"The Day I met George Clooney" by an ex-journo

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My favourite memory is of the day I met George Clooney. I was – and still am – something of a fan. In fact I have to confess that if George ever knocked on my door and asked me to run away with him to his Italian mansion I would say ‘Yes’. Sorry Richie darling!

I was cleaning out my office recently and found the story I wrote about the day George and I locked eyes … umm I mean the day we met. He was here to promote his new Batman movie (not his best work I have to say) and this what I wrote.

‘For the record George Clooney has big, beautiful deep brown eyes. (Yes I’ve met him).
To the frustration of all those swooning women, the man who plays Dr Doug Ross on the TV hit series ER always seems to be peering out from under that famous close-crop cut. This means we’re all denied seeing those mesmerising eyes.

But on Tuesday for 15 glorious minutes I was able to gaze into those eyes as I talked to the Kentucky-born heartthrob, face-to-face, one-on-one. (Shall I rub it in some more?). So for all the female (and male) Clooney fans out there wondering, he’s an hilarious, easy-going guy, just as good looking in the flesh as he is on screen and he looks fantastic in rubber.

Combine all this with his ‘nothing is too much trouble’ attitude and it’s obvious why Hollywood loves him. For Clooney, life at the top is all a bit of a laugh and certainly not to be taken seriously. His star is bright. He’s making the most of it before it fades … and he’s the first to admit that.

George flew into the Gold Coast on Sunday and for three days he won the hearts of all who met him.
There is no ‘spoilt star’ factor here and that became obvious during the festivities of the Batman & Robin Australasian premiere. His cheeky grin stuck as he was mobbed at the Movie World premier by the young, the old, the sexy and the senile. He had time and a line for all who called his name.

Tuesday bought no rest for the star who from 9am was in interviews with more than 90 media from around Australia. I was near the end of the queue and finally at 4pm it was time.

Despite having talked about himself all day, George smiled widely – fresh and (seemingly) excited to see yet another reporter bearing down on him.

“Hi, welcome to my shrine to myself,” he called, sweeping an arm around the mock lounge setting which boasted life-size Batman cut-outs.

“It’s kind of cosy. I like myself a lot, as you can see.”

We sit around a very glitzy table, featuring a garish shell design at the centre (welcome to the Gold Coast!).

“Do you like it, I whipped it up this morning,” Clooney quips.

“I’m a bit of an artist at heart … going to do a whole jewellery line you know.”

I reply: “I’m sure you’d look sexy in shells.” (Or nothing, I think.)

Women around the world think he looks sexy, full stop. The media encourage them by portraying Clooney as a womanising, drunken, debauched man-about-town with a pet pig called Max who shares his bed. So is it true?

“Yes I’m a womanising … by the way thanks for last night, it was the least I could do,” he jokes.
“You know what’s funny is I think the womanising thing comes from, well I’ve been out with a lot of girls, a lot of women in my life. “But I think a lot of that, the drunken, womanising stuff is what I play on the show so I think sometimes you get that. And I’m not married. “But the women they’ve had me going out with – Elle and Cindy Crawford and Vendela. It’s amazing, I wish I HAD gone out with them.
“Some of that is cannon fodder and some of it is true.”’

Do you like the way I’ve used this as an excuse to run lots of pictures of George on my blog? You know when your main topic of trade is onions and carrots you have to seize these opportunities when they arise.