George Clooney is hailed as one of the most successful actors in all of Hollywood with a number of accolades under his belt.
And while his career and choice of films have been an inspiration to many aspiring actors around the world, there was a time when Clooney’s career was almost hit the rocks. It was right after the release of Batman and Robin in 1997 which opened to underwhelming reviews and an abysmal response, killing the franchise for a period of time.
The 59-year-old actor worked alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma Thurman in the film and speaking about it in a recent interview, the Syriana actor revealed that many directors refused to work with him after the failure of the film.
It was not until his famous crime comedy Out of Sight was released when the tables turned for him. He teamed up with director Steven Soderbergh for the making of the film and according to the actor, the film managed to be a turning point both for him as well as Soderbegh.
"After Batman & Robin, I realized I was going to be held responsible for the movie, not just for the performance. And so we waited, and when I found that movie, we chased Steven down to direct it. There was a director attached and he walked away because he said I wasn't a movie actor. It all worked out. Steven directed the hell out of that movie - he did a beautiful job with it," he said.
Clooney appeared on the TV show E.R from 1994 to 1999. After Batman and Robin hit a bump, the actor went back to doing television.
Now that he has it all, Clooney still manages to stay grounded and humble.
"I was a struggling actor for 15 years. Any job you got, it was, Thank you, thank you, thank you. And you'd show up and some guy is a jerk and you're like, I don't care. I got a job. I'm getting paid and paying the rent. I'm thrilled to be here. I'm lucky’, “he said.