No imperiled baby animals this week, but let’s talk about Batman. Not Christian Bale, not even Michael Keaton. And not even Val Kilmer. George Clooney. Many of us have chosen to have our minds wiped of Clooney’s turn as the Dark Knight in Joel Schumacher‘s second Batman movie, Batman and Robin. If you can remember any of it, it probably causes you a strange kind of pain or frustration. And I think it’s fair to say that fallen star George Clooney never saw his career recover … oh, wait, except for that amazing career he has led ever since donning the famous nipples — BATSUIT. Batsuit. And now, he’s admitting a few things about Batman and Robin, and it includes some swear words.
For one thing, in the late 1990s, when George Clooney was still playing the dreamy Dr. Doug Ross on NBC‘s ER and barely had a handful of movies under his belt, was turning down an iconic franchise really an option? In an interview with TotalFilm, he admits that this was kind of a big deal.
“The truth is, my phone rang, and the head of Warner Bros. said, ‘Come into my office, you are going to play Batman in a Batman film’ and I said, ‘Yeah!’ I called my friends and they screamed and I screamed and we couldn’t believe it!”
That is the only natural reaction to that phone call — joy. Loud, enthusiastic joy. However, once the movie started production, it was clear to Clooney that things were not going as well as everyone had hoped.
“It was a difficult film to be good in,” Clooney said. “With hindsight it’s easy to look back at this and go, ‘Woah, that was really sh*t and I was really bad in it.’”
And he never worked again. Haha, we know that’s not true. Clooney, to date, has become an extremely successful and reputable director and actor and now has two Golden Globes and an Oscar, plus numerous nominations. But in 1996 or thereabouts, when Batman Forever was (mysteriously) a huge success and Val Kilmer wanted nothing to do with the franchise anymore, Clooney wasn’t going to look a gift nipple in the mouth. HORSE. Gift horse. And, he says, it still wasn’t bad for his career because, after all — he had enough clout to be asked in the first place, didn’t he?
“…Batman is still the biggest break I ever had and it completely changed my career, even if it was weak and I was weak in it. It was a difficult film to be good in. I don’t know what I could have done differently.”
So, if you’re going to bank on an appearance in a horrible movie, make sure it can’t possibly be your fault if it turns out to be a flop. Choose your terrible scripts wisely. Then sit back, and let the nipples fly. SH*T SHOW. I meant to say “sh*t show.”
Of course, this all meant that none of us were treated to Schumacher’s third Batman movie, Batman Triumphant. I know … I know.
(via Spinoff Online)
