George Clooney is taking it easy at the Venice Film Festival this year. The Oscar-winning actor arrived at the festival earlier this week with his wife Amal Clooney beside him, not too far from their famous Lake Como estate where they reside with twins Ella and Alexander. However, some urgent health concerns have forced him to take a backseat for the rest of the festival and scale back some of his appearances on a conditional basis for the coming days.
The star, 64, was due to appear at a press conference for the Netflix film Jay Kelly, in which he stars as an aging actor who travels through Europe with his manager and close friend (played by Adam Sandler) and they look back on their life choices, a coming-of-age drama directed by Noah Baumbach and co-written with Emily Mortimer.
However, ahead of Thursday afternoon's event, he was forced to pull out due to a sinus infection. A rep for George told HELLO!: "We are working on another press conference moment, but we must regretfully cancel today's Netflix press conference. As you may have heard, George is under the weather but he's excited for you to see the film and looks forward to when he can discuss it with everyone." While he is expected to attend the movie's premiere later in the day, it is yet to be determined whether he'll make it after all.
At the start of the official conference, director Noah sent his regards to George while quipping: "Even movie stars get sick!" He helmed the conversation with press alongside Emily and the movie's other stars, Adam, Laura Dern and Billy Crudup. George was sighted riding around during the first official day of the festival on Wednesday, August 27. Watch the trailer for Jay Kelly below...
Speaking with Vanity Fair recently, the Syriana star laughed off any direct comparisons between himself and his character, although pointed out that the poignancy of changing up your approach to your career as you age is one he's known all too well in his 60s. "When you're an actor in my position, at my age, finding roles like this aren't all that common," he noted.
"If you can't make peace with aging, then you've got to get out of the business and just disappear. I'm now the guy that, when I go running after a bad guy, it's funny – it's not suspenseful. That's okay. I embrace all of that." Emily also told the publication: "The very fact that he wanted to do it gave you all the information you needed about whether or not he was going to let himself go there."
Adam also gushed about the new level of friendship he and George had achieved while making this movie, with their families in particular growing incredibly close. "He invited my family everywhere, every place in Italy and England. Our trailers were next to each other. His friends and my friends all hung out, shot hoops, threw the baseball around, talked about other movies we like, other comedians that have made us laugh, his upbringing, my upbringing."
Commenting on his career in general, George added: "Do people say that I only play myself? I don't give a [expletive]. There aren't that many guys in my age group that are allowed to do both broad comedies like O Brother [Where Art Thou?] and then do Michael Clayton or Syriana. So if that means I'm playing myself all the time, I don't give a [expletive]."