TORONTO – George Clooney has no time for questions about his personal life at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The renowned ladies man turned the tables on a journalist who dared to ask what it’s like to date in the spotlight.
A cheeky Clooney asked for the reporter’s name and then said: “Everyone here is a little ashamed of you right now.”
“I knew someone would do it, I’m a little disappointed it’s you,” a smirking Clooney said Friday to laughter from the media.
“Listen, I think it’s tremendous that you asked that question. Go back and tell your editor you asked the question.”
The good-natured ribbing came amid a joke-filled press conference to promote Clooney’s upcoming political thriller “The Ides of March.”
The Hollywood heavyweight joked about blackmailing fellow A-listers to join the cast, including Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood and Jeffrey Wright.
Clooney stars as Governor Mike Morris, a candidate running in the presidential primary race for the Democratic Party ticket while Gosling appears as an idealistic young press spokesman who gets caught up in backroom politics.
Clooney directs, produces and co-wrote the feature, based on the stage play “Farragut North” by Beau Willimon. He joked on Friday that he was also the film’s “choreographer.”
The light-hearted display included wry quips from Gosling, who needled Clooney as he described what it was like to be directed by the A-lister.
“It was more than fun – it was life altering,” the London, Ont.-born Gosling said as Clooney threw his head back in laughter beside him.
“Watching him work was like watching a unicorn being born every day.”
The breezy rapport comes as “The Ides of March” emerges as one of the early serious contenders in the upcoming awards season.
The cast brushed aside early Oscar whispers while Clooney downplayed any political commentary that could be ascribed to the film. He said he preferred to view it as a morality tale that anyone can relate to.
“This film reflects some of the cynicism that we’ve seen in recent times,” said Clooney, whose previous directing gigs include “Leatherheads,” “Good Night and Good Luck,” and “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.”
“It’s not a bad thing to hold a mirror up and look at some of the things that we’re doing. It’s not a bad thing to look at how we elect our officials. But that wasn’t what the film was designed to do. Honestly, the idea was for us that there isn’t a person you ever met who hasn’t been faced with certain moral questions.”
The cut-throat political tale takes place at an Ohio primary with Tomei as an aggressive reporter for the New York Times and Wood playing a seductive young campaign intern.
Gosling said he doubted such a corrupt display could ever be set north of the border.
“The Canadian version would be too nice,” quipped Gosling, also at the festival to promote the violent action film, “Drive.”
Giamatti, who plays a rival strategist in “Ides,” kept the laughter rolling with a tongue-in-cheek allegation that politics were actually “filthy corrupt” in the Great White North.
“It’s probably just as dirty up here as it is any where else,” he said to chuckles from the media while Gosling protested.
“I think it’s time to blow the lid off of Canadian politics.”
“The Ides of March” hits theatres Oct. 7.
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