The story — about legendary CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow standing up to Sen. Joseph McCarthy at the height of the Red Scare — remained deeply personal to Clooney, whose father, Nick Clooney, was a journalist and news anchor.
He said he felt compelled to revisit the film the stage at a moment when its themes of press freedom, political intimidation and the responsibility of journalists to challenge those in power still strike a chord.
Clooney said the philosophy continues to shape both his activism and that of his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney.
“My wife and I spend a good portion of our lives trying to follow those same rules,” he said, pointing to people “born in a war zone,” suffering from hunger, women who are mistreated and imprisoned journalists. “Those people need some luck. And so our job is to be part of that solution.”
Four hours later, he found the two women sitting on the floor crying together. “I said, ‘You’re taking the case,’” Clooney recalled.
During the panel Clooney passionately also discussed the balance of power between an actor and his director.
“You know, an actor only affects it as much as the director decides,” Clooney continued. “I could change any actor’s performance as a director. I could cut them out, for that matter.”
“And I watched it. I was like: he cut me completely out. You’ll leave me in the last scene. My God, I look like an asshole.”
He also told the room packed with aspiring actors and filmmakers that success in Hollywood depends partly on luck — but that they can also manufacture some of their own. “You have to end up being the right person in the right place at the right time,” he said. “You can create a lot of that luck.”
“There is just a moment where something works. But you gotta keep chasing it,” Clooney said. “You gotta be out there and available and go, you know, ‘I’m your guy.’”
Clooney also struck a philosophical note as he remembered, with visible emotion, the death of his sister from cancer last year and how being with her in her final moments.
“She died very quickly, and I was with her when she died. And there was this feeling, being with her, holding her hand when she died, understanding how brief all of this is. It was minutes ago that she and I were little kids together; Minutes ago we were holding hands as little kids,” he said.
“Time goes fast. All of this. And so we have to find nothing but joy,” he continued.
