George Clooney Opens Up About Small Paychecks, Drinking and Sleepless Nights

Brad Pitt ER George Clooney Good Night and Good Luck John Wells Talia Balsam The Descendants The Hollywood Reporter

6:30 pm, February 15th, 2012

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(The Hollywood Reporter)

George Clooney sat down with The Hollywood Reporter, and according to the mag, while the actor is “as charismatic in person as anyone alive,” his life is not necessarily as others perceive it may be.

The magazine notes, “He lives with chronic pain (the result of a devastating accident from 2005); admits to bouts of loneliness… makes his home on the ‘wrong’ side of the Hollywood Hills in a comfortable but unpretentious Tudor-style Studio City estate; and watches ESPN and Modern Family as well as everything from The Soup to Jersey Shore. In other words, his life is disturbingly like yours.”

Clooney also does films he wants to, but for a fraction of what his peers are making.

For his role in The Descendants, the Oscar-winner earned $300,000, which is modest by Hollywood standards.

For Good Night, and Good Luck, which Clooney directed, co-wrote and starred in, he pocketed $120,000.

According to mag, he recently also “turned down $15 million for one project that came with a promised $45 million on the backend.”

And when Clooney was on “ER,” he refused a $1 million bonus because he knew he would eventually leave the show.

“ER” executive producer John Wells tells The Hollywood Reporter, “He was great and very professional, and when everyone else was getting huge raises, George always said no.”

Despite his success, Clooney suffers from sleeplessness.

He says he’s in bed most nights by 10 p.m., but “without question, I wake every night five times.”

And when he’s not in bed early, Clooney’s not boozing it up with his celebrity pals like Brad Pitt.

For one, he hasn’t had a cocktail since New Year’s.

“I drink at times too much,” admits the actor, adding, “I do enjoy drinking, and there have been times in my life when it’s crossed the line from being fun to having to drink late at night for absolutely no reason. So what I do is, I stop.”

As for Pitt, “We’re good friends, but it’s different from what people think, meaning we don’t spend a lot of time together. He has been to my home in Como; we motorcycle together. But until recently, I hadn’t seen Brad in a year.”

But will Clooney, who was once married to actress Talia Balsam, ever tie the knot again?

He says, ”I don’t even think about it, really.”

Watch Below for Clooney’s The Hollywood Reporter Cover Shoot

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