{"id":1036543,"date":"2026-09-01T07:55:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T07:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1036543\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T07:55:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T07:55:16","slug":"george-clooneys-venice-story-from-out-of-sight-to-a-lifetime-achievement-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1036543\/","title":{"rendered":"George Clooney’s Venice Story: From ‘Out of Sight’ to a Lifetime Achievement Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

VENICE, Italy (AP) \u2014 George Clooney<\/a> just makes sense in Venice.<\/p>\n

Like many people, he considers it one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Unlike most, however, he also owns a 15-bedroom villa a few hours away on Lake Como that famously co-starred in \u201cOcean\u2019s Twelve.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the nearly 30 years since he attended his first Venice Film Festival<\/a> with \u201cOut of Sight,\u201d he\u2019s become something of a fixture. It\u2019s a place where he\u2019s enjoyed many significant moments, from his wedding at the Aman Venice to the debut of \u201cGood Night, and Good Luck,\u201d which earned him his first Oscar nomination for best director.<\/p>\n

Last year he attended with \u201cJay Kelly,\u201d in which he plays a movie star who travels to Italy<\/a> for a lifetime achievement award. Life will imitate art this year as Clooney receives the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement Award on the festival\u2019s opening day.<\/p>\n

Here is a look back at some of Clooney\u2019s most memorable Venice moments.<\/p>\n

1998: \u2018Out of Sight\u2019<\/p>\n

As legend has it, Clooney\u2019s long term love affair with Venice began with the festival\u2019s premiere of Steven Soderbergh\u2019s Elmore Leonard<\/a> adaptation \u201cOut of Sight.\u201d Then 37 and doing press alongside Jennifer Lopez, the actor would also make another big jump soon: Leaving \u201cER\u201d the following February.<\/p>\n

2003: \u2018Intolerable Cruelty\u2019<\/p>\n

This Coen brothers joint, co-starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, premiered out of competition at the 60th Venice Film Festival, alongside titles like \u201cMatchstick Men,\u201d \u201cOnce Upon a Time in Mexico\u201d and \u201cThe Dreamers.\u201d Clooney\u2019s nearby Italian residence was already as famous as him, and a stakeout spot for amateur and professional paparazzi.<\/p>\n

In a profile that fall, while shooting \u201cOcean\u2019s Twelve,\u201d Vanity Fair writer Ned Zeman observed: \u201cThat an affable, self-effacing Kentucky-born Hollywood actor is fast becoming the most popular public figure in Italy says a little about Italy and a lot about Clooney, who isn\u2019t Italian, doesn\u2019t speak Italian, and lives here only in summertime.\u201d<\/p>\n

2005: \u2018Good Night, and Good Luck\u2019<\/p>\n

Clooney\u2019s acclaimed black-and-white dramatization of journalist Edward R. Murrow\u2019s clash with Joseph McCarthy began its successful run in competition at the 62nd Venice Film Festival. Though it lost the Golden Lion to Ang Lee\u2019s \u201cBrokeback Mountain,\u201d<\/a> it did go on to pick up six Oscar<\/a> nominations including for Clooney\u2019s directing.<\/p>\n

During the trip, he also inspired a cocktail still served at the ritzy Hotel Cipriani on Giudecca. One night he retreated to the hotel\u2019s Bar Gabbiano where his friend, the legendary bar manager Walter Bolzonella, mixed him a drink of lemon, sugar, vodka, cranberry juice, ginger and Angostura bitters and named it Buona Notte in honor of the film. The two would later name a prosecco, passionfruit and elderflower cocktail La Nina after Clooney\u2019s mother, which was served at his wedding.<\/p>\n

2007: \u2018Michael Clayton\u2019<\/p>\n

Tony Gilroy\u2019s \u201cMichael Clayton,\u201d which nabbed Clooney an Oscar nomination for his turn as the titular law firm fixer, played in competition at Venice. The top prize went again to an Ang Lee film: \u201cLust, Caution,\u201d which also beat out the likes of \u201cI\u2019m Not There,\u201d \u201cAtonement\u201d and \u201cThe Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.\u201d<\/p>\n

2008: \u2018Burn After Reading\u2019<\/p>\n

This Coen brothers<\/a> comedy featuring Clooney and Brad Pitt<\/a> opted to debut out of competition in the opening night slot. Clooney said it completed his \u201ctrilogy of idiots\u201d for the Coens, following \u201cIntolerable Cruelty\u201d and \u201cO Brother, Where Art Thou?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking at the parts we are playing, I\u2019m very concerned about what you think of us,\u201d Clooney said at the press conference. Pitt, who\u2019d won the festival\u2019s acting prize the year prior, added: \u201cLike George \u2026 I\u2019m not sure if I should be flattered or insulted.\u201d<\/p>\n

2011: \u2018The Ides of March\u2019<\/p>\n

Another opening night, out of competition slot debut for this Clooney-directed campaign thriller starring Ryan Gosling and Philip Seymour Hoffman<\/a>. As usual, Clooney was peppered with political questions in which he observed that, \u201cIt\u2019s a very difficult time to govern.\u201d<\/p>\n

