George Clooney is just about the world's biggest movie star, an Oscar winner and an acclaimed director who has legions of cameras following his every move. Not that he's too concerned with keeping all that attention, but he knows that since it won't go away, he can pretty much do whatever he wants, creatively speaking.
So when it comes to his new film, "The Ides of March," he's not quite worried about the public's reaction.
"It's not designed for everybody to see, but I don't give a sh*t," the star tells Rolling Stone in their new cover story. "I don't need to be more famous and we shot it for $12 million, so anything we do is nice."
Of course, Clooney probably isn't really that flippant about the film. It's a passion project for the actor, as he wrote, directed and co-starred in the film, a political drama that asks moral questions of both its characters and audience. Clooney plays a dream Democratic presidential candidate with a dark secret, while Ryan Gosling takes on the role of his conflicted -- and shattered -- campaign adviser. The film has received generally positive reviews, earning an 85% aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes, which portends well for Clooney, as directing is his real passion at this point in his career.
"My career path for the last 10 years or so is to direct. Directing takes a long time to get done. My day job is acting, That's how I make my living, and directing is something I want to do," he told reporters at a press conference for his other fall film, "The Descendants," at the Toronto Film Festival. "So in between [directing jobs], if I get to work with good directors, there we go."
The good news for Clooney is that the film has made triple its production cost already, taking in $36 million domestically. That'll keep him smiling, though it doesn't seem to take much to make the guy happy. Heck, all you need is a whoopee cushion.
"We think it's one of the funniest things in the history of mankind. Even the idea of a fart makes me laugh," he tells the magazine. "Saying the word 'fart' makes me laugh. I have iFart on my phone. I have remote whoopee cushions. Farts. To me, there's nothing funnier."
For more, click over to Rolling Stone.