Dude, Back Off. I Don’t Mind Giving Him Trouble.

George Clooney participated in a joint cover story for GQ magazine along with his longtime friend and co-star Brad Pitt ahead of the release of their new film “Wolfs.” Clooney got candid about his views on the current state of movie stars in Hollywood. Addressing a recent comment from Quentin Tarantino, Clooney fired back with playful defiance.

Tarantino, who directed Brad Pitt to an Oscar in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and shared the screen with Clooney in 1996’s “From Dusk Till Dawn,” reportedly suggested that Clooney is not still a movie star. Tarantino’s remarks did not sit well with Clooney.

“Quentin said some shit about me recently, so I’m a little irritated by him,” Clooney said. “He did some interview where he was naming movie stars and was talking about [Brad] and somebody else. When someone asked about me, he said, ‘He’s not a movie star. Name me a movie since the millennium.’ And I was like, ‘Since the millennium? That’s kind of my whole fucking career.’”

Clooney added, “So now I’m like, all right, dude, fuck off. I don’t mind giving him shit.” Variety has reached out to Tarantino’s representative for comment.

While Clooney’s star status might be up for debate, it’s evident that Hollywood doesn’t produce movie stars the way it did when Clooney and Pitt were rising through the ranks.

“They haven’t developed stars the way the studio system used to,” Clooney remarked. “We were at the end of a time where you could work at a studio, do several films, and there was a plan. I don’t think that’s necessarily the case anymore. It’s harder to sell something on the back of a star.”

Clooney sees both sides of the coin. “It’s a great time for young actors,” he said. “When I was young, there were 64 shows, and you had to be in the top 20 to keep your show on air. The studios were doing five films a year. Now there’s 600 shows, so there’s a lot more work.”

Clooney has been selective about acting in recent years, but that’s changing with new projects like “Wolfs” and a Netflix feature directed by Noah Baumbach, co-starring Adam Sandler and Laura Dern. Clooney is marking his 40th year in acting, a longevity that surprises even him.

“I remember talking to [Matt] Damon about this 25 years ago,” Clooney said. “If you get a 10-year career at that level, it’s a jackpot. No one sustains it much longer. So yeah, I’m surprised I still have work.”

“People love to push this narrative that I’m always playing a version of me,” Clooney added. “But I don’t know many people doing ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ and ‘Michael Clayton.’ I think part of why I could do that is I was in so many genres that weren’t successful. If you’re not wildly successful in one genre, no one asks you to do more of it. The lack of massive success allowed me to try new things.”

Clooney and Pitt’s “Wolfs” is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival and stream on Apple TV+ starting Sept. 27, with a one-week theatrical run beginning Sept. 20.

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Source: GQ, Variety