George Clooney's eyelids "froze shut" while shooting 'The Midnight Sky'.

The 59-year-old star plays a scientist who tries to warn astronauts away from an Earth that is now inhabitable and a scene where he was separated from his young daughter was shot in a real Arctic snowstorm, and the actor - who also directed the film - admitted the gruelling conditions meant filming was a very slow process because they kept having to stop to thaw out his face.

George said: "That was the very first week of shooting.

"We were in Iceland, so we went out, it's 40° below zero and it's 70-, 80-mile-an-hour wind gusts. And I was doing stuff without goggles, so my eyelids would freeze shut after about a little over a minute. And so, I could only do a take for that long, then I'd have to go in and they'd take a blow dryer and get my eyelashes open so I could go back out."

The 'Up in the Air' star doesn't often take on acting roles these days, but he couldn't resist when he first saw the script for 'The Midnight Sky'.

Asked what was so compelling about the movie that he wanted to act and direct, he told 'CBS Sunday Morning': "I saw the part and I thought, well, this is a really great part. And then I had an idea of how to tell the story, and so, I called up Netflix and said, 'You know, I think I have a take on it.'"

George is known for his self-deprecating humour and he admitted he pokes fun at himself a lot before other people get the chance to do so.

He said: "I think it's in my nature. I think, you know, a lot of times the secret is, you take the gun outta their hands before they can shoot you.

"I think that's a healthy way of looking at the world. There's a line in a movie called 'Out of the Past.' Robert Mitchum says, 'I never learned anything from hearing myself talk.' It's kind of a good measure to go by."