TORONTO—For a serious movie that The Ides of March presented itself to be, co-writer and producer George Clooney and his co-stars made for a lighthearted conference at the annual Toronto International Film Festival at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in downtown Toronto, on Friday, Sept. 9.
Clooney, a long time Hollywood A-lister, took up the role as director on The Ides of March and joked about the transition. “Pretty much the same guy as George Clooney the actor ... same height, same hair.” Alongside the responsibilities of director, co-writer, actor, and producer, Clooney added jokingly “choreographer” to the list of titles he took on for the movie.
The Ides of March is a modern day drama revolving around a political campaign of democrat Mike Morrison, played by Clooney, and his idealist assistant Stephen Myers played by Ryan Gosling. After a potential scandal is revealed, Myers needs to make decisions whether to stick to his ideals or to play the political game.
With years of experience on and behind the camera, Oscar winner Clooney bonded with the cast and crew as the group joked amongst themselves as if they'd known each other for years.
“Well it was really fun to work with George, right guys?” Gosling jokingly carried the atmosphere as he asked his costars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, Evan Rachel Wood, Max Minghella, and writer Grant Heslov. As the cast fell silent and almost motionless, the press room erupted with laughter.
“It was more than fun,” Gosling continued into the microphone, “it was delightful,” the laughter grew louder.
Clooney played along by dishing it out towards Gosling. “Watching him work was like watching unicorns being born,” he explained with a smile.
