The Descendants director Alexander Payne and actor George Clooney (pictured, left and right) first met while the director was casting Sideways in 2003, but nothing came of that.

A few years later they met again in an Italian restaurant in Toronto, Canada, and Payne sent over the script for The Descendants. Straight off the shoot of The American, Clooney put on a couple of kilos, grew his hair and they were shooting four months later…

Alexander, the author of the novel The Descendants, Kaui Hart Hemmings, said she always imagined George as Matt King – was that in your mind as you were writing?

AP: Yes, it was. When I decided to adapt it I called her to ask a few questions including, ‘Is there any actor in your mind’s eye who could play Matt?’ She said, ‘George Clooney,’ right off the bat. I said, ‘Great, let’s get him.’

What was it about George that you found particularly suited?

GC: Besides my hair.

AP: I had long wanted to work with him. Everyone who works with him talks about what a delight he is. This was the perfect opportunity to confirm that. Those Hawaii guys, the guys in the book, are handsome, like him. One could also believe, given his looks, that he has some distant Hawaiian blood.

Descriptions of your roles are often prefaced, ‘in a departure from his usual heart-throb roles’, but it’s rare that you play a heart-throb – you’ve played quite a few men in mid-life crisis…

GC: It’s the funniest thing. I get people saying, ‘Surprisingly not bad in this film…’ When are you gonna stop being surprised? There are certain assumptions, due to earlier role choices in my career, so I will always have those skeletons. Some will say, ‘He only plays himself.’

AP: Have you ever been bad in a film?

GC: Yeah, I was bad in Batman & Robin. I wasn’t particularly good in The Peacemaker. I didn’t really understand what I was trying to do. I was playing at being bad-ass. Those guys don’t do that: they just are the bad-asses. I made mistakes like that.

AP: But that was a long time ago. Nobody throws Every Which Way But Loose at Clint Eastwood any more…

The film also deals with grieving. Do you remember when you first became aware of the idea of death?

GC: I was raised Catholic, so death is an open casket. It’s a very real thing. I actually think it’s sort of barbaric, but I understand the theory of it, which is, you have to see them dead. You have to let that sit with you. I actually don’t like it because the last picture I have of my grandparents is an open casket that doesn’t look like them.

I also think being with my Uncle George, who I was close to, and holding his hand – he had lung cancer – when he died changed me fundamentally.

I was on a show I didn’t like. I was in a relationship that didn’t work and I was holding his hand and he had just kept saying, ‘What a waste, what a waste…’

I think he was talking about smoking. But he had had a life. When he was a young man he was a star basketball player, he was a bomber pilot. He was dating Miss America.

He was a bad alcoholic. And I remember watching, realising that the moment he died he didn’t look like himself at all.

People have said that before, but it’s really true. He really looked very different. And I also remember thinking at that moment, I’m not gonna be 68 or 70 years old and be laying somewhere saying, ‘What a waste.’ At the very least it’s gonna be foot on the gas pedal all the way. As fast and as hard as I can. So, if I get hit by a bus tomorrow, you go, ‘Well, you jammed a lot in 50 years.’

Was working with child actors on this material a challenge? How did you get them under control and at ease?

AP: The better part of two weeks, before we started shooting, I encouraged them to hang out. We did a bit of hanging out together. I took the actors to be familiar with the locations before we shot there. Just hanging out and having meals. They’re all eager to form some sort of bond as well so that it does show up on screen.

GC: Shailene was an extraordinary part of that. She corralled the little one (Amara Miller). Made her her little sister. She really created this thing. She was easy for me because I could walk over and go, ‘Hey, kidda, how’s it going?’ and she’s such a together indi- vidual. It was easy. Then she brought Amara in and made it a real family.

AP: Even between takes making sure Amara – the 10-year-old – was not losing focus. It was up to Shailene to keep her focused. I don’t have time to babysit the little one!

GC: And I don’t have any interest in it! (laughs)

How would you describe each other?

GC: About the same age…

AP: About four months younger.

GC: Forgetting what he represents to the film community, which is substantial, I find him to be a very good friend. Not just in the film community, but in life.

AP: I had heard for years what a delight he was to work with. That was confirmed. I feel the same way about our growing friendship. We have very different lives. He’s spread out all over the globe, he’s in constant motion, but when we do intersect it’s always meaningful and delightful. He’s also irritatingly accomplished at everything he does. Making a film, acting, his humanitarian work, the way in which he’s a friend, how he manages his career, his athletic ability. Here’s a compliment: I think he’s one of the most successful human beings who have ever lived.

GC: That’s a compliment!

AP: I think it’s true.

GC: Oh, he’s just saying that.

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