Hollywood actor George Clooney has always wanted to keep his children away from the glamour and limelight of Hollywood, leading him to raise them on a farm in France, he admitted in a recent interview.
Clooney, 64, is the father of eight-year-old twins, Ella and Alexander, with his wife, Human Rights lawyer Amal Clooney.
“They (Ella and Alexander) have a much better life. I was worried about raising our kids in LA, in the culture of Hollywood. I felt like they were never going to get a fair shake at life,” Clooney said in an interview with US-based entertainment magazine Esquire.
“France – they kind of don’t give a shit about fame. I don’t want them to be walking around worried about paparazzi. I don’t want them being compared to somebody else’s famous kids,” he added.
He also expressed his desire to ensure that his children are self-sufficient. He said that he encouraged them to help out on the farm and witness his ‘handyman skills’.
“It’s important to me that they can survive,” Clooney said. He also stated that US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose a 100% tariff on all films made overseas is the wrong solution to a real issue.
Clooney agreed that movie industry jobs are leaving California, but attributed it to the lack of proper tax incentives or rebates, unlike states like New York. Instead of tariffs, Clooney suggested implementing federal incentives similar to those offered by states like Louisiana, New Jersey and New York to support the film industry.
“He (Trump) wants to implement a federal incentive that would match the kinds of incentives we get in Louisiana and New Jersey and New York, then I think that would make a big difference in helping out,” Clooney said.
Clooney’s upcoming projects include the Netflix film Jay Kelly, where he stars alongside Adam Sandler, and the drama The Human Condition.