Area working stiff George Clooney used to do a thing called acting to pay the bills. For a number of tough years, the star made ends meet paycheck-to-paycheck, scraping in an estimated measly $16.5 million per movie. But, thankfully that insolvent period of his life has come to an end, as Clooney has decided to make a more lucrative career change.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Clooney said he does not have any plans to appear in a movie any time soon. Now, the guy is in the tequila business, which is significantly more profitable than his previous gig slumming it as one of Hollywood's most famous actors.
“Look, I acted for a long time and, you know, I’m 56. I’m not the guy that gets the girl anymore,” he said. “Well, yeah, I shouldn’t be the guy that gets the girl. But, look, if somebody’s got Paul Newman in The Verdict, I’d jump. But there aren’t that many like that. Acting used to be how I paid the rent, but I sold a tequila company for a billion fucking dollars. I don’t need money.”
In June, Clooney sold his tequila company, Casamigos, for a reported $1 billion. Which makes it easier to digest the box-office flop of his new movie, Suburbicon. “I’ll make money other ways if I have to," he said. "I used to do coffee commercials.”
It's pretty inspiring to see a regular Joe make it for once. I wish him the best on this new phase of his life.
This story originally appeared on Esquire.com.
* Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.
