'Tomorrowland: A World Beyond' producers kept describing the proposed lead character in their brand new Disney film as ‘Clooney-esque’, without dreaming for a minute they’d actually get the A-list star to be in it. Fortunately for them, it was all about timing.
Writer Damon Lindelof says of his recruitment campaign with director Brad Bird, “He just doesn’t do movies like this. The idea of asking George Clooney to be in a big summer blockbuster, let alone a big Disney film, just on principle he’s going to say no... but fortunately he was a huge fan of Brad’s work, that got us in the door.
George Clooney stars as Frank Walker in Disney epic 'Tomorrowland'
"Ultimately we ended up hanging out at his house for about three hours, this was at the time that President Obama was up for re-election, and everyone was basically talking about how President Obama had been elected on this idea of hope, and everybody was grumbling about how disappointed they were with him.
"We were big fans of President Obama and thought that wasn’t entirely fair, as one man could only accomplish so much, and he used so much political capital to bring in healthcare."
Talk about President Obama, seen here with George back when he was a Senator, got the actor all fired up
Fortunately for the filmmakers, this whole conversation about Obama and the evaporation of hope was just the topic to warm up their leading man.
Damon explains they realised that, because of the all the politics in the room, "George is completely and totally activated right now".
"And we thought we could explain the movie to him in those terms, that it’s about believing in something and, if it doesn’t come to pass, you turn on it, become cynical and jaded, then how do you reactivate hope once you’ve been disappointed?
"Once you’ve failed on a risk, doesn’t mean you should never take it again."
And, folks, that's how you get George Clooney to star in your film.
'Tomorrowland: A World Beyond' tells the story of a pair of youngsters, united by their curiosity to discover a secret time and place located somewhere in their memory, and what light it might shed on the future of our planet.
The film is in UK cinemas from Friday 22 May. Watch the trailer below…