George Clooney with his classic old-Hollywood leading man good looks was once dubbed the sexiest man alive byPeople.
He has also proven himself to be one of the most talented actors working today.
However, before all of his success, Clooney seemed like an unlikely candidate for Hollywood fame.
Growing up in Kentucky, the young Clooney had a modest upbringing and few acting opportunities.
He eventually earned eight Oscar nominations across all disciplines.
Want to learn more about this Hollywood legend’s journey?
Here is the stunning transformation of George Clooney.
His father was a TV journalist and his mother was a former beauty pageant contestant, perIMDb.
His aunt was the famous actress from “White Christmas,” Rosemary Clooney.
As Clooney toldThe Guardian, he always felt famous thanks to his father’s fame.
Apparently, children would stare at him in school.
“So that made my sister and me really visible.
Everybody knew us, talked about us.
His family’s theatrical genes also meant that Clooney was raised to be performative.
In most ways, however, Clooney’s childhood was unremarkable.
“But we all worshipped her and I loved the idea of Hollywood I’d dream about it!”
Even so, Clooney didn’t initially feel drawn to acting as a potential career.
“I didn’t even want to be an actor,” he toldEsquire.
In fact, he ended up making his first movie because of a bizarre fluke.
“I was just hanging out with my cousin, [actor Miguel Ferrer],” he recalled.
Ferrer was in Kentucky making the horse-racing movie “And They’re Off.”
Clooney rented his car to the production for $50 a day and took on an extra role.
The next thing he knew, Ferrer was asking him to come to LA to pursue acting.
“I had just spent the summer cutting tobacco, which is a miserable job,” Clooney said.
“So that’s what made me move to Hollywood.”
Naturally, it took some time before the actor broke into the industry.
So, what was Clooney like as a young actor in auditions?
“I was a big props guy,” he toldW Magazine.
It was for ‘Family Ties.’
I didn’t get the job, so clearly it didn’t work.”
As the actor toldW Magazine, “‘ER’ changed my life.”
“There were six of us who were thrown into the stratosphere.
It was life-changing for all of us.”
He was also eager to play a smaller character who didn’t have to carry the show.
“The show itself was spectacular,” Clooney said, explaining the reason for its success.
“The ensemble, they were so good.”
Clearly, Clooney made the right choice when he decided to join the cast.
He recalled a time when he was walking through an airport with Mel Gibson.
Being on TV, Clooney noted, meant that fans felt more comfortable approaching him.
His first film was “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” in 2002.
For Clooney, the world of directing offered more opportunities to exercise creativity and control.
“In acting, you have to listen to the director.
So it’s fun to be the boss.
By the way, directing is something you might do when you get old and fat.
So, believe me, directing is the way to go.
It’s actually much more creative.
All kidding aside, it’s actually a very creative place to be.”
While filming the movie “Syriana,” someone happened to kick a chair he was sitting in.
When he fell, he tore his dura mater, which holds the spinal fluid.
For the next few months, Clooney was in pain that was severe enough to make him consider suicide.
“I was at a point where I thought, ‘I can’t exist like this.
I can’t actually live,'” the actor told Rolling Stone (viaHuffington Post).
And eventually, it worked the pain vanished, and for Clooney, it was like “euphoria.”
“Brad’s going to be upset,” he joked at the time.
“There’s a lot of pressure,” he joked.
“There are all the events you have to show up for.
The sash you have to wear is embarrassing.”
It seems like Clooney enjoyed receiving the award.
I’m lobbying for a third one; no one’s ever won three."
“I campaigned for a guy for governor when I was 13 years old.
In another discussion withInterviewmagazine, he spoke about how being a liberal from Kentucky wasn’t always easy.
And I just keep going back to the idea that, yeah, I’m a liberal.
I believe in all the qualities of being a liberal.”
As the actor went on to explain, aging in Hollywood isn’t always easy.
You have to constantly be looking forward."
And there were no rubber suits in sight.
But then he metAmal Clooney(nee Alamuddin) in 2013.
As the actor toldDavid Letterman, his agent introduced the pair.
Even though Clooney had never thought he’d marry, that changed when he met Amal.
“She was brilliant and funny and beautiful and kind.
I was sort of swept off my feet.”
“We are really happy and really excited.
“We’ve sort of embraced it all … with arms wide open” (viaCNN).
Becoming a father at 56 wasn’t always easy for the actor.
But fatherhood was filled with positives for the actor, too.
Apparently, it was teaching his kids how to play pranks on their mother.
“My whole job, really, is to teach them terrible things,” Clooney toldET.
“I really do enjoy teaching my children to do things that shock their mother.”
It seems that Clooney never stopped being the class clown.
However, for the actor, aging hasn’t exactly been welcomed.
“Turning 60 is a bummer,” he said.
“But it’s that or dead.”
“I said to Amal, knock on wood, I’m healthy,” he said.
“I still play basketball with the younger gang.
But in 20 years I’m 80 and 80 is a real number.”
For the rest of his life, Clooney said, he plans on focusing on what matters to him.
