Article by Eric Lee
Batman and Robin actor George Clooney has spoken about his experiences playing Batman.
The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast interviewed the 58-year old actor about his career. Clooney revealed that, despite being one of the two main stars, he only worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger for one day. He also discussed how he was not paid nearly as much as Schwarzenegger. However, Clooney admitted that it might be because he was not very good as Batman.
[Arnold] Schwarzenegger was paid, I think, $25 million for that, which was like 20 times more than I was paid for it, and, you know, we never even worked together! We worked together one day. But I took all the heat. Now, fair deal; I was playing Batman and I wasn’t good in it, and it wasn’t a good film, but what I learned from that failure was, I had to rethink how I was working. Because now I wasn’t just an actor getting a role, I was being held responsible for the film itself.
George Clooney as Batman
Clooney on Ben Affleck
Clooney went on to recall when he met fellow Batman-actor Ben Affleck. The two met while working on the movie Argo. He had some very pointed advice for Affleck while Ben was auditioning for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
I actually did talk to him about it. I said, “Don’t do it.” It was only from my experience, which is, you know… He did great, though.”
Clooney v Affleck: Dawn of the Batmans
Clooney did not get into the specifics of why he warned Affleck against taking the role, but it’s interesting how both actors starred in Batman movies that are considered amongst the worst superhero films. To be totally fair, neither actor was bad as Batman. Even Clooney’s performance had some highlights. For example, his portrayal as Bruce Wayne was pretty on point.
Check on Dark Knight News’ thoughts on Batman and Robin and other Batman films here.