George Clooney reveals why ‘Jay Kelly’ film festival scene was so emotional for him
George Clooney has shared why watching a clip of himself in the film festival scene for the movie Jay Kelly touched him so deeply.
Spoiler alert! The following post will discuss the final episode of the drama Jay Kelly (currently streaming on Netflix), so keep an eye out if you haven’t seen it yet.
Call it Cloonception.
In Noah Baumbach’s new film Jay Kelly, George Clooney stars as Jay Kelly, an A-list movie star who undergoes a long journey of introspection that ends with him winning a lifetime achievement award at an Italian film festival. The ending scene features Jay crying as he watches a tribute to his career, and the film features a dizzying array of Clooney’s previous films, from classics like Combat Academy and Sunset Beat to blockbusters like ER and Syriana.
So what was it like watching George play Jay on screen? Clooney answers by adding another meta layer.
“Imagine, we took this movie to the Venice Film Festival, so we’re at an Italian film festival, and we see ourselves at an Italian film festival,” Clooney says with a laugh. “I didn’t know he was going to use clips from my actual movie, and I didn’t know that was going to happen. So the take of the movie will be the first take as I watch it.”
Baumbach somewhat disputes that explanation. “I mean, it was always in the script. I think he probably lived in a kind of denial,” the filmmaker says with a laugh. “But what I was very clear about was that it was like a montage that I had edited during filming, and I knew I wasn’t going to show it to him, I was going to show it live in the room.”
It’s moving to watch Jay reel on screen as he gains a new perspective on his life and career. (After the movie starts, he looks at the camera in close-up and says, “Can we go again? I’d like to take one more.” This is a callback to the beginning of the movie, and Jay wants to do another take of the final scene of the movie he’s filming.)
Off-screen, it will be emotional for longtime Clooney fans to witness the actor’s evolution and revisit their favorite characters. And the moment was emotional for Clooney himself. (The tears were real.)
“When you’re 64, everything becomes emotional,” Clooney quips. “When I watch a movie, I remember the time I spent with the director and the actors. I don’t see a movie as a movie. I see it as a slice of time.”
Baumbach thanked Clooney, saying, “He allowed himself to be in such a vulnerable position and to see this film for the first time on camera, because he sees real life happening in front of him and reacts in a real way. That must have had an emotional impact on George Clooney,” the director says. “At the same time, he knows he has to tell the story of the movie, and he still plays that character.”
Clooney’s co-star Billy Crudup, who was in the audience at the festival, said he thought it was a “very clever” idea with a lot of cool references.
Crudup also quotes the film’s opening line, in which a fan tells Jay on the train to Italy, “When I look at you, I see my whole life.” “For people who go to the movies, enjoy movies, and follow actors who were there at different times in their lives, it’s really moving to see a reel like that,” Crudup says.
