Clooney was asked a question about his activism over the European migrant crisis, to which he visibly bristled.
George Clooney lost his composure at a press conference at the Berlin Film Festival this week when a reporter questioned him about his activism on Europe’s growing refugee crisis.
In the interview on Thursday (February 11th) to promote his new movie Hail, Caesar!, 54 year old Clooney snapped back at a member of the press who asked him what he was doing other than make movies and meet politicians to ease the refugee crisis that’s affected Europe for the last 12 months.
George Clooney with Tilda Swinton and Alden Ehrenreich
“I spend a lot of time working on these things, and it's an odd thing to have someone stand up and say, 'What do you do?' That's fine, knock yourself out,” he bristled visibly when the Mexican journalist grilled him. “I have gone to places that are very dangerous and I work a lot on these things. I’d like to know what you are doing to help the situation?” he finished his outburst.
Joel Coen, director of Hail, Caesar! along with his brother Ethan, backed him up on this. “Does it make sense to say, 'You're a public figure, tell these stories — why aren't you telling them?' It's a funny question, frankly.”
More: ‘Hail, Caesar!’ was a bonding moment between George Clooney and Channing Tatum
Clooney, who is attending the Berlin Film Festival with his wife Amal, has been outspoken on a number of international and political issues for some time. He was one of the most visible faces as Hollywood sought to highlight the Darfur crisis a decade ago, and is going to meet German chancellor Angela Merkel in the coming days to talk about policy on the current issue.
He was asked whether there would ever be a sequel to his popular thriller Syriana (2005), which dealt with similar issues, he admitted that such a project was a long way off. “There's a lot that has gone wrong, and we all know there's a lot of conversations that should be had and continue to be had.”
“The unfortunate thing about the film community is we react to situations much more than we lead the way,” said Clooney about how long it takes for scripts to get written and movies to get made. “I've often struggled to make a film about Sudan, about Darfur, a subject that's very close to me. But I haven't been able to find the proper script.”
More: George Clooney stars in one-man ‘E.R.’ reunion for Jimmy Kimmel
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