Even an old dog can be inspired to try new tricks.
In a new interview with 60 Minutes March 23, two-time Academy Award winner George Clooney admitted to having nerves around his long-awaited Broadway debut in Good Night, and Good Luck.
"This is proper old Broadway, and it's exciting to be here, you know, but look, let's not kid ourselves. It's nerve-wracking and there's a million reasons why it's dumb to do it, but..." Clooney shrugged from his seat in the Winter Garden Theatre.
Clooney both stars and has co-written the play, adapted alongside Grant Heslove from their 2005 film. The historical drama centers on the real life clash between famed journalist Edward R. Murrow and infamous U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy of anti-communist HUAC fame. Clooney directed and starred as Murrow's co-producer Fred W. Friendly in the 2005 film, and has taken on the role of Edward R. Murrow for the project's stage version.
In archival footage from the show's very first rehearsal, Clooney underlined the inspiration that had driven him to bring the material to the stage. "When the other three estates fail, when the Judiciary and the Executive and the Legislative branches fail us, the fourth estate has to succeed. It has to succeed." Back at the Winter Garden, he elaborated. "We're seeing this idea of using government to scare or fine or use corporations to make journalists smaller. Governments don't like the freedom of the press, they never have, and that goes for whether you are a conservative or a liberal or whatever side you're on. They don't like the press... journalism and telling truth to power has to be waged like war is waged. It doesn't just happen accidentally, you know. It takes people saying, 'We're going to do these stories and you're going to have to come after us and that's the way it is.'"
For director David Cromer, it feels beyond natural that this would be the project to finally bring Clooney to the stage. "Edward R. Murrow was a star. He was the most trusted man in America. He had this very serious news show, but he also had this incredibly popular entertainment show on Friday night called Person to Person... If [George] were playing Willie Loman [the titular figure in Death of a Salesman], that would be different, if he were playing a little man. But he's playing a great man. He's a great man playing a great man."
In recent years, Clooney has put his reputation on the line to fight for a more just and honest world, both politically and socially. His public letter calling for former President Joe Biden to not seek re-election was one of the turning points in Biden's decision to cede the race to Vice President Kamala Harris, a decision he stands by. "I was raised to tell the truth. I had seen the President up close for this fundraiser, and I was surprised. I feel as if there was a a lot of profiles in cowardice in my party, through all of that, and I was not proud of that, and I also believed I had to tell the truth."
While the events of the show are certainly resonant in today's landscape, Clooney sees one glaring and terrifying discrepancy. "McCarthy would try to pose things, he'd show up with a blank piece of paper and say 'I've got a list of names.' That was his version of fake news. But we now are at a place where, we've found that it's harder and harder and harder to to discern the truth. Facts are now negotiated."
Good Night, and Good Luck is in performances now at the Winter Garden Theatre. Visit GoodNightGoodLuckBroadway.com.
