Back in the day, George Clooney was once one of the most eligible bachelors in Hollywood. The actor made it pretty clear that he was in no rush to settle down. Back in 2013, George admitted to Esquire that he simply wasn't all that good at marriage.
"I haven't had aspirations in that way, ever," he told the publication, per Entertainment Tonight. It's not like he hadn't tried coupling up before. "I was married in 1989. I wasn't very good at it," he said. Of course, nobody will know that for sure, except for his ex-wife, Talia Balsam.
"I was quoted as saying I'll never get married again pretty much right after I got divorced and then I've never talked about it since," he added. That wasn't the only time he mentioned his bachelor life to Esquire. He also reportedly told the magazine that he loves how nobody remembers his first marriage attempt.
"People forget that I was married," he said. "I love that. 'Will he get married?' I don't talk about it, because I don't think about it."
And that's why fans of the actor were baffled when Amal Clooney came around. Born Amal Alamuddin, she has a job even more powerful than George Clooney's — she's an international human rights lawyer. The two met at a fundraising charity held in Italy back in 2013. Upon meeting, George was absolutely smitten. According to Insider, he wrote her a flirty email after they met, saying, "I think the reported hottest man in the world should meet with the hottest human rights lawyer in the world."
At the time, he likely had no idea that he'd end up falling in love — or that Amal could change his mind regarding the future. It seems as if his past relationship with Talia was difficult for both parties. While Talia hasn't fully opened up on what went wrong, she did talk about the aspects of divorce, mostly due to starring in the HBO series Divorce, which aired until 2019.
She mentioned to Town & Country that these days, getting a divorce isn't as earth-shattering as it seemed just decades ago. "You start getting petty about things you might care about," she said. "Letting go can be very heartbreaking, and it's unique to each individual. The logistics of it all can become very individual."
Even though the divorce happened in 1993, George still talked about it up until 2006, when he was named People's Sexiest Man Alive. Naturally, as he was still a bachelor then, the topic came up. "I've been married," he said. "It's not something I'm looking out for. Things could always change, but it's not a consideration right now. The truth is, I'm really happy."
"The things that are a drag in my life are so outweighed by the things that are great," he continued. "I have families that I spend my days with, and friends I spend my days with, and people I care very much about. I get to do what almost no one gets to do. My life's really good."
It was only when he met Amal that he realized how much more fulfilled he could actually be. Oddly, George Clooney's parents met Amal the same time George did — and they approved right off the bat. "She introduced herself to us and we talked," his dad, Nick, told People. "She was obviously very charming, gorgeous and so clearly accomplished, but by the time we had supper that night, it was clear there was a kindness to her and an inclusiveness."
His parents were quickly clued in that Amal might be part of their lives for quite some time. "By the end of supper, I started looking over at [my wife] and saying, 'Look ouuuut, this could be trouble for this young man!" Nick said. It's a reminder that life can still find ways to surprise you, even when you're in your 50s.
Now George is willing to share his own take on the chemistry that happened. He talked to GQ about his relationship with Amal, and it's quite obvious that he's happier than he ever thought he could be. "I was like, 'I'm never getting married. I'm not gonna have kids,'" he recalled to the publication.
"I'm gonna work, I've got great friends, my life is full, I'm doing well," he continued. "And I didn't know how un-full it was until I met Amal. And then everything changed. And I was like, 'Oh, actually, this has been a huge empty space.'" It takes a special person to make you completely rethink your life.
"I'd never been in the position where someone else's life was infinitely more important to me than my own," he said. "You know? And then tack on two more individuals, who are small and have to be fed." By that, George means his twins, Alexander and Ella.
Alexander actually interrupted his dad during the GQ interview, and it was captured by staff writer Zach Baron. Based on the conversation that was recorded, it's obvious that George really takes fatherhood seriously. He blossomed when telling Zach about how Alexander — who's only 3 — is already learning words in Italian.
While being a dad is something that George never thought would happen, it's fairly obvious that — like most of his other roles — he's knocking it out of the park. Back in 2017, he told The Hollywood Reporter that he finally understood what his parent friends were going through.
"Now my house is filled with the warm sounds of babies crying," he said. "You should see when my friends show up and see me change a diaper, the laughter that comes from them. I go, 'I know, I know.' I've given them so much s–t for so many years, I deserve every bit of it."
But one of the sweetest anecdotes from that interview was about Amal. After the two realized the friendship they formed was turning into something more, George stayed with her for six weeks and celebrated Christmas with her. Afterward, he spent some time with his friend Ben Weiss. "I had a picture of her, looking back, smiling at these giraffes," he recalls, "and I said, 'I think I'm going to ask her to marry me.'"
The two are living proof that lives can change at any minute. Amal never pressured George into a life he didn't want. Instead, falling in love with her made George realize that he wasn't as happy as he once thought. The two of them are a fantastic power couple, and one of Hollywood's best success stories.
