George Clooney confronts the pitfalls of fame in film ‘Jay Kelly’

By Rollo Ross and Danielle Broadway LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -In the film “Jay Kelly,” opening in limited release Friday, George Clooney plays the charismatic title character whose entourage — manager, publicist, glam team, security, and assistants — depend on his success for their livelihood. "It becomes an industry, basically," Clooney told Reuters, noting that his character in the film shows how easy it is to be consumed by Hollywood culture. Clooney added that he has managed to avoid the pitfalls of working too much that his character Jay falls into. "It's easy to get sucked in,” the “Gravity” actor said. "You have to be an active participant in who you are and what you do, right? So, you have to say, ‘Well, no, I don't need that and I don't want that.’ You have to actively say no or things kind of get brought in," he explained. "I've always had a sort of healthy understanding of how I want to be perceived and how I'd like to live my life.” The film, directed by Noah Baumbach and distributed by Netflix, follows actor Jay Kelly as he confronts his past and present with his loyal manager Ron, played by Adam Sandler. Other cast members include Laura Dern and Billy Crudup. The film shows numerous flashbacks in Jay's life, including those illustrating his regrets and fears. "It was more just about playing a character and trying to find a way to make it that you could still root for him when he does some pretty crappy things along the way,” Clooney, 64, said. While Jay must come to terms with his focus on accolades over his friends, Clooney said he isn’t driven by fame and fortune. "I always just feel like your job is to serve the material. That's what your job is, and if it's good material, you'll be good at it. If it's not good material, you'll be bad at it. So, my job has always been to do that. So, I don't worry about the rest of it too much," he said. (Reporting by Rollo Ross and Danielle Broadway; editing by Patricia Reaney)

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