Caffeinated Clint
Moviehole talks to the “Oceans Thirteen” duo
Moviehole caught up with George Clooney and Matt Damon to talk about their latest dip in the ‘Ocean’, “Oceans Thirteen”.
A lot has changed in the six years since you started.
GEORGE CLOONEY: For me, the difference is I get a little different perspective than the rest of them because I get to watch all these guys grow up, with like becoming dads and having kids. It’s fun to watch these families sort of grow. It’s really exciting, actually.
Tell me about the Ocean’s Club.
MATT DAMON: Boy, we’ve been nailed for this. I would bet I was in there five times ever.
MATT DAMON: Jerry lived in the Ocean’s Club.
GEORGE CLOONEY: He took meetings in the Ocean’s Club. Every day: ‘I’m going to be in the Ocean’s Club. Come on. It’s gonna be great. You’ll love it. It’s fantastic.’
MATT DAMON: I had a baby at home, so I would finish work and literally go flying out the door to go home, and go by and Jerry goes, ‘Stop and have a drink with me. What are you doing? Damon, it’s great. It’s the Ocean’s Club. What’s the matter with you?’
GEORGE CLOONEY: If we were on location somewhere it would have been the most amazing place.
MATT DAMON: It would have been the greatest place in the world, yeah.
GEORGE CLOONEY: Because he really set it up. But when you’re home, you kind of finish and you go home.
Matt, I heard your nickname was actually the Cooler. That’s what Brad just told me.
MATT DAMON: That’s true.
QUESTION: You were the kiss of death?
MATT DAMON: No, that is true.
GEORGE CLOONEY: Oh, Matt can destroy anyone.
MATT DAMON: I watched him lose and this is not a joke.
GEORGE CLOONEY: You financed me losing.
MATT DAMON: I financed you losing. He lost 25 straight blackjack hands in a row, which I think is a record and it happened. I saw it happen. I would never have believed it unless I saw it happen. And, and then at the end you slipped a check under my door for $2500 that said for services rendered. [laugh] So, but I couldn’t cash it.
GEORGE CLOONEY: It was the funniest thing because I was sitting there, and he goes, ‘Come on, play some cards, man. I’m telling you, I cannot win. Come on, we’ll play $100.’
MATT DAMON: I said, ‘No, you’re exaggerating.’ I said, ‘I know how to play. I’ll tell you.’ He goes, ‘I don’t know when to hit or when to stay.’ I said, ‘No, I know everything. Don’t worry about it. We’ll play it by the book.’
GEORGE CLOONEY: I also said, ‘I have never won in my life in gambling.’ And that’s the truth, number one.
MATT DAMON: Yeah, and I said, ‘Because you’re playing wrong.’
GEORGE CLOONEY: Right. And boy, it was unbelievable. It got to the point where even the dealer was laughing. Everybody was laughing .
MATT DAMON: It was like that Tom Stoppard play, “Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead,” where they’re flipping coin at the beginning.
GEORGE CLOONEY: Just constant.
MATT DAMON: At a certain point, you were going like, ‘Well, all right, George, you have a 20 and the dealer’s showing a six.’ And then they’d flip the thing over and it’d be 16. And then another five and it was like 21. ‘How are we going to lose this one, George?’
GEORGE CLOONEY: Oh, it was brutal.
QUESTION: You can’t play poker at all?
GEORGE CLOONEY: I’m not a big poker player. These guys love the poker.
MATT DAMON: Yeah, we love it.
GEORGE CLOONEY: So, I’m not a big gambler. I gamble in other ways in Vegas. [laughs] It’s not a big thing for me. I love casinos. I love going in. I’ll play a little bit for a minute but then I get sort of worn out on it.
QUESTION: So what are you guys doing for fun these days?
MATT DAMON: We’re working for fun.
GEORGE CLOONEY: I just wrapped a film Friday night in North Carolina that I’d written and directed, and acted in, so I’m pretty whipped.
MATT DAMON: And I’m In the middle of a film. I’m trying to wrap a film. I had a welcome respite because this whole thing happened, so I got to leave the film and eventually I’ll wrap that film.
GEORGE CLOONEY: Well, we assume.
MATT DAMON: Some day. It’s going to come out in August.
GEORGE CLOONEY: It’s coming. Then you will wrap.
MATT DAMON: Yeah. I will. I have to wrap.
QUESTION: Was it difficult to part ways when you guys wrapped this film?
GEORGE CLOONEY: It was difficult when we wrapped this film. Listen, the funniest thing about movies is you’re very excited to start them. You really like doing them and you’re also really happy when they’re finished because you need to move on at some point. So, it wasn’t hard when we wrapped but this is a great group of guys and we felt as if this is probably it for it.
MATT DAMON: Yeah.
GEORGE CLOONEY: So we sort of knew that when we were doing it.
OCEANS THIRTEEN is now showing
