George Clooney has one of the most storied careers in Hollywood, working with some of the greatest directors of all time and appearing in some of the best movies ever made. Hell, he even got his very own Batman movie, although he doesn’t really like to talk about that anymore.
Still, despite once battling Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s best attempt at a Batman villain, Batman and Robin isn’t the film that intimidated Clooney the most. No, it was the musical comedy movie he made with the Coen Brothers, O’ Brother, Where Art Thou?, that truly put the heebie-jeebies into the Nespresso advocate.
“[O’ Brother, Where Art Thou?] was definitely the scariest for me, because I knew I would have to play a character,” he told The Guardian back in 2002. “But if I was ever going to do a goofball comedy, it would be with the Coen brothers. It couldn’t be a Jim Carrey kind of role.”
Despite his nerves, Clooney claims the Coens courted him for the part, “We’ve got this part for you. It’s about an idiot. He’s about the dumbest guy you’ll ever meet. We think you’re perfect for it!”‘ Clooney claims they told him. “I’m like, ‘I’m flattered. Thanks, guys. I’m in.”‘
In a later interview, Clooney explained he took the role in O’ Brother, Where Art Thou? without ever stopping to read the script. “They came to see me in Phoenix when I was doing ‘Three Kings,’” Clooney told the LA Times. “They came to my hotel room, put the script on the coffee table, and I said, ‘Great, I’m in.’ They said, ‘Don’t you want to read the script first?’ I said, ‘No, I know what you guys do.'”
If you love the work of the Coens, check out our list of the best drama movies, or if you prefer your films a little more ‘explosive’, we have an article breaking down the best action movies.