Overview
- Accepting Best Actor for Jay Kelly at AARP’s Movies for Grownups Awards on Jan. 10, Clooney praised Paul Dano, Owen Wilson and Matthew Lillard from the stage.
- He said he would be “honored” to work with all three and added, “We are living in a time of cruelty. We don’t need to be adding to it.”
- Clooney’s remarks follow Quentin Tarantino’s December podcast, in which the director called Dano “the weakest f***ing actor in SAG,” said he “can’t stand” Wilson and that he doesn’t “care for” Lillard.
- Industry figures rallied behind Dano in recent weeks, with public support from Daniel Day‑Lewis’s representative endorsing a fan post, as well as Ben Stiller, Simu Liu and The Batman director Matt Reeves.
- Matthew Lillard said Tarantino’s comments “hurt” during a GalaxyCon appearance, while Owen Wilson has not issued a similar public response, and Clooney’s stance arrives against a backdrop of past friction with Tarantino over a 2024 “movie star” remark.