Summary
- George Clooney reflects on difficult time working with director David O. Russell, says it’s not worth the misery.
- Clooney and Russell previously worked together on
Three Kings
. - Clooney’s quarrel with the director is not unique, for there is a history of complaints against Russell.
George Clooney speaks on his infamous feud with Hollywood director David O. Russell. Russell and Clooney worked together on the film Three Kings back in 1999, which was a dark comedy about the Persian Gulf War wherein four soldiers seek to steal back gold that was stolen from them in Kuwait. In addition to Clooney, Three Kings featured a leading cast including Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, Spike Jonze, Cliff Curtis, and Nora Dunn. Three Kings was well-regarded upon its release, and received a Critics Choice Awards nomination for Best Picture.
Speaking with GQ, Clooney references his feud with Russell. Clooney began by talking more generally about “time allotment,” and how he is more discerning about what kind of time he will dedicate to projects nowadays. He then escalated his statement to say that gone are the days when he would be complacent having “a miserable fuck like David O. Russell making [his] life hell.” He said work like this was “not worth it” at “this point in [his] life,” even if the end product film may be good. Check out the full quote from Clooney below:
People who like what they do. Like, you were talking about time allotment. The older you get, time allotment is very different. Five months out of your life is a lot. And so it’s not just like, “Oh, I’m going to go do a really good film, like Three Kings, and I’m going to have a miserable fuck like David O. Russell making my life hell. Making every person on the crew’s life hell.” It’s not worth it. Not at this point in my life. Just to have a good product.
David O. Russell’s Controversial Directorial History Explained
The Director Has Gotten Complaints Before
Clooney’s recent commentary about Russell comes years after his fight with the Three Kings director was publicly revealed. After Russell was reportedly saying demeaning things towards extras on the set of Three Kings, Clooney allegedly got into a physical altercation with the director. Said altercation was publicized in a 2000 Playboy article, wherein Clooney referred to his Three Kings filming as “the worst experience of [his] life.” The actor has since gone on to try to make ammends with Russell, but clearly not enough to want to work with him again.
Clooney’s feud with Russell is far from the only time that the director has received flack for something he did on set. In a video from the set of I Heart Huckabees, Russell is seen verbally abusing Lily Tomlin. The director’s intensity, often to a fault, has been noted on numerous occasions, and the run-in with Tomlin has led some to assert that the director might also be sexist. Margot Robbie also mentioned that Russell overworked actors on the set of Amsterdam, refusing to call cut, and extending production hours.
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Despite the multiple instances of misbehavior, Russell’s films remain celebrated. The director has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Director three times, for The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, and American Hustle. Russell did not burn every bridge along the way in the manner he did with Clooney, because he has had some repeat collaborators, including Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, and Jennifer Lawrence. Still, it is disheartening to know how consistently awful such a huge director like Russell treats his cast and crew.
Source: GQ