The actor and director George Clooney actually has two reasons for not doing so.
To see George Clooney's last film as an actor, you have to go back to 2016, when he released Money Monster, directed by Jodie Foster. Because the one who is most likely one of the most recognizable actors on the planet is giving up acting in front of the camera.
"Look, I've been acting for a long time and, you know, I'm 56. I'm not the guy who gets the girl anymore," the actor says in an interview. "I shouldn't be the guy who gets the girl. But look, if someone offered me something like Paul Newman in The Verdict [Sidney Lumet's acclaimed 1982 film], I'd go for it, but there aren't many like that." "Acting used to be the way I paid rent, but I sold my tequila company for a billion f**king dollars. I don't need the money."
And so it is. Clooney sold his tequila company, Casamigos, to British liquor giant Diageo for $700 million — plus $300 million in variables depending on the brand's success in the coming years. With so much money in hand, the actor has many more options and can afford to say no to projects such as a new sequel to Ocean's Eleven, if that were the case. In the same way, Clooney has once confessed that it is directing that truly excites him, even though his last two feature films (The Monuments Men and Suburbicon) have not received the heat he would have wanted.
The actor also has more and more tasks to deal with at home: the twins Ella and Alexander that he shares with his wife Amal Clooney, for starters. The couple is also very committed to charitable causes and are regular donors of large sums of money to fights against discrimination or wars around the globe. What remains to be seen is whether Clooney has greater ambitions, as he has always been a rumored candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for president. He says no, but having Donald Trump as an opponent is even too tempting for someone like Clooney. And if not, he will always have to make another movie with Matt Damon.
