George Clooney is all that: 9 things we learned after talking to the Hollywood actor on Zoom about 'The Midnight Sky'

George Clooney is everything we've seen and heard and read about. He is cool, he is charming, he tries to be funny, is often successful; George Clooney is smart, and even on Zoom, he is disarming.

But as it turns out, he is also a lot more than the suave Hollywood gentleman we all know him to be. GMA News Online was among the Philippine and Singaporean press invited to a Zoom call with George for his new film "The Midnight Sky."

The guy is mighty proud of it. He's headlining it, as well as directed it, and Geoge was only happy to chat with everyone about it: How he ended up with the directorial job, how they incorporated Felicity Jones' pregnancy into the story, he even answered some personal questions.

We're only too happy to learn that George, on top of being such a gentleman, is also incredibly candid and open. Below are a few things we learned about him from that hour-long Zoom conference.

1. He chooses his words well. George is honest but respectful. It's refreshing to see someone choosing his words carefully, especially during these days when people seem to be equating dirty speech with honesty.

When asked how hopeful he was about the ability of humankind to avoid the apocalytic situation shown in the film, George said, "I believe in looking at things head on, but I also believe in our better angels. In addition to a pandemic, we've had four years of mismanagement where the leader of the free world is calling the press, the enemy of the people and decided as a policy — where people as seeking asylum and he put the kids in cages and I look at that and I think this is insane."

Where it's so easy to lambast and take that free shot, George just glided along with honesty and respect.

2. He doesn't have much regret. For George, his character Augustine as a man who is dealing with regret and unfinished business. "He is seeking redemption for his regrets — that's his journey. I don't have that journey. There are plenty of things that I wish I didn't do or say but none of the major things you regret. Family, career, people you love and take care of — all those things, I feel very comfortable with."

3. His kids have taken over his life. Comparing himself to Augustine, George said unlike his character on "The Midnight Sky," he welcomes the interruption brought about by his twin toddler kids.

"It's fun when they interrupt a Zoom," he said, adding he feels very lucky to be able to spend lockdown with the children.

"Augustine doesn't want this interruption. I welcome it. Would I like to get out of the house every once in a while? Yeah. They turned my office into a nursery so I have to hide a bottle of tequila in a stuffed bear. They've taken over my life."

4. His experience from his days playing a pediatrician on "ER" has come in handy as a parent. Still talking about his kids, George learned that "nothing really can get to you."

"I always thought I'd be overwhelmed by certain things [but] all my pretending to be a pediatrician on ER has come in very helpful as I pretend to be a doctor when my kid splits his lips. You're kind of learning stuff as you go and I hope in life I keep learning stuff as I go."

COURTESY: Netflix

5. He considers "The Midnight Sky" a meditation. George was first offered a part, and after reading the script, he called Netflix and told them he knew how to direct the movie. "It's not an action film. It's more a meditation — on life, on what we're capable of doing to one another if we're not careful."

"I wanted to tell that story and luckily, Netflix said ok," he shared.

6. His problem-solving skills is incredible. They were already filming the movie, when Felicity Jones (Sully in the movie) called him to say she was pregnant. "I'm like, wait, oh no," George said of his reaction upon hearing what's supposed to be good news.

In the movie, Sully is among the astronauts returning from space, and according to George, they tried to shoot around the fact that the actress was pregnant "because it's a problem."

"But you can't do it that way," he realized.

So they embraced Felicity Jones' pregnancy and incorporated it in the movie. "And by the end of the film, you couldn't imagine the film without [the pregnancy]."

"If you look at things as not a problem but a different direction, then it works," he said cooly.

COURTESY: Netflix

7. He's poetic as hell. Speaking about Felicity Jones' pregnancy and writing it into the script of "The Mightnight Sky," George pointed out a beautiful moment of poetry in the movie that it all too easy to overlook.

"When the astronauts were listening for a heartbeat," he began. "[Look,] they were listening for signs of life the whole movie, and they find that life is inside her, and that's beautiful thing," George said. 

8. George is considers himself optimist. Early in the Zoom call, George said he considers himself an optimist. "I'm always an optimist, pretty much a realist," he began.

Talking about the past four years of what he calls "mismanagement," the actor said he believed in what Martin Luther King said. "'The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice', I believe in that. And I do believe we are going to head in the right the direction. I 'm always an optimist," he repeated.

9. He's fascinated by outer space. This is George's third movie about space and during the call he admitted that "outers pace is a pretty fascinating thing."

"Humans only deal with the finite. We can't comprehend infinity. We're not able to comprehend eternity and the idea that there couldn't be life out there is kind of silly, I think. Space is open with so many possibilities. For that, I think it's infinitely fascinating and leaves for us infinite possibilities and that's a good reason to be fascinated by it."

— LA, GMA News

"The Midnight Sky" is streaming on Netflix beginning December 23.