George Clooney says he will no longer kiss co-stars on screen after talk with wife Amal

George Clooney says a conversation with wife Amal led him to step back from on-screen romantic scenes

The 64-year-old actor made the comments in an interview saying he has deliberately changed the types of roles he accepts as he has grown older. “I've been trying to go the route Paul Newman did — ‘Okay, well, I'm not kissing a girl anymore,’” Clooney said.

He explained that the shift came after reflecting on ageing and perspective. “When I turned 60, I had a conversation with my wife. I said, ‘Look, I can still play basketball with the boys. I play with 25-year-old guys. I can still hang, I'm in shape. But in 25 years, I'm 85 years old. It doesn't matter how many granola bars you eat, that's a real number,’” he said.

Clooney has built a long career that included a number of romantic films, such as One Fine Day opposite Michelle Pfeiffer, Intolerable Cruelty with Catherine Zeta-Jones, and 2022’s Ticket to Paradise alongside Julia Roberts.

While promoting that film, he previously joked about filming a single kissing scene with Roberts, telling The New York Times that it took numerous takes. “Yeah. I told my wife, ‘It took 80 takes,’” he said at the time, adding that Amal’s reaction was disbelief. Roberts later clarified that “It took 79 takes of us laughing and then the one take of us kissing.”

In a separate interview last month, Clooney also reflected on his marriage, saying, “Amal and I — everybody gets ticked off when I say it — but we've never had a fight. We never had an argument.” He added that compromise had become easier with age.

George and Amal Clooney were introduced by a friend in 2013, married in September 2014, and share eight-year-old twins, Alexander and Ella.