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George Clooney Opens Up About His Feud with Three Kings Director David O. Russell
George Clooney starred in Three Kings with Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube in 1999, but does not have fond memories of the infamous director David O. Russell.
Trigger Warning: This article contains references to sexual abuse.
George Clooney does not have fond memories of the infamous director David O. Russell. The two-time Oscar winner worked with Russell for the 1999 hit Three Kings, starring alongside Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube.
The experience, Clooney revealed, urged him to be picky about his movies throughout his 40 years in Hollywood. In an interview with GQ UK, the 63-year-old star got candid about his feud with the Three Kings director. He reflected on the expense of time and how a “miserable” David O. Russell, 65, made his and the crew’s life hell for the sake of a good movie.
“The older you get, time allotment is very different. Five months out of your life is a lot and so it’s not just like, ‘Oh, I’m going to go do a really good film, like 'Three Kings', and I’m going to have a miserable f**k like David O. Russell making my life hell. Making every person in the crew’s life hell’,” the Batman star explained to the outlet on Tuesday, August 13.
The Silver Linings Playbook director allegedly yelled at the Three Kings cast and crew “all day, from day one,” Clooney once recalled, per Vulture. He and Russell also got physical on the sets after the actor intervened while the director was humiliating an extra.
The actor-filmmaker, who is set to release the new film, Wolfs, by Jon Watts next month, said the nightmare was totally “not worth it. Not at this point in my life. Just to have a good product.” Clooney and Brad Pitt star in the upcoming film by Watts, scheduled to premiere on September 27.
Three Kings, helmed by then-emerging Russell, featured a star-packed cast and was subject to high acclaim for its brilliant representation of the Gulf War against a well-scripted storyline. Cliff Curtis, Judy Greer, Spike Jonze, and Jamie Kennedy co-starred in the film.
While we are assured we won’t be seeing a George Clooney collaboration with Russell anytime soon, he is not the only one the director is at odds with.
In April 2003, he physically attacked legendary filmmaker Christopher Nolan at a Hollywood party due to an actor crisis. According to the source, Jude Law had reportedly signed with Nolan for a movie while Russell was counting on her for I Heart Huckabees.
This caused an altercation at the party where Russell grabbed Nolan and put him in a headlock, demanding that he let go of Law. Months later, behind-the-scenes footage of Lily Tomlin reduced to tears while Russell screamed at her, sweeping things off the desk at the Huckabees set, caught the media’s attention.
Besides the bouts of anger and lunatic behavior, Russell is also linked to a series of sexual assault offenses. It was reported that she once grabbed Mark Wahlberg’s genitals during the Huckabee shoot and touched other actresses in “private places.” His niece, Nicole Peloquin, 19 at the time, filed a police report alleging that Russell had groped her at a gym in Florida in December 2011.
Regardless of his stained history, Russell continues to find work in the film industry and is currently working on a Linda Ronstadt biopic starring Selena Gomez. His 2022 film, Amsterdam, hauled in a star-studded cast of Margot Robbie, Christian Bale, and John David Washington, per Variety.
Disclaimer: If you need support or know someone who is struggling with domestic violence, assault or abuse, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist, NGO or speak to someone about it. There are several helplines available for the same.
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