing romantic films anymore' as he discusses new Broadway role

George Clooney has said he is “not doing romantic films anymore”.

The Hollywood actor, 63, who has starred as the romantic lead in films including One Fine Day (1996) and Ticket To Paradise (2022), said he is “not trying to compete with 25-year-old leading men”.

The Kentucky-born Oscar-winner reflected on his career and his new role playing journalist Edward R Murrow in Broadway play Good Night, And Good Luck on 60 Minutes for CBS News.

“It’s exciting to be here (on Broadway). Let’s not kid ourselves. It’s nerve-racking. And there’s a million reasons why it’s dumb to do”, he said.

“It’s dumb to do because you’re coming out and saying, well, let’s try to get an audience to take this ride with you back to 1954.”

George Clooney with his wife Amal (Yui Mok/PA) PA Media

The play depicts Murrow’s on-air showdown with Senator Joseph McCarthy who was a tireless crusader against communism, leading to a mass hysteria known as the “Second Red Scare”.

The production is an adaptation of his Oscar-nominated movie of the same name which Clooney directed in 2005.

Reflecting on the US government’s relationship with the press today, he said: “We’re seeing this idea of using government to scare or fine, or use corporations to make journalists smaller.

“Governments don’t like the freedom of the press, they never have. And that goes for whether you are a conservative or a liberal or whatever side you’re on. They don’t like the press.”

The lifelong Democrat also discussed when he asked former president Joe Biden to step down from the race for the White House after he stumbled over his words when he faced now President Donald Trump during a televised debate.

George Clooney arrives for the UK premiere of 'The Tender Bar', at the Royal Festival Hall in London during the BFI London Film Festival. Picture date: Sunday October 10, 2021. — George Clooney arrives for the UK premiere of ‘The Tender Bar’, at the Royal Festival Hall in London during the BFI London Film Festival. Picture date: Sunday October 10, 2021. PA Media

“I was raised to tell the truth”, he said.

“I had seen the president up close for this fundraiser, and I was surprised.

“And so, I feel as if there was a lot of… cowardice in my party, through all of that, and I was not proud of that, and I also believed I had to tell the truth.”

Speaking about his career, he added: “Look, I’m 63 years old. I’m not trying to compete with 25-year-old leading men. That’s not my job. I’m not doing romantic films anymore.”

He added: “There isn’t a single actor alive that wouldn’t have loved to have gone on Broadway. So that’s the fun of it. It’s tricky the older you get. But why not?”