"She's Dumb"--George Clooney Talks Politics

"She's Dumb"-George Clooney talks Politics

By Jennifer Merin

George Clooney's recovering from a big night: Walter Cronkite hosted a screening of his new movie Good Night, and Good Luck for Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Morley Safer, Brian Williams and Nick Clooney (George's TV anchorman dad). Receiving the newsmen's praise was more gratifying to him than any rave review.

"It was a fun night, and I drank," confides the director/writer/star, gracious as ever, despite his self-proclaimed hangover. "I'm thrilled they like the film."

The movie, written and directed by Clooney, is about journalist Edward R. Murrow and how his pioneering CBS News investigative team discredited Senator Joseph P. McCarthy and his anti-Communist witch hunt.

"I grew up with the story," says Clooney. "My dad, who went after OPEC for raising gas prices and Gerald Ford for pardoning Richard Nixon, believed it's your responsibility-not just your right-to question authority."

Merin: Did your dad advise you about the film?

Clooney: He told me to get the facts right-because if I got anything wrong, the film would be marginalized. They'd say it's all horseshit-throw it all out. My dad was first to see the completed film. He patted me on the back, and said "you got it right."

Merin: How did you choose Strathairn to play Murrow, and why did you use actual McCarthy footage, instead of casting an actor in that role?

Clooney: For Murrow, I needed someone who seems to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. David's that actor in everything he does. We'd never met, but I thought he was the right guy and called to ask if he'd like to play Murrow. He said (Clooney imitates Strathairn), "Yeah, I'll do it.'

We met six months later, when he arrived in Los Angeles for work. Three days before shooting began, he did the camera test-and was exactly right as Murrow. You feel he's carrying democracy uphill. Regarding McCarthy, we wanted to do what Murrow did-let him speak. If you see McCarthy saying it, you can't question our accuracy. Besides, it's so hard to believe someone would behave the way McCarthy did, even if you had an actor playing him perfectly, everyone would say you're making him too much of a buffoon.

Merin: Was it difficult to get the footage?

Clooney: It was in CBS' archives. Grant (Heslov, co-writer, producer, co-star as Don Hewitt) watched footage for 35 days straight to find what we needed. Some was kinescope, some 16mm, some 35 mm. Some needed restoration. We intended to shoot black and white, but didn't want matching film stock-the way it is in Forrest Gump, as though we were making what we shot look real. We cheated a bit in that whenever McCarthy appears, he's projected on a wall or a television screen-further distinguishing original footage from ours.

Merin: How'd original footage influence the script?

Clooney: We had an outline framed by Murrow's "Box of lights and wires" Speech-my dad used to stand on a chair and do that speech (and Shakespeare) for me when I was ten. The footage informed our dialog and structure, and revealed Murrow's dry sense of humor. But we didn't rely on footage alone, we double-sourced everything-like my dad used to do. We read books criticizing Murrow, too, so we understood arguments used against him. We anticipated fights, thought we should address all issues.

Merin: McCarthy played on fears. Does our climate of fear expose us to renewed McCarthyism? Is the media behaving responsibly?

Clooney: I saw teeth in the way media handled Katrina-but this administration is the first in a long time that gets to take a pass on responsibility and to hide behind patriotism. As we were waltzing into war, few people-especially our Senators-asked tough questions. When some actors were hit hard we answered honestly and were called traitors, I thought, for a moment, McCarthyism was at play-but the difference is nobody was called before the House or Senate for investigations. There's no blacklist. It's nowhere near as powerful and dangerous. But civil liberties-eroding groundwork is being laid-the Patriot Act is of concern.

Every 30 years, something happens and we panic. Pearl Harbor-we put Japanese-Americans in detention camps. Russia tests nuclear bombs, we start Senate and House investigations of peoples' personal lives. After 9/11, it wasn't fun to be Muslim-American in the US-it's not great to be detained for years, then set free because there's no evidence against you. Not very democratic, really. But the beauty is, we come to our senses, and fix it. But if you say having ideas and talking about them makes you unpatriotic, I'll call you on that. I don't have answers. I like the debate.

Merin: The Murrow and McCarthy debate is ongoing. What do you say to people claiming McCarthy was right?

Clooney: They're inspiration for making the film. Ann Coulter, for example. The thing about her is-unfortunately-she's dumb. That's an easy call-if someone's offended, I don't care. She couldn't get her facts right if they hit her in the forehead-claiming we know Annie Lee Moss ("defendant," appearing in the film in original footage) was a spy, that Murrow didn't do his job and was a bad reporter and that McCarthy was right! Well, we don't know Annie Lee Moss was a spy. More importantly, Murrow, who never defended her, said regarding Annie Lee Moss, "You will note that neither the Senator nor this reporter knows or claims that Annie Lee Moss is or is not a Communist." Murrow simply demanded her right to face her accuser.

That's a constitutional issue-one that Murrow was always right about.

Merin: Does Hollywood owe apologies to people who were blacklisted?

Clooney: Hollywood's best apologies are doing films like The Crucible, or Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? during the civil rights movement, or the The Young Lions after World War II, or this film now. That's a better way of apologizing than just sending a letter. But there are plenty of things to apologize for here and around the globe.