For decades, George Clooney was always very honest about how he had no desire to remarry or start a family. His girlfriends through that era tended to be a certain type as well – a string of C-listers who enjoyed the free clothes, vacations and access of “being George Clooney’s girlfriend,” with zero promises of any long-term future. Then Amal Almuddin came along and everything changed. Many have argued that George went looking for someone serious and accomplished after it became clear that his love life was a punchline for comedians like Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. That being said, I do think George and Amal are happy. I think she’s surprised by that more than him – she’s surprised that he’s actually a good husband and a hands-on father, and that their life together is pretty peaceful and undramatic. Anyway, George is promoting Midnight Sky and he talked a lot about his marriage and his kids.
Amal changed everything: “There is no question that having Amal in my life changed everything for me,. It was the first time that everything that she did and everything about her was infinitely more important than anything about me. And then we had these two knuckleheads,” Clooney added of his children. “It is very fulfilling and something I wasn’t at all… didn’t see coming.”
They initially had zero marriage plans: “We never talked about marriage when we were dating. I asked her out of the blue, took her a long time to say yes. I was on my knee for like 20 minutes, I finally said, ‘Look, I’m gonna throw my hip out.’ We never talked about having kids, and then one day we just said, ‘What do you think?’ We go to the doctor and you do the ultrasound. They’re like, ‘You got a baby boy!’ and I was like, ‘Baby boy, fantastic!’ And they go, ‘And you got another one there.’ I was up for one. Again, I’m old. All of a sudden, it’s two. It’s hard to get me to not talk and I just stood there for like 10 minutes just staring at this piece of paper going, ‘What? Two?’ ”
Life during lockdown: “It’s been a while since I did 15 loads of laundry in a day and mopped floors and all these doors over here I stained… I always say I felt like my mother in 1964, because she had two kids and no help. I don’t know [how] she did it now, I have more sympathy for her now than ever.”
Do you believe that Amal had no idea a proposal was coming? Do you think he just asked her out of the blue, with no conversation ahead of time about their future and all of that? I mean, on one side, when you know you know, and when you meet The One, a lot of sh-t does fall into place like that. But I also think George wants to sell this kind of romantic vision of his thing with Amal and I’m not 100% sure that was the reality. In any case, I enjoy this soft-dad version of George. I bet he is a good father, actually.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
I’m enjoying George more than I thought I would.
Amal might not have known the proposal would be that soon but I think George knew she was the one pretty quickly. She is very different from his previous gfs. I don’t believe the story of being shocked about twins because I bet they did IVF and twins are a high possibility with that but I do agree he is probably a great dad. One day a sociologist will look at the extremely high incidents of twins in Hollywood…
I believe he was shocked. We took a similar route, knew the odds, and were STILL floored that it was twins. Multiples are always an OMG.
Weren’t they dating for only a few months before they got engaged?
I can believe that they didn’t talk about it much, but it be couldn’t that of a surprise.
And I’m sorry but I don’t believe that the twins were a surprise.
They were apparently met in July 2013 and got engaged in April 2014. So, it was almost a year. I could see them not talking about it though. They were introduced by mutual friends. She could have been told that he wasn’t interested in marriage and kids. For all we know, she might have been in the same line of thinking at the time. I mean, when someone asks you to marry them, saying no can often lead to a break up. She may have been weighing her options in those minutes. Although, they did get married in September. They pulled that wedding together very quickly for two people who weren’t even thinking about marriage. So?
The twins are a whole other story. They might have gotten lucky in terms of things not being difficult, but it wasn’t as if they weren’t even trying.
Yeah, they might have met in July, but they didn’t immediately start dating then (according to “sources” and George himself). Both the proposal and the wedding happened quite fast. So marriage must have been on both their minds, but they probably didn’t talk about it every day.
Both George and Amal’s ages, their wealth and the fact that they have fraternal twins speak for IVF. Like Zen wrote before me twins are very common with IVF, he couldn’t have been THAT surprised. That’s what I meant.
Cute story for them, they seem like a good couple. But proposing out of the blue or only talking about kids when married and things like that are generally dumb choices for most people
I always found it interesting how quickly he met and married Amal after Amy and Tina poked fun at him for being a middle-aged playboy. Could be coincidence….
You beat me to writing this.
I always find it odd that people think that would be some sort of catalyst for him. His forever bachelor status and dating habits had been a popular joke for a decade at that point, and their joke was one of the least cutting out there. He’d made more incisive jokes about it himself.
The tone changed a bit after he was fifty though, it went from “rogue charmer who can’t be pinned down” to “guy who dates women who don’t have a lot going on who show up where/when he tells them to.” He looked pathetic and controlling. (The New Yorker profile he did while dating Sarah Larson was … not great)
I find this incredibly sweet. My husband was “single” for nearly 15 years when I met him (but literally casually dated hundreds of women but never a girlfriend). He didn’t see himself getting married or having kids but here we are with a toddler. Meeting the right person can change your path pretty fast. Happy for the.
Laughing at his comments about twins! We went to the fertility clinic for both pregnancies and at our second I remember asking at our 6 week appointment, “are you sure there’s only one?! Are you positive?!” my first had vanishing twin syndrome so we were a little more concerned second time around. Cut to our 8 week appointment when my cysts from hormonal hyperstimulation had subsided….”was this there before?” The nurse asked me. “was what there? OH MY ******** ***!!!” (The sac was obscured by the cysts).
So…yeah. I feel you George, I feel ya!
I’ve known a handful of people who genuinely did not plan to get married, ever, didn’t want children ever and were genuinely surprised when their feelings changed and that their partner, who was in the same no marriage/kids boat also changed their mind at the same time.
So I do believe this.
Most people do not change their minds but every now and then, the rare one does.
Just weeks before Amal met George she was out on the town in NYC w my friend. After she met George he pursued her hard and she kept putting him off. While I don’t know details I do know she said once they started dating she had the most magical year of her life. I don’t doubt that he asked her to marry him without prior discussion.
I’m obsessed with the pictures of Amal carrying the kids. That scowl! OMG, the eyebrows on that boy! Amal is dressed to the nines–heels, leather pants–and looks like she’s about to drop them both and is annoyed and she still has tiny bags under her eyes… And that little girl’s sweet baby face. I’m dying. I wish I could be there to help her into the car.
Oh wow, I don’t know how I would handle that kind of surprise. My partner and I have talked extensively about marriage, as well as children and how we want to navigate shared life choices, future moves, financial goals, caring for aging parents, work schedules. The list goes on. But then again, I’m no romantic.
@Candy, right there with you. My boyfriend and I talk about it all the time, especially given our respective ages of 45 and 35. I think there are things that you just have to discuss. A little bit of romance is great, but I would not be happy about a marriage proposal out of the blue.
As always he is flowering and romanticising the events. It’s pretty clear that he was seeking a woman out of the showbiz to marry and to rebrand his image. He wanted someone with a “serious” profession like a lawyer, diplomat, doctor, etc… A woman that wouldn’t compete with him in the Hollywood scene but would pass an image of a classy couple. Also for sure he changed his idea about not wanting children in his age. He wanted a family to pass his name and money and give another meaning for his life. He was in his 60’s he was not a boy anymore, so the bachelor image was becoming a joke and probably even himself wanted more comfort in his life by seeing all his friends with families and children.
As for her idk but she was in her 30’s waiting for a powerful guy to marry her, I think she wasn’t expecting to marry so early, but like most women, deep down she wanted this to happen and she wouldn’t pass the opportunity. Idk if it’s love I still feel like it’s a marriage of convenience, but good for them that it works.