George Clooney got a little bit heated at a press conference on Thursday in Berlin for his new film “Hail, Caesar!”; when he was questioned by a reporter about his dedication to global politics. During the panel discussion, Clooney was asked in detail what he was doing, beyond making movies, to ease Europe’s ongoing refugee crisis — but the actor wasn’t having it.
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In response to the accusation, an annoyed Clooney said: “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 continued: “I have gone to places that are very dangerous and I work a lot on these things.”;
The actor and activist then took the focus off of himself, and brought it onto the film community.
“The unfortunate thing about the film community is we react to situations much more than lead the way,”; he said. “News stories have to continue to happen, and then scripts are written and then it takes a couple of years before people are actually making films about them. It’s also very difficult to just make a subject film – you have to have a reason, characters and a reason to make it. I’ve often struggled with the idea of trying to find ways to make a film about the Sudan and Darfur, which is something that is very close to me and where I’ve spent a lot of time, but I haven’t been able to find the proper venue, the proper script yet, to be able to do it. It’s a tough thing to do. I appreciate your wanting those stories told. I think they need to be told. I think they’re best told right now in the news media. I think it’s not told enough, certainly in our country it’s not told enough and not talked about enough.”;
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Clooney added that he is meeting with German chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday to discuss these problems, and to see what can be done in the future.