For George and Amal Clooney, major changes had to be made to their lifestyle after they became parents to their twins, eight-year-olds Ella and Alexander. The couple welcomed their children a little under three years after tying the knot in 2014, and now raise them away from the spotlight on a farm in France. The couple were active when it came to philanthropy and humanitarian work during the early days of their relationship, and they continue to do so over a decade into their marriage still, although a key part of it had to change once they became parents.
"You can't just go swinging as you used to," George, 64, told People at the premiere of Jay Kelly at AFI Fest earlier this week. "Amal and I both had to change our goals on where we would go. I used to enjoy going to places that were dangerous. I liked going into the Nuba Mountains and Darfur and Abyei, and there [were] war zones."
He continued: "And I found it exhilarating. And Amal was in a bunker in Beirut for two years doing the court cases. And we had to make decisions not to do that once we had kids. You had to change sort of what the rules were." The Oscar-winning actor did get the opportunity to gush over why he still feels so "lucky" at this stage of his life.
"I'm 64, so you look back at everything, because the looking forward is harder," the Syriana star shared. "But I'm in a pretty comfortable place in life. I like what I do for a living, I have great friends, I spend time with people that I love, and I've been able and lucky enough late in life to be able to spend time with my family."
George and Amal, 47, have balanced their time with their kids in Italy and New York City as well, but primarily live off the grid on a farm in France, not only to give them a better chance at having a life less tainted by the big city stresses, but also due to paparazzi and child image rights laws in France, with rules against taking pictures of children being much stricter.
© Getty ImagesIn an interview with Esquire from earlier this month, George also cites one of the reasons being his own childhood growing up on a farm in Kentucky. "As a kid I hated the whole idea of it," he noted. "But now, for them, it's like – they're not on their iPads, you know? They have dinner with grown-ups and have to take their dishes in. They have a much better life."
© Erik Pendzich/ShutterstockThe dad-of-two continued: "I was worried about raising our kids in L. A., in the culture of Hollywood. I felt like they were never going to get a fair shake at life. France – they kind of don't give a [expletive] about fame. I don't want them to be walking around worried about paparazzi. I don't want them being compared to somebody else's famous kids."
