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George Clooney rules out running for political office: 'I would actually like to have a nice life'

George Clooney rules out running for political office: 'I would actually like to have a nice life'

Matthew McConaughey may still be "measuring" a run for Texas governor, but you can count out George Clooney. In a new interview with the BBC's Andrew Marr, the outspoken Oscar winner ruled out the possibility of one day running for office.

“No, because I would actually like to have a nice life,” Clooney, who played a politician in the 2011 film The Ides of March, said during an appearance of The Andrew Marr Show.

Clooney, who shares 4-year-old twins with wife Amal Clooney, noted that he'd prefer to spend his time doing "the things I love" — like playing basketball.

George Clooney won't run for political office, he says. (Photo: LISA O'CONNOR/AFP via Getty Images)
George Clooney won't run for political office, he says. (Photo: LISA O'CONNOR/AFP via Getty Images)

“I turned 60 this year and I had a conversation with my wife and we were working a lot, as we both do, and I said we have to think of these as the halcyon years,” he told Marr. “In 20 years, I will be 80 and that’s a real number. Doesn’t matter how much you work out, what you eat, you’re 80 and so I said we have to make sure we enjoy and live these years in the best possible way.”

Though he noted that "not working would be a bummer," the Tender Bar director said he plans to scale back his workload, saying, "Instead of doing three jobs a year I’ll do one."

And while that work won't involve hitting the campaign trail — for himself, at least — Clooney couldn't resist talking politics. During the interview he defended President Joe Biden's White House record and reflected on former President Donald Trump's impact.

“It’s like taking a battered child and thinking everything’s going to be OK his first day in school,” Clooney said of a post-Trump America. “There’s a lot of things that have to be repaired, there’s a lot of healing that has to happen, and it's going to take time.”

Of the former POTUS, he said, "It’s so funny, because he was just this knucklehead. I knew him before he was a president. He was just a guy who was chasing girls. Every time you went out he’d be like, ‘What’s the name of that girl?’ That’s all he was.”