Click on the Eyewitness News Story Window at the top of this page to watch George's complete interview with George Clooney.
"Our thought was that we really wanted to sort of keep it in that old-fashioned screwball comedy world, the Preston Sturges, the Howard Hawkes, early George Stevens kind of world. That was our goal from the very beginning," said George Clooney.
Clooney not only directs "Leatherheads," but he also stars as an aging football player who recruits a younger college star to help invigorate the team.
Clooney looked at dozens of young actors before deciding on John Krasinski from "The Office." So how did the the actor turned director handle saying no to the people who didn't get the part?
"There were a couple of people who I met with that didn't. I wrote them both letters and told them that they were not going to get the job for other reasons," said Clooney. "Usually what you never understand is that it is not anything you could of done. Actors always think that if they had done something differently... But usually it comes down to a type. So I wrote a couple of them letters and told them that they were going to be great and do really well, but there is somebody else that is more right for this."
It's a feeling Clooney learned early in his own career.
"I auditioned for a pilot called 'Mr. Sunshine' and Henry Winkler was directing it. I went in and auditioned for it and I thought I absolutely killed it. I walked out and I was feeling pretty good. Henry came running out from the room where I auditioned and told me that I wasn't getting the job. But he told me that I was going to work and that everything was going to be great, everything's going to be fine, you're just wrong for this. And I felt great, you know? I'd just gotten rejected and I thought, that's the way to handle it," said Clooney.
I couldn't help but notice Clooney's choice of wardrobe throughout the movie. And where did the superstar get his inspiration for his vests?
"You were, you know. I said when we were getting the film together, what would George Pennacchio do right here? Then they said, 'I think that he would go vest.' And then I said, 'Then we go vest,'" quipped Clooney.
Leatherheads is rated PG-13 and is in theaters Friday.
Click on the Eyewitness News Story Window at the top of this page to watch George's complete interview with George Clooney.
