George Clooney shares Paul Newman’s advice that transformed his view on fame

George Clooney recalled a brief encounter with Paul Newman in the late 1990s that left a long-lasting impression on his mind.

While speaking with The New York Times, the 64-year-old actor opened up to his Jay Kelly costar Adam Sandler about the wisdom the late Paul Newman had offered him on handling fame in the '90s. 

“I’m not as good at getting out as you are," he said, addressing Adam. "I have a tendency to go, ‘If I go out, that’s going to be an extra hour of talking to people.’ Paul Newman actually talked about this to me."

“When I first met him, he was at Warner Bros. doing Message in a Bottle, and I was on ER," he continued. "Newman was sitting outside smoking a cigarette, so I pulled up in the golf cart and was like, ‘Hey, just wanted to say hi.’"

The Batman and Robin actor admitted that Newman initially "had no idea who I was" but soon realised he was a fellow actor as well. 

He explained that, as his profile rose, he sometimes retreated to protect his privacy, a tendency Newman warned against.

"He goes, ‘George, don’t let them keep you at home,'" Clooney revealed. "He meant very specifically that tendency to isolate because you’re trying to hold onto some privacy. My tendency at that moment was to stay in, and hearing Newman say that, it made sense immediately."

Paul Newman died in 2008. Clooney, now 64, promotes Jay Kelly, which opens in select theaters and streams on Netflix in early December.