George Clooney tribute at Telluride Film Festival

07 Sep George Clooney tribute at Telluride Film Festival

Telluride Inside … and Out was pleased to be in the audience for the first screening of Alexander Payne's "The Descendants" on Friday afternoon of the Telluride Film Festival.  Scheduling dictated waiting until Sunday morning to enjoy the George Clooney tribute.

Check out the video for a sense of Todd McCarthy's interview with George, director Alexander Payne and actress Shailene Woodley after the showing of the movie.

The still photos are from Sunday's tribute event, which started with clips of Clooney's films, and continued with an informative and often quite funny conversation with Scott Foundas. Besides being involved in cultural and environmental issues, George Clooney has the humor, intelligence and timing of a great stand-up comedian. Included are some highlights of their exchange:

"If you're going to get the keys to the toybox, and you're going to be able to greenlight things that nobody else wants to make, you're going to have to keep doing it as long as you can until they take them away. And they WILL take them (the keys) away."

"You're not going to be allowed to remain in front very long; there is a sell-by date…"

" Someday soon I'm going to be AARP's 'sexiest man still alive.'"

Asked what actor he most admires: "Paul Newman for his humor and his humanity…"

Is there a downside to being George Clooney? "Absolutely not. Although privacy is trickier. There really is no escape; it's hard to function under the glass eye…"