"My love, what I have found with you is the great love that I always hoped existed."
On Thursday night, George Clooney accepted the American Film Institute’s
Life Achievement Award at a gala dinner at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
“I love being a part of this industry,” George Clooney said as he accepted the honor.
"I'm very proud of the changes I'm seeing in this industry. They're much overdue."
The actor and activist also thanked his parents, who were present, calling them
“two of the most ethical people I know. Their example was always due north."
Clooney also spoke warmly of his wife, Amal, saying,
"I thought you couldn’t have it all. I thought if you had a successful career
you couldn’t have one great love and then I met Amal." And the actor also thanked
everyone who took the time to toast (and lightly roast) him throughout the evening.
Julia Roberts, the actor’s 'Ocean’s Eleven' co-star, was originally slated to present
the award to her friend but was unable to make the event due to a scheduling conflict.
Shirley MacLaine, who starred in the original 'Ocean's 11' and who also received the
AFI honor in 2012, stepped in, joking,
"I'm the one who goes on when the star has a problem."
Of Clooney, MacLaine said, "The humanity in you is what has always gotten
my attention...Please use your imagination for the future for all of us...
To help us understand our anger and more than anything
our thwarted understanding of how to love.”
Over the course of the evening, Clooney's many friends and colleagues shared
their admiration of him - and threw in a few jokes as well - both in person and via video.
First up was none other than former President Barack Obama, who appeared
in a video saying the actor “does the whole grey hair thing better than me.”
He also praised Clooney by saying, “He is a good man, a good friend,
a good citizen and an outstanding maker of film.”
Obama was followed by last year's recipient of the award, Diane Keaton,
who testified of Clooney, “I really feel that you are irresistible in every possible way.”
Plenty of jokes came via Jimmy Kimmel, as the late night host took the stage
to roast the actor a little bit. "I’m not here to honor George Clooney’s work in film,”
Kimmel said. ‘To be honest, I’ve never seen any of his movies.
'Monuments Men' was so bad, you had me rooting for Hitler."
He also recounted some of the many pranks Clooney has famously played on
his friends, claiming his greatest prank was ”convincing Roseanne [Barr] to open
a Twitter account.” Kimmel added, “All these years
thinking George is Batman. Truth is he’s the Joker.”
Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox appeared together to tease Clooney
about his role on 'ER,' where he first came to prominence, by jokingly saying,
"You’re welcome,” for providing a massive 'ER' lead-in audience of millions
from their own series 'Friends' - on which he also appeared -
paving the way for his future successes. 'ER's' Julianna Margulies shared her
own appreciation of the honoree, saying, “I owe my career to George Clooney.”
She went on to explain that her character, nurse Hathaway, died in the series’ pilot,
but Clooney, convinced that producers would resurrect the character,
took the time to urge her to wait and not take another job.
Expressing her gratitude, she addressed Clooney directly, saying, “You are the real deal.”
Don Cheadle explained how Clooney has used his fame to advocate for
social causes, remembering how the actor once told him, “If they are going to
put a camera on me, then I’m going to take them to where the cameras should be.”
In her heartfelt speech, Clooney’s wife Amal called her husband
“a gentleman in every sense of the word,” while also being “incredibly generous.”
She quoted from a letter Walter Cronkite wrote Clooney, in which the veteran
newsman said ”you have character and you have clout.“
The international human rights lawyer also referenced Clooney’s wholeheartedness
and sense of humor this way: “He has a big heart and he puts it into everything
he does, whether its making movies, hosting a fundraiser or often as quite often
happens these days pranking our latest guest by using a nappy
and a pot of Nutella.”
She also spoke of her husband’s generosity, saying:
“He must surely be the only person in the world to invite his 13 closest friends
to dinner one night and give them a suitcase filled with $1 million in cash.”
An eight-time Oscar nominee who won Academy Awards as best supporting
actor for 2005’s 'Syriana' and as a best picture producer for 2012’s 'Argo,'
Clooney became the 46th recipient of the AFI honor at the ceremony,
which was taped and will air June 21 on TNT.
The actor, who rose to fame as Dr. Doug Ross on 'ER,' has appeared in films such as
'Out of Sight,' 'Three Kings,' 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?,' the 'Ocean’s' trilogy,
'Michael Clayton,' 'Up in the Air,' 'The Descendants,' 'Gravity' and 'Hail, Caesar!.'
His directing credits include 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,'
'Good Night, and Good Luck' and 'The Ides of March.'
His next project is a Hulu miniseries adaptation of 'Catch-22,'
which he will direct, produce and star in opposite Hugh Laurie and Kyle Chandler.
To read more on George Clooney receiving the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award,
head to THR.com. And tell us, which project of his has been your favorite so far?
Let us know in the comments.
For The Hollywood Reporter News, I’m Lyndsey Rodrigues.