Happy Birthday to one of the biggest movie stars on the planet, George Clooney. The Oscar-winning actor turns 50 today.
A few years back when Clooney's star finally started to reach the top levels of the Hollywood ladder after years of working in B-movies and crappy t.v. shows, (remember him on "The Facts of Life"?), we initially resisted his charms. We thought he was just another "chick flick dream man", in other words, someone whose stardom was based on his good looks, and not much else. But the more George Clooney movies we watched, we started to realize that the guy, indeed, really does have something. Onscreen, Clooney is interesting, smart and incredibly likable. He's got that rare, old-fashioned movie star charisma, which means that when he's on the screen with other people, your eyes are always on him; he's the one you watch, and it has little to do with his good looks. As the old Hollywood saying goes, "Whatever "it" is, he's got "it".
Clooney is also surprisingly versatile. He can convincingly play world-weary sadness, ("Up In The Air"), and very funny comedy, ("O Brother, Where Art Thou?"). Watching him in his Oscar-winning role in "Syriana" is like being forced on a really scary roller coaster ride because his tightly wound, nervous Bob Barnes threatens to explode at any moment, and yet, you can't look away. It takes real skill to realistically pull off that kind of on-the-edge persona.
Next up for Clooney is "The Descendants" with Beau Bridges, and "The Ides of March" with Ryan Gosling. Gosling is just now beginning to reach Hollywood's A-List, and our advice to you, Ryan: When working with George Clooney, take notes, Gosling, take notes. If your goal is to make it as a 21st Century movie star, Clooney is how it's done.
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