2013: \u2018Gravity\u2019<\/p>\n

Alfonso Cuar\u00f3n\u2019s<\/a> \u201cGravity\u201d opened the 70th edition of the Venice Film Festival before going on to win seven Oscars. Clooney, of course, attended the premiere alongside Sandra Bullock and he was self-deprecating about his role: \u201cThere were only two parts and Sandy had the other one, so I felt like this was the only one I could get away with.\u201d<\/p>\n

2014: George and Amal get married<\/p>\n

Venice\u2019s canals were packed with paparazzi for the wedding of one of Hollywood\u2019s favorite bachelors. On Sept. 27, Clooney, then 53, and Amal Alamuddin, then 36, exchanged vows in front of 100 of their closest friends and family, including Bono and Matt Damon, at the luxury hotel Aman Grand Canal, originally a grand palazzo built in 1550. She wore a custom Oscar de la Renta dress, of French lace, pearls and diamant\u00e9 accents. He wore a black wool\/cashmere Giorgio Armani<\/a> tuxedo.<\/p>\n

2017: \u2018Suburbicon\u2019<\/p>\n

Clooney returned to the festival with another of his directing projects, \u201cSuburbicon,\u201d a dark comedic satire<\/a> about a seemingly idyllic 1950s community with Damon and Julianne Moore. This festival was especially notable for it being the Clooneys\u2019 first public appearance since the birth of their twins<\/a>, Alexander and Ella, a few months prior.<\/p>\n

2023: Spotlight on Amal<\/p>\n

This time George was the plus one to Amal<\/a>, who was receiving an award from the Diane von Furstenberg and The Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation for her work as a human rights lawyer. The power couple gave the festival some much-needed star power amid the actors\u2019 strike with an appearance at the adjacent DVF Awards. \u201cI am here in Venice with my husband; he is a rising star,\u201d she said that night. \u201cI just wanted to say, you, my love, like this city, take my breath away.\u201d<\/p>\n

2024: \u2018Wolfs\u2019<\/p>\n

Clooney and Pitt reunited for the Jon Watts action comedy \u201cWolfs,\u201d<\/a> which played out of competition. But the spotlight was less on the film and more on the off-screen drama of the Apple TV-produced film only getting a limited theatrical release, and his then-recent New York Times op-ed<\/a> urging U.S. President Joe Biden to end his reelection bid.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe person who should be applauded is the president who did the most selfless thing anyone\u2019s done since George Washington,\u201d Clooney said. \u201cAll the machinations that got us there, none of that\u2019s going to be remembered. And it shouldn\u2019t be. What should be remembered is the selfless act.\u201d<\/p>\n

2025: \u2018Jay Kelly\u2019<\/p>\n

In \u201cJay Kelly,\u201d<\/a> Clooney played a very Clooney-esque movie star on a self-reflective journey through Europe. He was absent from the press conference with co-stars Laura Dern, Adam Sandler and Billy Crudup due to a sinus infection, but he rallied for the red carpet premiere, cutting a glamorous figure with Amal by his side.<\/p>\n

During the making of \u201cJay Kelly,\u201d filmmaker Noah Baumbach had to put together a montage of that character\u2019s career, which would play during a tribute ceremony. While it\u2019s well-established that Clooney is definitely not Jay Kelly, in this case, he was. The montage was made entirely from Clooney\u2019s own films \u2014 a surprise to the actor who had no idea what was coming when he sat down in the theater to film the movie\u2019s last scene.<\/p>\n

Clooney was taken aback, first by all the \u201cbad haircuts\u201d and then by the realization of just how much time had passed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a line in this film, \u2018All my memories are movies,\u2019\u201d Clooney told the AP. \u201cThat\u2019s not true with me. But my memories of movies are not the scenes or the movie. It\u2019s the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWhat a lucky life I\u2019ve lived.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

For ongoing coverage of the 2026 Venice Film Festival, visit: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/venice-film-festival<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VENICE, Italy (AP) \u2014 George Clooney just makes sense in Venice. Like many people, he considers it one…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1036544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[16483,343268,29735,324083,2122,156070,61260,1043,89091,185,118447,227719,313449,171,22016,57,13615,59915,83137,2219,74367,52527,256815,82,185364,414755,32747,49069,414753,49626,53,414756,74604,65815,157612,113141,23898,17345,58211,388072,61,67,132,68,414754,107],"class_list":["post-1036543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-adam-sandler","tag-alfonso-cuaron","tag-amal-clooney","tag-ang-lee","tag-arts-and-entertainment","tag-billy-crudup","tag-bono","tag-brad-pitt","tag-catherine-zeta-jones","tag-celebrities","tag-diane-von-furstenberg","tag-edward-r-murrow","tag-elmore-leonard","tag-entertainment","tag-fairs-and-festivals","tag-general-news","tag-george-clooney","tag-george-washington","tag-giorgio-armani","tag-italy","tag-jay-kelly","tag-jennifer-lopez","tag-jesse-james","tag-joe-biden","tag-joseph-mccarthy","tag-julianne-moore","tag-laura-dern","tag-matt-damon","tag-michael-clayton","tag-movie-premieres","tag-movies","tag-ned-zeman","tag-noah-baumbach","tag-oscar-de-la-renta","tag-philip-seymour-hoffman","tag-robert-ford","tag-ryan-gosling","tag-sandra-bullock","tag-steven-soderbergh","tag-tony-gilroy","tag-u-s-news","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-walter-bolzonella","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1036543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1036543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1036543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1036544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1036543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1036543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1036543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}