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George Clooney Praises His Family and Talks COVID-19: 'There Is Light at the End of This Tunnel' (Exclusive)

By Paige Gawley‍ 10:25 AM PST, December 2, 2020

George Clooney is excited about the future. ET's Kevin Frazier speaks to the 59-year-old actor on Wednesday's episode of Entertainment Tonight, about his latest film, The Midnight Sky. During the chat, Clooney also reveals why he's glad he waited to have children and shares what he's looking forward to in 2021.

"It is probably best that I did it when I met my wife," Clooney tells ET of having kids. The actor shares 3-year-old twins, Ella and Alexander, with his wife, Amal Clooney.

"She is gorgeous and funny and all of the things... She is the smartest person in every room she walks in," he says of his better half, whom he married in 2014. "I am always very proud to be standing next to her."

Though he's glad he waited to have kids, there are some struggles that come with being an older dad.

"I will be 60 this year," he explained of his May birthday. "There are times where [the kids] say, 'OK, now we are going to hop like a frog all the way to bed,' and I am like, 'I will hop a few. I don't know if I can go all of the way to the bedroom.'"

While Clooney admits that he's "not looking forward" to turning 60, the actor is hopeful about the year ahead, largely because of a potential COVID-19 vaccine.

"You never look forward to 60, [but] the alternative is dead, so I will take it," he quips. "I feel like we all should be looking forward to the idea that there is light at the end of this tunnel... By late spring, early summer we will probably be getting a lot more people vaccinated than just the essential workers, who have been amazing. So there is light at the end of this tunnel. You just want everyone to hang in there."

"It is tough, and it is brutal, and it's tough on the economy and all of that... but we are close," he continues. "We will be able to be in the same room again, the kids will be back at school... You will be able to see your family. I will be able to spend time with my mom and dad. I am looking forward to it."

Another thing he's looking forward to is the release of The Midnight Sky. The post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama, which was shot in Iceland and directed by Clooney, stars the dad of two as a lone scientist trying to contact a crew of astronauts who are returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe.

"Anybody who wants to talk about climate change and deny it, go to the places that are at the front lines of this, those places are melting at an insane rate... Places on the front lines will really tell you that and you feel that from everyone in Iceland," he says. "But, boy, it is a beautiful place to be."

The film's subject matter, Clooney says, made him think about the world we are leaving behind for future generations, including his own kids.

"When you are having children, it makes you [think] infinitely even more [about] what we are leaving them, what legacy we are leaving them, if we are going to deny science, if we are going to have a world of divisiveness and anger and hatred, not just in this country, but all around the world, and what those elements can lead to if they are allowed to fester," he says. "I certainly am aware of it when I am telling the story... It gets sort of put on steroids when you have kids."

The Midnight Sky will begin streaming on Netflix Dec. 23. The film will be available in select theaters beginning this month. Tune in to Entertainment Tonight on Wednesday for more of ET's interview with Clooney.