Image Source: Getty / Mike Coppola [1]
George Clooney may now be happily married [2] to wife Amal and a father to two babies [3], but long before the human rights lawyer [4] came along, George was one of Hollywood's hottest bachelors [5]. The actor swore he would never get married again (he was married to actress Talia Balsam from 1989 to 1993) and even said he didn't "have that gene that people have to replicate." Well, a whole lot has definitely changed since then. Take a walk down memory lane and look back at George's most memorable quotes about marriage and fatherhood.
Image Source: Getty / Sean Gallup [7]
Before Meeting Amal
- On romantic relationships [8]: "I've had some absolutely great relationships and some not so great relationships. I've been in some relationships where I've felt terribly alone. Just because you're with someone it doesn't mean you're incredibly happy and complete."
- On why he never used to talk about marriage [9]: "I don't talk about it because I don't think about it. I don't ever question other peoples' versions of how they live their lives or what they do."
- On why he wasn't married [10] with children: "I haven't had aspirations in that way, ever. I was married in 1989. I wasn't very good at it. 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."
- On vowing to never get married again [11]: "Marriage? Who knows? I've been married. 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. 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."
- On having kids [12]: "I think it's the most responsible thing you can do, to have kids. It's not something to be taken lightly. I don't have that gene that people have to replicate. But everything in my life has changed over time."
Image Source: Getty / Axelle/Bauer-Griffin [13]
After Meeting Amal
- On finding "the one" [14]: "I have someone who I can talk to about anything and someone who I care more about than I've cared about anybody."
- On his marriage proposal [15]: "I knew fairly quickly that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Amal (but) we had never talked about it so there wasn't like a 'Hey, maybe we should get married.' Literally, I dropped it on her. And she just kept saying, 'Oh my god,' and 'Wow' – completely unexpected. We just sat there and finally I said, 'Listen, I'm 52 and I've been on my knee now for about 28 minutes, so I gotta get an answer out of this or I'm going to throw a hip out. I might not be able to stand back up.'"
- On being called a power couple [16]: "I don't think of us as a power couple, because I don't know what that means. I would think a power couple is like, Bill and Hillary seems to be a power couple. I think we're just a couple with great interest in the human condition. I don't think of that as particularly powerful; I just think of it as our responsibility as people on the planet."
- On Amal's pregnancy [17]: "We are really happy and really excited. It's going to be an adventure. We've sort of embraced it all . . . with arms wide open."
- On his and Amal's plan [18] once their twins are born: "We have the chance to live between three countries: Italy, America, and England. But as soon as the children go to school, it'll be necessary to choose where to settle. In the meantime, we will continue to move according to our respective schedules."
- On how his life has changed since becoming a dad [19]: "Right now my job is changing diapers and walking them [twins Alexander and Ella] around a little bit. I really didn't think at 56 that I would be the parent of twins. Don't make plans. You always have to just enjoy the ride. Suddenly, you're responsible for other people, which is terrifying."
- On how his getting-ready routine has also changed: "I just have to clean the barf off of my tux. It used to be my barf, but now it's the twins' barf. So it all works out."
- On why he and Amal chose "normal" names [20] for their twins: "[We] didn't want to have really dumb names. We figured these kids are going to be looked at a lot and watched and [have their] every move sort of judged, and we wanted them to at least have a break with the names."
- On Alexander and Ella's personalities: "[Alexander] is a thug already. He's a moose! Literally, he just sits and he eats. [Ella's] very elegant, and all eyes. She looks like Amal, thank god."