George Clooney Feared Raising Kids in Hollywood — Here’s Why
With Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly on deck, George Clooney is slamming the door on Hollywood culture for his kids. The Ocean’s Eleven star, who married human rights lawyer Amal Clooney in 2014 and welcomed twins Alexander and Ella in 2017, says fame taught him what to keep out of their childhood.
George Clooney is back on screens later this year with Noah Baumbach's new comedy-drama 'Jay Kelly,' but off-camera he's doing something most A-listers talk about and few actually pull off: keeping his kids as far from Hollywood as possible.
How the Clooneys are doing it
In a new Esquire interview this week, Clooney opened up about the home setup he and Amal Clooney (yes, the human rights lawyer he married in 2014) have built for their twins, Alexander and Ella, who were born in 2017. The short version: farm life in France, not red carpets in LA.
He says he literally drives the carpool van, with the kids belting out 'Hamilton' in the back. And the day-to-day rules are very un-Hollywood: limited screens, actual dinners with adults, and they clear their own plates. Clooney grew up spending a chunk of his childhood on a farm and admits he hated it then, but now he sees the upside for his kids.
"France—they kind of don't give a shit about fame."
That line pretty much sums up the plan. The goal is normalcy. No iPads glued to faces, no celebrity bubble. Just a regular rhythm of life you don't usually associate with the guy from 'Ocean's Eleven.'
Why LA felt like a trap
Clooney is blunt about why he didn't want to raise his kids in Los Angeles. He worries that growing up inside Hollywood makes it hard to get a fair shake, that paparazzi attention becomes background noise, and that famous parents turn you into someone else's comparison point before you've even made your own choices. In France, he figures, nobody cares if Dad was in 'Gravity' or 'The Descendants' — or, more recently, 'Wolfs.' And that's kind of the point.
Quick refresher on where Clooney is now
He's 64, still doing the school run, and still working. The 'Wolfs' star has decamped to a farm with his family and sounds surprisingly content about chores and carpool logistics. Honestly, the van detail might be the most disarming sentence you'll read about him all year.
Where to watch him next
Clooney's next project is Baumbach's 'Jay Kelly,' a comedy-drama where he shares the screen with Adam Sandler. Here's the release plan:
- Select theaters: November 14
- Netflix worldwide: December 5
So you can catch him on Netflix in December — just don't expect his kids to be watching on iPads.