GEORGE CLOONEY Responds to QUENTIN TARANTINO's Claim That He's NOT a Movie Star

George Clooney has a few colorful words to say about director Quentin Tarantino, sparking some lively banter between the two Hollywood heavyweights.

In a recent interview with GQ, published on Tuesday, Clooney expressed his irritation with Tarantino, commenting on a statement the director made about him. "Quentin said some stuff about me recently, so I’m a little irritated by him,” Clooney shared during the interview, which he gave alongside his "Wolfs" co-star, Brad Pitt.

Clooney explained that Tarantino had participated in an interview where he was discussing who he considered being movie stars. When Clooney's name came up, the "Pulp Fiction" director remarked that, in his opinion, Clooney is "not a movie star."

"All right, dude, forget it," Clooney humorously responded, with Pitt, a frequent collaborator with Tarantino, laughing in the background. "I don’t mind giving him a hard time. He gave me some," Clooney continued.

The "Gravity" star was likely referring to a conversation that Deadline columnist Baz Bamigboye had with Tarantino at the Cannes Film Festival, which Bamigboye recalled in a 2023 column. During their discussion, Tarantino mentioned several actors, including Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Charlize Theron, and Denzel Washington, as fitting the movie star mold. However, when Clooney's name came up, Tarantino commented, "Well, it’s been a long while since I think George Clooney has drawn anybody to an audience... When was his last hit where he drew an audience?"

Clooney, who worked with Tarantino on an early episode of "ER" in 1995 before they co-starred in the Tarantino-penned "From Dusk Till Dawn" the following year, has recently focused more on producing and directing rather than acting. However, with films like "Wolfs," premiering in September, and an upcoming Noah Baumbach-directed movie he just completed filming, Clooney explained why he's shifting back to acting.

"It takes a year on the road to direct, and now my kids are at a certain age. We’re not going to uproot them from school and travel around," Clooney said in the GQ interview. "Before, they could just come with us, and we'd all go. But that's different now. So I'm going to focus on other things, like acting."

Clooney and his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, share seven-year-old twins, Ella and Alexander.

Despite the back-and-forth with Tarantino, Clooney emphasized that there is no animosity between them. In the GQ interview, he expressed gratitude for the opportunities he and Pitt have had to work with some of the best filmmakers in Hollywood, including Tarantino.

"But no, look, we’re really lucky we got to work with these great directors," Clooney concluded. "Director and screenplay is what keeps you alive."

[danielfox]

Tarantino just never shuts up. His very favorite person to listen to is himself.