George Clooney: «I was a sex object at the beginning of my career»

It resembles a #MeToo cry from movie star George Clooney in a recent interview with the Washington Post. The actor allegedly claimed to have been victim of sexual objectification early in his career. «Honestly, I felt used and made an object. They used to slap me on the butt while filming Roseanne (a sitcom that aired from 1988 to 1998),” Clooney revealed.

The American actor and director was interviewed at the Kennedy Center Honors, an annual awards ceremony in the United States for outstanding contributions to the arts and culture. George Clooney also received a Lifetime Achievement Award in the presence of President Joe Bidenalong with singer-songwriter Amy Grant, singer Gladys Knight, composer Tania León and rock band U2.

Clooney recalled the bad feelings he had at the beginning of his career, when his body and his person were the object of commodification, even sexual: “I should have made myself count more”, he reproaches himself. The actor said his turning point came with his 2005 film, Good Night, and Good Luckfor him second film as a director, for which he received the Osella award for best screenplay and the Volpi Cup for best male performance at the Venice Film Festival that year, as well as six Oscar nominations.

On the occasion of the award, Clooney also spoke to the Washington Post about his cinematic present and future. «I chose to spend more time with my wife Amal and my children, who are still small (the twins Ella and Alexander, 5 years old)» he declared – «Amal and I have often found ourselves making talks about age lately. In the end I’m already 61 years old. In twenty years many of the things I do now will not be possible. For this reason the star has decided to devote himself more to acting jobs and less to those who see him in the role of director: «Having roles in films is a much easier job than directing them. This way I will be able to spend much more time with my family.