George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones Discuss Intolerable Cruelty

From the fertile minds of Joel and Ethan Coen comes “Intolerable Cruelty,” the story of prominent LA divorce attorney Miles Massey (George Clooney), a man who, having reaching the pinnacle of his career, is now looking for new challenges.

Enter Marylin Rexroth (Catherine Zeta-Jones). Marylin’s about to be the ex-wife of Massey’s client, Rex Rexroth, and Massey’s determined to keep her from getting one thin dime of Rex’s money. What he’s not counting on is just how far Marylin will go to get her revenge and just how hard he’ll fall for her in the process.

George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones team up for the first time for this refreshing romantic comedy, which co-stars Billy Bob Thornton, Geoffrey Rush and Cedric the Entertainer. In the works for eight years, “Intolerable Cruelty” is a dark comedy that takes aim at the high-powered world of divorce attorneys.

INTERVIEW WITH GEORGE CLOONEY AND CATHERINE-ZETA JONES:

This film presents a pessimistic view of marriage. How do you keep such a positive outlook?

CATHERINE ZETA-JONES: Take a day at a time and be kind. I think, especially in our business, we meet a lot of people and sometimes you spend so much time being nice to strangers… So, you know, just keep a clear head [and] be nice to each other. That's all the advice I can give.

In “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” you had an obsession with your hair and in this one it's your teeth. Is it fun to experiment with your character traits?

CLOONEY: Well, they kept looking for one. They got to do something with the hair on the last one so they obsessed with teeth on this one. I might be doing another film with them. I'm running out of body parts. Maybe [I’ll] wax my back.

You're like Cary Grant in terms of romantic comedies and suaveness. What attracts you to this genre?

CLOONEY: I don't know, they're fun to do. It's always a blast to do them. I thought “Solaris” was pretty funny (laughing). I've been working on comedies for a while. “Batman and Robin” was a hoot.

I love doing them and if you can do them with Joel and Ethan [Coen], then you feel really lucky - especially if you get to work with people like Catherine. It's really fun. I'm lucky enough, I think, in the backward way that a lot of films that I did weren't particularly successful early so I didn't get pigeonholed into having to do one particular thing. I've sort of been given a little free reign to try a bunch of different things and have them all fail at once, so this has been a fun one. Look, I'll do anything those guys ask.

Did you two model your characters on anyone you know?

CLOONEY: Ben and Jen (laughing).

ZETA-JONES: Who were you playing?

CLOONEY: I don't like her (referring to Zeta-Jones).

Have you run across any of these characters in Hollywood?

ZETA-JONES: Poor Hollywood! These things happen all over the world but what a great backdrop to have Hollywood in our movie. No, but I know people who divorce a lot….and have really nice houses (laughs). But I didn't model the character on anyone in particular. And if I did, I would never tell the name.

Were you pregnant while you were shooting this? What's life like with two kids?

ZETA-JONES: I'm not going to mention any specific dates but just that at the end of the movie, I got pregnant. I'm having a great time with my children. They're here in New York with me. I have a little ‘Lady In Waiting’ who is going to drive her dad nuts in about fifteen years, and my son is just terrific. He's a showman and he's a lot of fun to be around.

How do you feel about lawyers?

CLOONEY: Lawyers? Oh, they're fun (laughs). I don't know, you don't really need one until you need one, I guess. They're sort of a mixed blessing, obviously. We all feel the same way, which is we love to make jokes about them and they sure can be irritating and we sure think we can live without them.

Then every once in a while you think, "It would sure be nice to have a good lawyer." I feel the same way about them as I do about actors (laughs). I don't know. The obvious answer is we all know that they're important and they're needed. They also abuse things at times, so it goes back and forth.

After the success of “Chicago,” do you have any plans to do more movie musicals or do Broadway?

ZETA-JONES: I'd love to do another musical. When they're good, they're great. I just fear that there will be an influx of remakes of every musical that's ever been on Broadway and I don't think that will be good. I'd certainly love to do another one on film, and I just want to do a Broadway show at some point. “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”... “Brigadoon” is a good one (laughs). I'd love to be on stage, to do anything.

I'd love to do a show in Vegas. I have a big ambition to do a really tacky Vegas show with drag queens. You may laugh, but you'll be invited to the press conference. I just love performing and I miss it especially when I go to see theatre. So hopefully something will come along - the right thing.

What's the best and worst thing about working with each other?

CLOONEY: Can we start with the worst?

ZETA-JONES: He's great to work with. I'd do it all again.

CLOONEY: The worst thing is that we had to stop (laughs) There's nothing bad about it. We had such a fun time doing this. She'll show up and have a blast. This is a group of people - it's not just Joel and Ethan, it's a family - and it’s all these same guys, the cinematographer and all the crew. The first time I was on the set I was there with John Goodman in a scene of “Oh Brother,” and it's a little intimidating. It's like [they are] a gang and it takes about four seconds to feel comfortable there. Catherine immediately walked in and was like, “Okay, I got it. I understand.” From the minute we started, we had fun.

ZETA-JONES: Yeah, the first scene we did was the scene in the restaurant. It was, “Hi, nice to meet you.” We met briefly before on the longest screening of “Traffic” in the history of screenings. The very first cut of “Traffic.”

CLOONEY: The first cut of “Traffic” was like four hours (laughing).

ZETA-JONES: And Steven [Soderbergh] didn't know what to lose. He was like, “It works." It was a very easy working experience and fun, fun, fun, and such an easy way of getting things done and having a blast while you're doing it.

