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Movie stardom is a fairly easy thing to define, and since he’s been one for long enough to know what it takes, George Clooney is reasonably placed to comment on the industry’s definitive onscreen icon.
The best actors aren’t always movie stars, and movie stars aren’t always the best actors, but what separates a mere thespian from a bankable name are the things you can’t teach: appeal to the widest possible audience, innate charisma, and the indescribable, intangible qualities they all have.
Clooney may not be the box office draw he used to be, but that doesn’t make him any less of an A-lister, and despite winning two Academy Awards from eight nominations across six different categories, he’ll always be viewed as more of a star than an actor or a filmmaker, through no fault of his own.
However, will he be remembered the same as Hollywood’s other indelible figures? Probably not. No offence, but when you think of cinema’s most iconic leads, if we’re still talking about John Wayne, Marlon Brando, Cary Grant, James Stewart, James Dean, Humphrey Bogart, and the rest today, decades and decades after their deaths, will Clooney end up joining that pantheon in the future?
With the greatest of respect, it’s doubtful, but who will from the current crop? Tom Cruise, almost certainly, especially if you ask Clint Eastwood. Denzel Washington, perhaps, Leonardo DiCaprio might be in with a shout when all is said and done, but his old pal Brad Pitt has a better shot than Clooney.
The worst big-screen Batman of all time might be inordinately wealthy, incredibly successful, and ridiculously handsome, but he’s not an egomaniac, so it’s not as if he’ll have designs on seminal status. That said, when it comes to those who have it, only one name popped into his mind.
“Paul Newman was a movie star,” he declared. “Like, a real, proper movie star; they don’t get bigger than him. At 50-ish, he figured out, ‘OK, I’m done being the guy that kisses the girl’, and he did The Verdict, which is a masterful performance, I think his best, and he continued to work as a sort of character actor.”
Evidently, Clooney sees Newman as the benchmark, and in more ways than one. Not only has he sought to emulate the Cool Hand Luke and The Hustler favourite’s move career path as he’s gotten older, but the legend’s extracurricular activities away from the screen have been a source of inspiration, too.
“He’s a good one to try to fashion your whole life, actually,” the Ocean’s headliner continued. “If you look at his philanthropy and stuff, he’s a good one to fashion after.” Newman may not have been shilling coffee machines, but Clooney’s charitable work was obviously taken from his biggest idol. Is he Hollywood’s greatest-ever movie star? It’s debatable, but at the very least, he’s right up there.
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