March 18, 2008

After the critical acclaim of his last directorial effort, "Good Night, and Good Luck," George Clooney wasn't really thrilled with the films that studios were pitching him. Most were "issue films," such as the adaptation of Richard Clarke's book "Against All Enemies" or the Valerie Plame story. Instead, he decided to tackle "Leatherheads," a period romantic comedy about the early days of professional football. Doing double duty wasn't the ideal situation for Clooney, but he had his reasons.

"The truth is, I did it because this was a part for a long, long, long time I wanted to play and I thought I was the right guy to play it," says Clooney, looking trimmer than he has in years. "And I also thought, 'I'm 46. If I don't do it now, I'm done. This is my last shot at it.'"

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Candid as ever, Clooney didn't realize how prophetic he'd been until he began shooting the football scenes.

"The first day I got hit by some 21-year-old who knocked me on my ass and I was like, 'OK, I'm in trouble because I have four more months of this,'" Clooney says. "I would never, by design, [direct] a film that I would play the lead in ever again. It was one of those things where it all came together very quickly, but it was a dumb move in some ways. It was a little too much to take on."

"Leatherheads" finds Clooney playing "Dodge" Connelly, the owner and star player of the Duluth Bulldogs who convinces the nation's star college player and war hero, Carter Rutherford (a fantastic John Krasinski), to take the unusual step, at the time, of going pro. Mixing things up is a leggy Chicago Tribune reporter, played by Renee Zellweger, who has been told to get the scoop on Rutherford's military past but ends up falling for both players instead.

One of the most charming aspects of the film is the witty and rocket-fire dialogue between Clooney and Zellweger that was inspired by classic films such as "The Philadelphia Story" and "The More the Merrier." Clooney knew, though, that he had to find the right actors to make it work. He notes, "There are some actors who feel like it's just 2008 no matter what you do. With someone like John or someone like Renee, they are actors who don't feel contemporary, which is important."

Authenticity was key to all aspects of the production, and, not surprisingly, field conditions were drastically different 80 years ago than they are in today's high-tech stadiums. So, for the big game at the end of the film, mud took a very prominent role.

"It was all sort of funny the first day, because it was 70 degrees, and we all just jumped in the mud and you have to wallow around and you get up and you start shooting," Clooney recalls. "First of all, that stuff adds another 20 to 30 pounds and all of a sudden you're running in mud. But the next day it was 20 degrees. And it was just mudsicles. We were like Fudgsicles out there. And then it was just miserable."

Clooney recently had the pleasure of watching his "Michael Clayton" co-star, Tilda Swinton, win her first Oscar. Admittedly stunned and perhaps not knowing what to say, Swinton took an affectionate dig at Clooney's notorious movie debut during her acceptance speech. He took it all in stride.

"It's funny, she plays these uptight characters all the time and she is just funny as hell and always cracks me up," Clooney says. "And I will get her back for the Batsuit line somewhere along the way."

"Leatherheads" opens nationwide April 4.

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