You've done a lot of flawed characters. Are those roles more interesting?

ZETA-JONES: No, not at all. I want to play a whole array of characters. It just happened that way. You can only do what you get offered and what comes your way.

There are only so many ball-breakers and murderesses I can play. There's a tough, strong side there. Even in “Zorro,” it was like she wasn't a damsel in distress in any way.

I think “Zorro” was so great for me because no one knew where I came from. Everyone spoke Spanish to me forever after that - I'm from Wales. When I did “Entrapment,” I really wanted to do an American accent because I just didn't want to come from Britain and constantly do period dramas in ripped corsets - like the wench. [Although] there may be a “Zorro 2.” I may be pouring myself into that corset sometime soon. It's just trying to mix it up and getting the chance. When Steven Soderbergh called me to be in “Traffic,” that was such an amazing [opportunity] because it wouldn't be what would be typically given to me. I just try to keep mixing it up.

What did you enjoy about playing these characters?

CLOONEY: The fun part about these characters is that they both don't really realize the trouble they're in emotionally until they run into each other. They're both sort of romantics in this horrible, horrible screwed up life that they live, and that's sort of the fun of it. That's the idea of a good, screwball, romantic comedy. We all know what the ending of a romantic comedy is. That's the toughest thing to do and that's why, the truth is, actors don't really do them that often anymore. It's hard to do a romantic comedy and go, “Hey surprise, they're going to get together!” There's a shock. These elements in this film seem more fun because we know what's going to happen but it seemed like the journey was more interesting and a little darker.

How do you make choices about the roles you take?

ZETA-JONES: For me, it's obviously the script but also all the other elements that come in. You get the piece of material and then you get Joel and Ethan in that equation, and then George and all that - just that whole equation is exciting to me. There are many things that make me choose what to do, but I think primarily it's what's on the page.

CLOONEY: As we know, there are so many things that can go wrong in a film, so it always has to start with the screenplay and then the director. Those are the two things. You can make a really bad film out of a good script, but you're not likely to make a good film out of a bad script. Then the director, since it's their voice, it's their idea, so those are the first two elements. You hope to get to work with really good actors and you hope that all of these elements kind of come together as you go, but mostly you can't start without having a script that you think is fun or interesting in some way. Which is harder than you think to find.

Can you talk about what's happening with “Ocean's Twelve?”

CLOONEY: We start March 1st. We're shooting a little bit in Paris, a little bit in Amsterdam, and then in Rome for a while. Yeah, it's a tough shoot - really awful (laughing).

It's going to be fun; we're going to have a good time. Everybody came back. The first thing that happens is that everybody starts talking. They go, “Okay, we've had a big hit,” so immediately it became these big negotiations, which was really interesting. Then we all sat in a room and said, "Look. Let's do it for 5 percent less and then we can say we're there because we want to be there because that's truly why we're there." So, we all just said, “Okay let's do it that way.” We had a good time doing the last one and we make good money on the back-end so if it works, it works. If it doesn't, we get to make a movie together.

Julia Roberts is on board?

CLOONEY: Yeah, Julia's on board. The whole gang’s back.

Will it be another heist?

CLOONEY: Oh, it's another heist.

Involving the Vatican?

CLOONEY: I can't tell you that (laughing).

Who is number 12?

CLOONEY: Vincent Cassell.

You gave Julia twenty bucks last time?

CLOONEY: Yeah, she got $19 [this time]. I was good with my math.

Did you pick up any directorial tips from working with Joel and Ethan Coen?

CLOONEY: Did I steal from them? Yes, of course [they] had a big effect. They have things they do that other people don't do in general. They storyboard every single shot and every single scene and then they put them with your sides in the morning when you get them. What you find is because there's not much time for rehearsal, as an actor, you get them and you look in the back and you see these drawings of what they were thinking in their minds. For a first-time director, that's a big advantage because you don't have a whole lot of time and you want to instill this feeling of security with people.

Most of the people I've worked with lately are really good at keeping sets moving and fun. They don't do a lot of takes. They keep it alive, which I found to have a lot higher energy. I stole a lot of shots from them. I stole a shot from them and showed it to them and they told me where they stole the shot from (laughs). I can't tell you [which one].

Speaking of directing, what inspired you to make the DVD bonus features as good as they are on “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind?”

CLOONEY: Oh, I haven't seen it yet. It was fun. I wanted Tom Siegel involved because he's such a bright guy. It was such a flop in the theaters (laughing) that we thought we'd spend a little more time on the DVD and try to put some other things on it. We're all really proud of that film.

Are you going to direct again?

CLOONEY: Yeah, I think I am. I'm still going to do “Leatherheads” as soon as I get the script where we want to put it. I was going to do this live show about Edward R. Murrow taking on McCarthy but our time has gotten pushed because Steven [Soderbergh] and I are working on “K Street” right now up in D.C. We've been doing that for seven days a week, 18 hour days, and we're a little worn down from that.

What does it mean to you to have a retreat like you do in Italy?

CLOONEY: [It was] the best thing I've ever done in my life. Catherine came by this summer.

ZETA-JONES: It's fabulous there.

CLOONEY: It really is life-altering just by virtue of the fact that I come out of television and everything came later for me. I come from the world that if you stop working, you're unemployed forever, so the only real vacations I've taken have been work-related. This summer I was like, “You know what? I've got a house in Lake Como.” I spent three months there and did nothing. It was the best thing I've ever done in my life. I recommend it. Everybody get a villa in Italy. It was a great thing and I had the time of my life. Everybody in the world came and visited me.